Alamo Consumer Reviews - Page 3

ST LOUIS, MISSOURI -- I rented a car last Thursday, May 17, 2007, from the Lambert St.Louis International Airport location. I rented an economy car on a special rate because my car is in the shop and I just needed a car for two days until mine was fixed. When I got to the car lot, I got very little instruction as to what to do and how to do it! I finally found someone and they said just pick a car of your type and drive off.

They only had one car left, a Saturn Ion. I was OK with this and went to the car. The car had what looked like something had been dripped on the paint, possibly wax or some kind of mineral that had left some chalky drip marks on the car. I didn't care what the car looked like and I was in a hurry, so I got in the car and drove to the exit. I have rented at other companies, and they all check the car with you before you leave. The lady at the exit gate just took my card that was in the car and let me go. I FOOLISHLY assumed that SOMEONE at that lot had checked this car out before I drove off. I was wrong.

The story continues! I had a flat tire while I had the car. I changed to the spare and then called your 800 number. They told me I was responsible for getting the tire fixed (it sounded like someone from India, every time I called!!). I had no idea what to do. I called the direct number to their desk at the airport. They asked if I had paid for road side assistance? I was never even asked or had it explained to me that this was an option. I did decline the collision damage coverage because my insurance and credit card cover that. I had NO idea that some kind of assistance with a TIRE was extra, the other places covered at least that much!!!

They again told me that I had to fix it, setting down the phone a bunch of times, ignoring me, and even LAUGHING AT ME!!!!!! while I talked to them. UNBELIEVABLE!!! So, stupid me, I tried to get the tire fixed. It turns out the tire was already worn out on the sides and could not be fixed!! This made sense as the tire went flat turning into a PARKING LOT!! I didn't even drive it after it went flat!!!! So, it looks like I got a bad tire, which explains why it had been handling funny from the time I got it!!

So I called the airport desk again, and was told to make a report to your roadside assistance people. I did so, and they were no help, just took a report, so I called the airport desk AGAIN! This time I finally got someone who said they were manager on the actual Lot. I asked her what to do and how much a flat tire would cost me. She told me she didn't know how much it would cost. After a lot of talk, I finally found out there was some kind of book inside they could look it up. I finally had to ask, "could you please transfer me in to them to look it up?" She said "oh, OK..." SO... Now I find out it's like a $50 dollars charge.

By now, I am late on my return time as well... The Indian guy told me it would be my rate plus an extra $11 dollar charge. Actually it's like $35.. Fine, whatever.. I'll pay it.. I just want this car out of my life. It's 10PM at night, I bring the car back. Now the guy checking the car in puts a note on his sheet that there appear to be some kind of ACID stains on the car finish!!!!!!!!!!!! And that there is NO NOTE of this from before!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is OUTRAGEOUS!!!!!!!!

I go inside, the girl there was trying to be nice to me, one of the few. I thank her for that! She takes down another note about the tire, and that I said the marks were there when I got the car, for all the good that will do. I assume by now I'm just a dupe and someone at that shop probably screwed up and let the marks get into the shop without checking, or maybe they even screwed it up there. But now I'm sure they're trying to get a customer to pay for it!

I go outside to apologize to the check-in guy, because I was pretty angry when I talked to him, and that wasn't fair to him... He actually turned out to be pretty cool. I asked him didn't he think this would have been noticed and noted when it was checked in? He said "yes", but said that if it was returned between 10PM and 5:30AM, then it WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN CHECKED when returned!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, I got a car that probably had a bad tire to begin with, with chalky spots on the paint that either didn't get looked at when the car was returned or were caused by the lot where I rented it at. I get treated rudely by just about everyone, and even laughed at!!!!!! I am going to be calling about this, writing a letter to Alamo, and I have already called the airport and complained and will next call the City of St. Louis and the Attorney General of Missouri to complain.

I have NEVER had such bad service from ANY kind of company in my life! I can't remember being this outraged in a very, very long time for something so meaningless! I try so hard to be good to others and to be honest and fair, and I feel like that was all just spit back in my face! I have used Alamo in the past, but will NEVER do so again, and I encourage everyone to avoid it like the plague.

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS -- I travel a lot, and a rent from many car rental companies. In general I have few complaints, and usually can deal with those I have directly with the people I rent from. But being in Boston this evening (2/3/2006) and deciding that I needed to extend my contract for 3 more hours (flight change) - I decided to call their 1-800-GOALAMO number. Sorry, I don't care about accents - I love them actually, but calling 800 numbers and connecting to someone with a Hindu/Indian accent now-a-days makes me wary. Follow this, and you see the typical runaround - or at minimum, just how inexperienced these call companies can be.

I ask first to extend my contract, and to give me an hourly rate or the daily rate - whichever is less based on 3-hour extension. (Note, I was told earlier at the car rental place itself, when I said I might need to extend, that if I did not notify them, I would get charged their normal "full rate" for a day, plus $10.00 for not telling them. I had a discount rate, so I did not want to pay this).

Anyway, I gave them my reservation confirmation number - and that was not good enough. Then I was asked for the rental contact number, and I don't have it. I put it in the glove compartment (hint, keep this number around!). The "guy" tried to help, stated that the hourly rate was 8.75, but could not tell me whether or not the daily rate was less or more (I assumed more, but wanted to know). He could not do this, because I'm sure he did not know what I actually picked up (car type), regardless of reservation number. All is logical, but then he got confused when I said what sounded better to do, and he hung up. I swear he did, it was not accidental.

I call back. I reach a woman this time. Same accent - same location? I gave her the same number, she said that would not help, so she asked me for the digits on the car key tag. Hey, I valet parked the car, in Boston, at the Marriott custom house - and to go get the contract or keys requires to pay the valet 25.00 to get the car. When I tried to explain this to her, she did not seem to understand (why?) - and I admit I got angry. So I ask can she log the call, and just state that I called in, to avoid the ten bucks, and to please note that I would prefer to pay whichever was better, hourly - daily.

Long email, sorry - but after she was indignant about not helping, and after I lost it - I realized that once again I had a 90% chance of reaching an after hours call center (it's 11:30PM here right now). It is a tremendous disservice that companies are doing to us consumers by using call centers for people that don't even understand our methods of travel, living, or anything else in our country. If I'm wrong about my assumption - so be it.

I got lucky - I looked up the local number at Logan. I reached the rental counter, through a long menu of course - and they extended my contract by my reservation number. And they asked me the car type - which solved the whole monetary issue. And I knew I was speaking to a fellow citizen (and I don't care where they are from, just as long as they understand me). I'm done with Alamo, and I think it would be helpful if some website could log all the companies that use out of country call centers. We deserve better than this.

ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA -- Whatever you do, AVOID this Alamo branch, if not, all of the Alamos in the DC area. I have rented for years without ANY problems with companies such as Enterprise (which Alamo happens to now be under, ironically) and Avis, to name a couple. I have never had any problems with my rentals and their post-inspections.... until I used this company at this location. I purchased a deal off of Hotwire, thinking "what a great deal Alamo has." I was even "upgraded" from a Dodge minivan to a Chrysler. I thought, "Wow, this company is great."

That afternoon, I took some friends out to MD in this van, had a great evening, and returned the van back to DCA via the late night drop-off (a little past midnight). No damages done to the van whatsoever and I have witnesses. I dropped the keys AND rental agreement in their mailbox-looking thing, double-checked the van for anything out of the ordinary, and off I went.

Then, I get a voice mail in the morning claiming they found scratches to the vehicle. Of course, I am surprised, upset, and VERY suspicious. I have never gotten into an accident in my life and my driving record is clean. I denied the damages, of course, and yet they insisted they needed to write up a claim. I go on my honeymoon. When I get back, I receive an invoice of $1000 and an estimate with non-time stamped pictures of the alleged van with scratches. $1000 for scratches!! On top of that, the YEARS of the vehicle didn't match.

Let's just say that 1/2 a year later, I'm still fighting their bogus claim. I've contacted the Office of Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau. Alamo has been uncooperative, unreliable, and, quite frankly, untrustworthy. I've done extensive research on bogus car claims, and, well, what do you know... Alamo shows up. Google it. Learn from my mistake and the mistake of many others. This company will take advantage of you if you're not careful.

Avoid this company at all cost. But if you're one of the unfortunate to HAVE to rent from them, force them to do a walk-around (they insist it's "up to the customer"... other places I've rented did that automatically), sign documents to confirm the condition of the vehicle, take PICTURES and VIDEO inside and out, and when you return the vehicle, take pictures and video AGAIN and make sure you do one last inspection with a representative and confirm the condition. It's a hassle. But, you never know if you'll need the evidence one day, as I've read stories about companies who write up claims even AFTER an inspection.

HAWAII -- I rented here in February of 2011 because they had the "lowest rates". What a mistake! When I went to get my car, they proceeded to try to hard sell me all kinds of extras which I did not need. Then they told me that I should pre-purchase my gas with them to save 11 cents a gallon. I was told that it would cost $67 dollars and that there were no refunds, so I should bring it back as empty as possible.

After waiting in line for an hour, I was then told that the mid-sized car that I had reserved was unavailable. They had no mid-sized cars even though I made my reservation six weeks prior. I was told to pick any car at no extra charge which meant I got a Jeep because that was all that they had in the lot. Although I didn't really want a Jeep, I took one.

When I brought it back at the end of my trip. They first tried to charge me $25 for a small amount of sand in the floorboard. They then informed me that I owed them $102.00 for gas. Remember they had quoted me $67. When I told the attendant that I had been quoted the lower amount, I was informed that was only an estimate and was then reminded that I was told this because there were managers initials on the contract that indicated so. When I said this was not true, I was more or less called a liar.

I asked to speak to a manager and was then scolded by this attendant for being rude and told that she was going to write down everything I had said in my file. That's when I lost it and refused to pay until I had spoken with a manager. She then left and returned saying no manager was available but that I could get $25 knocked off the bill. I still ended up paying more than was agreed.

It is my opinion that this company purposely and deceptively makes customers pay more than the original agreed amounts and I will NEVER do business with them again. I encourage anyone reading this to use another company if you value your hard earned money and your peace of mind. I was also told by two different people that someone from the company would be in contact with me to resolve these issues. That was almost two weeks ago and I have yet to receive that call.

ARIZONA -- I recently graduated from AIT (advanced individual training) from the army and my mother and friend drove out to see me graduate. They rented from Alamo and we used that car for about 2 days and returned it. When my mother was filling out the paperwork for the rental they asked her if she wanted to buy insurance just in case the car was damaged. She said no and that was the end of it (or so she thought). We returned the car in the same condition it was rented and when it was returned they wrote no issue of damage on the receipt and we left.

A few days after getting home to new jersey we received a call about damage to the car. My mother argued it and has all the documentation to back it up. She spent about 6 hours of her time arguing it that night. A few days later she was contacted again and this time the claim was turned over to a collection agency. She then spent more time providing documentation and doing some research and mailing it to them. A week or so later she got a envelope in the mail saying the collection agency thought the claim was valid and was going to pursue it when it is not valid at all.

Reading reviews and scouring the internet I've come to find this happens all the time. It is their policy to not inspect the car and to push to have the insurance purchased or file faulty claims. There is reviews of dysfunctional cars that have led to accidents and injuries as well as a slew of other things. This company needs to be set straight. No one seems to have done anything about it, because they are afraid and or do not know the system so they just pay the money. This is wrong. My mother and I have decided to file a class action lawsuit against this company.

OMAHA, NEBRASKA -- Beware - Alamo Car Rental runs a scam through Priceline. Here is what happens: First, Alamo accepts an extremely low bid via Priceline (planning on getting money out of you in other ways). Second, they hard-sell their comprehensive insurance. (I have no problem with this - all companies try to sell you this). If they get you to buy the insurance - then they've made their money. However - IF NOT - THEY WILL SEND YOU A DEMAND LETTER INFORMING YOU THAT THE CAR WAS DAMAGED.

The scam likely works well with most people. They do it intelligently. They will tell you the damage came to about $150.00 or so (below most people's deductibles) - that way you won't call your insurance company about it. After all, if you called the insurance company, they would ask if Alamo documented the damage to the car before and after you rented it. THEY DON'T. I even asked about it when I picked it up and dropped it off. They insisted there was no need. Obviously, they don't want it documented, so they can then scare you into believing there was damage done to the car.

In my instance, I knew good and well that there was no damage done to the car. I called Alamo, informed them I am a lawyer (which I am) and asked them how they planned to prove there was any damage to the car. They immediately backed down. However, absent being a lawyer and challenging them, they likely would not have backed down so easily.

I highly recommend never renting from them. This was obviously a calculated scam, which the company knows about and endorses. Horrible company. Never rent from them. Personally, I have never had any problems from either Dollar or Enterprise. Can't speak too much for other companies... but stay away from Alamo.

SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA -- We rented a car from Alamo at the San Jose airport. We were offered the fuel service option with a guaranteed price of $3.81 per gallon. However, it was not explained that we would be charged for a full tank of gas and that we should bring it back empty, just that we were guaranteed that price. So when we dropped the vehicle off with a half a tank of gas, we assumed that we would be charged just to fill it at the price of $3.81. Our receipt showed a full tank, but I assumed they just were showing what a full tank would be and that they would adjust it accordingly. Wrong.

I called Alamo this morning to see what the final price was and they said it was the same. The customer service rep explained that we had agreed to purchase a full tank, but very quickly offered to refund half since we returned the car with half a tank of gas. I was fine with that. She then put me on hold and when she came back on, she said that she could only refund me $25 since she had to use the refueling option at $5.63 per gallon.

I told her that it was outrageous that they were charging that much per gallon more. The gas station outside the airport was $4.25 and we definitely would have filled the tank had we known that we would be paying $5.63. I then spoke with a manager who was of no help whatsoever and finally ended up accepting the $25 refund.

So be forewarned if you choose this option and make sure that you bring the car back absolutely empty. If they had just refunded the half that they initially offered, I would have been happy, but they have definitely lost this customer and I will be sure to tell everyone I know about this experience. They obviously don't care about losing customers.

GERMANY -- While in Germany I rented a car for 7 days. The second day the oil light went off, I called the assistance to know what I had to do, they sent a technician that said there was NO oil in the car, I had to pay for the oil. The third day I got up at 5 to take my husband to the airport, and the car would not start, did not have cash only American Credit cards that the cab would not take, we had to stop someone on the road and beg for a ride to the airport. I called assistance (and I was very upset, I am sure it is in their notes) another technician came said the battery was not good, he jump-started it and told me to drive around for an hour to make sure it would recharge well.

(Said the battery might be too small ?!) When I returned the car I explained to them what happened, they refunded the money that I paid for the oil and then said that they will probably give me 10% off my rental for the inconvenience and the tip my husband gave to the person that drove him to the airport and the fuel that I used to drive around Munich for an hour during rush hours.

Since then I have been emailing back and forth with the customer service and they say there is no proof of evidence that I need a refund. They say they will not refund me because the car did not need any repairs after we brought it back... (who knows for sure?) And I mean, that does not even matter because... it had a lot of repair done while we had it!! NEVER USE ALAMO/NATIONAL in EUROPE. I don't recommend it. Customer Service not very friendly and not very customer oriented.

SEATTLE AIRPORT, WASHINGTON -- Alamo took advantage of my inexperience and deceived me by not explaining what their terms mean. When picking up my car at the Seattle Airport they rushed me through the process. One does not have the time to read the fine print while standing in line at the airport. This should be explained on the website when booking cars and this can be explained in 10 words or less at the counter. I was told that I had a choice to fill up the car myself or to let Alamo fill the tank. They did NOT tell me what that meant... I was supposed to know that they charge for a full tank whether I used a full tank or not. If they fill the tank for you, they charge $6.99 per gallon!

I drove 119 miles - used less than 1/2 a tank of gas and they charged me for a full tank of gas at $78.57!!! Rip-off!! Fill your own tank! Also, be aware that the City of Seattle and the State of Washington charge the rental consumer astronomical fees for renting in their municipality. I paid to the City and State: Customer facility charge $16, Concession recovery fee $58.38, Vehicle License recovery $2.24, Washington Sales tax of $44.97 and Washington Rental car tax of $49.01. So my fees to Seattle for renting the car in Washington for 4 days was $170.60, plus a tank of gas at $78.57 are astronomical.

I paid more in fees and gas than my rental charges. I will never ever use Alamo again and hope you don't either. I will spread the word to everyone I know personally and on the internet to avoid this company. I could have used a car service for a fourth of the cost to rent this car. I was ripped off totally. After speaking with Customer Service, I am even more disenchanted with their "We couldn't care less" attitude. Screw the customer is their motto.