USVI-On-Line

I am sad to see the complaints about Conrad & his co as well. I have rented with him 3 times and am going with him again in November. I have had great experiences with Carmen in the booking & pick-up process - one year our dates were fickle and I kept having to change the arrival and departure and she was nothing but kind. This trip I kept going back and forth trying to decide between one liberty or two. Again, pleasant as could be. I admit I try to be extremely polite (even in email I begin with a Good morning or Good afternoon) and I am patient. She is usually extremely prompt in getting back to me. New confirmation and all.

On island I have found Carmen to be very nice. On our last trip - our first with a little one - our flight got in late on a Thursday and we were afraid we would not be able to make it by 6 pm. As a matter of fact, we were NOT able to make it by 6pm. I called Carmen from STT and though I couldn't make out what she was saying, I think she must have made out what I was saying because at 6:30 or so she was there waiting and ready for my family to pick up the car. I would not have minded so much having to come back the next day if it were just my hubby and myself. But with the little one it really made a huge difference.

The other lady Sutton a bit more grumpy and Mr. Sutton to be concerned primarily about his vehicles and secondarily about his customers.

After a horrendous cust. service experience with one well known car rental place on STJ and a downright dangerous experience with car from a villa co. recommended car rental place (can't remember the name), I am sticking with Conrad. If for no other reason than I know his cars are impeccably maintained.

As for the tire thing - if the tire is in great condition (which his always are) and it ends up flat I can't blame the guy for suspecting someone did something a bit severe. The roads can be a mess and I am as careful with his car as I would be with my own. I am not saying that this was the problem in this particular case, but we have all seen the way some treat their rental vehicles on island.

There is an old saying...."If everyone liked chocolate cake, there wouldn't be any other kind."

I knew there would be supporters of Conrad Sutton who would (in his defense) make the case that perhaps I was "rough" with his vehicle; that I was not as polite as I should have been; that for whatever reason there was an excuse for his behavior and perhaps I was the "typical ugly American".

None of that is true.

I was polite. In fact, overly polite. From the moment I contacted Carmen via email back in January through the moment I walked out his door after returning the vehicle. Much more so than I would be in a normal situation here in the continental US. I act that way because of all the message traffic here on the boards recommending it.

I was very careful about his car. In fact I treat it far better then I would my own as I do not want to be responsible for damaging/dirtying another persons vehicle…..ever.

But the fact remains that whether through a negative personality trait, or as a learned response…..both of the people I dealt with from Conrad's were (are) rude customer unfriendly and unhelpful. The customer service I received was horrible and should not be supported by the only way we consumers can make a statement to a merchant. Stop using and paying them.

I don't have a hidden agenda here. I do not own anything anywhere near the Virgin Islands. I was merely looking to enjoy a 10 day vacation on the best island I know. The whole experience caused me very little actual "lost time", and quite frankly, is only a big deal because it was Conrad's ATTITUDE that he could say and do anything he wanted to a visitor without any negative consequences that caused me to generate this micro report.

As I reported....I have used Conrad Sutton's renatl services on three occasions. Twice with no problems. For all of you…..please feel free to continue to use him (at your peril). We'll see how friendly he is to you when it is your turn in the barrel. I for one, will never use him again….and will always recommend others to not use him.

Thank you seastar – back to the original question. Does anyone know anything about Discount Car Rental. Any of the “Locals” know anything about this operation? Not a single comment about this company. If their good – let us know. If their not so good – let us know in a kinder way.

FlaGeorge wrote:Thank you seastar – back to the original question. Does anyone know anything about Discount Car Rental. Any of the “Locals” know anything about this operation? Not a single comment about this company. If their good – let us know. If their not so good – let us know in a kinder way.

From my years on the forum, I have never heard a negative word about Discount.

George, After having worked in villa management in STJ for 5 years, I can truthfully say that I have never heard one word - good or bad - about Discount.

peace.... bert

I always say that the measure of a company's true value is not by how they treat you when things are good, but by how they handle problems.

I have not used Conrad Sutton. I have no opinion on him, but I know he is a popular agent who gets lots of business from recommendations on this forum.

I, too, experienced a flat tire on my recent visit (to STT). I had rented my car through Hotwire, which linked me with Avis for $17.99 per day.

I called the Avis service number and reported the flat to a live agent. In about 5 minutes I got a call back from the service guy who was going to fix it - I had been driving over a bad road and heard the tire deflating, so I drove right to the villa before it totally deflated. He was in Red Hook and I was on the North Side, and he said he would be right over - a 10-15 min drive. I was on my way out to dinner (had a second vehicle), so he told me to leave the keys under the mat.

As we drove down the road from the villa, we passed him on his way up - no more than 15 minutes after I spoke to him on the phone. He was in a big tow truck. When I returned, the tire had been changed.

Nobody ever accused me of doing anything or even acted like it was my fault. They didn't even ask what happened - they just fixed it. With the roads the way they are, aren't flat tires rather common?