carltonjohn23

Moondog46, next time check your locks properly beforehand. I have not heard many positive things about Europcar. I had a couple of friends who recently rented from them and they switched to Thrifty and have been very happy.

St. Maarten, as beautiful and unique as it is, is ridden with crime and unlawful acts. Vandalism of cars is a given, for all car rentals, not just Europcar. It is an island wide problem. Check your vehicle thoroughly when you pick it up, so that you don't have an issue when you return. Drive safely. Try not to stay out too late. Dont drink and drive late. Dont walk in any dark alleys at 3:00 am, the usual thing around the world.

sxmvisitor

Based on the above reviews, it seems as though some of you may have had bad experiences with thrifty. I would suggest you contact the manager with your concerns so that he can improve the services that he offers for your next trip to St. Maarten.

I must say that my experience with thrifty has been great. I have been renting from thrifty for the past 3 years now, and they have been reliable as it relates to the services that they provide. My recent trip was over the holidays and it went by with no problems at all. The service was excellent.

I must admit that the island is no longer as friendly as it used to be, so I advise you to take precaution and make sure your rental is parked in safe locations. When renting the car, make sure to acknowledge all prior scratches/indentations to the manager to reduce any misunderstandings that may occur when returning the car (please take pictures if you can). As a customer myself, I do not like to be taken advantage of, so please take necessary precautions and be safe.

DavidSXM

carltonjohn23.

Despite your lengthy disclaimer regarding the numerous bad experiences endured by others (including my own son-in-law, by the way) at the hands of your 'friends' at Dollar Thrifty Rent a Car, it is a well known fact here on the island that this is a 'rogue franchise', that nobody in their right mind should use - given the numerous other alternative non-fraudulent car rental operations that exist to choose from.

Though I agree with you that, in a few cases, people MAY be exagerating the problem (if that is possible) but surely you must agree that your 'fantastically good experience' with this outfit flies in the face of the multiple detailed complaints of fraudulent activity by the employees of this rental company - of which the franchise holder (a friend of yours perhaps ?) must surely be aware.

I also note that you have only become a member of Fodors within the last 5 weeks (you appear to have only joined this year) so could it be that your 'friends' at Dollar/Thrifty are now aware of the reports of their scams being circulated within this forum and have asked you to join up and send a fulsome rebuttal of their activities and a reccommendation of their operation ?

It's just a thought which crosses my mind.

carltonjohn23

I have no personal affiliation with Dollar/Thrifty. They are not my 'friends'. I have always known this car rental to be very reputable, and my group has always used them without fault. It appears that all the complaints above are in regards to damages, and I guess no one wants to pay for their damages. That's too bad.

I'm sorry about your son-in-law. I'm sure it no doubt put a hamper on his vacation experience. Next time at any rental agency, ask to speak to a manager and see what fair and reasonable solution can come of this.

In regards to to your alleged accusation that I am doing this for my 'friends', I dont want to address this matter and lower my standards to your level with your bickering.

I managed to come accross this article, and figured that while there may be some bad experiences, and people like you are trying to tarnish a company's reputation, when they have done such a great job for me, I feel it is my right to come and bring forward my great experiences.

I'm certain thousands of people have been very happy with this company's services. Unfortunately, good work rarely gets recognized in the real world. When people get bad experiences, they make it known to try to blast a company/person/friend or colleague. Its sad. Its like my former employer. Always bashing people in public who made mistakes. Never rewards or appreciates those in public who does a fine job.

This is life. I've been treated great. Time to do my little part and show that are superb to me. Don't chastise me for voicing my opinions.

DavidSXM

carltonjohn23

F.Y.I., my son-in-law is - fortunately - a highly experienced traveller, and the very obvious 'try on' by the Dollar/Thrifty staff when he checked in his rental (I was personally there with him and witnessed what happened) did not succeed. With someone less experienced, and in a rush to catch a plane, it probably would have done so.

If these guys are 'totally blame free and run an impeccable operation' - as you seem to suggest - it AMAZES me that there are so many tales of woe which have been posted by their clients on this forum, over a period of months. Don't you think it somewhat odd that no other car rental company has come in for similar, very regular, criticsm here ?

Whatever you may try to suggest, these stories cannot ALL be sheer fabrication, and surely it cannot be just 'a coincidence' that Dollar/Thrifty is apparently the only car rental company which attracts these regular tales of apparent fraudulent activity.

Anyone coming here has a wide choice of car rental companies from which to choose - so why take the chance of dealing with a franchise which gives every appearance of being operated by a bunch of scammers - presumably with the knowledge and acquiesance of the franchise operator himself.

Unfortunately, not everyone reads this forum, so there will always be plenty of 'rip off targets' for the staff of Dollar/Thrifty whose activities need to be curbed - if not by the Head Office of the company, then by the Sint Maarten and/or Saint Martin Tourist Authority, as they only serve to give the island a bad name.

DollarThriftySXM

Dear forum posters, readers, and customers of Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental in St. Maarten,

My name is Tariq McSood and I am the Managing Director of the Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental franchise in St. Maarten. One of my long time customers, informed me of this article that had many negative reviews of my business. I decided to post on this forum to address the concerns of many who have posted on this article.

I would first like to state that Dollar/Thrifty is NOT a scam operation. I can personally attest that none of these damage charges were meant to scam anyone. When reading these posts, it brought alot of sadness to my heart reading them. Since reading this article a couple days ago, I have called a meeting with my rental agents. Some of the agents that are mentioned here, have been severely reprimanded for making my customers unhappy.

I am very sorry to all the persons who have been affected by these damages, and or who feel that they have been wronged in any way. I have worked extremely hard to build Dollar/Thrifty into a huge operation that it is today. We recently moved in to our new beautiful facilities, and we currently have the largest fleet on the island offering new vehicles at low rates. My staff has been known to give unparalleled service which is why this article has perturbed me so much. I am happy to at least see a few positive articles in here. We have a large loyal base of customers who return to us every year, because they are very happy with the cars and service they receive.

Please email us at [email protected] or call the office at 54-52393 and ask for Tariq. I will be happy to listen to you, work with you, and make you have a much more comfortable car rental experience the next time you visit our island.

I am once again sorry for any inconveniences caused to you and your family. Our goal ultimately is to add value to your vacation. Please contact me to report any of your grievances, car rental requests, charges, inquiries etc. I am here to serve you.

DavidSXM

Thank you Mr.McSood for taking notice of these posts, the first of which was placed almost exactly one year ago.

It obviously has taken a while for the news to reach you, but at last it would seem that something has been done about the situation which seems to have prevailed for so long.

Hopefully the 'talking to' that you have given to your staff will put a stop to the nefarious practices which obviously have been prevalent in the past - let's face it ALL the persons who have posted over the last year cannot be fabricating their tales of woe!

I wish you well in your operation, and no doubt IF your little chat with your staff doesn't cure the problem which certainly seems to have existed, no doubt there will be further posts here for you to read.

jaaay1

Panoramic Car Rental is the ACE vehicle provider in St. Maarten is no better. Last year when I rented a car there were at least 10 places of damage. When I returned it they made an issue of one. I won out. This year, I reserve with them through a third party website, got a confirmation and when I arrived at the airport to get the car, the agent said, "no car". He talked over a radio to a "boss" and would not let me talk to him.

daneryland

Really appreciate the advice given by 'mom23rugrats'..........

Bixa525

OMG, we will be going to St. Martin in June for our first visit and will be wanting to rent a car. Are there any reputable car rentals on the island where you won't get scammed?

DavidSXM

Most of them - and there are many - are perfectly OK.

Suchaturi

Thrifty/Dollar in Phillipsburg, St. Maarten has a scam going. Avoid getting ripped off and seek out another car rental location. Our first car had a broken door handle on the inside of the door that we didn't notice until we got to the hotel. They exchanged it but the process was time consuming -- not what you want on your first day of vacation. Then they gave us a car that began to leak transmission fluid after we had had it for a few days. When we examined it, we noticed that the pan underneath was completely damaged and there were several dents that were rusting. We did not hit the bottom of the car at all but the rusted parts began to leak fluid visibly when we had it. We returned it and asked for a replacement. They inspected it and said we were responsible for the damage. We had taken photos of the rusted parts which could not possibly have happened in a few days time but they ignored this. We were then given another car and when we inspected it this time, we got underneath the car and found that this one was also just starting to leak fluid but it was a very slow drip. Then they brought out another car and it was the exact same problem. This car also was leaking fluid. The fact that they tried to gove us two more cars with transmission fluid starting to leak did not persuade them at all that we had not caused the damage. They still claimed that we had caused the damage to the car we rented because it began to leak visibly when we had it. They finally brought us a newer car that did not have leaking fluid. This whole process took a few hours on a morning when we would have rather been at the beach. We have photos and will dispute the extra charges with our credit card company but do yourself a big favor and AVOID using Thrifty/Dollar in St. Maarten. Both companies are run by the same people who are scamming innocent people for money.

DavidSXM

It would apprear that - despite the assurances of Mr. Tariq McSood, the Managing Director of this outfit, in his post on this thread on February 12th - NOTHING has changed.

If he reads this, he would do well to consider getting rid of the bunch of scammers that he seems happy to continue to employ.

Florida_Di

Wow, just in time. We were going to go online today to rent a car for our St Maarten trip. This definitely will influence our decision. Thanks for the information.

Cotton1

Please read this entire letter that I sent to Visa to get the full jist of what these people are capable of. This letter is to make sure that Thrifty Car Rental 102 Airport Road Simpson Bay In St Maarten N.A. doesn't attempt to make an additional false charge against my Visa. We had three different cars in one week. The employees don't care that going back and forth to exchange poorly maintained veichles can ruin a vacation.

My husband and I arrived in St Maarten late in the afternoon on May 17th 2011 and proceeded to Thrifty Rental to pick up our car reserved through Expedia for seven days to return on the May 24th 2011. We were the first people to the rental counter. We had arrived first we were the last to leave of 7 couples arriving with us to pick up cars.

The person waiting on us was new and didn't understand the computer system well. We showed him the reservation made through Expedia showing a total dollar figure and he didn't know how to back into the number in his software.

We decided to take the car so we could begin our vacation and speak with Expedia to resolve the overcharge after we returned home.

We were given a car we looked over the car found dents and scratches had them noted on the proper form and left. When we arrived at Simpson Bay Resort we found out there wasn't a door handle to open the passenger side door.

We learned that Thrifty maintains a desk at the resort from the resort front desk personnel. We found the person manning the desk and explained the lack of a door handle. His first response was well let me call the main desk so they don't think you removed the handle this is 15 minutes after picking up the car. He called the main office where we rented he than told us he had another car for us outside.

The resort rental person wrote out a damage transfer sheet showing we were getting another car we were told to keep our original contract with it.

The day before we were to turn the car in we drove down the hill from the resort to go to breakfast. I noticed the car would lurch rather than take off smoothly. I took the car into the rental agent at the resort desk as he was close. The agent explained he didn't have a car that day at the resort, he further explained we would have to take it back to the main office a couple of miles down the road.

I asked him to drive the car before we took it to the main office I was concerned that the car was not safe. He was reluctant to test drive the car but eventually obliged us my husband got in the car with him.

He took off at a high rate of speed on the resort ramp leading from the front desk. My husband asked him to slow down three times he explained the lurching was more noticeable at slow speeds and it was dangerous to drive fast where so many people were walking. He stopped driving fast than he noticed the lurching as we had.

My husband was reluctant to drive the car back to the main office he suspected the transmission. He didn't want to be stranded between the resort and the rental place. The resort agent assured us the car was low on transmission fluid and said the car would make it to the rental office no problem. Any other car rental company would bring you a car or have the vehicle towed to their location. This company has no concept of service or safety.

We pulled up to the rental office an employee came and we explained what the vehicle was doing. He got into the vehicle drove it back and forth it did the same thing. He went into the office to arrange another car. A few minutes later another man came out and saw some fluid on the ground near the left front tire.he than commented that we must have hit the oil pan.

He drove the car around the corner to the wash area my husband and I followed. My husband told them he wanted the car jacked up so he could take a closer look as long as they were accusing him of damaging the vehicle they complied. After jacking the vehicle up the mechanic with the agent standing there looked at my husband and repeated you have hit the oil pan.

We both replied that we hadn't hit anything, My husband knelt down and looked he could see the plastic cover that is supposed to protect the oil pan was completely eaten away. My husband responded that the entire bottom of the plastic protective cover was worn away he also pointed out that the dents and scratches in the oil pan were rusted not shiny metal as you would have if the damage was recent. My husband brought his face closer to the pan asked the mechanic and the rental agent to come closer he again pointed out that there was no new damage showing that all the scrapes were rusted over the front leading edge was scaly rust it had been there along time with no new bare shiny metal showing. He also pointed out that there were no puncture holes or oil on the pan.
The mechanic said yes it is rusty but it wasn't leaking. My husband replied again that we had not hit anything that this was obviously old damage he also stated that we were able to drive the vehicle to the rental place without the engine seizing. My husband stated again that the agent at the resort rental desk said the transmissions oil was low and that was the cause of the lurching. My husband stated the oil must be leaking from the filler bolt on the pan or from somewhere above. My husband repeated there is no puncture holes on the pan and no oil showing anywhere on the pan.

My husband is a Private Investigator he is accustomed to running investigations and asking questions to obtain answers. He had the feeling they were going to attempt to run a scam by the way they were acting prior to him asking them to jack up the car. They stopped answering. While the vehicle was jacked up my husband continued to take pictures of the dented rusty bottom of the pan and it's worn out cover. He then told the rental company he wanted the plastic cover removed so he could look closer and take photos even though the cover was worn away from the bottom my husband wanted to see the sides of the pan they complied removing the cover. They wouldn't say anymore about the vehicle they asked us to leave the wash area.

They brought us another car my husband took a beach towel I was holding to transfer to the new car and lied down on it on the ground in front of the vehicle after getting the man's attention. He ran his hand on the inside bottom of the plastic cover . When he pulled his hand out it was full of oil from this replacement vehicle. The plastic cover had a crack approximately 8 inches long but not completely worn away. The man than told my husband I will get you another vehicle. He brought around another car of the same make and model my husband lay on the ground again ran his hand on the same location again his hand came out covered in oil. This plastic cover also had a crack which my husband photographed.
At this point my husband who is usually reserved and quiet said what kind of a racket do you have going here, attempting to blame me for a leaking pan that all of the vehicles you bring out have.
The man said nothing he brought around an upgraded much newer vehicle. Again my husband got on the ground ran his hand this time the plastic cover was not cracked and no oil was leaking. Before leaving they asked my husband to write out a statement my husband said I have nothing to report we did not hit anything he told them he could not report what he did not do. He told them that it is obvious that you don't inspect or provide proper maintenance to your vehicles' as I has just found two more with the same defect. The man from the car rental said they wouldn't give us a car unless we wrote out a statement. My husband wrote out exactly what he told them that he had nothing to report. I have a copy of the statement my husband wrote.
The following day was our day of departure we came to return the car we were given the day before. My husband started the check in process. When you rent the car Thrifty requires their customers to allow them to take two separate imprints of your card on credit card slips. On one of the credit card slips they write the contract amount. On the other slip they write 850.00 dollars or leave it blank I can't remember and require you to sign both. They said when we left the island they would give the slip back to us that represented the deposit to tear up.
We finished the checking out my husband said you haven't given me the deposit credit slip you asked us to sign. The man replied that it looks like you have a damage report here. My husband replied that we had not damaged the car and suggested that the man read the statement my husband wrote.
My husband asked to speak to the manager they said he was at a meeting and encouraged us to call their customer service number. My husband told them that they wouldn't be able to get away with what they were doing that he had taken pictures of all of the leaking cars they had attempted to give him prior to giving him the upgraded car. He told the agent he wanted to show these pictures to the manager. This agent replied again that the manager was in a meeting. We had to go to the airport to catch our flight and left.
I'm attaching the pictures along with the explanations of each picture my husband wrote. The pictures show the vehicles oil pan area they attempted to say we damaged, the other vehicles they brought out that were leaking oil and the final vehicle we took which was clean and dry.
This company needs to be stopped my husband will be sending these pictures to Expedia, as well as Visa. His intention is to send this package to Thrifty headquarters, Media outlets, and the Insurance Industry to learn if Thrifty or Dollar at the same St Maarten address (companion businesses under the same roof) have made similar claims against other unsuspecting innocent people and got away with it.
Thank you, Chris Birchall
Below is the Corporate headquarters address and phone number of Thrifty Car rental. There must be a franchise agreement that thrifty Car rental issues when they take on a new dealer. This agreement must state the condition of the cars, maintenance levels and operating procedures. Do not hesitate to call send pictures etc to Thrifty headquarters to report abuses.

Thrifty Car RentalCorporate Headquarters
(800) 847-4389
5310 E. 31st St. (918) 665-3930
Tulsa, OK 74135 Fax: (918) 669-2213
http://www.thrifty.com
President/CEO: Gary Paxton
VP Sales/Mktg./Advertising: Brian Carpenter
[email protected]
Staff VP Sales: Bob Thunell (918) 669-2440
[email protected]

Cotton1

This message is to Bella Claireon and Roger who suggested that David was a competitor of Thrifty or in the travel business after stating he lived on the Island. My name is Chris Birchall I'm listed as Cotton1 in this thread. Please read my post above.

On the Fodor's Around the World site Ive counted approximately 48 negative post about Thrifty Rental Car in St Maarten. I highly doubt that 40 some people came home from St Maarten and said gee I'm bored why i don't I make some negative comments about Thrifty in St Maarten and post them on Fodor's.

Please let me explain what I'm doing since you questioned what people are doing about Thrifty St Maarten other than whining on this thread as you suggested. My package with pictures has gone to 123 travel blogs and or travel review sites, Mondial the company that handles the Insurance claims for Visa, the State Department Washington DC, the American Consulate in Curacao, the Canadian Consulate located in St Maarten.

I have emailed the same package of letters and pictures to Brian Carpenter VP of Marketing at Thrifty corporate headquarters in Oklahoma which he ignored.

Since Brian Carpenter decided to ignore us we decided to devote our staff and ourselves to compile a list of travel agencies, airlines, all the major hotel chains and independant travel consultants to send the list of complaints, my letters and pictures throughout the world.

We are compiling complaints relating to all Thrifty outlets from the travel blogs and review sites. these complaints will be sent to the marketing departments of each and every airline and the corpoate headquarters of all major hotels and travel agencies throughout the world.

It is obvious that Thrifty Corporate isn't doing anything to intervene or compensate the victimms of fraud perpetrated by their franchisee's particularily at the St Maarten location. They will not beable to ignore loss in profits do to public opinion as we get it rolling.

We will continue to monitor the travel blogs and copy the post. After we have collected several thousand or less complaints) we will forward them with the addresses of the travel blogs and review sites to the news media including 60 minutes until one of the outlets reports on them.

Thrifty Corporate has a responsibility to protect the public. I'm also assumming they have a franchise or business agreement that spells out the condition and maintenance of vehicles as well as operating procedures of their dealers.

We are attempting to obtain that agreement through a third party once we do it will be turned over to an attorney.

Please Take a look at the third or fourth complaint down on this thread that begins with WOW. This is the reaction we hope will take place as people from around the world read the practices of Thrifty / Dollar Rental Company in St Maarten.

Chris Birchall

DavidSXM

Well done ! It is high time to get this bunch of scammers stopped in their tracks.

Obviously Mr.Tariq McSood (the holder of the Thrifty / Dollar Car Rental franchise on this island) either couldn't care less, or actually condones, the activities of his apparently crooked employees.

What it appears they are doing is in fact criminal, and the authorities - probably via the Sint Maarten Tourist Bureau - OUGHT to be taking an interest, and doing something about it. Mr.McSood is, however very well connected locally !

Cotton1

I doubt the Tourist Bureau or any other entity on the Island could care less at this point. That is obvious by their lack of intervening up until this point. What will get their attention is the loss of business from tourist. People will read the post we are putting out all over the internet and eventually say why should I bother to go to this island and have stress. This is what isd happening in Mexico. You can screw some of the people some of the time. You can't screw all of the people all of the time and get away with it.

DavidSXM

Cotton1 - I think that you are going way overboard, and getting well and truly carried away by your own idea of the likely effects of what you are doing - or intend to do. !

OK, so it is a well established fact that Dollar/Thrifty Car Rental IS a 'rogue operation', but I really do not think that you can SERIOUSLY believe that the efforts that you are making to ensure that the world and his wife become aware of that fact are really going to STOP PEOPLE FROM VISITING this island - if you DO believe that, you are suffering from delusions of the importance of your actions (of which I hasten to say I fully approve) !

Just because there happens to be a particular car rental outfit which is regularly 'scamming' unsuspecting clients, it certainly is VERY far fetched indeed for you to think that your exposure of the practices of just one of - literally dozens - of car rental companies on the island, will be sufficient to cause potential visitors to go elsewhere - you must be kidding !

There are plenty of other companies from whom visitors can - and do - rent cars, and enjoy stress fee vacations. So I really think that you are crazy to assume that your exposure of the activities of just one car rental company will in any way seriously impact the head count of visitors here next season, and cause such a drop in the amount of tourist revenue derived by the island, that the authorities will get a wake up call.

NOLARon

My last trip to St. Martin was in September 2009 and I rented from Paradise car rental. I was very pleased with the service and especially the rates ($110 and up for a week). They rent small Hyundais which are great for small parking spaces and the narrow streets. I agree with taking the full insurance coverage. I am going again soon and have reserved with Paradise. I will give a follow-up report. Has anyone had a bad experience with this company?