Customer ReviewsforIsland Rides

Dont rent a car from this place - the owner is a creep who will harass and troll you and steal your money.

We have. 4.97/5 star rating on ******** with over ****** reviews. Its sad that some people are so mentally ill that they must harass small family businesses like this. 

I dealt with Jaren at Island Rides while renting a car for a week on spring break with my family. I needed 2 issues to be addressed which occurred at pick up at the airport. 1. I was given the wrong license plate number, resulting in me walking w/my family & luggage all over the parking garage; and 2. I had to pay $18 to exit the garage & go to multiple lanes of the parking exit w/no warning from the company When I asked about each issue, Jaren quickly turned argumentative and insulting. When I indicated my customer review would be based on communication & willingness to problem-solve the situation, he called me a terrorist. I'd asked for an $18 refund on a >$500 invoice. When I indicated I'm a customer & asked if he calls all of his customers terrorists, he asked to know the location if the car, offered to refund my money + $100 and begged me to cut my vacation short to return the car immediately. The company's Google listing page shows Jaren mocking and insulting negative reviews, followed by 2 of his friends leaving 5-star one-sentence reviews, also mocking any customer who calls Jaren out on his name-calling and bad behavior. If you're renting a car in SW Florida, do yourself a favor and rent from anyone else.

We only rent on Turo.com and have thousands upon thousands of 5-star reviews. We provide VERY thorough instructions, including exactly what row the very specific make, model and color the car is. It is not a random car, so very easy to find at a very small airport. License plate number does not matter when picking up our cars. This happened to be a new car that had a temp plate and had just got a new plate prior to his trip. Our listing was yet to be updated, but see previous sentences.

**** was just easily confused and was angry that the airport customer service was lacking because of long exit lines. We are not the airport and do not provide refunds to someone who can't follow our clear instructions which say, THE PARKING TICKET AND KEY ARE IN THE LOCK BOX IN THE CUP HOLDER, THE CODE IS XXXX." **** here was angry because we didn't tell him to physically give the parking ticket to the parking attendant. He told them he didn't have a ticket, and was charged a $18 lost ticket fee. Again, not our fault. It is clear in the instructions.

Also, the airport parking lanes are clearly marked with bright LCD signs that say which lanes are open and if they are credit card only or manned booths, but **** here thought he didn't have a ticket when he went to the credit card only lane, and had to back out to a manned-booth to tell them he had no ticket (because he didn't read our clear instructions). **** became very hostile towards us at this point with angry texts. Three days later he started hostility again for no reason with further threatening texts trying to blackmail us for the &18 just so he didn't have to admit he was wrong. We are a small family business and we do not deal with hostile customers like this. He is now still so angry because of HIS MISTAKES, that he is trashing a small business anywhere he can on the internet. We have over 5000 5-star reviews on Turo and around 3 1 stars from people like ****.

As seen on iSLAND RIDES public sites where customers place poor reviews, Jaren quickly becomes argumentative and insulting to his customers who bring his short comings to his attention. Shortly after each negative reiview, there are a handful of 5-word, 5-star reviews who also insult and mock the original reviewer who calls attention to Jaren's indignant and trolling behavior. Finally, Jaren points to his many positive reviews that are manufactured to outweigh his real customers having a poor experience. Jaren's very used to negative reviews and has a system employed mask his poor ratings.

When I returned the car, the girl who worked for Island Rides asked me how the trip was. When I said the car was fine, but the service and communication was awful, she immediately knew I was talking about Jaren and his rude, insulting and dismissive behavior. I didn't even need to tell her the story or mention his name! Given the way Jaren treats his customers, I can only imagine how this small family business treats their employees.

As a recap- when Jaren gave me the wrong license plate number and we searched the 2 long rows of cars to find the right one, Jaren's response was "it has dealer plates now and the license plate doesn't matter." And when I asked him why I had to pay $18 to get out of the garage, and if he'd given instructions I'd have saved a lot of headache, I was pointed to his number of positive reviews and mocked for calling attention to his poor instruction.

Given customer service is about communication and problem-solving, I indicated a customer's only recourse is a poor review. Jaren then called me a terrorist. Once I indicated the BBB and DA would consider me a customer and not a terrorist, he offered a full refund +$100 and demanded I cut our family vacation short, drive the car back to the airport to return it immediately.

I don't need the $18 refund, but Jaren's actions and the way he runs his business should be fully exposed to the sunlight so future customers know who they're dealing with and hopefully treated with at least an ounce of respect. But that's up to Jaren.

BUYER BEWARE.