St John car rental

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:08 pm

Having problems with our reservation. I faxed info to rent 2 jeeps 2 weeks ago for June. I have
called twice. Once they told me they were to busy. The second time they could only find
one reservation and said they were busy. I still have not received any confirmation. We
have rented from them
before and I don't remember having this much trouble. Any suggestions ?

jimg20 · Post by **jimg20** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:25 pm

Check your credit card to see if the deposits appear. I couldn't get through on the fax machine. I scanned to form and emailed it to them. About 6 days later they emailed a confirmation.

Try calling at 8 or 9 am. They might be less busy at that time.

JIM

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:52 pm

Thanks. I didn't think about the email. I will try that and check the credit card. I think
it was taking so long, even for island time that I was getting worried. Thanks for helping
think things through for me.

bigyellowtuna · Post by **bigyellowtuna** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:54 pm

When booking they told me they do not need a deposit or my cc #. I also was never asked to fill out any forms. All communication was via email. Should I be worried?

PA Girl · Post by **PA Girl** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:11 pm

Wanda Creech wrote:Having problems with our reservation. I faxed info to rent 2 jeeps 2 weeks ago for June. I have
called twice. Once they told me they were to busy. The second time they could only find
one reservation and said they were busy. I still have not received any confirmation. We
have rented from them
before and I don't remember having this much trouble. Any suggestions ?

For various reasons (my reasons, not a problem on their end), I had to call STJ Car Rental at least once before each trip. I am not surprised you bumped up against "too busy" when calling, I had the same experience. I got the impression that people answering the phone aren't always able to help for whatever reason. Also, their office doesn't use email as a means of communication like mainland businesses do.

Call and ask for Cynthia. She has proven to be helpful and responsive when I called.

Rebubula · Post by **Rebubula** » Tue Mar 19, 2013 1:28 pm

We have used them several times in the past with no issues and had a similar experience when trying to book for April. We attempted several times and waited, yet no luck.
We booked through courtesy. We are on Coral Bay side this time and I just couldn't take the risk of something not going through. confirmation is necessary for piece of mind IMO.

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:56 am

Well, after calling back again she put us down for the second reservation. I asked
for a confirmation but she was busy and I could not understand what she said. Waited
another week and no money was put down for a deposit. So I had my husband call
early one morning. He got yelled at for calling back and asking about the reservation.
Still no confirmation. Should I just leave it and hope we have a reservation or cancel
and go with someone else? Twelve years of going to St. John and this has never
happened. We have rented form them many times before.

Xislandgirl · Post by **Xislandgirl** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:48 am

I sent you a PM

liamsaunt · Post by **liamsaunt** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 11:16 am

This is so timely because I am in a similar spot! When I called to check on availability for our summer trip I got the "too busy" also and was told they had cars and to just fax in the forms, which I did. In the past I have gotten an email confirmation from them but not this time. I have rented from them a bunch of times before and the process has never gone this way before.

I understand the "too busy" thing. Every time we have gone in there is just one person working the desk, and it's hard to talk on the phone and deal with people at the counter at the same time. Still, I would feel better if I had that email confirmation. I faxed the forms about three weeks ago so I guess I will check my credit card charges when I get home...

Pickle · Post by **Pickle** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:03 pm

We've been renting from St. John Car Rental for years. For us this is how it always goes. We fax our reservation (with our credit card info) to them. We never get email or any kind of confirmation. Eventually, our credit card gets charged the $100 deposit, which works as a confirmation and we know they got our reservation. We show up at their office on our pick-up day and they have our jeep ready.

You never really know when the deposit will be charged - in our case, as soon as the day after we faxed our forms (when our trip was within 4 months) and as late as 3 weeks after (when our trip was within 8 months).

We have never called to confirm our reservation because we, too, have gotten the impression that they are often busy. One time we needed a change in our already existing reservation and I emailed them. It took about one week but I got their reply saying they changed our reservation accordingly. That doesn't necessarily mean email is the best way to communicate with them - frankly, I'm not sure what is the best way...

bigyellowtuna · Post by **bigyellowtuna** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 3:22 pm

In my case I submitted the request via email, never heard back. Called, a few days later and was told it would take up to a week to hear back. 10 days later hadn't heard back. Emailed requesting response as I had other quotes. Received email appology for having been told it is normal to take a week for a response. Was told via email I was all set. Called to see if they needed a form filled out or a cc # for a deposit, response: no, you're all set. Called again (few weeks prior to visit) asked if they have reservation, was told, yes you are all set. No, you do not need to make a deposit or fill out any forms. Keeping my fingers crossed.

I forgot to ask them, but the rental car companies are smart enough not to force electronic / keyless entries on customers, or if they do, they also give you a non electronic key to use in place of the remote entry, right?

Wanda Creech · Post by **Wanda Creech** » Fri Mar 22, 2013 6:20 pm

I am going to give them a few more days to see if the deposit has been charged on our
credit card. Hopefully they will come through. It has been 3 weeks. I think it is important to
have a confirmation.

wyojo · Post by **wyojo** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 10:12 am

Same thing here. Over three weeks ago I emailed to check availability for end of May. No response for a week so I called (I'm only 2+ months out now). She grumpily said they had cars and their email was down but would email me "Wednesday". No response came. I emailed two more times and then after three weeks called and she again said email was down and hung up on me. I looked at the phone and thought do I have to beg for their business? We've been using SJCR for over 15 years, and while not always easy to reserve it's not like this.

I looked on the forum at this posting and saw a recommendation for L&L Jeep Rental. Friday I called and within an hour Kurt had confirmed availability, faxed rental sheet and then emailed confirmation; all while being very friendly! I'm happy to recommend this company!

stjchica · Post by **stjchica** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 11:07 am

We used STJ Car Rental in November after seeing so many recommendations on the forum. They weren't too friendly when we arrived, but we had an issue so that may have been extenuating circumstances. What I did particularly like was how convenient they were to Grande Bay as that is where we were staying..

ironman417 · Post by **ironman417** » Tue Mar 26, 2013 12:15 pm

This winter was our third trip to St. John and have used STJ Car Rental each time with complete satisfaction.
The ladies in the office are friendly and personable, especially Cynthia. I don't know how they do it with me going there only once a year but when I walk in the front door they always say "Hello Albert". They remember my name and I'm amazed and then we laugh.
The place we stay at is reserved by us for the same time every year till the end of time. So when we bring the car back we reserve it for the next year right then and there and give them a deposit check to hold it. I do call them around October to make sure my reservation is still in their system. They will say "Yes it is and we look forward to seeing you then." and I have never had a problem.
Calling always works best as email any where in the Caribbean is dicey at best.
STJ Car Rental works for us....Al & Deb

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