Just got back a few days ago and thought I would let you guys know what I got...
We arrived at MCO at 12:30 at night (flight was late)on Sunday November 30th and headed out to the isle...We had a reservation using Carlson code and a $15 dollar off coupon so the total for EA for 3 weeks was $508.94 all inclusive.
There was NOTHING on the isle....and I mean nothing...3 small cars that my DH could not stetch out his bad leg in at all...We drive a Cavalier at home and it had more leg room...We found an employee and he said we could take a full size...Not much to choose from there either...3 Malibu's and a Camry and the ONE Dodge Intrepid that we took...THAT WAS IT!!
Our Intrepid had New Jersey Plates and had 17 000 miles on it. It was not washed on the outside and the inside of the windshield was dirty. No frills either...There was no keyless entry...
When we got to the gate, the attendant was new and had to call over another to help her. She then turns to me and says..."Your VISA dis not go through..."
While I was trying to call VISa on our phone the 2 agents treated us like the scum of the earth. One asked if the card was good when we left home, if there was enough room on the card for the rental and they spent the next 30 minutes laughing with each other. They commented on how the line behind me was getting long and I would have to figure this out and find a way to pay...
I freaked...We paid for everything ahead of time and we had cash for spending...I had paid off that credit card before leaving and had called to confirm the balance. The limit on that card is only $1000 canadian but that was more than enough to cover the car rental. I was floored.
They wanted to take my MC but that was my only buffer. They said that it is possible that the VISA did work but they could not tell...They ended up calling VISa and VISA ok'ed it on the phone but I was shocked that they could not tell if the first one had worked.
(just an FYI...$508.94 US is $676.89 Canadian)
It was 1:45 am before we left the airport...I was pissed.
The next morning I called my credit card and they said there was 2 identical $508.94 charges just minutes apart but one was from
Alamo and the other from National...They gave me a number for the agent from National to call to fix it. We needed to check out from our one night motel and needed that card to work.
The card has a $1000 Canadian limit and the 2 charges of $508.94 US made the total go to $1353. Canadain and that is why it refused it when they tried a second time. (Once I got home I called VISA and they said that if I was not a good customer who always pays on time, they would have not let the charge go through and I would have been sitting there at MCO with no way to pay till 8 am Monday morning.)
I called National and the agent was really rude. She said she would get to it in an hour or 2 and I said no, NOW!!!! I told her that we were heading for the coast and I needed to pay for my motel and since this was their error that she needed to do this right away. Annoyed with me she said..."Just give me that number... in a really rude way.
I got a call back 35 minutes later and she said only " I took care of you..." I asked how this could happen and why...She said again..."Mam, I don't know what you want from me...I took care of you..." I said that this and last night's service was the worst and I want to know how this could happen and she bluntly cut me off and in a loud voice said "Mam, I TOOK CARE OF YOU!"
I was practically in tears and I hung up and ran to the bathroom so my DH takes the phone and calls her back up and she was even more rude to him after he said "I want to know why my wife is here in tears because of you...She said " SIR, I took care of you and that is all I can do..." He said he wanted to talk to a manager and she said she was the senior person on duty and said she had to go...
The car was fine but the treatment was horrible. It spoiled 1/2 a day before I could let it go and cost us a night's sleep because we were worried...I don't know if I would be able to rent from them again...What a bad first impression.
