TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Unity Car Rental updated information

I just had a phone conversation with Michael with Unity Car Rental. There is currently a dispute and some legal complaints that have been filed, anything else at this point I am not at liberty to discuss.

The current listing on the TTOL sponsors page for Unity Car Rental is the correct and actual website for those that wish to deal with Michael at Unity Car Rental.

The email address to contact Michael is now: mike12468@yahoo.com

Any other email address should not be relied upon at this time. Also you can contact Michael directly by phone at 800-820-7918 for any reservations or confirmations that you may need.

We received an email yesterday from Joseph announcing a new website for Unity. "Same guy. Same company. Same service." We've dealt with Michael in the past.

Eric, thank you for posting. We have a reservation with
Michael in a few days.

Thank you for posting this. We have always used Unity, but have dealt only with Michael.

Are there now two different businesses in two separate locations?

Who is using the location where Unity has been the past 10-15 years or so?

As Eric said in the original post, if you want to deal with Michael, please use the information in Eric's post to contact Michael.

I was skeptical yesterday regarding posts I was reading when they were focused on Joseph as a contact. Michael told us in January they were most likely going different directions, Michael is building, maybe it's done, a new home behind the police station at the draw bridge in Simpson, he planned to have his rental office located there.

Thanks for the update.
We have used Unity and Michael for many years.
Last year I requested a Unity quote for a compact car for our 3 week stay.
After receiving a quote (from Joseph) that was higher than expected, I contacted Michael and he revised the quote to a very fair figure due to our being "long time customers".
I trust that any existing issues with Unity get resolved quickly and fairly.

I just booked with Michael for January at the same rate as last January. No problem and did use the email site provided by Eric Hill above.

This pretty much sums up our experiences.

Thank-you for the information, so we can continue to deal with Michael, as we have for many years. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/handshake.gif" alt="" />

We have never used anyone else either. Michael sat with us last trip, gave us a heads up as to what was to come after many issues.

I have spoken with both Michael and Joseph because I have a reservation for our June arrival and wanted to make sure the whole thing is OK.

If you talk to Michael, Joseph is not being fair. If you talk to Joseph, Michael is being greedy and trying to take business that isn't his. So I asked my husband's best friend, who is a native islander and there right now, to find out what is known amongst the local community.

The truth is Joseph is the one who started the company - in 1987 on the French side. When he expanded in 2001 to the Dutch side, he offered Michael some ownership in the company.

Joseph is the original owner and the one who made Michael "the face" of Unity Car Rental.

Obviously they are having disagreements now and yes, the situation is going to court. From what we've been told, they will probably divide the assets in some way and turn into two companies, though they both are working from the same location as always right now. (That actually made me laugh because it sounds so islandish.)

As of now, it honestly sounds like Joseph will end up with the Unity Car Rental trade name, but of course in SXM and in those courts anything can happen.

Currently, no matter which of them "owns" your reservation, it's the same system with the same shuttle pick-up and the same signing of paperwork under the tree and they both are there. As I was on the phone with Joseph today, they were sharing a pizza, and Michael said hello. Again, very island-like.

We feel comfortable continuing to do business with either of them as we believe they know only harm can come from not continuing to provide good customer service. As I told them both, my bottom line is when I step off that plane, I need to know I'm going to have car.

Once, a business associate and I worked for a blue chip corporation and made lots of money. We decided to leave and start our own company and agreed to split all profits 50/50. We trusted each other. For years our company did very well and we made lots of money. Then a major problem caused us to lose 80% of our business and we decided to close it and return to the corporate world. My partner was first to land a position and I remained to do all that was required to close which meant several months of 0 income before I landed a job. My partner (now ex-partner) sent me a check for 50% of his income during that period of time.
Not "islandish", just the honorable thing to do. We remain friends to this day. I trust that both Joseph and Michael will be able to say the same thing when all the smoke clears.

Good to know!