Complaint Review: rentalcars.com division of Priceline.com - Internet

My husband and I used rentalcars.com to rent 2 vehicles in Costa Rica in Dec 2012.  I asked the agent at rentalcars.com which car rental company was providing the car, what was included and whether my VISA CDW was ok for the insurance. I was assured - in writing - that it was acceptable as long as I brought proof of insurance.

So then I contacted my Visa provider to ask what I should bring to CR as proof of insurance. They directed me to the correct documents which I downloaded & printed noting the time & date and confirmation by TD Visa. So we booked with www.rentalcars.com -a division of www.priceline.com .

We arrived late at night and stayed at the HIlton, and called Adobe rent a car at 9:30 the next am to confirm that they were expecting us. They said they would be down to the hotel at 10:15 to pick us up. They arrived after 11:15 and took us to their office . Here they told us that our voucher from www.rentalcars.com would not allow us to use our VISA CDW.

We had 2 choices: pay them the rental again -approx 1400 CAD or use our rentalcars.com voucher and pay for their insurance. I showed them the documents from TD VISA and the phone number to call Visa - "collect" -  to confirm we had coverage. They refused. I asked to speak to a manager. The manager was out. So they phoned someone named Oscar who was supposedly a manager who said "you have 2 choices..." and basically repeated the 2 previously presented options. Pay again for your rental or use our more expensive - less protection- coverage from Adobe.

After a couple hours of frustration, it became clear that we could not get these people to listen to reason.  So we asked for a ride back to the hotel where I attempted and failed to get any help from www.rentalcars.com and my husband found us another car from AVIS.

Since then I have spent over 5 hours on Skype calling our TD VISA resolutions department and conference calling with www.rentalcars.com. They keep promising to correct the problem, but have not done anything they promised. I forwarded the manager "Manni" a copy of the email with their agent telling me that my VISA CDW is OK to use on these car rentals. But still no one has responded.
 
I asked them to cancel the second vehicle ($750 CAD) because we would have the same problem with VISA CDW. They told me I could do it online myself. I pointed out that their terms and conditions says I will be charged a fee if I cancel outside the 48 hour window or 3 days rental if inside the 48 hour window. I said I felt this was unfair because they did not provide me with accurate information about the VISA CDW and this is why I was cancelling.

The agent "Sam" and then his manager "Manni" both said they would take care of this within 2 hours. It is over 56 hours later and they still have not taken care of it.  Repeated calls to the manager "Manni" today have been "cut off" while the TD VISA agent was waiting on hold to speak with "Manni" the manager.

After travelling many times to Costa Rica and never having a problem like this before, I would recommend everyone "avoid like the plague" Adobe rent a car and especially DO NOT book with www.rentalcars.com. It is now going to be a month or two of legal fighting to get our 2100 CAD back on our card. A letter to PRICELINE.COM and as many posts as I can do in 4 weeks of holidays are next....