San Jose Car Hire

Cons: We expected to pay the amount Kayak offered, instead on arrival we were informed that the insurance costs along with a huge security deposit raised the cost x20 !!! Walked out and changed our plan. Unacceptable unexpected cost.

Cons: When I got to the airport and showed the person at Economy my reservation he said that the confirmation was a estimate. I did arrive late and he said that the car I reserved was given away. I don't have a problem with that. He asked me if I had insurance and I told him yes I did. He asked if it was through Allienze and I said yes. He said that since we are renting. 4 wheel drive vehicle that the policy I chose was not good and would have to get a policy from them. He also tried to sell me a car seat for my 10 year son. So he continued to up sell me at every turn. I didn't feel comfortable in leaving that desk and trying to go to another rental company. I had my wife and three kids there and decided that I was going to pay for the rental instead of trying another company without English being the language spoken. The confirmation through Kayak was at 280 dollars or so I ended up paying close to 700 with additional insurance that I am not sure I even needed.

Cons: We booked our Economy rental car through Kayak for about $120 total. However, when we arrived we were informed that we were required to purchase insurance for over $400 extra not including a $1000 security deposit on the vehicle. In total, we paid about $520 for a two week rental which isn't too expensive, but it was very upsetting initially when we walk in expecting to pay a little over $100 and end up paying over $500. So either Kayak or Economy should be a little more upfront about international car rental insurance.

Cons: HIDDEN FEES GALORE! On top of that, I have asked the company for a breakdown of the fees, since what they charged my credit card is more than what the estimated receipt stated. I still have not heard back from them a week later. I can't believe this company operates like this, especially seeing all the other horrible reviews about them.

Cons: There was no information on the cost of the insurance in the booking information. Insurance, the compulsory portion, not the one paid by your credit card company (worth about $3), ends up adding 5 times the cost paid for the car. $8/day for car, $38/day for insurance. It would have been nice to know the costs up front!

Cons: Car was not completely full of gas.

Cons: Both picking up and dropping off the employees were the slowest I have ever seen. Dropping off took over 45 minutes and in the end I had to ask for a ride to the airport from a competing company as economy's van never arrived.

Cons: In addition to the standard hidden fees and insurance which make up a huge portion of the costs of rental cars in Costa Rica, economy charged us for an additional driver though we didn't have one, as well as damage to the car. They refuse to provide backup for the damage charges, and cannot show any documentation to breakdown the costs. I was told by the customer service rep that tney can charge whatever they want and we have no choice but to pay. I am taking the matter to management at economy. I would never rent from them again. If you rent from them be prepared for strong-arm tactics and additional charges

Cons: The worst part was the bait and switch routine. The teaser rate offered online is NOT anywhere close to the real rate! Mine was supposed to be around $45.00 US. In reality it was $120.00 If you want the extra protections offered it added about $80.00 more, total of over $200.00!! Also, the car's rear axle or tire had a loud hum like either a bearing or tire was bad, noticeable at only about 10mph; seems like they should do a quick test drive after each rental.

Cons: After traveling from Boston for 9 hours we arrived to San Jose, CR. We had a whole vacation planned out and these people told us they had no car. They offered us a shuttle to San Jose and promise to call us the next day with a car. It never happened. We end up renting a car with budget but this services was a nightmare. DO NOT, DO NOT USE THEIR SERVICE!!!

Cons: Our contract with Alamo was in dollars. However, Alamo in Costa Rica converted the charges to colons at the a favorable exchange rate for Alamo. This ruse is a way for Alamo to squeeze more money from unsuspecting Gringos. To resolve this problem I had to contact Alamo's corporate office in the U.S.

Cons: The location was impossible to find. We were never given the address and had to follow an Alamo shuttle to find it. Since we left the tank half empty, we expected to pay Alamo to fill up but the associate couldn't even tell us how much it would cost. He said not to worry as they'll jusy charge whatever it will be to my card later. I had to argue to get the guy to give me a final bill price before I left as I don't want to be charged some ridiculous amount a day later.

Cons: 1) We used Kayak to book our Alamo rental car for Costa Rica, and had purchased the additional insurance through Kayak. 2) When we got there, we were told that that insurance was invalid in Costa Rica, and instead of the $125 that we believed we were going to pay, our bill went up to $650! Unbelievable! It was so much money, that it was a big reason that we cut our stay short in Costa Rica and went home early - can't afford such big swings in our budget once we are already there! We even brought our original reservation, printed with the price and everything, and they wouldn't budge! 3) Did you know that the shuttle ride from the airport is NOT FREE?!?! What the heck! They of course don't tell you this. Instead, you notice it tacked on to your receipt. 4) If you plan on driving in Costa Rica, you will be going through mountainous regions. I have never driven a more gutless car, and believe you me, I have driven my share of old Camry vehicles, but this SUV we had was incredibly useless on the mountain roads. 5) The brakes were very iffy and I was nervous driving down steep grades because of them. 6) The lights and headlights were woefully inadequate and did not give me a good view of the road - which is important because people cross the road wherever they want to whenever they want to! 7) This experience has taught me something - to never ever rent from Alamo again.

Cons: Did not receive a vehicle even close to what was reserved online.

Cons: The price you book online will only be 30% of your total bill. When you get there they will make you buy a mandatory insurance package that ranges from twice the daily price of the car to 4 times more.

Cons: I couldn't complete the online insurance from the UK (because i was not in the US). I had to take out when i arrived at San Jose to be faced with an outrageous take it or leave price of $40 per day for comprehensive cover. Outrageous. I pay twice as much to insure three cars for a year as I did for a month in one car.

Cons: The needed extra insurance in costa rica what quickly made it a 560$ rental (2x)

Cons: They quoted me at one price then charged me a rate that was much higher than what the car was quoted at online. Quoted me at $86 online and then when I got to the rental place they told me $139, I was pissed and told showed them the quote, but they would not budge and once you get to the rental facility, you do not really have a lot of options. Terrible customer service and false online quotes. Plus the security deposit was $2,500, which could have paid for half of the car itself.

Cons: Kayack sold us a insurance they did not accept it not only that I paid 150 moré than what they told me in the beginning and they were pushing and pushing to sell their insurance .....so I declined and used my credit card for that ...the only good thing is the car was new and it got us there and back

Cons: Drop off location near SJO airport really hard to find with the small/not to scale map provided

Cons: The insurance cost was never mentioned in the quote but out can't be declined.

Cons: Price after all the ins. and add-ons was more than double the quoted price.

Cons:

Cons: LONG wait - only 2 people in line and still waited 45 minutes. Booked a small suv online for $160 with NO mention of required insurance (that normally visa covers) and fees that ended up making this rental $470. Ended up with a several years old, very used (over 30k), gutless, tiny, ant infested suv. They are taking advantage of you and I suggest to everyone looking at this - DO NOT GO THERE.

Cons: Que el seguro no este en la página y tengamos que pagar más de lo que dice en la página pues habían páginas que incluían seguro y al final era malas económico que ir a budget con un precio menor y poniendo eel seguro sobrepasaba a las demás compañías

Cons: Don't get the daihatsu terios. Not a good car. Better off getting a Toyota rav4.

Cons: Check-in took over an hour due to a line of people. There are added costs that you must use in Costa Rica, one being insurance. Unless you can clearly indicate your coverage in a foreign country, you are required to purchase insurance for the car. This was a significant addition to the base car rental price but it is a requirement from all companies. There are probably cheaper options than the one we chose but everyone should be aware. We also wanted a GPS device for navigation but it was very problematic in operation. The commands coming from the device were muffled and we could not understand them. I could not attach the device in an easily viewable area, so my wife had to stay connected to the device to keep me informed of where to turn. Finally, the device would turn off or switch from the specified directions from time to time. It was difficult enough to determine where to go without having to input the directions again and again. This device was not worth the daily price we paid. Lastly, the check out was slightly delayed. They could not shuttle us to a hotel that we were staying in before our flight the next day (San Jose is further away from the airport ) but they did drop us off at the airport to try and find transport from there.

Cons: They told us that coverages purchased on third party websites or insurence companies are not accepted by Thrifty. We had to pay 896,4 $ extra for the Insurance!!!!!

Cons: They should inform customers about Costa Rica's unusual insurance policy in advance.

Cons: Price of insurance. It was more than the actual rental.

Cons: Monopoly car insurance prices in CR. Please note you will pay on avg 45.00 USD per day on top of your rental with a min of 500.00USD deposit. Good luck!

Cons: Don't purchase your insurance online, I lost hundreds by doing so because thrifty doesn't accept insurance unless it has been purchased at the location when you are there. They also took a $500 hold on my card and the car was about double the quoted price. You will need at least 1500 USD just for the car rental even though the quote was 400 USD.

Cons: We payed for damage insurance ahead of time and when we got there, they don't accept it. We paid $403 for 4 days vs $176.

Cons: Read the fine print in your rental agreement. You might think you are getting a great deal until they force you to buy insurance from them stating that they do not accept any third party, this in my case more than doubled my rate. Very smug about the whole deal with a don't care attitude because they know they have you. He offered on more than one occasion to cancel the reservation.....sure I just arrived in a foreign country, don't know my way around....let me cancel it. This was by far the absolute worst rental car experience I have ever had in any country. Would never recommend Thrifty to anyone there or in the USA again. They have lost a customer for life.

Cons: it's a traaaap

Cons: We were given a very good rate when we booked but when we showed up we not given an option of taking out additional insurance. We discussed at length- the entire process of renting the car took a very long time. They tried to charge me over $500. After much discussion they wouldn't let us take the car for an amount that was over 3x the quoted rate. We really needed to get going and the Hertz facility is away from the airport so reluctantly signed. The front desk employee was rude and found VERY small print to justify the increase in the rate. I will not use Hertz again at this location.

Cons: They gave my car away. They literally had no automatic cars available the day I arrived at their location. I had to find another rental car company on the spot that day.

Cons: Car had over 100,000 miles no power and was charged almost triple my quoted rate because no one at booking says you will be asked to get Costa Rican insurance. So my $80 car was $230. Don't buy the third party insurance it's useless here in CR. More money lost. Not happy at all

Cons: The internet booking site was COMPLETELY mis-leading. It made no mention of the exorbitant insurance fees. It felt like fraud. I'm not sure I'll ever use Hertz again, especially in Costa Rica.

Cons: It would have been nice to know the full price I'd be paying for a rental car before landing in this foreign country fully dependent on getting it. I felt very mislead by the pricing I was given in the reservation. In Costa Rica, insurance is required and this was never mentioned in the booking process. Therefore I ended up having to pay over $400 (with an extra $800 held) for the car I expected to rent for $83. I just thought that was very dishonest by the rental car company and the booking company.

Cons: When I came there was no SUV's. So I had to wait more 5 hours to get one.

Cons: they did not have the car ready and told us to call within 4 hours. this delayed our trip and exhausted us. Instead of waiting, we decided to go to their site and there were a multitude of cars available. They claimed that they did not have cars available, because many people had not returned them from the day before. Customer service was slow and it lagged the promptness needed to get in and out. Also, if you prepay insurance from the US, it will not work. You are obligated to purchase their insurance. Our reservation was worthless.

Cons: Radio not working!! Insurance purchased from Alianz not relevant (had to cancel)

Cons: Please be aware that the cost of the vehicle rental does NOT include the insurance. The rental was estimated at $150 but when we got there, the mandatory insurance coverage took the total cost to $920 CAD. We had read about this, but we thought the credit card insurance covered it. With all the information printed out and in hand, we realized no cards will cover third party liability - which is mandatory there. The options were to put thousands down as a deposit and pay for any / some damages, or get full coverage for MUCH more per day. Please keep this in mind when booking a vehicle. And a 4 wheel drive is an absolute must if you want to drive any of the 'roads' in hard to reach but beautiful places.

Cons: My family paid in full online prior to my trip. We received a confirmation of both our payment and reservation. After arriving in our destination (Costa Rica) Dollar made us pay additional insurance and fees to obtain our car. With our young children in tow and after pleading with them for 2 hours we had to pay the additional money to drive away. A formal credit discard dispute has been filed. Stay away from this dishonest company.

Cons: Kayak misrepresented the vehicle. I booked a vehicle that could fit 7 with insurance. When I got there I found out the vehicle only seated 5 and the insurance I paid for through Kayak wasn't even basic insurance for this country. Ended up paying 400 more than originally quoted!! Could have saved almost 200 going directly through Dollar.

Cons: Poor service from internet portable device

Cons: Charged for extra insurance even though I already purchased supplental insurance for the rental through the site. Car was old and struggled to go uphill.

Cons: Extra charges. Bad service. Simply a ripoff