Dominical Costa Rica Car Rentals, Costa Rica Rent A Car, Costa Rica 4x4 Rentals

From: RUV0@aol.com
Subject: Re: Do you have any information?
Date: Sunday, March 14, 1999 1:42 AM

I have been to Costa Rica 3 times. The very last time, I rented a vehicle, which overheated and we had to nurse to Liberia. Unfortunately we had to leave it there (but had notified the rental company and awaited their call for advise). Ex----- Car Rental Co. (now Tall--- FICA) posted the money we owed for the rental on the credit card (plus one day we didn't use) and very quickly posted the deposit of c330,000 colones ($1229.32) to the account as well, even though the car had been returned and accepted. To make a long story short, if our friends in CR had not been as tenacious as they were and if they had not been assisted by their attorney, we would have been another theft story. I can only imagine how many people have been taken advantage by Mr.Exo---Scum-bag. So there you go . . . Thank you again for a reference on a car rental company. My tendency would be to use an american name. What do you think?

Our Reply:

> to: RUV0@aol.com
> Subject: Re: Do you have any information on car rental companies reputations
>Date: Sunday, March 14, 1999 11:19 AM

We handled over 2700 reservations last year. We only use the 3 rental car companies out of the 100 or so as I explained to you in last message. We give them so much business that they pay attention immediately to any complaints from us. The complaints have been few and far between but the ones I remember best in last 3 years were as follows.

1.Ants in car---I got an adjustment

2.The tercel had only 4 seat belts not five--could not overcome this one

3.One tourist thought he should only pay for a week although he kept the car 7 days and 8 hours-------given policies in other countries this was ridiculous

4.Several complain about the required insurance but gold cards and amex only reduce or eliminate the deductible here. They do not cover liability although they will pay you back in the states I understand. Unlike most countries the government of costa rica owns the only insurance company here and sets the rules

5.We have yet to have an obvious ripoff similar to yours from any of our rentals although the local english language newspaper lists that as number one complaint of tourists who complain of rip offs

6. WE ONLY RESERVE NEW CARS SO WE HAVE NO BREAKDOWN PROBLEMS----IT IS NOT WORTH RUINING VACATION TO SAVE $5 OR $10 AND END UP WITH A 1996
MODEL. RENTAL CARS HERE ARE SUBJECT TO MUCH MORE WEAR AND TEAR SO WE ADVISE ONLY NEW MODEL YEAR RENTAL CARS.

The last question about renting from some company that has an american brand name is a little tricky. Many car rental companies here will use a brand name you are familar with and which may or may not have any connection to the same name american brand name car rental company. Almost without any exception however the rental company here is not a division or branch of any american brand name. One of the companies we use which is absolutely first rate pays for the use of an american brand name but i assure you the ownership is completely separate.

Dr. James Miller
Dept of Physics
Boston University
telephone 617-353-2659
August 17, 2004


Thanks for another great trip. The landcruiser hardtop absolutely had the gear ratio to get up any hill including the terrible dirt road at the farm. I promise to not wait till last minute next time to let you know to have vehicle ready.
Anyone that asks this is my 8th trip with you guys.

Thanks
Jim

From: hugh pettit <hpettit@gateway.net
Date: Wednesday, August 25, 1999 10:15 AM
Subject: Re: Car Rental Request

Service was good - no problems. We really didn't need the 4X4 capability, however highly recommend a 4X4 to future customers as the axle clearance allows easier access over the dirt and rock roads. My brother-in-law was with us during part of are visit and had to "crawl" at a very slow speed in a Nissan stationwagon over CR's dirt & rock roads to avoid undercarriage damage
Hugh Pettit
San Francisco

Date: Thursday, March 02, 2000
7:49 PM
Subject: vacation

Hi Harold

I would like to thank you for the way you handled all our travel requirements while we visited Costa Rica this winter, all arrangements hotels, car rentals and tours were first rate. We certainly would recommend your service to other travelers
Regards
Ed Forster
St. Albert Alberta, Canada
elsro@compusmart.ab.ca

Car rental went great.
Thank you
Renee Richardson
Richardson Kleiber Walter
635 S. Orange Ave., Suite 16
Sarsota, Fl. 34236
Ph: 941-953-9772
Fax: 941-365-9493

Wonderfully! Seth had no trouble with either the car or the service. He was able to pick up the rental when he needed it. Everyone was courteous, well organized and helpful.

Martin Rader
martydonna@sprintmail.com

From: Sandi Resnik
Sent: Monday, January 28, 2002 1:54 PM
Subject: Re: reconfirmation of car rental

dear harold,
thanks for your help with our rav4. we had a great time and things went very smoothly with the car.
sandi and bhrian resnik
santa barbara, california

From: "Mike France" <jacomike1@hotmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2004 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: rental car

Harold
Thanx again for your help, had another great trip! Mike

Hola,

everything went perfect, the car was there at the ferry and we had noproblem
whatsoever driving it to Monteverde and Tamarindo.

Gracias,
Laurent Roux
Embassy of France
French Counsel
88 Kearny Street
San Francisco, California
lroux@onebox.com - email
1-415-430-2191 x1223 - voicemail/fax

From: Ron Raymond <ronjoan@raymondsmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2002 6:36 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: car rental

Thank you for your help. Everything went fine while we were in Costa Rica.
Ron Raymond
6880 Rose Acres Lane
Felton, CA 95018 USA
Fax #: 831-335-0628

Shari Kaplan Shedrofsky

Dear Harold

Sept. 24

Back to the real world. It was wonderful and Costa Rica is beautiful and the Tulemar was fantastic selection for our honeymoon. The white water rafting and the crocodile tours you selected for us were great with first class guides.

We now completely understand what you meant by being careful about renting cars in Costa Rica and we suggest to anyone who rents a car to have a third party like Orbit (who Dominical.biz uses) there to stand up for the tourists if the rental car company tries to give you a poor quality car.

Thanks for all your help.

Cathy and Rusell Ahern

Haverhill, Massachusetts

P.S. Tulemar was great. Gilbert at the front desk was extremely helpful and pleasant and went out of his way to help us find things. Rooms were perfect and spotless. Tara had view of top of the world. Cathy.

From: Carolyn Swartz cswartz@bpictures.com

Date: Wednesday, April 05, 2000
5:45 PM Subject:

Re: March 20th Sorry it's taken me so long.

I still feel like we got back yesterday -- it's just been one very long week of playing catch up. First -- it was great meeting you and thanks very much for your help. We had a great time and no question, we'll be back. Now that I've been there, I realize how much hand-picking you've done -- and how narrowing the field to the really good places is really a valuable service. Each of the places we stayed was really nice. Parador was actually better than I expected. It's really a restful and relaxed atmosphere with the sprawling grounds, the large area by the pool (compared, say, to Mariposa.) If there was a casino or disco, I never saw or heard it. It's in the specs but either it's not in use or not there (which was good.) Needless to say, I was relieved that the place was as low key and disco-less as it was. Xandari is really, really cool and we want to go back. They've really thought of everything. (Apparently, Leona Helmsley is not the only one who believes in plenty of big fluffy towels and terry robes.) You're right -- all we needed was more time. Although Julian started having Nintendo withdrawal symptoms by the end. (I did plan too much road time the first three days -- to Arenal on Day Two, to Manuel Antonio Day Three.) But the drives were plenty gorgeous. Anyway -- we'll be in touch and hope to see you again next year same time. And if you ever need/want to use me as a reference, feel free.

Carolyn
bPictures Production New York City

Everything went great. Got the car with no hassles and the car worked out
well for us. We would certainly use you again.

Thanks,

Don Klappauf

Your assumption is correct it is the American Bar Association.
Have a great Day!

Don

Hola David -
 
I'll forward this to Harold in San Jose, CR to get you a good 4wd - it's dry season so the roads and rivers won't be that bad, but the best truck to rent for 2-3 people is the Hilux, for 4 people, the Fourrunner. The Rav4 is a trooper, but has less clearance and smaller tires.
 
For a surf trip to Witch's, try Carlos or let Harold contact him. Both can also drop you off for an overnight camping trip.
 
Other spots south of Tamarindo would be Langosta, where the rivermouth has surf even when it's small. Avellanas is a wide open empty beachbreak with offshore rocks - shallow and hollow at lower tides. And my favorite right point is Playa Negra, about 40 minutes south of Tamarindo. There are other ! spots, too, which you get to discover on your own.
 
Have a fun trip. Send some pics when you get back!
 
Greg

david wermuth wrote:

yo... me llamo david, and i was checking out your ideas and getting ready for a trip to costa rica in april.  you layed out a bunch of beaches to check out, and i am pumped.  i am planning on flying into liberia, and driving south to flamingo beach and tamarindo.  last time i was in costa rica, i got to rip A SOLID 6-8 FT. SWELL AT TAMARINDO, AND BOdY SURFED SOME MASSIVE CLOSEOUTS AT FLAMINGO.  it was awesome.  this time i want to check out those spots again, and then a few more. my friend and i just want to cruise the coastline, check out ! waves, and stay in many different places... maybe even a boat trip to witches rock and ollies.  i want to camp out on the beach... is this allowed/safe?  i also saw you recommend rentals with Harold at orbit... we want a four wheel, but nothing fancy.  last year i bombed thru a few rivers in a little piece of shit car, and almost stalled the thing.  don't want that again.  do you rent in liberia?  or can you help me out there?  also, where do you recommend we go after flamingo beach and tamarindo.  that is as far south as i know.  thanks a lot... gracias amigos...

David (from northern california where the water is muy frio) 

Harold,

You might remember me, last February-March I rented a 12-pax Toyota minivan from you guys but I was terribly paranoid about renting from you just because it was over the internet. Furthermore it was my first time to Costa Rica and I had serious concerns about renting a car because of all the horror stories I had heard. When we arrived at the airport everything was in order and when we returned the vehicle there were no surprises about what we owed. Also I am so glad we rented a new vehicle because those roads in Costa Rica do terrible things to vehicles in a short time. The only problem we had was a flat tire which we were able get patched for just three dollars.

Now I am looking to travel to Costa Rica with my wife and I wouldn't feel comfortable renting from anyone else.

Sincerely,

Christopher J. Conant

Sent: Saturday, May 05, 2001 6:39 AM
Subject: re[2]: Rental car reservation

Dear Harold,

Everything that you arranged for us worked out great. Thanks for your help.

All the best

Klaus Bierwagen
Dometek Inc.
PO Box 885, 95 Crisci St.
Leominster, MA 01453
Ph: 978-840-8181
Fax: 978-840-8182

From: Cheri tico2000@swns.net
Date: Thursday, June 22, 2000 7:12 PM
Subject: RE: Rentar Auto

Hello Harold!! Thank you for your interest about my experience renting a car with your agency and the Toyota renta Car. I was very happy with the service every one there was very helpful and the service couldn't be better. I will continue to use your services in the future and will recomend to others using your agency. Thank you and it was a pleasure to do business with you.

Sincerely Olman E Alvarado.

Dear Harold

Many thanks for making our fist trip to Costa Rica a great vacation. The first night at the Rodeo was fine and the accommodations were great. However the real Costa Rica opened up when the Suzuki Sidekick you reserved for us took us to the Tulemar in Manuel Antonio. What a jungle and beach paradise. The ultimate however was back to San Jose in the mountains at the Xandari. The Xandari is not in this world but closer to heaven.

Gary Bauer
201E 86 Street
New York, NY

From: Clive Pinder <clive.pinder@scala.com
Subject: Thank you
Date: Saturday, January 03, 1998 7:58 PM

A brief note to thank you for helping arrange what has been a wonderful
visit to Costa Rica. The car rental went smoothly and Buena Vista and the
tour were a perfect star. Our trip to Playa Negra was excellent, despite
some excessive winds and poor surf. The Tilawa is a wonderful hotel and the
location excellent.
Harold, I will recommend your service to others.

From: michael mather, cpa <matherx@primenet.com
Date: Wednesday, July 21, 1999 2:41 PM
Subject: Re: costa rica

Harold - Thank you for your timely reply.

The car rental was good. No problems with the van which, did indeed, fit all 8 of us plus our luggage. Our one night stay at the Arenal observatory Lodge was great. The volcano was active, billowing smoke, and glowing red after sundown. The hotel staff and restaurant staff were courteous and helpful. The final mile of the drive to the Lodge was a workout for our fully loaded Mazda Van. I would recommend the Lodge to anyone.

The El Ocotal resort was nice...but...I walk with a cane, and I had a very hard time climbing the walkway between the lobby/restaurant and my room. The walk down to the beach was likewise a hard chore. I would not recommend this hotel to anyone with physical disability which effects the ability to walk far distances. This difficulty caused us to leave the Resort one day earlier than planned. The people at the hotel were helpful and courteous.

The Villa Teca Hotel was good fun. We were the only guests there the first night. The friendliness of the Hotel employees during our stay was excellent. would also reccomend this Hotel to future guests. The Manual Antonio area is a very special place.

I am from Phoenix, Arizona, and would gladly recommend your services to all interested parties planning a trip to Costa Rica.

Thank you again... Mike Mather CPA

From: Cawp2 <cawp2@aol.com
Subject: Thanks
Date: Friday, January 02, 1998 12:33 AM

Just returned from Costa Rica this afternoon and wanted to let you know how
smoothly most everything went. As well, you asked for some impressions
so…..
Napolean- Accommodations are nice, breakfast was an added bonus.
Pines --- Rustic accommodations, but perfect for our family. Jovino and his
family are a pleasure!
Ocotal - Beautiful! The hotel is in a wonderful location. A little remote for the teenagers - but we had a wonderful time there snorkeling and going into coco.

Buena Vista - Lovely little place - charming gardens, my daughter loved the birds
that abounded, the room large and comfortable! The New Year Party was fun too!

The auto Rental - perfect - everyone was very accommodating.