Tim Reviewed on Oct 24, 2018, 10:01 PM

My experience with Economy Rent-a-Car was great at first and awful at the end! In the Quepos office, the attendant took care of all the paperwork, and we reviewed the car for dents and scratches that were already present so I wouldn't be responsible for them upon returning the car. The car, a Hyundai Tucson, worked great throughout the trip and I had zero problems. 3 days later, when I returned the car to the airport location in San Jose, the attendant opened the trunk and reviewed the spare tire. I had no flats or any problems with the car, and never looked at the spare. Lo and behold the spare, while still 100% inflated, was dirty and had a big gash on it. The attendant says looks like you changed the tire after putting this gash in it!. This was all to my dismay, as I had no problems and NEVER looked at the spare or was shown it by the Economy attendant at the pickup location. I explained this to him to which he replied No, we always show the spare to our clients prior to delivering the vehicle. I said well, no one showed it to me! He didn't believe and said I would be responsible for paying $231 to replace the spare as I had only bought the cheap insurance and not the comprehensive one. Further details: after checking with several Costa Ricans, they told me the cost to replace the tire would be $50, not $231. I asked several other people on my trip who had rented cars from different agencies if their attendant had shown them the spare prior to releasing the car. Universal answer: NO! The icing on the cake: from the window of the office, I watched as a different attendant showed a customer their car and reviewed it for scratches and dents. Did they open the trunk and look at the spare? ABSOLUTELY NOT. I pointed this out to the attendant who replied yes he did show them the spare on that model is not in the trunk but under the car LOL, I'm almost positive that was not true. Learned my lesson! Review the spare I guess! Make sure it's not dirty or gashed! What a joke. Avoid this company if possible. Be extra aware if you are picking up in a remote satellite location. Awful return experience but the car was fine and did the job. I also filed two complaints against the company and have yet to hear back on any process/resolution 3 days later. I have not been charged yet for the spare - they say they are going to review my case before charging me so yet to be seen if I actually have to make the payment. In the end, an awful way to end an otherwise amazing trip to Costa Rica!