RentalCars.com Caution! Paid in advance and RENTAL CANCELLED! Internet

 I wanted to provide a review and feedback from myself and my husbands Honeymoon to Puerto Rico, where we used RentalCars.com. First off, I had a great original rate. It was around $280 for 7 days with a Totota Yaris. I paid in FULL several months before our trip to lock it down, I knew we would be traveling after Christmas and wanted to be sure we had a car since this is the only way to get where we wanted to be in PR (near Aguadilla/Isabela). My husband was trying to go surfing and we definitely needed a car to get around to beaches and for the 3 hour drive to our hotel. Trouble began when American Airlines called me the night before our flight was supposed to leave and let me know our flight was cancelled and we were put on another one a bit later that day. I called Dollar rental car (RentalCars.com calls this the "supplier" of the car) and let them know we would be a few hours later getting in. This was confusing to the customer service but they said they would leave a "note" in my file. The following morning, another call from American came to my phone notifying us of another delay.

To be fair, it was weather related and of course I realize this isn't anyone's fault and can't be controlled. Unfortunately though, this time, we weren't going to make our connection that evening into San Juan. I called the Dollar Rent A Car in San Juan again and told them we were going to need to pick the car up the following morning, since our flight had been so delayed we were going to have to stay the night in Miami and then fly to PR the following day. When I let him know, he started sounding pretty troubled and then let me know he "couldn't guarantee me a car." Also, he said it looked like all of the cars were already rented. He told me I needed to call RentalCars.com and have them send him an email with the amendment of the reservation and only then could he be allowed say 'OK, we will try and save you a car.' We called several times throughout the day just to make sure that Dollar was communicating to RentalCars.com and knew we were going to be delayed/there the following day. I was told multiple times that RentalCars.com had done their part to send the amendment to Dollar and everything I could do was taken care of.

You can only imagine the unnecessary stress this was causing as I was trying to go on a holiday and the UNCERTAINTY of not having a car (I had prepaid for the car months earlier for peace of mind) when we arrived was nearly enough to turn us around. Fast forward to the next day, we're in Miami heading to Puerto Rico on a 9:30AM flight. I decided to call AGAIN (see any attached photos for my call log - this was the 6th time I've called just to make sure a car was being reserved for us). When I called, a woman told me that RentalCars.com never sent them an amended reservation and since we didn't pick the car up the night before, our reservation had been cancelled. COMPLETELY CANCELLED. They let us know they also didn't have any cars available for us at all. I immediately called RentalCars.com, which by the way, is located somewhere in Europe. This is fine but Customer service in general is poor.

Each time I called I was on hold for at least 15 minutes before I was able to speak with someone. (See any photos for attached screenshots of my wait time.) Then, the person who answers has to talk to "support" and the other team members to get up to speed on what's going on. When I finally got ahold of Customer Service, they explained that they sent the amendment but that Dollar didn't "accept" it. They told me there was nothing they could do besides issue me a full refund. The guy also told me they got "very angry" with Dollar for not accepting the change. However, they didn't have ANY more cars in ALL of Puerto Rico. I had him check every airport and "supplier." Nothing. This was two hours before we were supposed to land. I explained that the entire trip would be ruined if we couldn't get a car and drive the three hours to our hotel - we NEEDED that transportation to do anything we were planning on doing there.

Our trip was essentially ruined because Dollar and RentalCars.com cannot communicate properly and do not have enough of a relationship or process to conduct business when travel plans change. Though the changes were completely out of our control and even though I was calling throughout the day, and I had already paid for the car months earlier, they were unable to find a solution except to give me my money back. This is a terrible sign for a business. If you're planning on renting a car, I would highly suggest you avoid RentalCars.com at ALL COSTS. Otherwise, this could be your experience on your next vacation. Traveling to the Alps in France or Germany? You'll need a car. Traveling to Tucson Arizona? You'll need a car! Traveling for work to Salt Lake City? You will need a car there too! Whatever you do, do not use RentalCars.com - unless you don't want a car at all! Please feel free to write me about my experience at meresphotos@gmail.com and I would be happy to elaborate and give you every single detail because NO customer deserves to be treated like this. Ever.