Alamo Car Rental Reviews

1. The person notices nothing wrong, they sign you in, you catch your flight.

2. They notice something wrong that legitimately occurred during your possession, you provide them insurance information, and off you go.

3. They notice something wrong that did not occur during your possession, yet, because they noticed, you are now liable for anything and everything they say.

I’m firmly convinced that this is a very purposeful scheme. Somewhere some actuary calculated out the risk of what discovering damage really means, including an approximate cost of a recovery scenario, potential profits, etc. This is a money maker folks, no two ways about it. This essentially hedges their bet that, should you (like me) be covered on your own insurance policy and decline the pure profit that is their hard-counter-sell insurance policy, well, they’re getting that money back and a hell of a lot more. The best part is that you sign your life away in terms of responsibility assuming, incorrectly, that there would be some amount of fairness associated with any disputes regarding damage. What really happens is that it’s your word vs. theirs (they always win) and you’re left holding the bag.

This past summer, for the first time in my life, I actually rented a car and had a problem. Actually two problems. Because I’m a smart consumer and didn’t take the sucker bet that is daily insurance coverage, this gave Alamo carte blanche access to make my life hell. As an aside, I never rent from Alamo or Enterprise unless I absolutely have to. I’m a Hertz and Avis guy, but this deal happened to be part of a Costco travel bundle, which was a great deal all in. In addition to getting two lemons in ill repair, I was hit by a native Hawaiian who failed to turn around and see if anyone was behind him before throwing his F150 in reverse. He admitted full fault, yet we did not have cellular signal and could not obtain a police report. When I returned I spoke to Island Insurance who said they would get the full claim paid, and I forgot all about it.

Then the letters started arriving from Alamo. After two hopeless phone conversations, I directed them to my insurance agent who got to the bottom of what was going on. Island had requested additional documentation and, rather than supply it, Alamo felt they would just bill me instead and see who paid first, either me or Island Insurance. After all, I signed the contract stating I would be liable no matter what, right? Yeah, shady. Beyond shady. Note that I did not receive any of the following:

1. Accounting of the claim, detailing total damage estimate and all associated fees.

2. Details of payments received to date and explanation of any delta.

3. Reason explaining my responsibility for the balance, if any, and why it was not being pursued from the other party.

As of yesterday, I completed the correspondence with their Damage Recovery Unit, aka Collection agency that will make up random bills and threaten you with a real collection agency should you contest, question, or request additional information (read: proof) regarding the bill. I had received my final notice that they were moving me over to collections (without any justification whatsoever) and that I was no longer allowed to rent from them ever again (like I would). I promptly drafted a letter to the entire executive staff of Enterprise Holdings, the parent company of Alamo, Enterprise, and National. Rather than risk one letter getting buried, I sent 6 via post to the CEO, COO, Board Chair, and a selection of EVPs.

I then found an email address for their CEO Andrew Taylor (ataylor@erac.com) and sent a PDF copy. Not sure if it was received, but it didn’t bounce either. Last, but certainly not least, I sent a PDF copy of the letter as my final notice to the Damage Recovery Specialist. Where he hadn’t previously responded to emails, I got a response within 13 minutes stating he had decided to close the claim and waive all charges. When did this happen? He said just yesterday, but in reality I think it was within maybe 9 minutes of receiving my email.

The lesson, folks, is to pound executive staff with the realities of this horrific business. I’m copying my letter here for your enjoyment. Should any of these people choose to respond directly,I will most certainly post the updates.

St. Louis, Missouri 63105

Dear Mr. Taylor:

I am writing to report to you regarding my recent experience with one of your companies, Alamo Rent A Car, and its associated Damage Recovery Unit.

In brief: I rented the car on 7/20/11 at the Kahului Airport location, confirmation number **.

48 hours after renting the vehicle, the battery died in a parking lot. I was forced to call AAA to get it jumped (AAA stated it had clearly had this problem before as the battery lead covers were already removed from a prior jump), and had to call Alamo to tow the car, as it was unsafe to drive.

Two months later (September 15, 2011), I receive a call from a Recovery Specialist attempting to collect a fee. After repeated return phone calls, I finally reach a different agent who states that I owe an administrative fee but it is usually negotiable. I gave my correct address and said to send me proof in the bill, including why the other insurance company was not billed in full. Subsequent to this request, I am now getting bills from your Recovery Specialist, Randall ** (**) for the amount of $437.69. He has held exactly one conversation with my insurance agent and verbally stated the following:

“Island Insurance was billed for the full amount, the majority of which was remitted. Island Insurance had been unresponsive to his phone calls.”

Upon contacting Island Insurance directly (phone call immediately returned), they have stated the following:

“Island Insurance is and has been willing to pay all charges, including administrative fees.”

In order to remit the balance regarding loss of use of the vehicle, they requested written proof from Alamo.

Both my insurance agent and I have made repeated attempts to contact Randall to understand why the requested documentation was not provided to Island, and most importantly, why I was billed instead of Island when they have stated very clearly that they are willing to pay. The most recent communication I have received from Alamo has not been in response to phone calls from my agent or email communication from me, but rather, a more threatening letter stating that, as a final notice, if I do not remit I will be sent to collections and I am no longer eligible to rent from Alamo, Enterprise, or National Car Rental.

What I am asking you is as follows:

Why have my repeated requests for proof and justification of the dollar amount been continually ignored?

Regarding my ineligibility to rent from any one of your companies, please do not worry, as a result of this experience I wouldn’t provide one dollar of business to any corporation associated Enterprise Holdings.

Ultimately, my personal auto insurance policy would cover any damage that was justifiably my fault in any rental car I drive. Thus, why I declined Alamos daily insurance charge. I am in no way debating this. But surely you cannot contest the fact that by not conducting and providing documentation for initial vehicle inspections, you introduce an astounding amount of subjectivity to the rental process. Subsequently, by not readily providing proof and an accounting for any activity associated with a legitimate claim, you immediately associate the words scam and fraud with the entire damage recovery process.

You’ve lost a customer, Mr. Taylor, and I will not hesitate to caution any others regarding the business practices of Alamo Rent A Car. I hope this letter will, at a minimum, get someone’s attention regarding this poor and unethical practice such that it can be repaired for future customers.

I had to take a city bus into Vacaville, the place of my destination. It cost me $51.00 to go from Sacramento airport to my hotel in Vacaville. It cost well over $100.00 in cab fares, and another $51.00 to get back to the airport. I had to have my family from Oregon wire me money to complete my trip. Alamo's reason was they do not accept debit cards. There is a sign on the counter that said, we rent to you if you have a roundtrip ticket from an airline, bus, train, or cruise ship. I want my money back for the shuttle fare and all the cab fare I had to pay. They were rude and I am just getting over how miserable my trip was thanks to Alamo.

They should refund my money, check their records and see that I rented their cars with the same card I attempted to use on December 9, 2011. I will never rent from them again. I will make sure no one I know rents from them again either.

I was met with a reservation clerk, who asked me for my ID, and major credit card. I presented an ID and my debit card. The clerk asked if I had another card, because even though it had a VISA logo and the word debit, it was considered a prepaid card. I explained that I had spoken to their corporate call center, and they said that it was in fact considered a debit card, but if their location didn't accept it, a cash deposit was acceptable. The clerk proceeded to call her manager. A man appeared, and without hesitation said we do not accept prepaid cards, we only accept major credit cards.

I told him who I had spoken with, and said that there must be another form of deposit that I could use, seeing that the rental was already paid for. The manager was extremely rude, and insisted that there was nothing he could do, and further claimed that no one (other car rental companies in the terminal) would accept that form of payment. When I asked how I would recoup the funds, I already used to purchase the rental, he said to call Expedia. I left the counter in distress, after traveling for 10 hours, stranded, with no form of transportation. I called Expedia that evening to cancel my rental, December 8, at approximately 10:00 PM and they asked the reason for the cancellation. I explained the situation, and they said as policy they would relay the information to National/Alamo per our conversation.

The following day, December 9, at approximately 5:00 PM, after spending over $300.00 in alternate transportation for my previously scheduled plans, I called the National/Alamo corporate call center to file a complaint. I spoke with several agents. The last, Rah, expressed to me their confusion with the situation. First, they said they rarely get these complaints, because they have built there company to work with each individual. Boasting "a value-oriented, internationally recognized brand, serving the rental needs of airport leisure travelers. Alamo offers low rental rates and a hassle-free customer experience at the most popular travel destinations". Secondly, he stated it is National/Alamo policy to accept a cash deposit, as long as the traveler meets the requirements;

4. For rentals in Canada, only customers on a prepaid tour, or renting on corporate accounts that have negotiated the option to use cash, are allowed to use cash to qualify for a rental.

The following are required: verifiable proof of employment, verifiable home/cell phone and/or utilities in renter's name, verifiable return transportation ticket. A deposit of $50 per rental day may apply. Rah further checked his system, to ensure that in fact that particular location coincided with that policy, and that was confirmed (not only was this verbally expressed to me, it is also on their website). He proceeded by giving me there Station/Operations Manger's information to file a complaint with there location, it was Carolyn **, **, **. I followed the call with a call to that number and left a message. No return call was made to me. I then called the National/Alamo call center again to get the Jacksonville reservation line, in which I called and explained my incident from the previous evening to Carl, a reservations agent at the Jacksonville International Airport-Alamo car rental ticketing counter. He proceeded to tell me that they had done cash deposits previously, but he would have to check with his manager, Miraj, who was in a meeting. I left my number and expressed the urgency.

After several hours had passed, I called again in which Carl relayed to me that his manager said that that was no longer in the policy, and there was nothing they could do. When I asked to speak with him, he said he was unavailable, and he could call me in the morning. After expressing my extreme distaste with their lack of customer service, unprofessional-ism, and down right rude manner, I was told that Miraj, (the same manager who was on duty the prior evening when the incident occurred) would call me back right away. Miraj called me, and reiterated that it was not their policy to accept prepaid cards, or cash for deposits. I gave him the name and number of the employee, whom I spoke with at the National/Alamo call center, and explained that it is in fact policy, a policy that is backed in print and verbally through customer service agents. He stated he would have to confirm this information, and would return my call in an hour or two.

When he called back, he said that there may have been a miscommunication, but he was in fact enforcing policy, that they do not accept prepaid cards, which he thought he made clear. When I expressed that he did, but I was focusing on other forms of deposits that could be accepted, he quickly said, "well we haven't done cash deposits for years, but he would make an exception for a distressed traveler". His exception was that a rental car would available to me that evening, December 9, for a $500.00 cash deposit, two utility bills, a valid driver's license, recent pay stub, and return airline ticket. When I asked why this was not made available to me the prior evening, he simply stated because it wasn't normally how they do things.

I declined his offer, due to the fact that I had already spent the money intended for the deposit on alternate transportation. I incurred a total of $726.00 in alternate transportation expenses, due to the lack of customer service and blatant violation of policy by Miraj and his staff, at the Jacksonville International Airport-Alamo car rental ticketing counter. Miraj is under supervisor Jake **. I want to seek repayment for those costs in which I can produce receipts for.

We did encounter someone keying the vehicle. We had an eye witness, filed a police report and promptly reported it to Alamo and State Farm. I gave Alamo a copy of the police report; showed them all the keyed marks. They marked the areas & I took pictures of everything including the police report I handed them. I was told okay and fully expected them to go after the perpetrator especially since we had a witness; he filed a police report also with his statement. I thought everything would be handled between State Farm and Alamo.

Wrong! They never contacted State Farm. I received a bill for over $1700. I promptly called my State Farm agent. I was called several times by somebody representing Alamo by the name of "Nathan". Several calls back and forth to the "Nathan" (for some reason we kept missing each other). I let him know State Farm was my insurance provider and I questioned him and State Farm as to why the person responsible for keying the vehicle wasn't held accountable? Eventually, I was told by State Farm rep that they paid Alamo. So, I believed that while the guy got away with the vandalism that the bill was finally taken care of and maybe I could put this whole bad situation away and move forward with our lives.

Wrong again! A couple of weeks later, I got a message on my phone from this "Nathan" again. Then I received a letter to the tune of owing another $255. I called State Farm; they investigated it because the bill had in fact been paid! Alamo now claims that we are being billed for time that the vehicle was not available to be rented out due to being placed in the shop for repairs. Basically, we are being billed for potential lost revenue! State Farm is refusing to pay this and since then I have received another letter stating that if I don't pay within 10 days, I will no longer be able to rent a vehicle from Alamo or one of their affiliates. Now I have received a letter from a debt collection company claiming that Alamo has placed the claim with them to collect the full amount of $1700.00! I called this company promptly, explaining the events along with circumstances and was told she would call me right back. I feel like I am being harassed!

When you are raising children, you teach them to always obey the law, and you teach them right from wrong. Honestly, things should fall into place when you follow these simple rules and guidelines. Well, Alamo is proving there are companies out there that don't follow honest practices! Unfortunately, I don't know where to go from here and resolve this. Any suggestions?

When I returned on the 16th, instead of leaving it on my card, I went in to pay cash. Their computer system wasn't pulling up the rate even though it was in the 1-800 number systems. Instead of trying to honor my rate, the manager was like "What did you do to the machine?”, “Did I sabotage the machine?", “How can I get that rate?”, “You're going to pay what our machine says, etcetera". Then he said that I was a troublemaker and is going to put me on the do not rent list. I called the 1-800+ and showed him my contract which showed the rate and told him to honor my rate and asked for the number of the manager above him. He gave me the number but the manager never called me back. A week later, I ended up going to jail and wasn't able to pay all the amount before 30 days up. I emailed my normal contact person Rebecca as well as other managers but they stopped emailing me back. Then I find out they added me on the do not rent list saying to me on the phone that if I was able to make the payment, if I already made it, I can't rent. They made the decision.

This was a decision you were already going to make when my record was good and you already had a problem with me. Me going to jail just gave you the ammo to cover up and justify your actions. I feel that is unfair given my record and I kept my receipts. I should be able to rent again maybe not on that location but definitely all 3 companies. Every time I called the management and asked to speak to someone over them, they refused to give me the next highest number and kept having me going in circles, dealing with the same people who all in this together. I had to go online to file complaint and talk to someone in corporate headquarters to attempt to resolve this. For a loyal customer of 2 1/2 years, I feel I shouldn't have to go through this.

The unhelpful staff at the damage recovery department tell me I should have noticed the missing seat and got a different vehicle. The Toyota Sienna isn't available here in the UK so I've no idea how they should look inside but as there was a plastic tray between the middle seats with cupholders everything looked to be fine. Oddly enough Alamo cannot say what they think I've done with the seat. I'm quite certain I'd have noticed it in my luggage had I brought it home to the UK.

Now, we received a damage bill for over $500 dollars for a white scratch that was preexisting, could have just been rubbed out with rubbing compound and we got billed for loss of use of the rental car. Plus this was just a shop estimate, not a repair charge or ticket. As we all know, insurances have body shops give the high-end insurance repair charge vs the actual customer repair charge.

I think Alamo has a full blown scam going and the average consumer doesn't know how to handle it. We need help. If I could have rated our experience a '0,' I would have - a 1 is far too generous.

Shortly afterwards, I began to receive a variety of letters and phone calls from something called the "Damage Recovery Unit", demanding approximately $1,700.00 in damages. They have absolutely no regard for the truth. They are clearly on a mission to beat me out of $1,700. They have offered zero proof to substantiate their claim, but threatened to ruin my credit and put my name on a list of customers not to rent to (Apparently, there is some relationship between Alamo, National, and Enterprise because their threats invoke the names of all three companies). I am extremely frustrated and angry. I urge all consumers to avoid doing business with Alamo if at all possible. Consumers really need to be better protected from these sorts of dishonest and coercive practices.

He discussed adding "partial insurance", which I agreed to when told how much it was compared to the full coverage (that was not in my best interest, I view that as an underhanded sales tactic). I ended up with a sales contract for 7 days of $293.19, as opposed to the $155.00 I was verbally promised. After getting home, I realized that I made a mistake in signing the contract and immediately returned the car. I was charged $87.76 for one day. Needless to say, I will make it known that Alamo did not provide customer service that was in my best interest. I attempted to find the address of the CEO to complain concerning this encounter without adequate success thus far. In my opinion, Alamo's business ethics is deficient. Stay away from this business.

On July 29, I received a call from Jon with Purco stating that the car had been damaged. They had my cell phone, and it took 1 month for them to call me to tell me that I had damaged the car. They called me on the cell phone, so they had my number. They had rented the car 7-8 times after I returned, before they had contacted me.

I immediately had my insurance company review the paperwork from them. My insurance company said that something wasn't right; they could smell a "rat." They purchased a $31.34 Emblem Front Lamp, and they are charging me $772.24 plus administrative fees. I know for sure that the car was returned in the condition the same as when I picked the car up. I have a picture from them of a scratch on the side of the car that it isn't even close to the Emblem front lights.

I am in contact with a lawyer, and he is going to review everything. I also have checked the Better Business Bureau, and their rating in there is not good. They are crooks, and they are trying to scam people out of money. I would rather pay a lawyer than give them any of my money.

I emailed them. The recovery specialist who called me back stated that it was our responsibility to check the car, but she would look into it and call me back. She never called back. But I received the bill in the mail again with a threat to send me to collection in ten days. My boss and I rented a car from another company at the Honolulu airport three weeks ago. They gave us a diagram of a car and insisted we check the car out so I know that not all rental agencies are this unscrupulous.

My four biggest problems with all of this are as follows: First, they don't give you a form to check the car. In fact, they have their lot employees tell you it's not needed when it's in the fine print of the contract that it is. Secondly, loss of use should only be charged if it's the last car on the lot and they lost business while the car is being repaired. Next is the $50 processing fee. And they should call back when they say they will, not resend the same bill with a threat of collection and no acknowledgment of the discussion on the telephone.

I asked several times, if this is a "required" insurance why do they call it optional? And I had the CDW on my credit card. I believe that I don't need anything else. He responded that under FL law it is required and is your option if you take it or not but if a cop pulls you over and you do not provide this insurance, you will get a ticket that will cost you more than the insurance.

Upon returning the vehicle on August 23, 2011, I was told by a woman to keep driving up to her. When stopped, she bent over so far as I could only see her rear end pointing up. She looked directly to the left side under the vehicle and stated there was damage to the underside of the front bumper. She didn't look at any other part of the car except in that one spot. To me it seemed that she knew exactly where to look to make a damage claim. I always check the car before renting, but I do not look under the vehicle, you would have to go to the ground and look up from underneath to see this damage. This was a very nice car and I drove it like I was babysitting it, I never touched anything while driving this car and only used it to take my father and brother food shopping. I have a feeling that is why the car was faced front bumper inwards and the rest of the vehicles were faced front bumper outwards.

It is unfair practices that I was billed $381.57 for damage which didn't occur while this vehicle was in my possession. I feel this damage was there already before I even took the vehicle on August 18, 2011. It could have been the previous person who rented this vehicle, or it could have been the employees who damaged the vehicle and had to put the blame on someone I have rented from your establishment before and never had any problems like this. I am writing this letter to you, the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, and the Attorney General in hopes that something might be done about this situation. I might even go as far as contacting the news media and an attorney.

They said I would also have to pay for the cost of daily rentals during any time it is in the shop. I protested that there was no paperwork to that effect, that an agent and I had done any walk-around of the car to note damage before I took it off their lot. The Alamo agent said Alamo has discontinued that practice.

When I rented the car, I was not advised to inspect the vehicle myself. In addition, the time of my arrival was approximately 5:00 AM, before it was light enough to see. Alamo should be in the position of proving that the damage was done after I rented it. Instead, by not walking around the car with the customer and noting damage, they put the customer in the position of trying to prove that damage didn't occur during their rental, which is impossible to prove. This damage could easily have been on the car prior to my rental, and/or could have occurred in their lot prior to my rental.

There are numerous other complaints on this issue for this location.

Today, I received a letter from Damage Recovery Unit stating that I damaged the vehicle. It doesn't state what is wrong with the vehicle. It was only asking me to provide my insurance or credit card information. I would like to put a fraud alert on this 'claim' because I did no damage to that car while it was in my possession. I have asked them to please send all supporting documentation for the claim. Are there any other suggestions you may have when dealing with this type of issue? Any help you can provide is most appreciated.

Diane **

(Damage Recovery Unit - 866-3003239)

On June 28th, I received a letter stating with a June 1st date from a Kwik Fit Tyre company stating that the side wall had been damaged and the US dollar charge to my credit card was $300. At this time of writing, I am attempting to get contact with Alamo as I now have received information from Europcar (rental broker from which the Alamo car was rented through) with a new letter dated May 23rd 2011.

I fail to understand how a person can be held liable for damage done 4-13 days past their rental agreement.

On 11 July 2011, I received a letter claiming damages on the vehicle and billing me for a total amount of $402.79. It did not state where the claimed damage on the vehicle was. For all I know, this is a scam. Attached on the letter was a form where I can include a credit card number for full payment.

I found a phone number on the letter for the Damage Recovery Unit (918-4016222). I called and left a voice mail on 16 Aug 2011 but no one has returned my call.

R. **

I sent complaints in form of e-mail and phone call and never heard from anybody at Alamo.

I called Alamo to report the claim. They told me I was not covered because I had signed the waiver. I explained the situation and they could not help me. I called Priceline to see how their insurance extension works. They said I would have had to do it through Alamo, and that I was only covered via Priceline for the first 7 days. Alamo is claiming that in order to get insurance through them, I would have had to come down and sign something in person and that they would not help me. When I called to extend the rental, I would have done this, but no one informed me of this. I should have known better I guess.

The damage to the car was minimal and could have been fixed for a very low rate at a local garage (I had a guy that could pop out the dent in the bumper for a small fee and replace the light for $250). But they charged me for an entire bumper when I had to turn the car in. I asked how they could possibly have assessed the damage at $1100. They told me that they had sent an adjuster down to my hotel to look at it the night before. The problem is, the address they had on file was the first place I stayed, after day 7. We had moved to another location, so they lied. They never sent an adjuster down. They charged my credit card on file for the charges, even though they had not completed an adjustment. They would not let me leave the place if I didn't allow.

They had me to either walk or pay, so I contacted Alamo and they said, “Tough luck. Pay”. Beware, Alamo are crooks and thieves.

On June 25, I had an accident on the right side of bumper (only bumper). I called the Alamo and was sent an inspector of accident. The person's name was William, who worked for the insurance company Qualitas. A report of accident and recite to pay deductible was given. Early Monday, June 27, 2011, I went to Qualitas and was told to pay $167.90 of deductible, in which I did and was told that they will handle the rest and no monies will be charged on me.

Two days later, I got a call from Qualitas and was told that Alamo didn't have active car insurance and that they wouldn't be covering the damages of the vehicle. The deductible I paid was being given back due that Alamo didn't have car insurance coverage. I called the Alamo and let Mrs. Garcia know what Qualitas said. Mr. Garcia, in return, said I was a liar. I then said to him I am standing in front of the insurance company and I will let them tell him. Of course he hung up but the lady, Cynthia, at the Qualitas said she would handle it and have someone let him know he didn't have active insurance.

I proceeded to call Mr. Garcia again and what he told me was how dare me go to the Qualitas and have communication with them when I should have just brought the car to them and the rest they would have handled it. I told him yes so that you could have covered up that you didn't have active car insurance.

On July 4, 2011, I arrived seven hours early to fix the problem as I didn't know how long the drive would be to get back from my vacation city to where the Alamo was rented. I returned the vehicle and was charged $418.10. I was even told I would have to pay for having the car not being rented while being fixed.

I already had a bad week and wasn't going to have a heart attack or high blood pressure and end up in a hospital so I ended up paying the amount including taxes and hoping I could fix the problem when I get to my country. I shouldn't have paid no monies as I keep my contract agreement. I paid for car insurance every day I had the vehicle. If anything I should have had the monies I paid for car insurance be deducted from the amount I paid.

I need help in getting my money back and let Alamo know that if they want to keep business, have active car insurance and stop scamming customer. Their business should be closed.

When I returned the car, the rental agent (or whatever she was called) pointed out damage to the front passenger-side bumper. I explained that I know that I didn't cause it. It wasn't a big deal to grab my attention when I rented it, so I wouldn't have documented it with them even if they had provided a form for me to sign on, which they didn't. Now, I get a notice from Alamo saying I am responsible for the damage of the car. My only option, according to them, is to send my car insurance claim information, or I'll be sent a bill. Of course, if I have any question regarding my responsibility, I should contact their office.

It's Saturday, and they're open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, so I'm out of luck. I looked up the number of their Sky Harbor office, called, and eventually ended up speaking with Herman **, the branch manager. He refused to do anything except direct me to the claims department. I asked if he was concerned about the people in his office filing fraudulent claims, and he says his office did exactly what they should have done. I started off very polite and professional but when I get an individual that refuses to do anything about my concerns, I start to get upset.

I again explained my complaint. He said the same thing. I explained that as a manager, it was his duty to be sure his office did everything correctly, that this scratch couldn't cost more than a couple of hundred dollars (and I didn't cause it), and they would end up losing a lot more business than that because I'll be sharing this experience with everyone I know. His response was that he understands my frustration but he couldn't do anything about it. **! As a manager, I know he has the ability to make things happen. If he doesn't, he's not a manager.

I just did a quick search and found two (I know there's more but this was a quick search site) people having the same problem with Alamo. I think I'd like a lawyer to take a look at this, and check out the feasibility of a class-action lawsuit against Alamo. They can try to damage my credit all they want, but they won't be getting a cent from me. In fact, if any lawyer out there are interested in class-action lawsuit, I think I have your case.

We had an infant car seat as part of our reservation. This car seat was handed to us in a plastic bag. She than handed us the keys and told us the car was in the parking structure. We proceeded to the car and had to install the car seat ourselves in which the straps were improperly threaded in the loops. We finally managed to leave. An inspection of the vehicle was not performed, nothing was initialed citing it was and no Alamo attendant walked us over to our vehicle. Our vehicle was primarily parked in the secure hotel parking lot and used a handful of times. No accidents, bumps or dings occurred during our Florida visit.

On May 3rd, 2011, we proceeded to drop off the rental at the airport (where we had rented the vehicle). A gentleman walked around the vehicle and found a scratch on the bottom passenger bumper that was barley visible to the eye. He stated the damage was not there prior to the rental. We spoke to the person we returned our keys to and she stated she was surprised a vehicle inspection was not conducted.

However, we can speak to the Claims Department. Debra **, Recovery Specialist for Alamo reviewed the claim and waived administrative fees. However, she cited we are still responsible for $150. We did not do any damages to the vehicle, we did not initial on any inspection and per the contractual agreement for Alamo, it states Renter is renting vehicle and any optional accessories "as is" and has had an adequate opportunity to inspect vehicle and any optional accessories and its operation before leaving owner's premises. This was not conducted. Therefore, we do not feel as though we should be liable for damages unaccounted for and not registered at the time of rental.

Now, I would like to believe that this is all my fault and I should pay for it. But, if this is really their policy, then it is a wrong policy that is subject to abuse. First, why was there nobody to greet customers returning their cars. That would prevent theft from the car for objects belonging to the company or the customers (left behind). In a country suffering from high unemployment like France, it should be a good thing to do. Second, let's assume for a moment the employee checking the car is a bit dishonest or on minimum wage. Well, he/she could take the GPS and report that it was not in the car when he checked it. There is little risk on them and the company would just charge the customer and the problem forgotten. Third, the manager of the Alamo office at Charles de Gaulle Airport may on purpose charge customers the $300 in addition to keeping the GPS unit to improve his bottom line and look good to his bosses.

No matter how I slice this policy, it is not fair and certainly not American. Speaking with the main office here in the USA or the Paris (France) branch lead to nothing. For them, no GPS in the car means I have to pay for it and that is it. They feel no responsibility towards making sure returned cars are indeed handed over in a responsible manner. It is my hope that all of you out there learn from this lesson and avoid Alamo car rentals in the future.

Folks, this is a scam. If you should receive any such letter, make copies and give it to your agent, adjuster and file a complaint with your state insurance commissioner and/or attorney general as fast as your little fingers can type. Let all your family, friends and neighbors co-work of this scam and never, ever rent a car from Alamo. This is the American way to get rid of bad apples.

When we returned the car, the attendant, who thought we only had thirty minutes before our ship departed, told us that we did damage to the front bumper and had to pay for it. We had declined the $11.95 insurance for the day. We did not do the damage and asked for the manager. The manager came after about 45 minutes and declared that we did the damage and told us that it would cost 3000 pesos which he estimated and made up on the spot. We refused to sign or acknowledge the damage.

We made a call to Visa, which we used for the transaction, and they explained that we are covered by their insurance for damage. The call from our cell phone was $27.88. The charge for the damage to the car was around $50.

Alamo did charge our credit card and we are currently disputing.

I then requested a flash light from the attendants in the lot. They told me to drive the vehicle over to the light next to the building. The directional road would only allow me to view half the vehicle (the right side). I noted as many dings/scratches on the vehicle (there were many) as I could see and then left the lot with the vehicle. The paper I handed the parking attendant upon leaving the rental agency had markings indicated all over the vehicle. Upon returning the vehicle, they noted a mark on the rear left side of the vehicle (one of the few areas where a mark was not noted on the paper and also one that could not be properly viewed in the lot). We were not involved in any accidents and we were very cautious when choosing parking spaces. This was an older vehicle with a lot of wear and tear.

I believe that if the lot was properly lit, I would have been able to properly inspect the vehicle and mark this scratch. They are now seeking damages against me for this mark. They were not helpful when explaining my situation. They are only interested having users of the vehicle pay for regular wear and tear through alternative means. The vehicle inspection process to the consumer is a very important part of renting a car, yet it receives very little attention by the business (it is in their best interests to provide the least amount of lighting when signing out the vehicle and the best lighting when returning it - which is the case with this rental company). I’m never renting from this company again.

This car was not registered, had a tag from another vehicle and as a result was impounded by the Fort Lauderdale, FL Police Department on Saturday 12/11/10, by Officer Gunther, case #10-133852. When I arrived at the towing facility where the car was located, I was informed that I could not retrieve the car, that this was a police matter and as a renter I had no authority to act on behalf of Alamo. At this point, I was stranded in a very bad neighborhood at the towing facility with my luggage. I immediately phoned the West Palm Beach, FL office and asked to speak with the manager, who refused to speak to me on the phone. I was able to contact an acquaintance to pick me up at the towing facility.

After four and a half hours and speaking to 10 customer service representatives and trying desperately to get assistance and a replacement vehicle, I finally was able to speak with a woman named Barbara at the Ft. Lauderdale, FL airport facility who promised me a vehicle as soon as possible. The vehicle took over three hours to get to me and as a result I missed my best friend's surprise birthday party in Miami, where I was to be a special surprise guest. I missed the entire party and was so upset and frazzled that it ruined my entire day of vacation.

Instead of relaxing and sharing with my best friend, I spent seven and a half hours stranded first at the tow truck facility and then at a stranger's house trying desperately to get an answer from a customer service representative who would help me and a vehicle. I was assured by Barbara at the Ft. Lauderdale, FL Airport facility that I would not be charged for the vehicle rental, however, I just checked my account and indeed Alamo charged my account on 12/14/10 for $230.22!

This charge needs to be removed as per my agreement with the Alamo representative and I am going to pursue further. Restitution needs to be addressed to compensate for my ruined vacation day and missed birthday party and all of the anxiety and stress that this caused and continues to cause me. This company is a disaster!

On August 17, 2010, they transferred an even larger amount from my credit card account. They justified this by saying the rates were higher at the location the car was returned. They saw an opportunity to put the sting on a consumer instead of waiving a mileage fee that was not in my original contract. Apparently, the $1,000.00 in administrative fees did not satisfy them. I disputed the fee through my credit card company and they were unsuccessful in getting the transaction returned to me.

I caught a ride to Reno, NV and found that the only Enterprise that was open on weekends or after normal business hours was the airport. Upon arrival, the manager at Enterprise told me that they don't rent to insurance companies because they don't make enough money on it. And that if I wanted to rent a car, I had to pay for it myself then submit it to the insurance company for payment. He had the reservation in the computer but said that I would have to wait until Monday to go downtown to another location or pay out of pocket.

The Alamo Rent-a-Car (right next door) had a person there that was working. He overheard the conversation and laughed. He interrupted the conversation and said that he would rent to me--insurance claim or not. I moved over to Alamo car rental and within ten minutes, was driving away in a vehicle. The next day, I noticed that the paperwork in the glove box all indicates that the vehicle belongs to Enterprise Rent-A-Car. What the heck! I called Alamo and they stated that they rent Enterprise Rent-A-Car's all the time, under an agreement with them. I just received a call from Alamo asking me to take the car back to the location in downtown Reno. You guessed it--to the Enterprise car rental lot anytime during business hours--Monday to Friday. These guys are pulling a real scam on me and the insurance industry. No wonder nobody trusts them.

I believe that this goes well beyond sheer incompetence and is, like the other cases outlined here, a deliberate attempt to defraud honest and unsuspecting customers. All I want to do is pay for the damage I caused and I am extremely discouraged that my sincere attempts to settle this matter result in continued fraud on the part of Alamo.

Someone with the same numbers in a different state was, and it had been a mistake. One customer service rep called it a "hiccup." I got a perfunctory apology and an email of a computer screen shot showing that on 9/28/2010 I was "active", which apparently means rentable, but the piece of paper is useless if it happens again. The counter agent's computer locks up when the system hiccups. And it isn't just Alamo that will not rent you a car if you're on the DNR list: National and Enterprise are on the same network/system.

We got to the Alamo booth in the terminal at 10:30 am (the return inspector gave us a ride in our vehicle). The manager told us they had to wash the mud off the truck (it was muddy, as it hadn't rained in 3 days but the roads were still bad so it hadn't washed off) to check for damage to the body. He said it would take a half hour but that we should return in an hour at 11:30 when he would have everything ready for us. I explained that our flight left at 12:30 and asked to please make sure everything was in order in time.

So, my cousin and I went and got some food and waited an hour. We returned at 11:30 and were told the car still wasn't ready to be inspected. The car didn't actually arrive for inspection until 12:10. My plane was already boarding at this point, and it took Alamo employees over 2 hours to wash some mud off the car. The manager then went around the car, taking pictures of water spots and telling me they were dents. He then essentially strong armed me into signing an agreement acknowledging the non-existent damages.

At that point it was 12:20 and my plane was taking off in 10 minutes. My cousin went to the gate to try and get them to hold the plane for me since Alamo was being so ridiculous. Luckily security hurried me through and I made the flight, the last one on the plane, after signing whatever paperwork your employees had drawn up (I didn't have time to read anything). There was no way I was going to miss my flight (which had a connection in San Salvador). I had full insurance so I don't think it will cost me any extra money but the whole experience felt like some kind of scam. It was very stressful for my cousin and I. I treated the vehicle with respect and did not damage it. It was muddy because the roads were muddy. That was the whole reason that I spent $105 a day to have a 4x4 vehicle. I am disappointed that a large company like Alamo would have employees that treat customers this way. I expect a response from Alamo regarding my experience.

They said there were scratches on the front bumper. As far as we were concerned, when we returned the car and were given the okay we were not responsible for damage done after we had the car. A letter has been written to Alamo and we are waiting on the results. Warning to Alamo renters, document everything, take pictures if necessary, or better yet, rent elsewhere.

When I returned the vehicle, they told me to leave the keys in the vehicle and would have someone check the gas tank levels which I had filled 1/2 tank over the agreement by the way. There was no inspection papers upon my return either. This was the first time I had not had inspection papers from any rental car place, but having seen no damage to the car when taking it, and having inspected it myself upon return, I know that the car was undamaged.

I did not take their insurance because I have Progressive insurance, a fine company and have a safe driver designation to boot! Progressive attempted to obtain proof that I had damaged the car and after 12 attempts, multiple communications, they have dismissed the claim stating that Alamo has not provided necessary proof of damage. Subsequent to Progressive dismissing the claim, I received a letter from Jeffrey ** of Alamo stating, "After making a good faith effort to settle our loss with your insurance, we have learned that your insurance coverage did not apply." This too is a false claim. Progressive went out of their way to obtain necessary documentation.

I am a responsible individual and would gladly take responsibility for any damage I may have done to the vehicle. However, I am also an ethical individual who expects the same from organizations I choose to do business with, unfortunately, Alamo is not ethical and I am appalled that this type of situation has happened to many other people around the USA.

I intend to continue to fight with Alamo and will take this to media attention and to a legal representative if necessary. I may end up spending more on legal representation than the $541.40 they are trying to scam from me, but this is now a matter of integrity. The time has come that a formal investigation into the Alamo Rent A Car damage recovery unit is conducted. Thank you.

I read complaints about Alamo and it's obvious they short customers on purpose. They do not keep their agreements, but give hell to anyone that loses a key or needs assistance, I've read. Alamo is among the worst of the auto rental firms in the USA. I had a problem every time I used their services one way or another, they are just corrupt! This is a loss of $15 for fuel not provided and no assistance toward resolving this. It's also a huge loss of time trying to get it corrected and being lied to and cheated over and over again. We should all avoid Alamo, because this obviously goes to the top. They are out to cheat their customers and care nothing about their reputation.

We rented a Chevrolet Impala on May 29, 2010 and returned it on June 5, 2010 at which time the check-in agent pointed out a small scratch on the right front wheel well. I leaned down as low as I could and could barely see it. The minor scratch was very small, no more than numerous preexisting other scratches on the car, which had over 20,000 miles on it and had apparently been touched up before. The company detained me, causing me to miss about three vans to the airport. Their treatment of me was inconsiderate. The first agent told me he had to detain me and report this minor scratch or he would lose his job. The manager, Maurice **, tried to report it as a crack, but we required him to correct his error and write small scratch. He told me I would receive a call and assured me I would be treated fairly by their Loss Department, but we were not.

Scam. I was totally shocked to receive a bill for $816.56 to repair the whole bumper. The estimate was by a local body shop, which must be their sole source contractor for all such estimates. I had the estimate checked by my local body shop and showed them the photo. They could have repaired the scratch with a simple touch up, nothing like Alamo claimed was necessary. They said, “Clearly Alamo would not have this repair done since they had not buffed nor painted any of the previous scratches.” Alamo completely ignored my letters explaining that this was an unfair and unethical situation. Fortunately for me, my credit card company AmEx paid much of the unfair one-sided bill, but I was left to pay the still unreasonable charge of $147. This scam cost American Express a substantial amount of money for damage I did not cause.

7. Alamo offers no recourse for discussion, appeal, and exercise of customer rights.

I realize my allegations have not been investigated nor proven, but I have pictures that substantiate my claim. I am filing this complaint hoping to protect future consumers, sure that this will add to a pattern of such complaints and lead to some needed disciplinary action against the Alamo Rent A Car location at Kona Airport. It is a shame to be treated this way when so much else of Hawaii is so beautiful and offers such a great experience to visitors.

The defective GPS, which was meant to be included and the main reason I had the agent do the booking, was $8/day. A heap of miscellaneous fees and surcharges taxes. I issued a dispute with my credit card company, Bank of America, with very little relief. Two weeks later a charge of $219 was put on for tire damage! I could buy four tires for that amount. Another dispute was that Alamo showed a quote for the tire, not an invoice and the credit card company ruled in their favor. Even though the original charge for my rental was based on a quote not the receipt they would not offer at the time of return. Last week I received a fee for turning over a speeding ticket from the police to me, it was 10% more than the ticket itself. Do not rent from Alamo or Priceline or Hotline if they will not show you who you are renting from.

At any rate, it was very late and dark when I picked up the car. I drove the car about two miles or so to my hotel and parked for the evening. The next morning, in the daylight, I noticed what appeared to be a sticky black residue on the passenger side of the car. It did not appear to be a scratch to me, but it looked like some kind of residue.

When I returned the car, the agent said they would have to file a claim for the "damage." I told him that whatever it was, it was there when I picked up the car. Today, I received a letter with no dollar amount on it stating that I needed to report this "damage" to my insurance company!

When I called Alamo to try to resolve this, I was talked to like a child in a very condescending manner. One customer service rep even told me that she was not a customer service rep and she hung up on me! My complaints to supervisors didn't seem to help much. I have never been spoken to by a customer service rep the way I was spoken to today!

Apparently, it is Alamo's policy that their agents will not check cars upon leaving the lot. I know; I have rented from other companies who walk out with you and do a check sheet. But Alamo does not do that. But of course, they do check vehicles on return. As I said, I take responsibility for not taking it upon my self to check, but I feel that if they were a reputable company, the agent would be an advocate for the customer and do a check sheet.

My issue still hasn't been resolved. I was told that the letter I got was "computer-generated" and "didn't apply to me." If it "didn't apply to me," then why did I get it? I still don't know a dollar amount or what they are going to try to make me pay. Be wary of Alamo Rental Cars.

I received a letter a month later stating that there were no photos taken and her "verification" of the damage was a black and white drawing of a car with a small black mark in one of six boxes. Her letter also stated, "You can see that your rental contract clearly states that you are responsible for all loss and damage regardless of fault."

Besides charges for 'physical' damage, I was charged $109.60 for loos of use (2 days) and a $50.00 administration fee. Having checked Purco (Alamo) on the Utah's BBB web site, I found that there were at least 44 complaints about this company with a C- rating. Scams like this need to be stopped.

I called her back and am informed that there was damage to the vehicle during my rental and that a claim will be sent in the mail. I indicated that there was no damage to the vehicle during my rental. She stated that there was and she will be sending me a claim package. I received the claim package. The total Claim amount is $239.36: $125 for physical damage, $64.36 loss of use and $50 administrative fee. Nothing specific is included regarding the exact damage. There are no before and after pictures.

There's no proof of loss and Auto Body repair business appears to be questionable. The Address for Auto Body repair business is a residence address and their phone number is a cell phone number. Legitimate businesses don't normally have residential addresses or a cell phone as their business line. I dispute in writing requesting before and after pictures, documentation to prove loss of use, documentation proving body repair including car colors, legitimate business, detailed description of repair services performed and time necessary to repair vehicle and copies of any documents I signed acknowledging any damage when the rental was returned.

Two weeks later, I received another package from PurCo stating claim is valid. The package includes no before photos and the after photos are date stamped July 11, 2010, that is two days after I returned the vehicle. This is by no means proof that damage occurred while the vehicle was in my possession. Indeed two days is plenty of time for the July 11, 2010 photographed damages to have been caused by another including an Alamo employee. No other proof is included except an Arizona Corporation Commission Document showing Slogotani, Inc. Certificate with the words "DBA Car Colors" hand-written onto the document on August 13, 2010.

I Express Mail-ed a response to the second package sent by PurCo. It states that the documentation I requested was not supplied and was not an either/or documentation demand. Rather it was a complete list of legitimate documentation all of which are necessary to validate Alamo's claim. Frankly, what I asked for is what any auto insurance carrier would need in order to process a claim. A copy furnish of my August 13 response is sent to Andrew ****, Chairman and CEO of Enterprise Holdings which is a parent company for Alamo.

I advised that Alamo/PurCo's efforts would be best invested in finding the true perpetrator since damages occurred during the two day window of time in b/t my return of July 9 and July 10 photos. I also demanded that Alamo/PurCo cease and desist in pursuing me as I am not the perpetrator which is evidenced by the $0 return document I received at the time of return after two Alamo employees performed a 360 degree inspection of the vehicle.

My express mail package of August 13 is documented as received and signed for by both PurCo and Enterprise Holdings on August 16, 2010. I am now in receipt of another letter from PurCo received two days ago. It is dated August 17, 2010. It states "I mailed you claim information on August 4, 2010, regarding the above referenced loss. I am sure this matter must have slipped your mind since. To date, I have not heard from you.” Interesting given my package of August 13 which was received and signed for by PurCo on August 16.

I saw the word "waiver" and didn't see a contradiction. The boxes were directly under a sentence stating "personal accident insurance: DECLINED," and it isn't a stretch to think that anything below it saying "waiver" means I'm "waiving" or not signing on to coverage. Further, the policy stated on their website says that quotes are all inclusive and "no surprises at the counter," so I didn't think I had a reason to worry.

When the bill came, approximately an extra CAD$700 were charged to my card. Apparently, the "waiver" boxes were to sign up for a coverage that I was never made aware of, and that ended up costing me double the price of the quote. I have contacted Europcar and they (more specifically, Peter **) say, in essence, they don't believe nor care what happened at the counter and what matters is the contract we signed. I maintain that we were misled in this, and can prove that all through the booking process, I insisted on no coverage whatsoever.

I would appreciate any advice or help that you could provide in this matter. As a consequence, I have spent several hours on this matter, developed a stomach ulcer due to this added stress, and will have to work overnight to make up for all this time spent away from work. I feel duped and disrespected.

If I have a reservation, and it's been approved, why would I be left stranded? The manager said that since I didn't have a round trip ticket, I wasn't able to rent one of their cars. (Although, I believe they were all racist, since I'm not black, meanwhile they rented another vehicle to a black man who was in the same predicament. go figure?) The flight landed at 6:00pm on Friday, and then I lost over 2 hours in valuable time waiting on an answer from that "so-called" manager at Alamo. That could have been spent looking for my vehicle and talking to the local police to handle a pending criminal case. I wound up spending an extra day in Missouri that wasn't in my budget. Not to mention the horrible feeling of being left stranded with no one available to assist you.

I was forced to walk a mile carrying my luggage to Hertz, who treated me with respect and rented me a fantastic car with the same MasterCard that Alamo refused (because of their policy). I will never do business with National or Alamo again!

It took me several hours to recover from this. It shocked me and almost gave me a heart attack. The guy who came out was very nice and we did not expect anything like a charge to come our way. If anything, they should have apologized. I just received a letter noting that they checked things out and it's my responsibility for the flat tire and the damage it caused. I cannot see how this could be so. I'm filing a complaint.

When I left the office, I realized that she had not given me the paperwork. I returned to the office and she then produced the paperwork from the litter bin! This included my hire papers and my airline ticket. I do not think this is a good way to conduct a business. Before the month was up, I returned to England, being unwell. The San Francisco office McDonnell Road said that I could not have a refund on the remaining 2 week hire agreement, even though I had not used it! I would expect a refund for the two weeks I did not use. I paid $600 plus for the 'drop off' in S.F.

Contract ID **, ext. ref: **. The vehicle had partly worn tires when I picked it up. When I asked Alamo for a change of tires, they simply said to take it into the depot and change the vehicle. I hired the vehicle and wanted to keep 'that' vehicle for the duration of my visit. I ended up with a car with worn tires. I am disappointed with Alamo, having used them in Spain on numerous occasions without problems. I am 'out of pocket' by $420.00.

I will not be using Alamo again if I do not receive a refund for the 2 weeks that I did not use the car. I will pass on my complaint and take this further. Their representative in Manhattan ruined my impression of the company. I'm sure she has treated others in the same belligerent manner; not the way to impress customers! I am disappointed and depressed by the experience, especially as I found most Americans to be helpful and charming people.

When I called them back 2 weeks later, it was stated that the damage done to the vehicle was $423.00; this included 2 days for the car being out of commission and $50 for administrative fee. I never received an itemized bill of the charges. I was refunded $73.00 at the end of June. Meanwhile, my insurance company sent them a check for $268.00, also in June. which they kept, knowing this claim was already paid. I have yet to received my refund back for $268.00. It is now 7-16, and when I call nobody knows where my refund is. I think Alamo is a scamming customers and needs to be investigated. I just wanted to know can these car rental agencies get away with this?

After 13 weeks, I have been advised that a parcel shelf and boot carpet had been removed during my hire. This is of course absolutely untrue and a ripoff attempt by Alamo. I do recall upon collection of the car, unsupervised, that there was no rear parcel shelf or carpet and thought this strange from security of internal luggage being on-view from outside the car. But since no supervision was available to accompany me to car collection, or to check the auto on return despite my request, one assumes this should be okay, since no damage was caused during the hire.

I am very upset at this illegal operation and unjust deduction of cash without any notification from this company. If the items had been removed, it would have been normal to speak to the hirer and discuss. But no, they just deducted the cash and carry on. I now know why no supervision or post checks were performed by Alamo. In my opinion, they should all be sent to Alamo with no water or food and left to rot in their stinking company.

As we were driving, we both decided whomever drove the car previously had been smoking as we had to go to the store to purchase Febreze to help eliminate some of the odor. We literally drove the car out of the Alamo garage to Athens, TX where the vehicle was parked under a carport for the entire time. When we returned the car, we were told there was a dent in the hood, which I never could see, but the man checking in the car was the only one who noticed. What was the hood to look like? When we took the car, it looked the same as when we returned it.

Anyway, we then had to spoke to the manager, who acted as though he didn't notice anything either, but he pulled up the history of the vehicle and noticed there were reports for the rock damage to the front bumper and other marks on the car, but nothing related to hood damage. He updated the history. He also mentioned that we had been charged for a full tank of gas rather than the tank we agreed upon, so he adjusted that charge. He gave us his business card and said we shouldn't have any problems, but if we did, to be sure and contact him.

I did not contact him when I received the first letter from Alamo, because I spoke to Carolyn ** and gave her all the information. She said she would send the report to the Damage Recover Unit for further review and not to worry about anything. Then I get this notice that the case has been closed and I owe $347.15.

It seems as though the Consumer Affairs website has numerous claims of similar circumstances. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the car hood and I fear that I am the victim of some sort of scam. I have called and left messages for Carolyn to call me back regarding this matter and have yet to have a return call from her. Therefore, I thought it was necessary to send a letter. I'm enclosing a copy of the check-out fuel adjustment and the business card of Rob ** for your reference. Please remove these fraudulent charges from my record or I will be contacting my attorney to deal with these deceptive and false trade charges. I have not paid these charges as they are totally fraudulent.

She pointed out the mark and told me she had to report it. I was about to simply wipe the mark away with my sleeve when I was I was sternly ordered not to touch the car. I drove the car less than five miles total, I only had the car for one day, and nothing ever touched the car while in my possession. I was very careful with the car because I am a conscientious person.

A few weeks later I received a notice that a damage claim was being filed against me. I called to inquire about it and the person I spoke to said that it was a common practice, and that most likely, if the mark was small and superficial, that it would simply be dropped and I wouldn't hear anything else about it. However I recently received a letter claiming that I'm responsible for $484.25 worth of damages to their car!

It is clear to me that this is a scam and I have found that there are numerous reports online of other customers who have become victims of this scam. There is no possible way that a mark that was nearly invisible is worth nearly $500 in damages, and besides, it was already there when I rented the car. Clearly they are banking on the probability that people will simply submit and pay the money, or allow their credit card protection plan cover the expenses. This business practice is completely unconscionable and unethical and they will not survive if this is the way they treat customers. This was the first time I ever rented a car from this company and it will obviously be the last. I cannot believe that they would attempt to rip off a customer in this manner. Claim against me for $484.25 in damages.

I spoke with my credit card company and they laughed. No description or info in the letter? Just pay us or write a blank cheque? I cancelled the card at their recommendation and now Alamo will need to deal directly with me in regards to this supposed issue. They also recommended that all communication be done through email to document it. I have no intention of providing them with anything until I see supporting documents about the claim. There was nothing wrong with the car when I returned it and nothing missing. I also notified them that I am aware of all the scams they are trying to pull. Have yet to hear from them. Let's see them try and get antihero penny from me. I'm on the "no rent list"? No problem, I won't rent from them again anyway.

When we got home, we went to our travel agent, who in turn went through American Holidays. They had no reply at all from Alamo. Next we went through Visa, but they say there is nothing they can do about it. Next we tried contacting Alamo via e-mail, and also tried writing to their Irish office, but still got no reply. Eventually we went to the local Small Claims Court. They have advised us to try again, and it was only the fact that we had a request from the Court that we were finally able to get a response from Alamo. They have now offered us a refund of $503.86, but we feel that as the receptionist was in uniform,at her place of work, during normal office hours we relied on her judgement and expertise, and as such we should be getting a refund of $1345.95, the value of the voucher.

We had to rent a car from an individual and take ferry to reach hotel, missing our dinner during the transit. Though we called customer service as early as 7:00 AM the next day, they couldn't send the replacement vehicle until 5:00 PM on 5/30 (Sunday). So we had to extend our hotel reservation and lost one whole day without vehicle, not having food in the middle island. The customer service and the third party vehicle replacement was so poor that we had to call them 20- 30 times to tell everyone the whole story time and again. They didn't even maintain records of the case. Despite going through all these odds and paying full insurance, they have charged me the towing fee of the vehicle.

We rang Expedia again who confirmed insurance is included and, as I write, they are supposedly investigating. We decided to ring Alamo directly and spoke to a Laurie ** who reiterated the "no insurance" palaver. My wife then spoke to this woman and challenged the "no insurance" claim whereupon Ms ** then stated that we obviously had bought the extra optional insurance and mentioned the legal implications of signing the agreement. We signed because the rental agent had insisted that we had no insurance.

We sent a scan of Expedia's car rental summary to Ms ** and received a reply offering to refund half the sum apologizing that the rental agent "made you feel as though you had to take the coverage". We rejected their offer and the matter is still ongoing. My credit card company has suggested that we may have a case for claiming misrepresentation. We are currently awaiting Expedia's reply after their investigation. I shall post the result of the outcome. Needless to say, we wouldn't use Alamo again!

I immediately called to dispute the claim and was told they would do further investigation. Three weeks after this letter, I received another letter from them stating that their investigation had been completed and that there had been no other reported damage to the vehicle or by previous renters and that I would be expected to pay $682.80. I tried to further contact the damage recovery unit by e-mail and by phone with little success. I finally was able to speak with somebody in their office and asked them to provide proof that they had even done an investigation. The person was rather rude with me and said they would not send me any documentation on their investigation.

After this conversation, I called the original location in Monterey and spoke with their location manager. She was helpful and within about 20 seconds was able to tell me that yes a claim had been reported on this car (three months prior to our rental) and provided me with the claim number and rental agreement number. I spoke again with the person from the damage recovery unit and asked why they hadn't revealed this information. She said that the damage reported on this claim was different from the damage they claimed that I caused. While unfortunately I did not take pictures of the car upon receipt, I did have pictures of it when I returned it. I have sent these to the damage recovery unit and asked them to compare these with what was reported on the original claim.

I smell a rat in this case. Very suspicious on their part, very unhelpful and after reading various comments from others on the internet, I now strongly suspect that this is outright fraud on the part of Alamo. I have requested a formal letter from them stating that any claim against me has been dropped as well as a formal apology. I am still awaiting further communication on their part, but am very frustrated by their actions. I would not be surprised if this a common practice by this company and/or industry. Please let me know if there are other steps I can take to resolve this matter or anything I can do to help prevent this from happening to other people as well. I will obviously be extremely cautious when renting another car again from any company and plan on taking both pre and post rental photos to help prevent this kind of event again. No economic damages to me other than a lot of wasted time and lost sleep.

I first spoke with a female who stated that she had to transfer me to the modification dept. I then spoke with a male, and explained to him that my code for my Chevron Travel Club was incorrect which gave me a "Costco" discount. I explained to him that I called the Chevron Travel Club with Alamo number on the back and gave the Chevron information. He could not assist me, so I asked for a supervisor. Mr. ** got on the phone, I asked where was he based and he stated that he was a supervisor in St. Louis where the company is based. I, again explained the situation to him and he stated that he apologized, but if he changed my code that the rate of rental would be higher. I explained to him that I rent from Alamo every year I go to Las Vegas and that I had never had a problem with my code for my discount. Mr. ** stated that there was nothing he could do, however I informed him why am I having to pay for a mistake they made.

So, I asked for a manager and was told that he was in a meeting. I then called back to see if I could speak with someone in Vegas, which I was transferred three times by three different people and disconnected. I then called back again to reservation and spoke with Nora, who stated that it would not have mattered because all discounts are the same. I tried explaining to him that my Chevron Club was different. He informed me that it was not the same and that Costco and Chevron discounts are the same in Vegas which is 3%. I then asked to be transferred to the Las Vegas office, to which I was transferred to the international office, who attempted to transfer me back to reservation and (again) I was disconnected.

I called back again and spoke with Christine and informed her that I had had it and was tired of explaining my situation over and over and wanted to talk to someone in the complaint department. She then provided me with the number 800-. She first asked me all questions again and stated that customer service maybe able to assist me.

I have been renting from Alamo for over (13)yrs in Dallas,Texas and in Vegas and has never had a problem such as this. I am furious that I had to continue to call your company over (6) times to have to go through the same experience over and over again. If the person who made my reservation would have taken down my Chevron card down correctly, I could have gotten my correct discount. But instead, I was told that there was no difference. Why did I have to be transferred from country to state and back to country and then be disconnected.

I have always been a proud and happy customer, up until now and being told that I could not be straighten out. Anything can be fixed but I could never get right information because everyone was so busy hanging up on me. I still want to know why I have to suffer because of a mistake made in India. I'm just angry and can't sleep right now due to the hour long experience I had with [their] representatives. I want to just cancel the whole reservation but I can't afford to have the price jacked up another $40 if modified. I hope that this issue can be resolved through [their] office. I had a hard time understanding everyone and they were at the point to telling me that nothing could be done and I don't believe that other than maybe their end. I'm still flying into Vegas on Sunday and picking up the car because it's to late to book somewhere else at this time without paying a higher rate. I still feel that I was treated unfair and that if they would have given me the customer service number an hour into the conversation, maybe, I could have talked to someone to help me. I'm hurt because if [they] check passed records, I've always used Alamo because of good services.

Please contact me soon. My cell ** or above listed email address. This was a painful experience that I wish on no one have to go through. Why did I not check it earlier, well, because I trusted Alamo employees to do the right thing and not me having to go through the agony that I am going through, so it was checked a few days before my flight while getting my papers together. I informed then that I wanted the name of the President of the company and was told it was Andy Taylor, who I was going to write next if this situation was not resolved. Thanks for listening and I will be expecting to hear from your company soon.

My own insurance company was also made aware of this accident, just in case there were any questions. Now, it is months later, and I have received a bill for $1,337.73, for towing, administration fees, loss of use, diminishing of value. I called Alamo, only to be told that according to my "contract" I am responsible for these fees. The Damage Recovery Specialist told me, that the other insurance company did not pay this, so I am responsible. I asked her to send me a copy of the bill for this amount and the claim number so that I may contact the ins. company.

The original total cost including those above fees, was $5,005.42. Travelers ins. paid Alamo $4,377.69, a difference of $628.73. I am being billed for $1,337.73. First, I spoke to Travelers and they said they have requested that Alamo provide evidence for loss of use, and diminished value of the car. They have not done so. Next, Travelers paid $417.50 for towing/storage which was half of the $835.00 bill that Alamo originally submitted. The car was not picked up from the original place, J&M towing for 6 days, and then it was finally picked up and taken to Buffs Body shop where it was supposedly repaired and then auctioned off on 11/30/09.

I have spoken with Travelers and with my own insurance company and they both say I am not responsible. Travelers accepted responsibility and therefore Alamo should be fighting with them and providing the information that they are requesting. I feel that Alamo is trying to bully me into paying them more money. I have copies of every letter, notations to who I have spoken to, copies of the original towing bill, copies of the original cost to repair, and none of these add up. I recently sent Alamo in writing that I am not responsible and that I will not be paying any amount and that they need to contact Travelers insurance company if they want more money. This car was rented in Charlotte NC, can they really prove that there were no other cars available while this car was out of commission, therefore causing them to lose money? Really...

This has caused me a large amount of unneeded stress. I am like everyone else in this country being affected by poor economy, I do not have that kind of money just sitting around. Alamo has collected way more than that car was even worth.

When we arrived at our destination, my husband phoned the Alamo office and spoke to the representative and explained what was wrong with the car. My husband asked if we could take it to the nearest major city and trade it for another car at the Alamo Rental Center. The representative said no, that we would have to return it to the Guadalajara store. We also had plans of going to Puerto Vallarta, so again my husband asked if we could exchange the vehicle at the Pto. Vallarta Alamo store and again we got a no.

Upon our return to Guadalajara, we returned the rental vehicle 1 day early from our planned return date. When they inspected the vehicle, they immediately started questioning us about the dented tire that was in trunk. We told them that it was the tire that we had called them on that didn't work. The sales representative went on to say that they had never gotten a call from us, when in fact it was him that my husband had spoken to.

My husband immediately took out the business card that showed the dates and times that he had called with the vehicle complaints. The Alamo representative went as far as saying that had we called, they would have taken us an exchange vehicle to our destination. This only enraged my husband further as this representative was lying through his teeth. Not only did we get awful customer service, but they also charged us for the dented tire.

As we were still there in the sales office, I noticed that they wanted to rent the same screwed-up vehicle to a tourist from another country. I told the tourist to not rent that vehicle as it had many problems that they had not disclosed to us in the beginning. The tourist stated that he was already upset, because he had made a reservation for a specific vehicle and they told him that they did not have his vehicle. That gentleman ended up ripping his contract in front of them and walking out of the Alamo Rental Store.

Being alone and with little cell reception in the mountains, Customer Service suggested I replace the tires and bring the tires and receipt to Las Vegas and they would reimburse the amount. I spoke with CS once more to verify that I would be reimbursed, and they agreed. The tire shop charged me $1300 for parts and labor for the Dodge Charger.

In Las Vegas, I presented my receipt and tires to Manager Mahmoud and Supervisor Moe. They refused to reimburse me at the time cash or check, because the amount was "greater than a couple hundred dollars" and that I was to "take the matter back to the Portland office." After calling the operations manager in Portland, Mika, he said he couldn't reimburse me for the amount and that the issue would have to go to the corporate office. After several times leaving messages and faxing a copy of the receipt to Mika, I have heard nothing back from him as of today.

As I drove slowly and tried to straddle the puddles, an older 4X4 lifted truck came extremely fast down the road leaving me no time to get out of the way. The driver of the 4X4 stepped on it and was heading right for my vehicle in a manor to intimidate me. I was now at a complete stop in astonishment to figure out what this truck was going to do. As I mentioned, the driver shot up to my truck in a manor to hit me, then drove to my driver side, looked down at me with anger and was very scary looking, then spun his tires flying rocks and mud everywhere.

I noticed that the employee was wearing an Alamo uniform, and since there was a security at the gate where I was at, I turned around and asked the security guard if he witnessed what had just happened. He said yes, he heard the noise of the tires, and witness the driver driving erratically, passed my vehicle as rocks and mud was flying. I asked the security guard to please talk to the driver who was parking his vehicle.

The employee was apparently coming back from a break, and/or may be starting a new shift. The employee now had to pass through the gate where the security officer and I were standing. The employee approaching the gate with chest puffed out and anger all over his face, staring into my face as to intimidate again. The security guard says to the employee, "Brah, are you okay?" I was so amazed that this was all the security guard said. The employee brushes past me still glaring at me and replies, "Yeah," and keeps walking. I was amazed at the employee’s demeanor of anger and attitude, and had just displayed road rage and intimidation toward me.

I turned and walked over to the main office. As I walked to the office, the employee began to argue with me saying something to the effect that I wouldn't get out of the way. I told the employee I had nothing to say and continued to walk toward the office, and asked to speak to a manager. I spoke to the managers and took the first manager out to the road where the incident happened. He spoke to the security guard admitting that the employee had just done what I describe. I apologized for not remembering the manager’s name, but I am sure you will have record of the date and time of what manager was on duty.

The manager went to the back and brought out manager number two. He handed me a business card and his name was Brad **. He apologized for the employee and said he would talk to him. The employee's name was Clifford **. I told the manager that the employee displayed anger and rage on the road and that I felt I needed an apology. The manager asked me what he should do. I was amazed and told him we are both professional and when an employee displays this kind of action to either a fellow employee or to anyone, policy and procedure should be in place to handle the situation. I could now tell that possibly I made this manager a bit uncomfortable, so he kept saying he would call me.

I explained that maybe they should talk to the employee, then bring the employee and I together for a verbal apology. The manager said that he would call me. I then left, and about 15 minutes later, I got a call and it is the employee who identified himself as Clifford **. He proceeded to tell me that he apologizes for his actions. It was not a sincere apology and what do two individual say on the phone who can't face the other.

Because I visit the site a couple of times a week, I do not want any trouble with this employee and/or anyone else. I believe it was handled poorly by the managers. How do I know they just didn't give Clifford ** my number to call? Within 15 minutes, I received the call, that did not leave these managers enough time to reprimand this employee, and the managers did not come on the phone or even call me back in reference to the closure of this matter. I previously told the managers that I wanted the apology in person in front of them. I would like to please ask if you could follow up on this incident to see why the managers ended up having the employee call me instead of what I had previously ask them to arrange.

I believe it would have made for a better understanding of both me and the employee if we could have been brought together and made amends. Secondly, was there any type of incident report put into the employee’s file to protect Alamo of any further incidents that may end up in a fatality by the road rage displayed. I am sure that this employee drives rental cars for Alamo.I greatly appreciate your time and concern in this matter, and will wait to hear from you. I need to visit Alamo's job site regularly on a weekly basis. This employee's attitude displayed today and unprofessional conduct, makes me feel uneasy and scared of having another confrontation with him and/or any of his fellow employees that may retaliate.

Only after a few hours, I noticed that the car had only one key in the key chain. I returned at Alamo Office rested and asked another key and was informed that there would always be in more than 25 years rented cars in the USA. I have never seen something like this now had with key a warning if you lose this key, you will be charged $125. I drove this car at Tucson, AR, which was one of my objectives for this trip. It was a new experience. Lead by Interstate 10 at Tucson but on 9 February the only key was not found it was stolen in my hotel room. Because of that, I asked for Alamo Road Assistance that sent after 24 hours one person to open the car that wasn't the correct assistance because I informed the key wasn't inside car.

I needed a second key. It was in Miami. It's only request the registration key and the problem would be solved but could not do so only this was very simple. But the Alamo in Tucson, the shipment of vehicle a resale Kia and they made a debit in my credit card for $2,800. It was absurd. When I went back to Miami after having filled the tank in a petrol station far mile headquarters of Alamo, they made a new debit my account 4.5 gallon in gas charging me U$17. Anyone reading this report and am sure that this company is a number one enemy of the American people and all that as I act properly in our life, warn your friends your sons and relatives to the Alamo to isolate from the world of business and no longer harm honest citizens and workers like us.

Three weeks to a good month later, I received a letter saying there had been damage to the car. I talked with the supervisor for the claims department and told her that there was no damage by me. She said that all would be taken care of for me. Six months later, March 2010, I get a bill for nearly $1,000 in damages. I called to ask to speak with the manager and was put in voice mail. I was supposed to get a call back. Still, there was nothing.

After reading all of these fraud reports on scratches and dings that were there, I felt that I need to let people know not to rent from Alamo, Enterprise or National. They are all the same company. If there is someone out there to get legislature to protect the consumer, this is one area I am 100% for. We should not have to pay for wear and tear. You know that they are doing this to numerous people. I would like to know who else has received charges from Memphis Alamo, National, Enterprise, car rentals.

The car was very smelly with smoke, but I thought it could be aired out. Once I got to my hotel and unloaded the car, it was very dirty (pretzels, peanut shells on the back seat, oil stains on the carpet). I returned the car the next day. The counter clerk was very rude and defensive. She asked me why I didn't mention the smoke and dirt when I first got the car. I responded that I only noticed the smokey smell at first, and later, I discovered the dirtiness.

She gave me another vehicle, and I moved on. I returned the vehicle after filling it up the night before, as I had a very early morning flight. When I arrived to return the car, nobody was available to check fuel, mileage, etc. I walked inside, and the clerk looked like she was asleep. She asked me if I wrote down my own mileage, and I responded that I had not. She accepted to print my receipt invoice, but her printer did not work.

We went outside to the kiosk, and she printed up my receipt. I proceeded to catch my flight home. I reviewed the receipt when completing my travel voucher and noted an erroneous refueling fee of $44.98 for 9 gallons of gas. I promptly contacted Alamo and was told to speak with Cindy, the manager. I faxed information along with my receipt to Cindy.

She returned my call and advised me that she thought the charge was correct since I refueled in Beebe, Arkansas which was approximately 40 minutes from the airport. I mentioned that the car got great mileage, and it was refueled beyond the full marking. I also mentioned that none of the agents were available to check my mileage or fuel gauge. So I wondered how they determined the amount of refueling. Cindy refused to remove the erroneous charge.

The staff answering the calls there are a joke. To say they respond with belligerence and ignorance is an understatement. When trying to deal with my issue, I spoke with Sam who was less than knowledgeable and frankly, not well versed. If he is the first impression someone gets of Alamo customer service, there needs to be a serious overhaul. I wanted to do a follow up on my issue that was resolved with the assistance and a simple letter from a lawyer. The lawyer requested all information and proof of payment that Alamo claimed they made on my behalf concerning the citations I supposedly received.

Amazingly, several days later, the lawyer received an email from the Citations Supervisor, who according to Sam was too busy to talk to me the first time, saying that the toll fees had been waived, not citation fees but toll fees and that I was in good standing with Alamo if I ever wanted to rent from them again. I wanted to post a follow up to include another name and phone number of the Citation Supervisor for those who are dealing with this issue.

Hopefully this will assist anyone who has tried the 1-800 number to get assistance and was treated the way I was by Sam. Just another FYI, Alamo was bought out by Enterprise. Good luck to anyone dealing with Alamo. Please save your receipts and paperwork because you may receive a citation months later like I did.

Besides the thousands of dollars a year in lost business from my company, I'm going to make sure that I warn other people about them on as many sites like this as possible. I'm also banning the use of Enterprise. The family that owns Alamo owns them. I complained and went through a half dozen emails back and forth with their customer service person, who said that they refunded me, giving me the confirmation number. She basically told me I was a liar.

Visa said the number doesn't exist and Alamo is the one who is lying. I told them I am directly responsible for 22 people who rent a car from them and they had someone from customer service leave me a message. I've tried leaving a couple messages, but they don't call back. It's only $40, but it's the principle. I don't like it when companies steal from me, hoping the amount is small enough that the victim will just let it go.

They have to be stopped now! When I told Alamo what I think, they said it would be taken care of, (they would drop it because they knew they'd harassed the wrong person), but I said I was not going to let this go, They are in trouble, and she hung up on me. This was after I asked for the address of the alleged accident so I could get a police report, and she didn't know it. I'm with Ruby of Casper, WY January 12, 2010, who said we should do a class-action suit, but that's probably not feasible if there was no loss, at least on my part, because I'm not paying these thieves a dime!

I live in Newport Beach CA and was on a business trip. I did not see any toll booths to pay the toll. How would one actually pay the toll if there are no booths and you are arriving out of town late in the evening? There were no warning signs to the driver to not drive on the toll way or you will be fined. As a driver from out of town, the driver must be given strict reading instructions about this new toll and the location. How would anyone out of town know the fines will be excessive or even which highways have tolls and which ones do not have toll booths? This is unfair practice by NTTA!

Looks like Alamo Car Rental was sent the violations from NTTA as the owner of the car. Alamo immediately paid the fine and charged my card without my consent to file a complaint about the excessive charges. I have not seen the original NTTA citations that were sent to Alamo. Alamo just sent me the citation letter with the Alamo letter head and charged my credit card without any written notification or call.

This complaint is directed to NTTA as I want to recover the $80.13 in citation charges. NTTA needs put up clear signs across the freeway that say "Do not drive on this toll if you do not have a toll card otherwise, you will pay a fine!" There should not be an unreasonable fine but just the charges you would actually pay if there was a toll booth.

There was no mention of any other issue. Today, I get a letter in the mail that stated that Alamo filed a damage loss claim against me for an incident that occurred during my rental period and they wanted to know how I planned to pay for the yet to be determined amount for the unspecified damage/loss. I am working through my insurance company to address this blatantly false claim. nothing. Again, please note that this incident is near identical to that posted by Rebecca in Sept 2009 at the same Honolulu rental agency. I would certainly hope that this complaint leads to punitive action against Alamo for its fraudulent business practices.

So two weeks later, after what I thought was a good trip, it was ruined by a letter stated there was new damage to the passenger side door! What a crock! Plus why two weeks or so later? I called these people based out of Texas, and the lady states there was "minor" damage to the side passenger door. Minor equals to $750.00?! That is not minor! I told one of my friends about this matter, and she stated they did the same with her. I called her and told her there was damage, etc.

That’s why the fees are so low. They bait and switch you to another vehicle that has a higher insurance and then you pay thru the nose for claims damage. Who knows when the damage was put there? It was when it was in my possession. Sounds like they do this kind of scam often. I told them I will contact the media if they don’t back off. Who else has had this problem? Shall we band together and get a class action suit going?

When asked what probably would have paid meant, he became very rude and stated "why don't you just pay it and it can be done with". To that I told Sam that if Alamo sent another letter showing that they had paid $11.75 instead of just $0.75, I would pay it. Sam stated that Alamo would not be sending out another letter and I should just send the payment to the Citations Department at the Tulsa, Oklahoma address at the bottom of the letter. When I told him I would not pay the increased amount until I received some proof that indeed Alamo had paid that amount, he became belligerent. I asked to speak to his supervisor and was told she was too busy to talk to me. I then told Sam I would call the Citations Department and discuss it with them and was told by Sam to go ahead and try it. I then told Sam I would pursue further options before sending any payment.

I then called Corporate Headquarters to speak to a "Driver Happy" representative. I spoke to Devin on 1/6/09 who said I would have to call back and speak to another representative at the 1-800 number where I had spoken to Sam. When I explained that I got nowhere doing that, Devin said he had no other options to offer me. I then sent an email to corporate offices who emailed back saying I would have to again call the 1-800 number that I called in the first place. I then Googled "Alamo Car Rental complaints" and found several pages of people posting saying the exact same situation is occurring with them. These were also rentals out of the Orlando airport with exact amount for the citation and the exact amount for the increased fee. They also are having no luck speaking to someone to who can help resolve this issue. I am looking for some assistance in resolving this once and for all. Thank you for any assistance you can give me.

The reservations were made, including all pertinent information (License number, etc.). I arrived at the rental counter at 11:30 pm, and was finally greeted by a gruff, obviously not happy to be there, annoying clerk. After giving him my reservation number, he disappeared for 10 minutes, no explanation as to why, or when he would return. After handing him my reservation papers and my driver’s license, he informed me that Alamo had me on the "Do not rent" list. No explanation, no nothing. I have never had this happen before. I would have been stranded at Orlando airport and had to take a cab the 45 miles to my hotel. Luckily my fiancé accompanied me on this trip and she was able to rent a car, after much hassle from the clerk. I was not able to even put on the car as a second driver.

When I finally got a rental and went to pick it up, there were none available. We had to wait 30 minutes for a car to be brought from another terminal! When it finally arrived, the girl handing out cars actually threw the keys at us. No looking over the car for damage, no nothing. The car had a defective lighter, which made our Garmin impossible to use. My fiancé, instead of having a relaxing week in FL, had to shuttle me to NASA every morning, and pick me up every night. She had no idea where to go during the day, since our Garmin didn't work, and I had to hike from the main gate to the operations center daily. She could not drop me off at the op center since she did not have proper credentials.

When the car was returned, it was filled with gas, yet the gauge did not register completely full. The attendant asked us to present the gas receipt to the Alamo rental desk, which he signed off on. He never checked the car for damage, just checked the gas gauge and signed off on our receipt. When we got to the rental desk, again, no one was there. What a lousy way to do business. When I finally got an answer from Alamo regarding my "Do not rent" status, they said it was because I had rented from another company within the last 2 weeks, and I had an auto accident in the past. Mind you, that was over 2 years ago, and not my fault! Then they sent me a bill for the additional gas (2 gallons) and since I didn't sign up for their fill up program, they charged me $56.00 for 2 freaking gallons.

Their customer service was awful, they were rude, (including their customer service dept) and their cars didn't always work. I am disgusted with them and will never rent from them again. When I returned to NY, I told this story to my fellow co-workers and they have had the same "Do not rent" experience. I wasted over 3 hours renting, waiting for, and returning this car.

How do they get away with signing a car back into their fleet and then come back later and claim damage? How am I supposed to defend my self against that? They know I can't go back there and see the damage. Nothing. It's unethical and shady. How are they allowed to get away with this? If damage is not caught before the renter leaves (if there is any), that should be on the agency, not the consumer!

This works out at $59.00 per day for the upgrade. The difference between a full-size a premium car, judging from Alamo's website, I make to be around $11 per day. When I spoke to someone at Alamo's customer car, she said that he had been charged the walk-up rate for the upgrade rather than the advance booking rate. Since it was the Alamo clerk who had persuaded my brother to accept an upgrade, this seems to me hardly reasonable. He didn't even really need the bigger size car. It's true that he signed the agreement at the time, but he was exhausted and jet-lagged and in no fit state to read the small print. He swears the clerk didn't point out it was going to cost an additional $59 a day.

I have often upgraded rental cars on arrival at an airport. Sometimes, I have been charged a small amount, sometimes nothing. Never have I been charged anything like $59 a day! I noticed from your website a very similar complaint about Alamo, so I thought I would register my brother's complaint, too. I should mention that their customer care representative did offer a rebate of 20%, a total of $184.43. It does still mean my brother paid around $46 a day for the upgrade.

Long story short, they agreed as a "courtesy" 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 in 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 no 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.

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-size 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-size car rental.

In my research of cars offered through Alamo at www.alamo.com, 2 cars are listed under the mid-size 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, the incentives from my Southwest Rapid Rewards Visa card and the acceptable size of the cars offered through Alamo as mid-size. Upon picking up my rental, however, I was told that my mid-size 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 with 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. When I stated that a Corolla was unacceptable and not what I had expected, based on the Alamo site and their mid-size 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 a 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-size cars which appear in your own site as mid-size offerings. According to **, the G6 is in fact a mid-size car and is compared in its class to the Ford Fusion, The Mazda 6 and the Toyota Camry. In an article in www.edmunds.com, the Pontiac G6 is described as mid-size. Again referring to Edmunds.com, the Toyota Camry is classified as a mid-size car and is compared to similar models, which include 2009 Saab 9-5, Saturn Aura, Subaru Legacy, Suzuki Kizashi among many others.

Regarding the Prius, also offered as a mid-size car on your Web site, it is stated in an article at ** by government's definitions, which is based on interior volume, the current Prius is classified as a mid-size car (April 22, 2009). In researching the Toyota Corolla, www.automotive.com offered this statement, count on Automotive.com 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. The site: ** states, Toyota already offers the highest mpg mid-size car (Prius), one of the highest mpg ice mid-size cars, and one of the highest, if not the highest mpg compact, Corolla, plus other fuel-efficient cars like the ECHO/Yaris. 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." 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.

My conclusions are these: my intent was to rent a mid-size car of the type/size mentioned in Alamo's own site or something roughly equivalent. Upon arriving to pick up my Alamo rental, I was quite surprised to see that I was offered a Corolla offered as my mid-size assigned car. Of course, because of my needs and time constraints, I would have to upgrade to a full-size car if I wanted a larger car. If a Corolla would have met my needs, I would not have needed to rent a car at all since I drive a 2009 Corolla.

In brief, the Corolla, while offered to me as a mid-size car, is viewed by numerous reputable organizations as a compact car. So out of urgency, I upgraded my mid-size Corolla to a full-size Camry, which is considered to be a mid-size car. In sum, I originally booked a mid-size car, was offered a compact car and out of necessity had to upgrade to a full-size car (which in fact was a mid-size car.) Of course, this upgrade did not come without a price and at no time was I offered a standard-size car which again, on your Web site, is between a mid-size and full-size car. The Grand Prix from the Alamo site does qualify as full-size but the Camry I rented certainly does not compare and is obviously, as stated above, a mid-size car.

How prevalent this confusion is with Alamo or other car rental agencies, 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.

Thank you so much for your valuable time. I wish I were writing under more pleasant circumstances, but I most sincerely and honestly feel that I did not receive what I requested and contracted for. Alamo, in my opinion, did not honor their commitment to me for the rental of a mid-size car at the price that was mutually agreed upon, nor did I receive full and fair value in this transaction. In addition, researching this for my own satisfaction, resolution and hopefully clarification at higher levels took considerable time, which should not have been necessary at all if my rental experience with Alamo had gone as promised.

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.

I was exhausted and was led to sign for additional collision insurance in addition 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 beaten 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.

I ended up paying for 1/2 tank of gas that I did not use, and collision insurance that I did not need. I called Alamo and finally got someone in the states who apologized and said that the agent must have not been trained well. She agreed to reimburse me for half of the insurance and a quarter of the gas. I was refunded a total of $37 on my credit card, not really half, but she admitted that they were wrong. I won't be using Alamo again!

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 something about paying for the car so I told her that I had paid for it with my AmEx 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. I was told that my wife had agreed to an upgrade. Unfortunately, on paper, she did not realize that I had already paid for the car and 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 that 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 does not know what options she has to get her money returned for something that was 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 why I wanted to let people know. So I am hopeful that you can help.

Additional amount billed to my Discover card: $232.69

Your help in resolving this issue is greatly appreciated.

Finally, someone stopped and offered to change the tire for $30, which I gladly paid just to get my family safely back to the hotel. However, after paying the $30, the spare tire that was also in very poor condition 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 Alamo's unsafe vehicle, the first three days of our 7-day vacation were ruined

The rental car had not been rented out yet, but they did not find the camera even though employees had moved it to the new lot. By the time the manager returned to work, 4 days had gone by even though I tried from day 1. I feel they were negligent in dealing with this situation and possibly I could have retrieved the 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, emailed Richmond site.

I accepted possession of the vehicle, drove it throughout the day and returned it to the Daytona Beach Airport Alamo rental location later that same day. I reminded the agent at the desk that the paperwork was already filled out prior to me picking up the vehicle that morning and that the mirror had been missing at that time. The agent who was at the Alamo desk when I dropped off the vehicle on Friday, March 13, 2009 at 5:45PM said that the rental agreement included the notation about the missing mirror at the time of pickup, and that I was not responsible for it. At that point, there was no reason for me to believe there was any problem since while it was in my possession, no damage was done to the vehicle.

A first class letter was then delivered to my residence on Saturday, April 4, 2009, stating that the Alamo Damage Recovery Unit received a loss/damage report and that I was being held financially responsible because I had declined the terms of their loss damage waiver. I do not know yet how this be resolved. I plan to address this issue directly with the Alamo/Vanguard Car Rental USA, Inc. company. I am also going to advise the Daytona Beach International Festival Inc. management to contact the issuing corporate credit card company, SunTrust Bank, to contest any charges related to this vehicle rental. Further, I plan to take any and all legal means necessary up to and including retaining legal services and initiating litigation against Alamo if necessary to contest their false, unfounded and frivolous allegations against me that damage was done to their vehicle while it was in my possession.

I also plan to file letters of formal complaint against Alamo with the the Daytona Beach International Airport Authority, the Florida State Department of Business and Professional Regulation, and the United States Attorney General. Alamo has a long history of having a continuous stream of similar consumer complaints. If I knew at the time when I rented this vehicle that Alamo treats its customers so badly, I never would have done business with them. I will never do business with them again.

Upon questioning the detective, he told me he found the car at the opposite end of the parking lot from where I parked it (I didn't tell him where I parked it). However, I knew EXACTLY where I parked the car because it was in a very distinct parking spot. Now 4 months later after this terrible incident, I received a notice from a collection agency for $6,080.40. I never was contacted by anybody from Alamo to discuss my situation and what happened..... I just goes directly to collections.

Something is not right here and this whole situation that happened is very suspicious and fishy. I'm positive that brand new minivan was equipped with GPS, and Alamo knew exactly where the minivan was (I was only 15 miles away from the rental car location), had an extra set of keys, and moved the car. Unfortunately, they did not return it to same distinct spot I parked in, and now they are asking me to fork over $6,000.00. This is robbery of a consumer. I was able to retrieve some of my souvenirs, and nothing looked like it had been gone through. If someone really stole the car, I'm sure my belongings would have been gone through, and the car would have been left somewhere other than returning to the scene of the crime. Something just doesn't add up. HELP, HELP.

When she printed out the contact and had me initial and sign in 10 places, I missed the I accept optional collision damage waiver at an additional cost line sandwiched between the three other decline offers. This is a deceptive practice pure and simple and is echoed by many other posts here. When I called customer service after receiving the unexpected $183.92 charge, she stated that I had initialed the acceptance on the contact, but as a token of good faith, she would refund 1/2 of the charge. I probably made a mistake, but I declined and opted to pursue it thru AMEX dispute process which is ongoing.

Once their assessment was done, they did not mail the check, rather waited for us to keep calling and calling and beg for them to connect us to the appropriate person (Lori **) who blew us off at every chance she got. Over all I can't express what a horrible experience and a tough time we have had dealing with this company.

After calls and going through several supervisors, we got them to drop the fee only after we gave our AARP number! What happens to other people who aren't as lucky or aren't as persistent as we are? I fully expect to get other hidden fees when we arrive. Can't there be a full disclosure up front?? How can you compare prices when they are not what the actual charges are.

As there were five adults in my party, I felt forced to pay the difference in order to receive my Free upgrade. I find this practice misleading, deceptive and a scam to lure customers into a higher priced vehicle. I have written to Alamo regarding this practice and will no longer be using them for my rental car needs.

Upon returning the vehicle on 1/18/2009 at 4PM, I was greeted by an employee. The keys were left inside the vehicle. A complete walk through was conducted and he scanned the bar code and printed the receipt. No damages or misconduct to the car was reported at the time. On 2/2, I received a letter from Alamo claiming that I owe $783.70 for damages to the car. The odd thing is that the mileage upon return was 19,220, which was printed on my receipt and the mileage on the documents they sent me was 19,225... something happened within the five mileage.

The claim also indicated soiling of the front interior seat of the vehicle, feces was used to describe the stain. This is 100% false and insulting. I am a business owner and travel often. Such a statement is absurd and inflammatory. I was the only occupant of this vehicle during the entire rental period and will state plainly this claim is inaccurate and suspicious. This claim clearly demonstrates the condition of this vehicle is not monitored or documented properly and brings into question the integrity of the report as a whole. The vehicle had been repaired by the time I was notified (no evidence remained). I was charged for 4 days of rental service during the time the vehicle was out of service being repaired. I have tried to resolve this issue with both National/Alamo of Indianapolis and PurCo Fleet Services to no avail. Please note the name of the company National/Alamo has sent me to for collections: PurCo Fleet Services, Inc.136 South Main Street Spanish Fork, UT 84660-2033 (Amy).

Secondary: As a regular car rental customer, I have noticed a recent trend towards high insurance costs and high pressure scare tactics at the counter by sales personnel to purchase insurance. While renting a vehicle recently I paid an insurance rate of 66% of the daily vehicle rental cost ($33/day rental, $20/day insurance) for the least expensive insurance option. The cost for full coverage which I was pressured (fear tactics) into considering was 151% of the daily vehicle rental cost ($33/day rental, $50/day insurance). The example above is an example from Thrifty Car Rental at the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport on 12/14/08. Thrifty by no means stands out as an example. I rent from National/Alamo, Dollar, Budget, and Thrifty on a regular basis and these rates are standard across the board.

After speaking with **, the manager, he refused to reverse the charges. I asked him for proof of damage and he said that he did not have proof. Do not rent vehicles from this location - ever. They are fraudulent in business dealings. Consequence: loss of $455, time, and undue stress.

Why would a rental car company knowingly keep renting 2 dangerous and possibly deadly car seats? I pray she got rid of them but I am sure she didn't. One of the seats she gave me to try looked like it was 10-15 years old, the kind that was recalled due to them failing in an accident. My experience there was a NIGHTMARE! For 2 hours in the cold drizzle, I had to wait till they went to their competitors' lots to see if they had anything I could use for a car seat. I was not about to put my son in one of Alamo's car seats. The manager never apologized or offered anything else to me. She sped off after I finally got one of their COMPETITORS car seats to fit and one of the employees from the competitors' lots came to help me since I had began crying due to frustration and fatigue. Alamo should be fined and held liable! I hope parents out there read this and DO NOT RENT A CAR SEAT FROM ALAMO RENTAL CARS!!!!

We drove back to Alamo and made the exchange for another van. Not knowing that they continue to charge us from the 3pm pick up not the 10pm exchange for a van that run well. They gave us a tank of gas for the trouble. We lost one day of our vacation because of this. We rented the van for one week. Because we thought that the time of pickup of the van was 10pm, thus we returned at 6pm a week later for a complete 7 days rental. They charge us an extra $153 for being 3 hours late. We argued with the manager named ** (she won't give us her last name). She was very condescending, and nasty. I was angry but I could not do much since I already signed the agreement rental. I will never use Alamo again. I lost $153, but the way the Alamo manager handled our incident is more upsetting. What can we do? Please advise.

On December 25th, we arrived at San Antonio International Airport on schedule, collected our bags and proceeded to the Alamo rental counter. We arrived at the counter at 8:45PM. My reservation was for 8:30PM. I gave the attendant my reservation number (confirmation #**). After about 5 minutes of computer key clacking and brief, but frequent, sighing, I was informed that the Cadillac DTS I reserved had been given away earlier and I need to see the attendant in the garage to choose an auto.

In the garage I was asked to choose from either a Chrysler 300 or a Toyota Camry. At 9:10PM on Christmas evening, tired from traveling from New Hampshire, I was not going to argue about my reservation because I had no choice. I was trapped in an airport, no other rental agencies had attendants available, and I had a promised deadline to be with our family on Christmas. Well, I chose the Chrysler 300 and headed to Ft. Hood to see our family.

If you have driven in a Chrysler 300, you will soon find out that this vehicle is not a luxury auto. On the way up north, the car started to skip and stutter when I tried to accelerate. Fear ran through my wife, thinking we were going to be stranded on the side of the road in a state we are not familiar. We managed to get to my daughter's home with 10 minutes to spare on Christmas day. Friday, December 26th, I got on the telephone as soon as the kids had finished opening their gifts and I managed to get a cup of coffee into me. There was not a soul to be reached at Alamo, except two people at reservations - where one hung up on me and a nice operator who, after transferring me twice to dead ended line, got me in touch with the National Auto Rental agency in Killeen, Texas.

The Alamo Roadside Assistance number rang and rang and rang. Well, you get the hint. At Killeen airport, I explained my issue to the National agent that the vehicle was not running correctly, and I was being charged for a luxury vehicle that I had not received. I had received a full size auto. I still do not understand why, even after knowing the luxury car was not available, they still charged me the luxury vehicle rate. The National agent tried to find a luxury car, but only had Dodge Chargers available. So I managed to get a luxury vehicle from the Hertz rental agency. The National agent did void my contract (RA #**), reimbursed my credit card (I have yet to confirm this point) and apologized for the inconvenience.

Now I have a vehicle that I am paying more for because I could not plan in advance, and I must pay a drop off premium because I still need to get to San Antonio International Airport for my journey home. This ended up costing me an added $300.00 on top of all my other expenses. As mentioned before, I am disabled and on a fixed income. I did not need the added expense. Furthermore, the only reason I flew into San Antonio was because with all other options considered, it is less expensive to return the auto where you pick it up.

My wife was riding in the passenger seat and is a witness. I returned the car to the airport as soon as possible since it could not be locked. I was required to fill out an accident report with my insurance agent's name and address before we were given a replacement vehicle. Several weeks after our trip we received a bill from PurCo Fleet Services Inc. asking for $165 damage repair, $59.96 loss of use, and a $50 administrative fee. I protested the bill, stating that we did nothing wrong and asked Alamo for a refund of my rental fees on the grounds that I was not satisfied with the rental car.

I argued if the car is new as PurCo asserted, Alamo or PurCo should collect the damages from Alamo's Chevrolet new car warranty. This argument was not addressed. My request was denied and Mr. Martin ** of PurCo insists that I pay $274.96 to PurCo.

The employee rushed me to sign everything without going through all the rates she charged me, as it should be done. I was dead tired, coming from a long night-trip and I did not pay attention to the new rate, trusting her words. When I tried to complain, they always told me to try somewhere else. I decided that this is the last booking with Alamo. Hopefully they don't charge me for damages too...

Airport pick-up bus came 45 minutes after Alamo's car rental customers lined up and started to wait for the bus. Three calls were made by the airport employee to notify Alamo's bus drivers.

I had to ask again to make sure I was headed in the right direction. The cars were parked in a dark garage. I have rented cars before, and the rental agency employee always comes out to check the car for any marks. No one came out; no one told me to check the car. This is NOT my responsibility; it is Alamo's. The garage was too dark to see a scratch on the side of a car that was parked in a line close to other cars, anyway. Furthermore, when I returned the car and the scratches were noticed, I was told that it was quite possible that the scratches had occurred while the car was parked in the garage before I rented it.

Well, I am a 57-year-old teacher; it is really unlikely that I would intentionally scratch the car. It is possible that the car was scratched while it was parked someplace in my possession; and it is also possible that the vehicle was scratched when I received it. No one at Alamo checked it out. This is unprofessional on Alamo's part. I have never been told to just go pick a car out (?) from a dark garage and be on my way. Furthermore, I did nothing to cause damage to the car. I am quite sure that Alamo is insured for small damages that are not the driver's fault.

The scratches on the car are not my fault; additionally, they could have easily been buffed out because they were very minor. Alamo has no proof that these scratches occurred while the car was in my possession because they did not bother to check it. I don't feel I am responsible for these damages.

However, Alamo insists that I did NOT purchase the CDW option because the rental contract CLEARLY shows a daily premium amount was placed ONLY into the blank space next to supplemental personal liability insurance (PLI) and that the CDW had been left blank. While I had questioned momentarily in my mind the agent's exact placing of the little xs near the accept/decline notation, I was not concerned because only a fee was placed in the PLI option... NOT the CDW. This was clearly visible on both my renter's copy but also the final invoice.

The MasterRental underwriter insisted that I had accepted CDW from Alamo and that therefore MasterRental's insurance was not liable for the claim. However in an email exchange, Alamo forwarded the rental agreement and final invoice to the underwriter that clearly shows I was never billed for CDW. I have told MasterCard that this is consistent with my expectations of Alamo when I signed the agreement. Obviously, you don't get anything for free.

Additionally, I also pointed out to Ms. ** that the amount frozen on my credit card by Alamo on the first day of the rental period was probably much HIGHER than normal... consistent with my actually NOT accepting the CDW option - therefore logically consistent with assuming responsibility for the full value of the car versus a lower initial amount had I paid an extra CDW premium and been insured by Alamo's insurance carrier.

I believe that despite this evidence, the insurance underwriter for MasterCard’s MasterRental CDW is attempting to weasel out of their responsibility to pay this claim. Despite receiving evidence from Alamo supporting my claim, the MasterRental underwriter apparently has chosen not to reply to my repeated requests for a response. By not responding, I suspect she is assuming the case is closed on their end and that either I am responsible or maybe Alamo.

In any event, without further assistance from MasterCard, I eventually was forced to pay the card's issuing bank the $708 or risk paying interest each month by not paying it. The bank apparently couldn't allow this dispute to go forever so they stuck the customer with the bill! For what it's worth to other consumers, I am not impressed by MasterCard’s MasterRental insurance and feel VISA is more honest and responsible in settling claims based on my past experience with VISA.

We both called, and the unpleasant recovery specialist said that there was a small asterisk-shaped crack in the windshield. I am infuriated that the Alamo damage recovery unit is charging me this money retroactively without evidence (photos) of the damage and without evidence/certainty that the damage was done during my rental period. This is an unethical business practice.

I am very disappointed by how Alamo handles these claims. If I had known about your return vehicle policy, I would have thoroughly inspected the car myself and not have rented from Alamo. My advice is to inspect the car before rental, take photos of every knicknack, or just don't rent from Alamo at all.

$348.49

Lo and behold, and to our detriment, our business rented a car in Hawaii and returned it with absolutely no damage at all. A couple of weeks later, Alamo was reporting that we returned the car with damage. They even included photos which showed massive damage to the vehicle, which did not exist when we returned the car.

We were quite surprised that Alamo did this, and refused to listen to us when they instituted claim proceedings against us. Fortunately for us, our travel insurance covered the damage but we are resolved to never use Alamo again. We rent vehicles nearly every week. Alamo will never receive another penny of our business. There are too many risks you take in renting from Alamo.

Alamo refused to listen to our claim and proceeded to charge us for damage that we were not responsible for.

I wrote the protest letter and still lost. The charge was $274.98. The lady at the Purco Fleet Services, Inc. reduced a portion of the charge but I still had to pay $219.79. Then on June 1-9 I rented another car from Alamo in Salt Lake City again. My airline books me with Alamo but I had vowed to inspect the windshield extra carefully this time. I always inspect the car but had forgotten the windshield on that November trip.

The sheet they gave me of any flaws to the car did not note some major flaws on the paint. But more importantly it did not note anything on the windshield. In the dark parking garage, I found 8, yes, 8 chips on that windshield when I looked closely. I immediately went back to the Alamo guy in the garage and made him update my records. When I got out in the light, I found more flaws on the bumper which did not show up in the dark of the garage. I called back to note those.

I did not get charged this time, but feel this experience backs my earlier claim that the windshield flaw I paid for was already there when I rented the car. I wonder how many extra fees they pick up from renters by collecting damage fees and not repairing only to charge some other innocent customer.

Second, as part of this questionable insurance option at $24.95 per day for seven days. I wonder how many other tourists are being blindsided in this way? Sure, if confronted, the local Alamo station manager may say this was my fault, or there was a miscommunication, or at best, this was an honest mistake. However, one must wonder if this situation occurs more often than the public knows. Remember the Jiffy Lube oil change scam in California? Employees were ordered to charge customers for services that were not performed in order to increase profits for the district manager. I hope this is not the case with the local Nimitz Alamo. But let me tell you, at this moment, I am very suspicious.

Unexpected charge for unwanted services.

The man in the office seemed to be struggling to sort out the charge for the petrol I asked for an up to date receipt he handed me what I thought was a receipt I asked if my account was clear he said yes. The receipt I found later was actually a invoice. The invoice that I received has incorrect information and the drop off depot was wrong. It seems to me that my name and card number were on this invoice but other information not relating to me was on the document dated the 31 May and the 3rdof June 2008

There should have been no further charges however, on returning back home we find that Alamo has charged us $994.81? I have had no bill of any kind for this amount I also have contacted Alamo car hire but there has been no respone or bill yet

$994.81 =525 was charged with out notice to my VISA acount.

A few weeks later I received a cheapo xeroxed looking letter with no details of the claim against me, asking for my insurance and credit card services information. I filed the incident with my credit card company, and so far am waiting for Alamo's next move. ONce a claim number has been given, my cc company gives 365 days to supply them with the details for proof of the incident. Its very hard for me to want to follow through with the claim to the cc company and my insurance company as I know that this has to be fraudulent and I want nothing to do with it. It is Alamo's word against mine. From now on, I will be photographing any car I rent, and I will never use Alamo again. I suggest no one else should either.

There was no incident or damage, but the consequences will be $600 extorted from me or my insurance and credit card company.

As soon as I got in the airport I dug out my camera and went back out to take some photos. I was immediately confronted by three Alamo car checker persons. A week after I returned from my trip I received a damage collection notice from Alamo requesting my insurance or credit card information. No bill, no work list, no itemized list of repairs . . . just a request for my method of payment information. After two weeks of phone calls I finally got in touch with someone who could, a) provide me list of damages, and b) the cost. Initially I was told $271+ for damage to REAR QUARTER PANEL, TRUNK LOCK, and PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE!

Here's the kicker, the 'Loss of Service' charge. What the? Loss of service for scratches? I explained that I was told about the scratches not all the other damage as described. I said I doubted that a couple of small scratches would cost 271 bucks to repair. She told me to call back in a week. I called back, she said call back in two weeks. Every time I called I was handed off to a different person and had to retell the story each time. Finally, today, I was told that some of the damages would be waived, including the ubiquitous 'Loss of Service' fee. So my new total is $158.50. That's a waiver of $112.50; $49.50 for the 'loss of Service' and $63 for the REAR QUARTER PANEL, TRUNK LOCK and PASSENGER DOOR HANDLE.

Here's the part I don't understand, and neither did the lady I was talking to on the phone today (analytical thinking not being a requirement for employment with Alamo), the first time anyone told me the cost of repairs it included the Rear Quarter Panel, Trunk Lock, and Passenger Door Handle . . . there was no mention of the scratches! Now, all of sudden, those scratches cost $158 to repair and the original 'damage' only totaled $63. The repair bill for the scratch is the majority of the bill, do you really think that was overlooked during my first five calls to Alamo? But don't worry about it, right? Here were my options (actually, a veiled threat, bordering extortion as it was presented to me): 1) Pay the $158 today, on the phone with a credit card, or 2) The full $271 will be sent to a collection agency. I know people have to rent cars, and sometimes those cars get damaged, but do yourself a favor and rent from someone that's puts a little more value on their customers.

I spent $269.62 for a rental car that I had for 2 days.

Extreme stress, damage to credit, loss of sleep.

Hmmm... something stinks here. I will not deal with Alamo again, and I will photograph any car I rent both before and after I get the keys. There is no question in my mind that this practice is commonplace and is very unethical. "Let the buyer beware" seems to be Alamo's motto... Best of luck....

However, this would have never happened if he hadn't lied. I am much wiser now, but will never rent from Alamo again. I feel like everyone at my company is aware of my experience with Alamo now, and hopefully they will stay away from this company as well. We were charged almost $120.00 total, which included Taxes and Fees. I was informed that we will be refunded $71.71 of our total charge.

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.

Troy Fujihara, the manager on duty, stated that Alamo replaces their car seats every two to three months and that the one offered to us was so disgusting due to regular wear and tear. This is untrue. Per the National Highway Traffic Saftey Administration, all new cars and car seats are required to be installed with the latch system as of September 1st, 2002. The car seat Mr. Fujihara provided to us did not, and he confirmed that all Alamo car seats do not come with latches. We were not able to use the car seat they provided (which looked to be 7 or 8 years old) as I did not trust my child's safety in a car seat that did not meet current safety regulations.

I wanted to warn families traveling with children to have a backup plan if they reserve a rental car with Alamo. We were stranded there without any option of getting our one year old to our hotel, in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain (can't rent a cab without a car seat!) and the manager at Alamo didn't care, in fact he disappeared one hour into our ordeal.

I am not sure if this is how all Alamo locations operate or only Honolulu - Honolulu could be the exception due to extremely poor management.

Besides dealing with a screaming child and being completely exhausted and appalled, there wasn't any damage as we did not use their outdated, unsafe car seat. The fact that they are renting these to customers is deplorable - they do not meet safety regulations.

I could not believe that your web site (aka your company) deceived me into believing I had a rental car lined up and ready to go via your online check-in service. I put in the required? confidential information on your web site to include our debit card that I hereby request you to delete immediately from your data warehousing server. You do not need any of my information ever as I will never use nor recommend Alamo Car Rental to anyone. You can believe me when I say I will go out of my way to make my friends, relatives, and co-workers aware of the service I did not receive.

I was allowed, via your online check-in web site, to believe that the rental car was not only ready and available for pick-up that the debit card I provided was debited and the transaction was paid for. Never in my life have I been so mislead. I get to the rental car company to pick up the car and apparently your company does not take a debit card to pay for the transaction. I secured the rental with my credit card; however, I did not have enough of a balance available to use my credit card to pay for the rental thats why I used the debit card.

The supervisor sent me down the counter to Dollar Rental which was able to handle the car rental payment using my debit card. Now either you have antiquated software or you people have some sort of agreement/kick back with credit card companies. I was late leaving and therefore, late arriving at my destination due to your negligence and deception. I really should take this up with an attorney. As it is, I believe letting the ten thousand acquaintances that I know of your lack of service and deception will be sufficient.

An Early Return fee is charged at a rate of $15 per rental when a vehicle is returned at least one calendar day early and total daily/weekly charges is less than the initial charged amount. The email confirmation we received from Alamo says we are charged for a weekly rate of $152.89/week + an additional daily rate. After three attempts, I was finally able to receive a fax of the invoice, in which it states our weekly rate was increased to $513.30. We indeed had the car for a full week and do not understand how Alamo can more than triple that weekly rate after confirming $152.89/week.