Friendliest, relaxed car rental place?

NoWorriesMom · Post by **NoWorriesMom** » Wed Apr 01, 2009 8:46 pm

Does anyone suggest a car rental place on STJ that is just plain friendly and helpful?

Lex · Post by **Lex** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:31 am

We've been very happy with Penn's. We used to rent from St John Car Rental and were quite satisfied. We decided to give Penn's a try mostly because I noticed that their customers on the forum seemed to uniformly speak of them with really warm regard and I couldn't remember a single complaint about them. None. No complaints, warmly regarded. Generally I'll stick with what I'm satisfied with and SJCR was quite satisfactory. But there was just something about the way people FELT about Penn's that intrigued me. We tried them and really enjoy doing business with them.

I should mention that some people have had problems with some of their business practices. They don't ask for a deposit or your credit card number. They probably won't send a receipt of note of confirmation. They may not even ask your last name. They work on trust and honor and this makes some people nervous. We trust that they'll have a vehicle and they trust that we'll actually show up and not stick them with a vehicle that they could have rented to somebody else. I like to support people who do business the old fashioned way. Among the reasons why we've never thought about renting a vehicle on STT is that we like to give our business to the folks on STJ. And of the folks on STJ that we've rented from, we like Penn's the best.

I do want to mention, though, that if Penn's couldn't take care of us, we wouldn't hesitate to rent from SJCR again.

jmq · Post by **jmq** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:37 am

Lex - we liked Penns for those reasons too but last time we checked they had raised their prices much higher than most others. Worth a call though to see if that is still the case.

jdw · Post by **jdw** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 7:51 am

We are using Bougainvillea for the first time next month. So far they have been very easy to work with. We added an extra day and they were quick to accommodate us. They are prompt when replying to emails and very courteous.

toni · Post by **toni** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:10 am

We've used Conrad Sutton in the past and never had a problem; nice location for parking too. This past time for some reason we used Courtesy Car Rental who's moved a little farther into town up and to the right. They were exceedingly nice and friendly-nothing against Sutton's because we've had good service there, but we did think Courtesy people were more outgoing and helpful.

NoWorriesMom · Post by **NoWorriesMom** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:21 am

I officially retract my question, although I thank you for your answers. Having cancelled our entire trip due to a death in the family, I hadn't heard back from Conrad Sutton's even so much as to tell me that they understood they could re-rent the vehicle. Today I was astounded to get an email that said they understood and would not charge us for the cancellation. Mind you, we had to cancel about 12 hours beforehand. Not a month or weeks or even one week! So they get my ultimate unwavering vote for best on the island!
PS We had trip insurance and have let them know that their offer, while kind, is unnecessary.

ifloat · Post by **ifloat** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:35 am

I am sad to hear about the death in your family, and sorry to hear that you had to cancel your vacation.

Ms.Montana · Post by **Ms.Montana** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:12 am

Courtesy is very, well, courtious.

Pianogrl · Post by **Pianogrl** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 11:51 am

We've used Courtesy for both our trips (last May & upcoming one in a few weeks) & have been extremely pleased with them....in person & online.

NoWorriesMom · Post by **NoWorriesMom** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:15 pm

Thanks ifloat

flip-flop · Post by **flip-flop** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:25 pm

NoWorriesMom wrote:I officially retract my question, although I thank you for your answers. Having cancelled our entire trip due to a death in the family, I hadn't heard back from Conrad Sutton's even so much as to tell me that they understood they could re-rent the vehicle. Today I was astounded to get an email that said they understood and would not charge us for the cancellation. Mind you, we had to cancel about 12 hours beforehand. Not a month or weeks or even one week! So they get my ultimate unwavering vote for best on the island!
PS We had trip insurance and have let them know that their offer, while kind, is unnecessary.

So sorry for the death in your family and the need to cancel at the last minute.

I had a similar experience with the Suttons when I had to cancel about 6 weeks out a while back. They never batted an eye and were extremely gracious. (As was Destination St. John).

I also like them because they take amex, include insurance, and you can book online very easily. You get a quick confirmation and Carmen is absolutely wonderful to work with. I've had to tweak dates from time to time and she's always been very responsive.

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