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Alamo Car Rental

Mark of Londonderry NH (11/27/07)
Alamo has a clever way to double or triple the bill of unsuspecting customers. Over the web, I arranged to rent a car from Alamo for 5 days and received a special weekly rate of 149. My return plans changed, and I had to return the car on the fourth day. I fully expected to pay the entire 149 as I agreed and wasn't looking for a pro-rated charge - in fact the confirmation email states that early returns on special weekly rates are not entitled to a proportionate refund. Fine. What I wasn't expecting was that for returning the car *early* my bill jumped from 149 to 288. When you return a car early Alamo considers the contract specifying the special weekly rate to be terminated and instead charges you its default daily rate.

Although this clause apparently exists deep in the rental agreement, there was no mention of this in my confirmation email; when I rented the car the rental agent only mentioned a 15 early return fee, nothing about doubling my bill. I've tried to figure out any coherent rationale for a company treating its customers like this and can think of none. As a footnote, after one angry exchange with a customer service rep who scolded me that it is my responsibility to read the contract (be sure to bring your attorney next time you rent from them) and a second follow up call, Alamo did agree to charge me only the original weekly rate this time only.

Vince of Florence, OR October 13, 2007

Vince of Florence OR (10/13/07)
I travel to Las Vegas several times each year. On every occasion I rent a car from Alamo Rental Car at their airport shuttle site. I have noticed that, even though the cars are supposed to have full fuel tanks at the time of rental, when I return the car they always require much more fuel than should have been required for the minimal miles I have driven. On my most recent trip to Las Vegas I decided to pay closer attention and actually check the fuel supposedly used per miles driven. Sure enough, I drove 57 miles and the car required 8 gallons of gas when I filled up to return it. This was a high MPG auto that was rented.

David of North Andover, MA May 10, 2007

David of North Andover MA (05/10/07)

When we arrived in London to pick up our car, the Alamo agent told us that credit cards did not provide an insurance waiver in England. He really pressured my wife and me to accept their waiver. We finally succumbed to the pressure, believing that he must know whether there is a credit card waiver available in England.

When we returned the car, they claimed there was 600 damage, which there wasn't. The deductible of Alamo's insurance didn't cover it. I discovered then that because we had signed the waiver, it invalidates our free 100% coverage through MasterCard Gold. We ended up paying about 799 because of their business practices.

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