1

As sharp practice seems the order of the day in car rental... I would NOT give ANY agency a cash deposit...Buses and taxi services, may prove the more economic alternative ... carracar

2

I believe you answered your own question in your first sentence= "but I'm finding that the CC is mandatory",

3

(My complain as usual regarding those attitudes: they are mostly found in english forums -coming from gringos- rather than spanish, american or european ones, watch out for so much bitterness... useless comments)

"I believe..." the rest is more important:

Any ideas? advice? Bus travelling can only apply to half of my itinerary, I really need a car for the rest. Any direct phones? email? All I seem to find are global websites with FAQS not covering this information, no direct office phones.

4

Nobody wants to tell you something that isn't true (i.e. that there's a way to rent a car without a credit card) so it's not fair to malign people just because they are telling you what you already know i.e. that indeed a credit card is mandatory. If you tell us the part of your trip you think you need a car for then maybe we can help you with suggestions for transport by another means but if you absolutely HAVE to rent a car then your trip appears impossible.

5

I have to agree with the previous posters (especially #4). It is impossible to rent a car without a credit card, period. I have never heard of being allowed to rent a car with a cash deposit (especially only $800....a car is worth thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars. Why would they rent you something so valuable for such a tiny deposit?)

It's unfortunate that you planned a trip at the exact same time that your credit card expired, but that's what you did, so now you're stuck without a car. And #4 is right that it's unfair to get angry just because people are telling you something you don't want to hear. Maybe you should re-plan your itinerary so that you can travel by bus.

6

It is not the content, it is the way, and my post stand correct, you can only find that coming from gringos (no offense intended to americans).

Thanks, but problem solved.

7

I just looked this up online because I was curious- it seems that some places in the USA allow people to rent cars with a debit card (but they perform a credit check and it takes longer to get the car, and they do hold a certain amount of cash on your card, sometimes the company wants to see copies of utility bills in your name, etc). At least I have found evidence of this online. I have no idea how this would work in Mexico, or if it's even possible.

Do you have a debit card? If you are planning to rent at the airport in Chetumal, I would advise that you call all the rental companies at the airport to ask them about their policies. I personally would not count on being able to rent a car without a credit card, but you can try. You might want to be prepared to change your itinerary if it turns out they won't rent you a car after all.

Another bit of advice- I would not give my debit card information to a smaller or independent car rental company. The one time I rented a car in Mexico from a local independent Mexican rental place (not an international corporation like National, Avis, etc)- they stole my credit card number. If you give out your debit card number, you're risking having someone use that number to take money directly from your bank account. With a credit card, they just drop the false charges so you don't have to pay them, but with a bank account/debit card they steal your cash and it can be difficult to get back (it depends on your bank). So if you do want to rent a car with a debit card, I would advise you to go with a large established company, as it's less likely you'll have your info stolen.

8

Thanks hexstatic, I had hopes on the credit check because I have rented cars on Yucatán before, specially Chetumal so I'm not a new face and they have treated me well, I also rented a car in Petén (near Tikal) with no credit card.

I will be traveling to places I know taxis would not find interest on driving us, it will also be a multi stop itinerary. That's why the car is needed. I will rent the car at the Holliday Inn (as usual). This time I will not be at Cancún so that's why I won't rent it there, perhaps at Playa del Carmen.

Yes I have a debit card and I would worry about the same things you point out.

Money is not a problem, but unfortunately the bank is taking way longer to send the CC. For over 13 years they took a week to send the new one, but now it's been a month and a half, the same is happening with my friend, we guess we are not on a priority list because we mostly use it when we travel, not here locally so we are "not good consumers of credit" and they are having problems delivering them because "it is in transit" so we can't even got o the bank to get it.

I told her NOT to cancell her CC because of the fraudulent charges she had because it will time to get a new one but she didn't listen. Lucky us, the problem has been solved over the night.

9

Just give them your debit card and let them pass it through their system. You might be surprised....

10

Its possible taht they may just take details / carbon copy the card rather than actually plugging it in to anything to check that its valid. Its ethically dubious, but does your friend still have her cancelled card.....

11

I rented a car from an agency in Holiday Inn last year with a card, and he did ask for a deposit. The office is right across the reception desk - maybe you can just call them and ask to ask the rental guy.

12

I can't think of any place in Mexico that can't be reached by public or private transport. No bus? Take a taxi or colectivo. None available? The uncle of the hotel manager will gladly drive you. You will avoid a lot of expense and hassle and meet a bunch of interesting people.

13

.......From the beginning I pointed out this is a messup from the bank........ they suck, it wasn't like that years ago. The good thing is the problem has been solved :)
.
.
bedknobs: true, it's ben done before. About my friend, she got a new CC this week, but the bank gave her a blocked one with no pin, she suppose to wait 15 days for the new pin ( ????? ) so she's been visiting the bank and they offered a new one this week. Guess what, she later got another one this same week... she now has TWO new credit cards, same number, same ID, diff registration, diff security numbers and none of those cards work... so the bank is still trying to figure out what card she could use... go figure, they don't even know what they did.
.
Mine has been bouncing from bank to bank, currently on hold after two months of "we don't know what's going on, is there anything else we can do for you??" I will pick mine today or tomorrow, I'm just too busy right now. Coincidence: it's the same bank... it wasn't like this but now it sucks.
.
.
kirillovp: thanks, that's exactly the place where I have rented cars before at Chetumal. I was looking for their direct phone # but now the problem has been solved, anyway I will have it at hand after visiting them next week.
.
ranchhand1024: true, the problem is the tight schedule and some (in fact several) places where indeed a car is needed.
.
.
Sometimes staying at the same usual hotel helps as they can get you stuff depending how regular and familiar you are visting them. I recenly was over an hotel in Petén and they offered in fact extended services.
.
Thanks for the comments.

Edited by: elviajeromaya