02 January 2007 12:32 PM Hide PostUpdate:

We had many problems this pst holiday week. Here is the result of our rental car fiasco:
This is a letter to Alamo I sent to them about it, (in it it says Skytours.com is the car rental reservers, it it the same as Happycars.com)

To whom it may concern,
We reserved a car through Skytours.com and then our flight to Daytona Beach, FL was cancelled. We were then routed to Orlando, Florida as this new flight was the only way to get to our
destination (Daytona Beach, Florida). Skytours Voucher for
the rental car was refused by Alamo in Orlando. The
manager (Said Lovaked) there was the one who refused
us. He was the MOST RUDE person I have ever encountered at a comercial place of business. He was rude Even before we got angry about this problem. We were very courtious at first as it was Christmass day and we were in a happy mood to be in Florida, even though our flight was moved from Daytona to Orlando, through no fault of ours. At first the desk person there said it would be no problem to pick up the car there instead of at Daytona. We were relieved to hear this. We were going to meet my fiance's mother for Christmas dinner. We would still make it to Daytona (although about 1.5 hours late) to have Christmas dinner with her. The desk person then left to go speak with her manager (Said Lovaked). The desk person came back and said that the manager told her that they were told by Alamo Administration not to accept any of these vouchers from Skytours. He says that the problem is with Skytours and not with Alamo. We ended up paying $150.00 for a taxi cab ride to Daytona Beach. We were able to use
the voucher there with no problem. The desk guy in Daytona said that they should have had no problem giving us the car in Orlando. He also said that the manager should not have been so rude and he apologised for Alamo. HE was VERY PROFESSIONAL, unlike Said Lovaked in Orlando. His professionalism is the way ALL of your employees should conduck themselves. In May humble opinion your manager in Orlando should not even be employed by you. If he keeps up that attitude you will have no business left. We would like to be compensated the $150 for the cab ride. I think you need to have a conference with Alamo about
your business relationship. Problems like this will be
very bad for your future online business. Please send
us a check for the $150. A letter of apology would also be welcome. Thank You!

Most of the problem was with Alamo and the airlines that cancelled the flight to Daytona. The airlines is Delta. We just called them and they said that the flight was not cancellled and that we should not have been re-routed. Here in Albuquerque Delta said we were re-routed because the flight crew was not available because they called in sick! They gave us 3 $50 vouchers for flight, one under my 9 year old son. He has to be present to use the voucher. SUCH FUN!!!!!!!

There is never any excuse for rudeness when you are serving the public. Alamo does a lot of business with tourists to Central Florida and the CEO of Alamo should have been informed. It does take a little bit of research to determine the name and corporate address of the CEO, but it can be done.

As to the reason why your plane was routed from Daytona Beach to Orlando, I can only report that there was a severe tornado that hit Daytona on Christmas day and it caused many millions of dollars of damage. Perhaps that is why your flight was diverted?

I don't mean to diminish what your problems were nor the reactions from various personnel, but if I had read the letter you sent, I doubt very much I would have taken it seriously. The number of errors and the overall tone are as unprofessional as the service you received.
I know this not what you want to hear about this problem, but you would be amazed what can happen when you are polite, well spoken, and courteous yourself.

I hate to say it but I agree about the letter. I could never take anything seriously that is so confused, rambling and contains so many inaccuracies/ extraneous information.

If you want to write a letter of complaint it needs to be short, specific, not go into all sorts of other details that have nothing to do with the compaint, contain sarcastic remarks, etc. And most of all, it should ask for a specific remedy.

I'm a poster on a travel board and so tend to be sympathetic - am trying to be sympathetic - but this comes across as a whole lot of whining about not much.

Suggest you recast the letter in a very concise, professional style (using bulleted points if that helps clarify it) and try sending it to a specific person at Alamo. Get the name of the President either from the web site or by calling. S/he won;t see it but an executive assistant will. And - if you present your case coherently you may obtain some remedy.

If you have a chance to re-write the letter, make sure you use a spell checker.

About 10 years ago, I made it a rule to never rent from Alamo again. I have never had a positive experience with them. If you are a member of a warehouse club like Costco or Sam's, you can get comparable rates from Avis or Hertz. It also avoids booking through a 3rd party, which I also try to avoid.

A very recent column from USATODAY had an article entitled "Twelve tips for effective complaining" <http://tinyurl.com/2676jw> that has useful information for many of us. Even if you are a seasoned traveler, it's worth a read.

Okay, I don't understand. Your flight get cancelled, and you were moved to a different flight. The airline is responsible to get you to Daytona Beach.

I don't see how and why Alamo will reimburse you with the taxi money.

THANK YOU, rkkwan!! I knew something was fishy about this whole scenario, and you nailed it!

arctos3, why didn't the airline arrange travel to Daytona?

I also agree with the others-- poorly-written letters of complaint will get nowhere.

Shouldn't you be complaining to the travel agency? It sounds like they are the screw-ups here...!

Thank you, rjw!

I agree -- I think your real beef is with Skytours. It is THEIR job to make sure all of the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed . . . not Alamo's. If they are a reputable outfit, they (Skytours) should have provided you with an after hours/holiday number to call with any problems . . . That's the first place you should have gone.

But, since you did not give Skytours a chance to remedy the situation, I doubt you'd be able to get much sympathy from them now, but I suppose it's worth a shot.

I don't think anyone's defending poor customer service, but frankly, sad as it is to say, I've gotten to the point where I just expect it, and I'm surprised when I get good customer service. And, I'd especially not expect it from anyone who has to work on Christmas Day . . .

Also, I take it that you don't do much travelling, but for future reference, if Delta cancels the flight, it's THEIR responsibility to arrange alternate transportation to your EXACT destination (the only exception being a cancellation due to weather, which, in that case, you're basically on your own). That's the time you should have stood up for yourself!

And, I don't think that others are being out of line by saying that if your letter to Alamo was as poorly written as your posting, it's not going to present you and your case in the best possible light. I know that everyone has their strengths and weaknesses (I'm a pretty strong writer, but God help me when it comes time for a math situation! , so perhaps you should run letters like this by someone who has stronger writing skills.

In your defense, I don't think you're "whining;" I just think you're mad at the wrong people.

Unfortunately, I think you're going to be lucky to get much of anything in the way of reimbursement, since you 1) did not give Skytours a chance to step up to their responsibility; and 2) did not demand Delta route you to Daytona (unless, again, the cancellation was weather-related). Plus, for all we (and you) know, Skytours may be totally fly-by-night and either had no legitimate relationship with Alamo, or only had one with the specific outlet in Daytona and not nationally.

I think you're going to have to chock this up to "let the buyer beware."