Car Rental Cancun — Local services in Quintana Roo

This whole car rental ordeal with HERTZ CANCUN AIRPORT was truly a nightmare. All the car rental companies at the airport are in on A BIG scam so RENTERS BEWARE.

I made a reservation well in advance with Alamo to pay $381 for a small car for a week in Cancun. I walked up to the Alamo counter from passport control, just as the clerk was turning away the family in front of me saying that they were past the "the one hour window". I was also a bit late for my reservation, no fault of my own. They told me they did not have a car for me, after "texting their supervisor" who said no can do. No explanation given.

So what is the logical next step? It's for me to go to the counter to the right and the counter to the right of that one to hopefully find a car in the same price range. I came to the Hertz counter, was greeted warmly and given a sheet of paper after answering a few questions like how many riders, etc. I AM QUOTED IN WRITING $1200 pesos a day, $8400 pesos FOR THE WEEK and I agree, seeing as the price was closest to my quote from Alamo. Exchange was about 22 pesos to the dollar that day.

When we got to the Hertz rental car location, I began to figure out what was going on. A disaster, literally hundreds of people in various lines and waiting areas. I was in line for 2 hours.

The salesperson assigned to me tried to double my fee at the very start. She quoted me $14,700 mexican pesos for a car. They tried to sell me all kinds of insurance. They texted their supervisor. They offered me a more expensive rental, "better car". They told me that they did not have any small cars which is what I wanted. She said she had no idea when the car I had requested would be in stock or returned for me to occupy. Every game in the book.

But I stood firm and I kept my ground respectfully and told her I would ONLY PAY WHAT I WAS QUOTED ON PAPER. She said the gentleman at the airport was mistaken, I told her that was the fault of Hertz, not mine. Why would they deliberately plant someone at the airport to misguide and misinform arriving travelers? SHAMEFUL, but then these people have no shame.

After much back and forth, they agreed, took my money and drove up my car. Hertz eventually honored the $8400 pesos I was quoted BY THEIR REPRESENTATIVE AT THE AIRPORT. I was asked to leave a $217 US DOLLAR deposit on my AmericanExpress ($5000 mexican pesos) and paid for my rental in full $8400 Mexican Pesos on a debit card to avoid any credit card fee.

I knew about the scams when I came up to the counter and that's why I was able to fight for my right. But it leads me to wonder how many people fall for these traps and end up paying double or triple what they were initially quoted or what they reserved. I would not be surprised if Alamo got a kickback for just simply turning me away when I had a valid reservation.

My advice? Stand your ground and take no BS. No other country has the level of fair treatment, just prices, and customer service we enjoy in America. Don't feed into the games of...

Writing this from the rental desk: Despite being President's Circle, the Gold counter refused to help me today and sent me to the regular counter where after waiting in line they told me they don't have a car for me unless I want to buy extra insurance beyond what they include by default. I just returned a car to Hertz Cancun 90 minutes ago and didn't have any problem picking up that car. But now that I told him that, he's going to "see if his manager will allow it". Apparently my President's Circle number never made it on to the reservation and they're trying to also tell me they can't add it because Avasa's systems won't let them, but Hertz in Mexico City had no problem adding it when I had the same problem 6 weeks ago. They have also refused to upgrade me because my President's Circle number is not on the reservation. And 2 managers have come by now to offer me a special deal on insurance that I still don't want while reiterating that Amex CDW doesn't cover liability, their own liability is only $35k, and they have no idea what an umbrella liability policy is but they don't believe it will cover liability in Mexico. However, all of their questions about my coverage are irrelevant because by their own policy on the wall, they include the legal liability coverage and I'm not required to get more. They are just holding the car hostage for extra money. They just told me it will be at least another half hour to get my car, but they could upgrade me now if I bought insurance and since I won't they sent me away. After 45 minutes, I got back to the counter and they, unsurprisingly still don't have a car unless I want to pay extra. Guy packed up to go home for the day and manager came over to tell me he'll get to me as soon as they have a car, unless I want to pay for "upgrade" (again, extortion). So I started eating the snack that I brought because my blood sugar is getting low after over 2 hours waiting here at which time the manager came back and told me he will cancel my reservation unless I stop eating or go outside. It's now been 2.5 hours, manager said employee left and he will call returns to try to find me a car. I'm not getting my hopes up. I might be sleeping here waiting. At 3 hours, he offered me another upgrade for only an additional $31/day to an MG. I declined and said I would continue to wait for him to give me a free upgrade or just the car I booked. He then said my car was ready and someone would come over to take payment. I paid and signed the standard agreements. And I was sent out to collect my car... Where about 50 people were waiting and it took another half hour and suddenly I was presented with an MG that apparently did not require paying the extortion ransom. So in total, my "easy" return of a Gold Member rental and pickup from the regular reservation desk took 4 hours. This was literally worse than a timeshare...

I'd read articles about car rental in Mexico, along with suggestions to avoid the typical traps, yet I got caught anyway. The biggest scam is getting you to pay for expensive extras which aren't necessarily required, but highly recommended unless you want to risk hefty charges for accidents & damage. I booked at one of the more reputable car agencies, not realizing it was just a middleman for Hertz/Thrifty. I could have sworn I got "full coverage", as recommended, which to my mind included everything (as it should have for the price!).

We'd debated renting a car for the whole week, but as we figured we'd want one for two days, & it would give us flexibility & save us the two-way transfer to the hotel ($88 total), we decided to go for a weekly rental.

Upon arrival at the Thrifty counter, I was asked if I wanted the Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) & Third Party Liability (TPL) coverage. I responded that I had full coverage, only to be told that full coverage was not, in fact, full coverage. I checked my agreement fine print, & sure enough, I was not covered. Buying those additional coverages more than doubled the cost of the rental, from expensive to exorbitant. Had I known, I would have rented for only 2 days. It was too late to cancel the entire reservation without penalty, so I reluctantly paid for the coverage. The counter agent told me that waiting until I was in Mexico & shopping rental car rates with different providers on-site would get me a better price. He supposedly worked with me to bring the cost down, & he did provide me with a new car, but it didn't seem like much of a bargain to me. I didn't feel I was in best negotiating position being hot & tired & wanting to get to the hotel.

I had no problems with the car, but did exhaustively inspect it & take photos before driving off the lot. I suspect they'd try to ding me for some damage otherwise, my zero deductible CDW notwithstanding. Expensive lesson learned!

Also, the rental return is quite confusing. The rental ready facility is separate from the return facility. They tell you this when picking up car, along with a QR code you scan that saves return location in Google Maps. What they don't tell you is you're returning to Hertz, not Thrifty, so there are no roadway signs or building signs that direct you. If you follow the airport signs, you will end up back at the pickup location. There are NO signs directing you to a Thrifty return. We drove by it twice (one way roads) because we could see Hertz return but did not know they were...