National Car Rental - Merida, Mexico

National Car Rental

Fiesta Americana Hotel Shopping Arcade

Merida, Mexico

I had reserved a rental car through National Car Rental through their

website before I travelled to Merida on July 12, 2007.

Problem #1:The confirmation page said: Pick-Up Location: Merida Int'l

Airport and Drop-Off Location: Merida Int'l Airport. Upon arriving at the

airport, there were 5 or 6 auto rental offices within the airport, but no National

Car Rental. I inquired, and was told that National Car Rental does not have

a location in the airport, yet their information on the confirmation said

they did. Though I should have just booked a car from a company that did have

an office at the airport, I decided to take a taxi into Merida, approximately

10 miles away, to the National Car Rental office, costing me about $10 USD.

Problem #2: I gave the clerk (Victor) at National's office my confirmation

and he looked it up. He had no explanation for the erroneous information

about the "airport location" other than to tell me, "We don't have a location

at the airport." Great...thanks, Victor. He proceeded to calculate the rates

and added the "optional" insurance collision coverage at approximately $20

USD per day. I told him I would waive the coverage because my corporate

Diners Club/Mastercard covered it. Six months earlier, I had no problem waiving

the insurance at the same location and my corporate card agreement

specifically covers it. This time, I was told by Victor that the "optional" coverage

was mandatory and that he would not rent me a car if I didn't accept the

"optional-mandatory" insurance. We went through this many times and I reiterated

that the same office rented me a vehicle six months earlier and I waived the

"optional" insurance as I had the right to, but, I suppose being motivated by

his personal greed, maintained he would not rent me a car unless I paid the

extra $20 USD per day for 16 days. The clerks must be commission-driven to

sell the collision insurance and I had every right to waive it. The last time

at National Car Rental, they simply ran an imprint of my credit card, then

tore it up after inspecting the car when I returned it. After much

frustration, I decided to take the car, pay the fee, then address it with National Car

Rentals customer service department when I returned.

Problem #3 I wrote to National's customer service through their website's

email address and explained the problem. They didn't disagree with the point

I was making until they denied my request for a refund two weeks later after

I sent all the documentation they asked for (rental agreement, receipts,

etc.) and I also sent them a copy of my corporate card terms & conditions, which

specifically said that ut covers collision damages. They gave me a bunch of

legalese, denying me the refund of the "optional-mandatory" coverage for

approximately $250 USD. All they offered was to pay the $10 USD for the taxi

from the airport, which was an insult. I got the impression that they were

nervous about authorizing the small refund and more concerned about their little

refund budget. It's embarrassing for National Car Rental to have to take

over 2 weeks to answer a simple question...why was I charged for insurance when

I should have been able to waive it??? Then...come up with a bunch of

garbage to save themselves a few hundred dollars.

I am a frequent traveler and work in a Top 10 Fortune company and associate

with many business travelers. Everyone I have spoken to said that I should

have been able to waive the fee and save the $250 USD, including our travel

planners. I really feel like I was ripped off by a greedy, commission-driven

sales clerk who committed customer service fraud and was supported by the

National Car Rental customer service department.

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Comment On This

That happened to me too. But when I booked it online, I did not notice that in order to get the rate that I had, I had to get the insurance and had to have it a total of 8 days (no less). I was furious when they told me that I had to take that, because for most people, it's only an option. After I returned the vehicle the nice guy at the return explained to me why I had to do that. I went back to check my reservation and sure enough....I was an idiot. I didn't read all the terms of this particular rental agreement. That was probably why my weekly rate was insanely low.