Hello all. I thought I should not wait to get home to write about this component of our trip. On our first day here (saturday) we rented a golf cart from the island tours company located at the big pink island grocery. We did so because they offered a 10% internet discount. This morning we were headed to town from Victoria house when a dog started barking and chasing us then proceeded to try and attack my husband who was driving. My husband veered right and hit an embancement and the golf cart tipped on it's side. The very nice locals who were around came and picked us off the ground and turned the cart upright. I though we should immediately go to the tour company/grocery store to inform them of what happened, since we bent the roof and one of the wheel fenders was torn off. when we got there the manager called a guy out to give us an estimate of what they would need to charge to fix it. Remember the only obvious damage is minor cosmetic, we drove the cart the rest of the way and it ran perfectly. She comes ut to say the chasis is cracked and that the cart is basically useless from that point on, that they would have to part it out, she then told me a new golf cart costs $20,000 belize dollars. I asked to see the cracked chasis she showed me something undrneath that was covered in mud and there was no visible crack. I told her I don't see any crack and she replied well its covered with mud? Well if it's not visible how did she know it was there? This made me really nervous and she called the police to file a report. When they came the police flat out told us to get a second opinion because these guys are scam artists, we weren't the first ones this has happened to and to NOT pay them any money. I got into a taxi (cesars taxi and truck company. He took me to pick up a mechanic he knows named ohsman. Ohsmon came and gave us an estimate of 780 belize money plus a little more for labor. The manager came out yelling saying he doesn't want anything fixed he wants it all to be new. We then went to file a police report ourselves. They were shocked at the prices the island company were quoting us. The girl manager showed up and stated they would take $12,000 belizean dollars to fix the cart. The police advised her anything over 5,000 she would have to sue us and she said ok. The police removed the copy of my credit card the company had and told them they were NOT allowed to charge my card any money. The police then started their own investigation and called a well known mechanic to reevaluate the cart. The police mechanic gave an estimate of $1000 dollars, which is just a little more than what our mechanic said. Meanwhile I went back to victoria house to check for any charges, and sure enough she ran my card twice the 1st for $6000 dollars and the next attempt was also for $6000 which american express declined without talking to me first. Anyhow, we are set to go to court on friday to settle this once and for all. I want to mention as soon as the owner of victoria house heard what had happened to us he went with his own mechanic to look at the cart and to talk with the owner of the store. I thought this was incredibly gracious of him. I'll write a complete trip report later just a warning to those who are coming here, I strongly recommend you find a more ethical company to place your business with.
sincerely,
Sandra