Central America - Bad experience with Avis in San Jose, Costa Rica

As experienced travelers know, renting a car in Costa Rica is a bold move, to say the least. With speeding fines of $600 (or an on-the-spot cash bribe), poorly signed roads, and undisclosed mandatory insurance fees, it's an unpleasant experience.

I had heard a few negative things about the Hertz affiliate near San Jose airport, so I tried Avis despite my usual Hertz loyalty. Got a pretty basic quote, $31 per day including taxes.

Of course, the secret mandatory insurance isn't included in the quote, which is deceitful but a common practice when renting cars in Costa Rica. The Avis rep tried to push the expensive $30/day insurance on me, but after calling American Express and printing out my coverage, he reluctantly agreed to let me only buy the minimum mandatory insurance.

The contract he printed was full of errors and a rate/estimate higher than my quote, even considering the insurance. After a bit of discussion, he printed a corrected version and I went on my way.

We had a great time in Guanacaste and (thanks to GPS on an Android phone) didn't get too lost.

When returning the car, at the precise agreed-upon return time, the agent decided (without saying a word) that the daily rate would be nearly twice what was written on the original contract. When I objected, he printed my rate code from a separate computer, and it matched what was printed on the contract: the correct daily price. He said his computer system, however, was insisting that the daily rate was now substantially higher. He refused to lower it to the amount printed on my contract (confirmed by his rate code computer), and it took 30 minutes of me patiently repeating myself and explaining the problem before he consented to ask his manager and correct the situation. Ultimately I paid the correct price, but if I was in a hurry or being lazy, I would have been ripped off.

I told him that my experience renting from Avis in Costa Rica was among my worst car rental experiences, ever, and he nodded and said "Yes, I'm sure". No apologies, no attempt at reconciliation.

Long story short: be careful renting cars in Costa Rica, and if you do, I advise that you try a company other than Avis.

Too bad about the attempt to steal from you. That is a terrible reflection on Avis, and they should know.
However, I've never thought the mandatory insurance fees were undisclosed or secret.
We've always asked for the rates with breakdowns of all fees, and rate quotes with only the CR mandatory liability; Europcar and Solid have done this, no problem. We bring a letter from the cc company to prove coverage, to avoid the CDW, and then pay only for the mandatory liability.
I understand that many people assume that things work elsewhere as they do in the US, but a very little bit of research will have a renter forewarned and therefore forearmed. (Especially having all paperwork with you when you rent, checking a car out completely, inside and out, before taking it off the lot, taking photos of the car before taking it, and staying for the return "check" and/or more photos then.)
Yours is a good cautionary tale for people who haven't rented in CR; in particular, leave enough time when you return a car to be sure that everything is above board, and keep all documentation!
After reading tales like yours, I'm glad we've had few to no problems with our rentals.

I second the OP. I don't remember the car rental company that I used last year but it was a nightmare.

I had ZERO problem renting out of Tamarindo with Hertz last year. They even let me use my Diners Club in lieu of mandatory collision coverage (but not liability). Total cost was under $100 for a compact car for 3 days.

I agree also with the OP. We had a confirmed reservation with National but no cars. We ended up at Hertz, and National compensated for part of the rental rate difference, but I refuse to rent from National ever again. National really didn't accept responsibility for the mess, other than we are sorry the "franchise" overbooked their capacity. It is very true when conducting business overseas it is not the US, but when you rent from a US based company you expect some level of assurance.

Wow -- sounds like a nightmare down there.

I'm flying down tonight (Tuesday) for 8 days but won't need a vehicle until possibly Saturday. Perhaps my daughter and I can s sort something out before Saturday. She has been there for 9 months in school and may know of some work arounds.

Perhaps I can't rent one of her friends vehicles or hire one as a chauffer ???