Alamo Car Rental Problems
 

I recently had a second very unsatisfactory situation dealing with Alamo Car Rental. I have emailed a complaint into their Customer Service folks. I will advise on this site what their response will be. Their response to my first complaint was of the nature of, "sorry, better luck next time".

On April 1, 2007 I went to the Alamo counter in Salt Lake City, UT to pickup a GS6 Pontiac or similiar that I had reserved on the internet. I found out that this particular location had no GS6's. The similiar was a hatchback that was or was similiar to a Chevrolet Aveo. In my opinion the Aveo is not in the same category as a GS6. The backseat must be folded down to store a person's luggage which is less secure, being more visible & accessible to others. Then to drive this little putt-putt in comfort on a road trip is impossible.

The Alamo representative basically told me to take it or leave it, however she could give me an upgrade to a vehicle with a trunk for $200 more dollars than the internet quote I had received. I took the deal because I wanted to get started on the trip and wanted to get started with something that my wife & I would be comfortable driving. As stated above, the complaint I submitted after returning from the road trip was given the so sorry treatment. I did not want any compensation. I thought they could clean up their website with a little better information. They thought their website was just fine.

I didn't learn my lesson. I reserved on the Alamo website for pickup on Sep 11, 2007 in Tucson, AZ a GS6 or similiar since the rate was favorable by far over their competitors. So dumb I didn't think the same situation could occur but this time it was worst.

The Alamo representative told me they had a GS6 but it was on hold so I was told I would have to take the little hatchback AGAIN. My other choice was to upgrade to a Nissan Maxima, only this time the cost doubled to almost $900 from a quote of $423. Again anxious to get started on a trip with a planned itinerary only to run into a roadblock.

We then checked with the other rental agents. Dollar said they would also have high rates at the counter. If I got on the computer I could obtain better rates, then they would honor those rates even if an upgrade was necessary. Enterprise told me the same thing. They said that what Alamo was doing was not what they would do.

We went back to the Alamo counter and told the representative that I wanted the telephone number to the Alamo CEO or any other official that had the authority to change this situation. She then said she could lower the price of the upgrade by $200. Time was passing so I reluctantly took the "deal". The vehicle I got was a Chevrolet Impala with 25,000 miles on it instead of the Nissan. I am sure it was not their cream of the crop in that location. However it served the purpose. I had no problems with the vehicle & we had an enjoyable trip minus $300 more the vehicle cost us.

I thought I would pass this info along to others that may be as trusting (dumb) as I was. All I can say now is Alamo will never be considered again in any car rental plans of mine. However to be fair I will post whatever comments they may have on my complaint.

Interesting. I've never had this particular problem with Alamo. They are my least favorite car rental company, though, because I don't like the quality and condition of their cars, and I've seen more instances of dubious customer service with them than with others. I bite the bullet and use them sometimes when the price is right; last week I had the GS6 class reserved at Alamo, and got the Impala (and they didn't even try to sell me the upgrade). I had done the "pre-paid" option though, which might have made a difference.

Thanks for the heads up. Is it just my imagination or do there seem to more complaints about Alamo than any other rental car agency in the US?

I wrote them off ages ago when I spent nearly half a day at LAX trying to get a reserved car -- and then getting one that had a number of problems with it.

Add me to the list of unsatisified Alamo customers. We wrote them off after getting terrible customer service from them 20 years ago. While Avis and Hertz cost more, we've always had excellent customer service from both, both domestically and abroad.

LOL @ Alamo 20 years ago... you mean back when their reputation had more to do with how terrible the company treated its own employees rather than how bad any customers were treated?

When you rent at backwoods locales such as Salt Lake City and Tucson, you run the risk of renting from a franchisee that doesn't exactly fall completely under the umbrella of the large Alamo company, and that could be the underlying source of the OP's troubles.

They would have older, less-kept-up fleets, and perhaps they wouldn't even have the strength of sharing vehicles with more widely heralded, sister company National Rent-a-car.

With that said, when you accept "... or similar", clearly you are subject to whatever they have or will give you.

The time to come and tell us about it is when you reserve a "convertible" and don't get a convertible, etc.

This post is nothing more than sour grapes from someone who simply wasn't aware of how rental companies operate.

Salt Lake City and Tucson backwoods? What are you talking about. And similar is similar. Yes, it's easier to compare a convertible to a non-convertible and conclude they're not similar, but a hatchback and a sedan are NOT similar in my book.

roy2moira...as many rental agencies as there are out there looking for our business, who needs this possible hassle! We are getting ready to rent next week in hokey backwater Tampa. We won't use Alamo for sure!

Thanks...these boards can be so great!!

Comeon dmlove-didn't you know Tucson and Salt Lake City were the backwoods??
Seriously, used Alamo all the time in the past and didn't have any problems especially in Las Vegas where I traveled often for work. But my new favorite car rental company is Dollar. Best rates and never have had a problem with their cars although haven't tried to get one with GPS. I rarely use Alamo now.

Northwestmale, I guess my LAX Alamo experience was because Los Angeles is also a backwater? And a driver's seat that when you lean hard against it gives way and flies back to the furthest position is just a result of renting there in that backwater LAX location as well?

You're right. There are some major sour grapes here, but they aren't in the original post.

Paula, and I'm with you on Dollar. They've been great in every way, and often I think there is a mistake in the quotes as they are often so much cheaper. My one week rental in Phoenix this week is a TOTAL of $150 -- and that's with all of Phoenix' famous add-ons -- over $60 worth. Nobody else came even remotely close to them in price. I'm also doing a one day one way rental in Florida just to get to the airport. Grand total with all add ons? -- $17.

First, the Pontiac is called a G6. There's no GS6.

Pontiac G6 belongs to the "Midsize" category. A Chevy Aveo belongs to the "Economy" category, two steps down.

A rental car company does not guarantee availability of any car model or car category. In a situation where they run out of "Midsize", all rental car agents I've dealt with - Avis, Hertz, whoever - will automatically upgrade me to something bigger.

Or they can give you a discount to take the "Economy".

If their offer is "take it or leave it", then I'll leave it and rent from somebody else. And I definitely will not rent from them again.

Interesting that I used Hotwire just 2 months ago at Kansas City, and they gave me Alamo. But looking at hotwire.com, they no longer use them, though Priceline still does.

rkkwan-I think one of the reasons I like Dollar so much is that I almost always get upgraded. I am an Express member with them so don't know if that makes a difference but would think it might. It is true that rental companies can't guarantee a specific car but if you request a car with a GPS can that be guaranteed? Just wondering. I would see how travelers that request a GPS might really be depending on that during their trip.

wow, what a coincidence to find this post..... I just got back from MSP (is Minneapolis backwoods? I dunno)

I booked my car on Alamo's site and when I got to the counter, the rental was more than the internet quote! Hmmm...

Thank goodness for the "mangers special" on SUV's that only cost me $95 more for the 4 day rental...

I've never seemed to have a problem with Alamo except for extremely long waits, but I recently had one with Dollar in Manchester NH. They didn't have the correct rate for my car and tried to charge me $18 per day instead of $8, good thing I brought my printout. I rented a compact car and they said all they had left was minivans. I refused to drive a minivan so they said go over to the pickup counter and maybe they'll have a recently returned car.

They had a Ford Focus but I think it hadn't been rented in awhile, missing a hubcap, missing an interior door handle, stains on all the seats, cobwebs in the trunk but I took it because I didn't want to hassle with trying to find another rental on short notice.

Hertz in LA is always trying to give me much bigger cars than the category I've rented and who wants a gas guzzler with LA gas prices? And the last time I rented a mid size and they wouldn't give me a 4 door without an additional per day fee even though the picture on the website showed a 4 door car.

I've just gotten used to expecting an issue of some sort when I rent a car, fortunately it's never been anything major and once I even got an automatic in Europe for the same price as a stickshift when I mentioned that the car was too large and did they perhaps have something a little smaller :-)

Actually Kristi-most of the time when I rent a compact or intermediate car I end up with a minivan or a bigger car. This is true for all the car rental companies I have used although I seldom use Avis or Hertz because they are just too expensive.

Often the vans or bigger cars is all they have on the lot. They have never charged me more for the upgrade and I am usually happy to get the more substanial car. Of course a lot of the time I am not paying for the gas, but often the gas mileage is not that much different between a compact and an intermediate car.

Kristi,

Interesting. I also had a problem with Dollar at Manchester. We had a reservation as did about ten other people in line. The clerk informed us that they didn't have any cars at that time and to come back tomorrow morning. She than left and went outside to smoke a cigarette, leaving everyone in line! Everyone left but as I had to be Maine early the next morning it wasn't an option. I ended up with a SUV after one "magically" appeared.

The only time I arrived with a reserved car to be told, sorry they didn't have any cars at all was with Hertz.

I wrote off Alamo in Orlando, another backwoods location. Alamo is offsite and I arrived by bus with 2 children around 11PM. I finally reached the counter at 2AM! It's still hard to believe that they could have so few people working and so many customers.

Funny, I have started using Alamo more often because I have had better experience with them than others - especially Dollar, which on several occasions tried to give me a vehicle in questionable mechanical condition, make me pay more than stated on my reservation, or accept a different car than reserved. I got into it with one Dollar agent when she tried to tell me that I had to accept a minivan which I did not want (has reserved mid size.) The old "I don't care if the manger is not here, call him - you would find him if the place was on fire, wouldn't you?" worked but I have not patronized them again.

Sometimes upgrades are welcome, I got a minivan when I went to LA with my nieces and SIL and we really liked getting a van. But usually I want exactly what I reserve, I don't drive a big car at home and I don't want to try to park something that size. And I tend to do a lot of driving and gas mileage is a concern. But places like LA and Orlando a lot of their patrons are families looking for larger vehicles so I imagine that's why they tend to "upgrade" me when I go to those destinations

I only use Hertz and Avis when I get them through Priceline or Hotwire, you're right, the rental rate is always so much more when you rent the conventional way with them!

The gist of this thread seems to be that all rental companies seem to have their issues, I usually just hold firm and eventually get something that makes us both reasonably happy...

<i>The gist of this thread seems to be that all rental companies seem to have their issues, I usually just hold firm and eventually get something that makes us both reasonably happy..</i>

Which reminds that at Thrifty in Ontario, CA, we arrived to find no cars in the class we had reserved. We heard the clerk telling the people in front of us that they could &quot;upgrade&quot; for a fee. I don't know what those people did, but when we got to the front of the line and they fed us that same line, our response was &quot;you can upgrade us at your cost&quot; and of course, they did. We stopped using Thrifty in Ontario, but not because of that incident, instead it's because every time we went, the line at Thrifty just took forever to get through, and that wasn't the case with other companies.