Complain about a product or service

Alamo Car Rental

Vito of Robbinsville, NJ August 25, 2009

I reserved a car, when we got there, we received a Ford Taurus about 15 yrears old or looked very old. The car smelled, stalled every 5 minutes. I told rosa that i would prefer one of the cars pictured behind her on the wall, she gave no respond, but she did accuse me on giving her a bad credit card, after she realize she made an error, she did not apologize.

I will never rent from them again and will tell everyone I know not to. I have a % yeard old I reserved a car seat, but never got it. My wife had to sit in the back with my son.

Nancy of Tequesta, FL August 24, 2009

Returned a rental on 8/17/09 @3:45 pm and left a Navigation System in the car. Phoned that evening when home and asked to be called back. During the week no return calls, even though phoned 5 times. Received call back today, a week later from the Lost and Found Dept. "Daree" went to look for the Nav System, couldn't locate it......I assume it was stolen by whomever cleaned the car out and she said she has no control over that.....Now what?

Brian of Lebanon, NH August 21, 2009

I booked a ecconomny car for 14.95 a day out of DFW for 4 days (117 total with tax). I prepaid online (Alamo site, not a 3rd party). Used the kyeosk to pick up the vehical. No problems checking it out or in. On my credit card bill I noticed not only the 117 charge but also an additional charge of 129.00. I simply let my cc company know I thought it was a double billing. A month later I get a set of documents from my cc company where Alamo justified the extra 129 charge citing that I had allegedly agreed to take their insurance at 22/day (called loss damage waiver). Personally I never take out this type of insurance on a rental car because the cc I use covers it. I immediately called Alamo customer service and they stated that they had paperwork indicating I had taken out the insurance. I tried to reason with them saying, "why would I rent a car for 14/day and pay an additional 22/day for insurance.

Long story short, they agreed as a "courteous" to credit me 55 (50% of the insurance). I told the customer service agent that I did not consider it a courtesy, but an intentional deceptive practice that Alamo was engaging which resulted in stealing 50+ from me. I had long since discarded the paperwork I received from the kiosk (if I received any) so I really had not paperwork to justify my position. So, I regretfully accepted their 50% credit. To me this is a clear fraudulent deceptive practice. I wonder how many other people they have easily done this to.

Alan of North Smithfield, RI August 20, 2009

I would like to relay a development that has me somewhat troubled regarding my recent car rental with Alamo in Warwick, RI. Through my Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa card, I was referred to your site and found the price of a car rental that met my needs and was competitive with others I had researched. My rental period was August 13th through August 18th, 2009. When booking my car, I selected a “mid-sized” car as I would be picking up 2 tall people from the airport who would be attending with my wife and I, my son’s wedding in New Hampshire. I own a 2009 Toyota Corolla and knew that my own car would be uncomfortable for our guests, thus the need for the larger, mid-sized car rental.

In my research of cars offered through Alamo at Alamo.com 2 cars are listed under the mid-sized category; a Pontiac G6 and a Toyota Prius, “or similar”. I booked my car based on the competitive posted rate for the time period that I needed it, as well as the incentives from my Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa card and the acceptable size of the cars offered through Alamo as mid-sized. Upon picking up my rental, however, I was told that my mid-sized car was a Toyota Corolla. Well, to say that I was somewhat surprised is an understatement. Had I needed a Corolla, I would have used my own car. Obviously I was in a bit of a predicament at this point because I needed the car to pick up our guests within the hour at the airport but knew that the Corolla would be totally inadequate. In addition, my wife dropped me off at the Alamo office in Warick, RI adjacent to the airport and obviously I was left essentially no options other than to accept the upgrade enabling me to pick up my brother and sister-in-law flying in from West Palm Beach. (Just as a side note, because my sister-in-law was my kidney donor for my recent transplant, we wanted to make every effort to make both she and my brother comfortable for the trip to and back from New Hampshire.)

When I stated that a Corolla was unacceptable and not what I had expected, based on the Alamo site and their mid-sized car offerings, the desk attendant advised that I would have to upgrade to a full-sized car, which, in this case, turned out to be a Toyota Camry. I had no option at that point but to accept the upgrade as I had no opportunity to make reservations elsewhere at such short notice, plus my wife who dropped me off at Alamo had headed back home.

Yesterday, after our guests’ departure and returning my car, I began researching this issue a bit to see if perhaps some error had been made. First, I researched the Pontiac G6 and the Toyota Prius, both mid-sized cars which appear in your own site as midsized offerings. (Please see the site listed above.) Tthe G6 IS in fact a midsized car and is compared in its class to the Ford Fusion, The Mazda 6 and the TOYOTA CAMRY. In an article in the Pontiac G6 is described as mid-sized. Again referring to Edmunds, the Toyota Camry is classified as a mid- size car and is compared to similar models, (there were 75 mid-sized car listings), which include 2009 Saab 9-5, Saturn Aura, Subaru Legacy, Suzuki Kizashi among many others. Regarding the Prius, also offered as a mid-sized car on your web site,

In researching the Toyota Corolla, automotive offered this statement, “count on Automotiv as your resource in your price research for a new Toyota compact car. Ten types of Toyota Corollas are listed as “compact cars” in this article. In another article in the Toyota Corolla is listed under “Economy Cars Runners Up”. Finally, Kelly Blue Book states of the Corolla, “If your vehicular preference is for a modest but fuel-efficient and presumably reliable compact sedan from a trusted Japanese brand, this may be an excellent choice.” www.kbb.com . [Underlining mine] There seems to be no shortage of articles expressing the fact that a Corolla is classified as a compact car but at this point, I think further documentation would be redundant.

How prevalent this “confusion” is with Alamo or other car rental agencies is I am not sure. I feel that further investigation would be appropriate in this instance and I do hope to generate interest by consumer organizations to that effect. I also feel it prudent to make the Southwest Rapid Rewards program aware of the issue as well as the Rhode Island State Department of Business Regulations, the office of the Attorney General of the state of Rhode Island and the offices of consumeraffairs.com. I also hope to pursue this matter through local public television consumer units to see if I can generate interest for further investigation. Happily, at least check-in went smoothly with no problems. Alamo in my opinion did NOT honor their commitment to me for the rental of a “mid-sized” car at the price that was mutually agreed upon, nor did I receive full and fair value in this transaction.

Debra of Midwest City, OK August 20, 2009

I booked a midsize car for pickup at the airport on May 30th, returning the car on Jun. 3rd. Upon arrival, I was given a Kia Spectra. I told them I had booked a midsize car, not a compact. I was told by the agent and then the manager that the Spectra was a midsize car. But I could wait another 2 hours for another car. The manager swore the Spectra is a midsize. I took the car. Upon return to my home, I called the corporate office and was told that this is indeed a compact car.

kal of los angeles, CA July 21, 2009

Counter lady told me the gas was MUCH cheaper to buy from them. I trusted her and went ahead and signed up for the "return car empty" only to find out they LIED. the gas on the island of Hawaii was not as much as she said. I filled the tank for 35.oo BUT was charged 55 at the counter-a diff of 20 bucks.

When I returned the car and mentioned this to the return guy he gave me a song and dance and did nothing to make me THE CUSTOMER happy.

The people that work at Alamo are just robots with no common sense nor customer savey. locals who just have do a job-nothing more.

paulette of sherman oaks, CA July 17, 2009

I was in at the airport on a Tuesday morning following an urgent trip for a family emergency - April 1, 2009. I had a reservation with Alamo, and dutifully waited online. I decided to go with them because a) I had rented from them many times before and b) they would accept my debit/mastercard without placing at least 250 against it on hold. The agent at the counter was seemly very nice and very synpathetic. I told him that I wanted a compact car, did NOT need any insurance - collision or otherwise since my own insurance from Geico covered everything with no to small deductibles and would fill the gas tank myself since I did NOT expect to be driving much.

Under the guise of being a concerned person (and he was SOME actor...) he told me that my collision would not cover me. (And remember I am in a hurry to get to a hospital that morning after a red-eye flight - so I don't have the luxury or taking my time to call my insurance company and wait and check this out...) He said that it would cover the collision... BUT... there would be an additional deductible from Alamo AND that even if the car was in a minor scratch/dent collision OR had some sort of vandalism however minor - the car would be taken out of commission - sometimes for months! That I would be responsible for the cost of what it would be to rent out - for everyday that it was being fixed - even if it was 6 weeks or more... that my insurance would probably have a limit - and I could be paying a lot... and I was exhausted and was led to sign for additional collision insurance in additional to the fact that my own car insurance had full collision.

ALSO - he told me that it would be better to pay in advance for a full tank of gas BECAUSE there were no gas stations in close proximity to the airport - and even if I gassed up the car before bringing it back - I would use up quite a bit of it before I would bring it back and would be charged at a higher rate... I was beated down and signed just to get the car... (I was however given a free upgrade when I found that there were NO compact cars left, and stormed out wanting to cancel the entire thing... "Tom" then went back there to confirm the lack of small cars, wrote something on my contract, and I was able to take a Corolla which qualified as a midsize.

Randy of Hayward, CA July 11, 2009

Back in May I booked a flight/car for wife to return home to visit her parents. I paid for it with my American Express. She was so excited to go home. Well she arrived with her sister whom met her for the connecting flight via Charlotte NC and flew into Tampa on the morning of 27 June 2009. They proceeded to the Alamo car rental via the shuttle bus to get the car and go visit the family.

When they got to the counter the Agent brought up the reservation and then asked her if she wanted to take a Dodge Challenger. She said no a few times as he kept pressing her to take this car. He said it was the same class as the intermediate car I had booked for her. After telling him no a few times and his persistence along with the same class car she said okay. The only other thing he did was hand her the rental agreement to initial and sign. He did not say anything about money or rates.

She returned the car at 4:10 in the morning of 5 July, got her receipt and returned home. In talking about her trip she mentioned paying for the car and I told her I had paid for it with my AMX card. I assumed they had made a mistake in double billing us. So I tried to call and they were closed on Sunday. I also sent an Email to the customer service department and called them today (6 July 2009). They told me to contact the Tampa agency directly.

I spoke to the Manager and explained the situation and was told that my wife had agreed to an upgrade. Unfortunately on paper she did not realize that 1) I had already paid for the car and 2) not realized she was actually being charged for an upgrade which she did not want in the first place and never would have agreed to had the agent told her such. I feel the agent intentionally tried to pull a fast one and may have gotten away with it by not telling her there was a charge and telling her it was the same class car. She feels so violated and do not know what options she has to get her money returned for something never requested. According to the BBB records Alamo/National Car rental is owned by Vanguard car rental and has an F rating for deceptive selling practices. That really got my attention and is a reason I wanted to contact let people know.

Larry of Yorba Linda, CA July 10, 2009

On July 4th I rented a mini van in Aruba. On the morning of July 5th we went for a family drive to remote part of the island when the mini van suddenly dangerously swirved becasue the drivers side rear tire blow out. I noticed that the right rear tire was severly cracked and in very poor and dangerous condition. We tried contacting Alamo but no one answer the phone. I'm handicap and was unable to change the tire myself, so we waited for more than 4 hours for someone to come by to help. Finally someone stopped and offered to change the tire for 30.00, which I gladly paid just to get my family safely back to the hotel. However, after paying the 30.00, the spare tire that was also in very poor condition and went flat. We had family dinner reservations that evening to celebrate my daughter's 20th wedding anniversary that had to be cancelled. On July 7th I waited at the hotel a good part of the day for Alamo to come by to pick up their dangerous vehicle. So because of Alamos unsafe vehicle, the first three days of our 7 day vacation were ruined

Maureen of Diamond Springs, CA May 29, 2009

Left digital camera in center console of rental car. Tried calling after arrived home but no answer the first day, second day voice mail full--no answer. Called corporate office and they could not reach Richmond office either. Finally by the 4th day received telephone call and e-mail after corporate office e-mail. Rental car had not been rented out yet, but did not find camera even though employees had moved it to new lot.

By the time the manager returned to work 4 days had gone by even though I tried from day 1. Feel they were negligent in dealing with this situation and possibly could have retrieved camera with priceless memories on it if there had been someone to answer immediately instead of 4 days later--only after corporate office interceded reluctantly. I had to finally talk to a supervisor in corporate, but she was not very helpful but after much urging upon my part e-mailed Richmond site. Economic loss was approximately 150.00 camera with memory card with priceless college graduation pictures gone forever.

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