!!! Cozumel scooter rental - a scary/cautionary tale (keywords: blackmailed - police)

We just got off the NCL Escape and Getaway. In Cozumel, at the port by Calle 7, we rented an old beat up scooter with broken light panels from Jorge at ROOSTER'S RENTAL (not at the office but just at the corner of the street with a pop up stand). Our fault for being excited to tour the island and did not take pictures and videos of the scooter condition before we left. There were also warning signs that we didn't see indicating that Jorge would not be an honest person, when he first said the price was $45 cash, then required $5 tax after we signed the contract, then required another $7 for gas as we were riding away.

Upon returning the scooter an hour before the ship's boarding time, Jorge pointed to one side of the scooter and said that there were scratches and we needed to pay $250 for repairs, or he wouldn't give us back the ship's key card. We didn't even carry that much cash, and tried to reason with him that the scooter was already in bad condition and we hadn't done anything. He kept trying to make deals that he would take $150, or that he would call the police to handle it. We kept arguing that it was not right that he was doing this but he wouldn't budge.

At 15 minutes before boarding time, I thought that maybe we could report the key card lost and get on the ship somehow, and started to walk away. But either the police just passed by or Jorge had called them (though didn't see him make a phone call), and he had them come by. The younger officer was actually trying to talk him down by saying that it's an old scooter, and did not warrant so much money for some scratches anyway. The older officer, however, was in cahoots with the blackmailer, and told us that it's better if we gave Jorge the money(!), or Jorge could request to take us to the station and fill out paper work to sort this out. I showed them my purse and Mr. sooper pulled out from his pockets all the cash we had for $57. Jorge said at least $100. We said there's nothing more on us. He saw that we had a credit card and pointed to the nearby ATM and told us to get cash. Mr. sooper went, but he didn't know the pin since we never take cash out from credit cards, and said that there was error and no cash available. We begged and pleaded :rolleyes::mad: with the $57 and at 5 minutes before boarding, he snatch the cash and gave us the key card, with the police just watching. We had to run all the way to the ship and were the last on board as they were already removing the gangway.

As a frequent traveler for more than 30 years, I have to say that I was really lucky in that this was my first incident. Have never had a robbery, theft, or been scammed. I suppose this is a fairly cheap lesson, but it was quite scary as we didn't know what the Mexican police could do with us. Just had to share this, and hopefully no one else will get blackmailed again by this Jorge guy.

wow, sad to hear. Will make sure we do not rent from him.

I'd make sure to post a review of this place on TripAdvisor. We always take pictures of the cars we rent but luckily have never had a problem in Cozumel so far.

What a terrible, and scary, situation! I agree about posting to Trip Advisor.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks, I'll post where I could to warn people!

Sorry to hear this - can you also make a complaint to the police? Perhaps if you know the names of the policemen they could be reported higher up.

Sorry to hear this - can you also make a complaint to the police? Perhaps if you know the names of the policemen they could be reported higher up.

:D:D:D:rolleyes::eek:

Higher ups in Mexico are either in on the gig or turn a blind eye.

Even worse is if you rent a car and cause an accident. I remember a guy ended up spending some time in jail on the island because he couldn't pay the damages and medical bills on the spot (your rental or car insurance will be worthless because you have to pay damages before you can leave the country). I would never be comfortable renting a car/jeep/scooter etc overseas.

Also, I recall reading about a year ago, a newlywed couple rented a scooter in Coz. They were hit less than a mile from the port, 1 died at the scene and the other later at the hospital. It was the beginning of April last year.