Rental Car Robberies in Costa Rica
Beware if traveling to Costa Rica and renting a vehicle. Our rental
car company, Poas Rent A Car, arranged by our travel agent, delivered
our 4-wheel drive vehicle to us at our hotel in San Jose. Their
representative did not warn us of an ongoing robbery scam targeting
tourists renting cars.
The robbers work as a team; one flattens your tire, in our case at a
stoplight, and then notifies their accomplices which direction you
are heading. As we were changing the tire, and although we had been
told not to let anyone help us, a young woman walked by and started a
light conversation with my husband in Spanish. He continued to change
the tire and did not let her assist him. She distracted me as he
worked, by going to great lengths to examine the flattened tire on
the ground, while her accomplices stole our travel wallets and
camera, including passports, $200 cash, and credit card from the
other side of the vehicle. They managed to charge over $350 in the
hour it took us to report the card stolen.
The local police in Alajeula (a suburb of San Jose, near the airport)
although called twice, refused to come to our assistance or even make
a report. After getting directions to the Poas Rent A Car to return
the vehicle; upon our arrival we saw warnings posted describing this
exact situation. If their representative had not notified us when
delivering the car, we could have certainly taken measures to avoid
the robbery.
When the same representative picked the car up, one week later at our
hotel in San Jose, he feigned no knowledge of this ongoing scam, even
though it was posted at the Poas Rent A Car office. We talked to
another traveler, whose rental company, Dollar, had made him sign a
paper that he had been warned of the problem. Another said Alamo had
not warned him either.
The US Embassy, although familiar with the scam, has failed to post
it on their website. They told us they had visited each rental agency
and requested they notify tourists. Obviously, this has not been
done. If Costa Rica hopes to build their eco-tourism business, the
authorities must respond to distress calls and make an effort to stop
these robberies.
We will spend our dollars in countries that make an effort to protect
tourists and will never return to Costa Rica.
Jane
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