Costa Rica - 4x4 Rental Car Costa Rica

This is a review for ADOBE rental car. We just returned from 8 days of traveling through Costa Rica. We rented a Dihatsu BeGo, 4-wheel drive vehicle for all 8 days. The car was pretty solid; we were able to drive through the various unpaved mountain roads of Costa Rica, through small streams, etc.; the 4-wheel drive was definitely helpful.

On the 4th day of the trip, there was a hurricane in Manuel Antonio, and our rental car was crushed by a fallen tree in the storm. This cost us $790 through our insurance deductible. The storm also shut down all of the roads, electricity, and telephone lines in Manuel Antonio. Our first car, crushed, unusable, sat in the hotel parking lot for 2 days, until the Quepos ADOBE office representatives were able to meet with us; ADOBE made no attempt to refund us for these 2 days of unused car rental service.

After 2 days, they were able to meet with us, arrange the proper paperwork, tow the crushed car, and give us a new rental car. In a very cunning tactic, they back-dated our costs for this new car, so that they would include the days just after the first car was crushed; days that were prior to the new car even being delivered. It was an obvious SCAM!!! They clearly ripped us off, making us pay for additional days of insurance / car rental fees, even though the new rental car had yet to be delivered!

The lack of ADOBE staff sympathy for our state, as the customer, was unbelievable! We had to pay the $750 (+ tax and fees) deductible, as expected. On top of that, ADOBE scammed us, by making us pay for days in which the contract for the new rental car had been written, but the car was yet to be delivered.

Finally, we returned the new car to the ADOBE San Jose Airport office, and voiced our concerns over the back-dated charges. In a typical scam-artist fashion, they claimed that the contract was signed for those dates, and failed to give any sympathy that we were paying for days in which the car had not yet been delivered to us.

The rudest and most offensive part of this whole experience, was on the drive from the ADOBE office to the SJO airport. While in the cab, the ADOBE representatives spoke about us (the clients) in Spanish (which we understood, and speak well), claiming that it was our fault, that we were to blame, and that it was silly of us to ask for remuneration for the days in which we payed for the car, but it had yet to be delivered.

In conclusion: 1) I will never rent from ADOBE rental-car again. 2) It is offensive to talk behind someone's back, when they are present, in a different language (Spanish); especially a language that they understand and speak well.