Hello all!

We have a dive/drive package this trip and have been told our rental is with Total. We have never used them before. Is there anything we should be nervous about? I have been given a reservation number to give them, but nothing has been mentioned about the insurance or having to give them an imprint of my AMEX card. This could be a problem if they need the card because we are not all flying together and whichever adult arrives first is picking up the truck.

Are they going to try and force me into their insurance or do they allow people to waive it? I have plenty of coverage and do not need to pad their accounts.

Also, how are they with pick up and drop off? We are picking the truck up in the dark. How do they handle the inspection and damage forms when this happens?

Can you tell I have had some pretty uneasy experiences? I'm really regretting not having asked in advance who my package would be with. I just assumed it was going to be AB because all of my previous experience with packages has been with them. I know....never assume.

And please feel free to email me privately. I really do want to hear the good, bad and the ugly. Forewarned is forearmed.

We rented from Total and had no problems. If you are arriving in the dark take a small torch to inspect with. As long as you make your insurance needs clear there will be no problems, they asked me what cover I wanted.

Thanks for the quick reply Julia. I appreciate it. I have sent emails to Total and Eden Beach, because after reading the website, Total does not accept AMEX.

Did you have a package deal? If so, did Total make you use a credit card to pick up the truck?

(Message edited by jeanineclark on December 9, 2006)

No Package deal. Yes they did make me use a credit card but so do most rental agencies I have used on Bonaire.

Tribs,
telerin@bonairelive.com
Poppy is the owner and a nice lady at that. Email her and explain what you want and ask her to quote you a price. She no longer has an office at the airport but she works another job there and will meet you or have someone to do so no matter what time you come in. She excepts AMEX and will work with you on the price... Ron

Ron...I can't email the bonairelive.com email addresses. They bounce AT&T's messages.

Is Poppy with Total? I just got an email from Eden Beach and was told Total won't work with AMEX. To make it worse, supposedly there are no vehicles at other agencies. So my only option seems to be Total and I will get stuck having to pay for their insurance because they won't take AMEX and they want a cash deposit for the truck even though I have a package deal which is being paid for with my AMEX. Arghhhhh!!!!

I'm sitting here getting more frustrated by the minute because I cannot seem to find any one with a truck for our dates (plus - I had a package deal and was getting a good rate). Can you imagine if I had not asked and just showed up? It would not have been good, arriving and being turned away with no truck after a day of travel...hmmm, not pretty at all.

Tribs,
Poppy is the owner of Telerin Car rental. I have another email that she will answer.

marcolva@hotmail.com

Ask for a truck with A/C(if needed) Power steering, and a working tail gate. Tell her I sentya... :-) Good luck to ya... Ron

I figured I would follow up.... So we stayed with Total Car Rental because no one else had a truck for the period we needed. We had the bank make us a debit card for the rental and it has only the amount they requested for a deposit on it. I called AMEX because we are actually paying for the truck through a package deal and they said no worries, the truck will be covered with their insurance because I am paying for it with my AMEX, even though Total refuses to accept AMEX. Whew!

Now the down side of all this....I asked Total about the check out in the dark and their reply was that it won't be an issue because we are being given a brand new truck. I'm sure they meant that to ease my fears, but in reality both Wes and I are bummed. We won't be going to Slaagbai now and probably won't even be able to park the truck in the downtown lot for fear of someone dinging it. And yes, no worries, we have already been warned to photograph the truck from front to back the first morning to ensure that there really are no scratches, dents, or dings. Ugh! I miss AB.

Sometimes I really think this trip is jinxed.

Consider using your dive light (unless it's HID technology) to assist your checkout in the dark.

We did our recent trip with checkout in the dark with AB, but they had our truck ready & waiting parked in front of their kiosk, in plenty of light, and their counter agent found things I missed at first (after a long travel day), all dutifully marked. Maybe you can have your truck pulled up to the kiosk area when you do your checkout with Total.