Because they (Budget) told mi amigo "I have bad news. We have no cars available." No further reason was given to him for this totally unavailable situation. In spite of a confirmation from Budget.com dated two weeks prior and no subsequent contact about any problems. Next Hertz said "We have no cars available" although the Hertz.com website had generated a booking confirmation. He did this one from the airport for two hours later. It was the same result for Economy cars which he used CarRentals.com to make and this one was prepaid. Again the agent said we have no cars, I cannot know why the website is allowing bookings.

The only people who had "cars" (SUVs) were the unaffiliated amigos of the car rental reps standing suspiciously nearby the desk who were attempting to charge 150 USD per day. This high rate was the same as the random touts outside the exit doors of the terminal. The reps each passed mi amigo to these guys and he declined their "offers."

If you are familiar with the layout of SDQ you will know it is not in Santo Domingo and there are three concentrations of car rentals offices. One is inside the secure area of the terminal after luggage claim. Another is just outside the terminal in a small building with Hertz etc. Finally to the north where highway 3 intersects there are several local companies. Remember this occurred at 2am until 6am when this third option of the local companies are not open.

Also if you are familiar with the operation of rental car cabals and ripoffs (si like mi amigo who is very experienced and resourceful, he uncovers several cabals and fraudulent operations in different locations before and his firm complaints about clear fraud have led to mass terminations at major franchises like Hertz MAN in the past), then you will see how the evidence paints the picture. It is clear enough to me. I visit RD several times and had not such problems but I rented from STI (a place where almost no tourists go) and then dropped at SDQ.

He has filed multiple complaints with the offices of each of the major rental companies about the specific situation with each and will charge back on Amex for the undelivered pre-pay booking. But the overall picture at this moment is beyond one or other operator... como puedes ver. Claro.