Good job Chris. I do have a question, though. You said that he should have called the reservation ce

I reserved a Hertz car for a week in Mexico for an estimated $113 a flat $90 for the rental of the car, and an estimated $23 in taxes and fees. I did not pay Hotwire at the time of the reservation and understood that I would pay Hertz directly when I rented the car.
At the Hertz desk in Mexico, ritz carlton hotels bali I was presented with an entirely different ritz carlton hotels bali set of charges. There, I heard for the first time about the mandatory Mexican liability insurance. I did not have the option of declining the insurance, which amounted to approximately ritz carlton hotels bali $110 for the week.
But that wasn t the only surprising charge. The price of the car had mysteriously risen to around $108, and I was assessed a service charge of approximately $135. No one at Hertz or Hotwire has yet been able to tell me what that s about. Together with two smaller ritz carlton hotels bali fees of about $44, my total bill came to $397.
The day after I returned from Mexico, I contacted both Hotwire and Hertz. Although their stories have varied slightly over the weeks, each company tells me that I should go talk to the other. Hotwire says it has no control over what Hertz bills me, and Hertz says it has no control over what Hotwire quotes me.
Given the enormous discrepancy in price and the hours I ve spent trying to get this matter resolved, I am seeking a refund of the full $283 difference between the $113 reservation price and $397 charge. Hertz has my money, ritz carlton hotels bali but Hotwire made the representations that led me to the Hertz desk in Mexico. ritz carlton hotels bali Can you help me get my refund? Brian Perez-Daple , Arlington, Va.
I checked ritz carlton hotels bali with both Hotwire and Hertz, but could find nothing that specifically addresses your situation. (Hertz ritz carlton hotels bali has a lengthy page with disclaimers about its protection plans that came the closest.)
Did someone in Mexico pull a fast one on your rental? Possibly. After you returned, a Hertz representative in the States told you that insurance wasn t required on your rental. If a Hertz employee in Mexico told you otherwise and insisted you buy insurance before allowing you to leave then you can be forgiven for thinking your car rental ritz carlton hotels bali company was trying to separate you from your pesos.
One of the best ways of preventing an insurance misunderstanding is to do a little homework before your trip. Contact your car rental company and get your insurance requirements in writing. Make a printout of your credit-card coverage and car insurance coverage, too.
If an agent demands that you buy optional ritz carlton hotels bali insurance, take a step back from the counter and call the car rental company s reservations line. Explain the situation, and ask for a resolution. It is in the car rental ritz carlton hotels bali company s best interests to fix the problem right then and there, and I ve seen companies rise to the occasion time and again, when called.
If you ve already taken the insurance, stay off the phone. Instead, contact your travel agent or car rental company by email. Having a paper trail (or in this case, a data trail) ensures your grievance will be addressed ritz carlton hotels bali quickly and taken as seriously as possible.
I contacted Hotwire on your behalf. A Hertz representative contacted you and agreed to credit you the difference between the amount charged to your credit card and the amount quoted to you by Hotwire.
Good job Chris. I do have a question, ritz carlton hotels bali though. You said that he should have called ritz carlton hotels bali the reservation center instead of being blackmailed into agreeing to the charges. I haven t traveled extensively in Mexico, so I m not sure how it would work. Should he have used his cell to try and call? Would his cell even work in most places in Mexico? Should he have insisted ritz carlton hotels bali on using their land line, even when it (I suspect) would be a call back to the US and, therefore, expensive?
Would you want a visitor to the U.S. to judge an entire country because of the worst parts of LA, NYC, and Chicago? You are rather unlikely to meet anybody connected with a drug cartel in Cancun, nor are you likely to encounter government corruption of any kind. And as any reader of Chris s column knows, travel scams are by no means confined to foreign countries; there are plenty right here at home.
I was under the impression that you were required to show proof of insurance that was valid in Mexico. Most American car insurance won t cover you there. I remember our travel agent mentioning it to us when we booked a car for our last trip. Hence the forced insurance at the car rental counter if you can t show something contrary (our agent told us that we d have to have a letter from our insurance agent and a copy of our insurance policy showing specifically that Mexico was covered).
In Mexico, 3rd party liability is required by law. US automobile policies are often not valid in Mexico. Some rates in Mexico INCLUDE liability in the rates, some don t. It should and is usually well disclosed when booking.
1) Does Hotwire have enough disclosure on its site? Either the rate should include 3rd party liability, or it needs to be disclosed as to how much it will add to the date. There isn t enough information ritz carlton hotels bali to know if this is done.
Chris (Elliott), the advice to call the corporate number is good, but often in a foreign country it is difficult. Furthermore, I have had experiences where the corporation hides behind the fact that it is a franchise and we can t control our franchises. So, while your advice is good, it may or may not be reasonable for the average tourist.
Always buy full coverage insurance in Mexico. Most US insurance not good there. If you get into an accident without insurance and can not pay the damages plus a fee, you may have issues trying to leave the country. If you try to rely on your credit card for coverage, be sure it is applicable. Beware of permitted overcharges that may not be covered.
ritz carlton hotels bali That said, misleading quotes (those that leave out insurance) are wrong. Rentals are cheap in Mexico and even with insurance added are not bad. However, in making a decision one is entitled to full cost information up front.
They know you re traveling internationally, you need a car, and you re probably not going to turn around and leave. When you re in that situation never use a company like hotwire but rather book directly through ritz carlton hotels bali the company s web site. if you have a reservation through the rental company its almost impossible to argue you were given the wrong price, even at the counter.
And shame on Hotwire. This should have been their problem to resolve. They should stand behind their quotes, because that s the only thing they re selling. They should have made up the difference and argued with Hertz.
@BucksterSF: The fact that they just threw up their hands and told the OP "You need to deal with it" should be a clear warning on how you will be treated in a dispute. I agree. It s cases like these that make me very unlikely to ever use a third-party service ritz carlton hotels bali like Hotwire. It s shameful for the company that quoted you the price and essentially sold you the rental to throw up their hands and say well, we can t do anything about it. What good are they, then?
Anyway, the insurance issue is confusing, but what clearly screams of scam either on the part of Hertz or Hotwire, I don t know is the price increase and the mysterious service charge (that was more than the cost of the rental).
The corruption in Mexico is becoming more widespread that not even the all-inclusive resorts are safe. The drug cartels have very deep pockets and pay a lot of people a lot of money to separate us from our pesos and, in some cases, our lives.
In addition, it s as the police chief of Nogales said in a recent interview: ritz carlton hotels bali (and I am paraphrasing) it s not safe for a number ritz carlton hotels bali of reasons but the bottom line is, even if the shoot out is directed ritz carlton hotels bali at someone else, what if you re sitting next to that someone else .
A friend of mine s daughter was doing an exchange student program in Mexico, in a good part of Mexico, mind you. The girl was in a horrible accident she was hit by a drunk driver as she walked across the street and required hospitalization. My friend flew down there to retrieve her daughter and bring her back to the States. At the hospital, my friend was EXTORTED by the doctor, nurses, orderlies anyone who had served ritz carlton hotels bali her daughter was suddenly charging fees that did not appear ritz carlton hotels bali on the bill. My friend, who is fluent in Spanish, tried to explain she had already PAID the bill in cash, as most of Mexico ritz carlton hotels bali operates but no, she could not get her daughter ritz carlton hotels bali until these other palms were greased. She called the cops and they were useless. ritz carlton hotels bali She ended up paying more than $5000 OVER the cost of the hospital bill just to get her daughter out of that good hospital in that good area because of some greedy, low-life people!!!!
So, yes, I do have a very negative view of Mexico, even the good areas. Feel free to travel there. Be careful of the bullets, and be sure to have extra cash on hand. You ll need it at the hospital, because the bill isn t where the buck stops!!!
Also: I live near the border. There s more violence than the mainstream media reports. ritz carlton hotels bali A border college ritz carlton hotels bali was shot up by cartel members two months ago. A border college on OUR SIDE. Bet you didn t see that in the papers. Two kids were killed, ritz carlton hotels bali too.
Same thing happened to me in Costa Rica. The rental agent at the counter insisted that additional insurance was mandatory and had already checked the box when he handed me the paperwork ritz carlton hotels bali to sign. Ingenuously, I believed him. Upon return, when I discovered that there was an extra charge for this insurance (that was really NOT mandatory), I tried to fight it, but since they had the paperwork, no one believed me.
I know someone who hired movers to move their personal belongings from one city to the other. They were quoted one price and when they were delivered they demanded twice as much. They were holding their stuff hostage until the amount was paid. My friend tried to call the cops but they refused ritz carlton hotels bali to get involved because this was a civil matter.
LDW from a car rental company is NOT liability insurance. It is Loss Damage Waiver. This removes you