Alamo Car Rental Reviews

I went to the office and I explained to ** (the manager of Alamo) what just happened and he immediately called ** to warn him that we were coming to ask. When my wife and I walked to the parking lot, ** was nervous and told me that the vehicle was cleaned by another employee and both ** and ** agreed that they didn’t see anything in the car. I was extremely infuriated because I’m 110% sure that my phone was in the car and I could not believe that they had the audacity of taking the phone 5 minutes after I dropped it off and LIE TO MY FACE when I know I left it in the car. This is my business phone and not to mention, it had hundreds of pictures from my vacation in Cozumel. I also spoke to the security manager of Cozumel and his answer was “This happens all the time and I can assure you that they won’t return the phone.”

I’m not asking to be paid for the phone or have it returned because by now I already know that’s impossible, but I wouldn't be wasting time from my VERY BUSY day to write this letter if it wasn't true. If there’s nothing you can do, then at least take this as a warning from an honest tourist who had faith that Alamo was a trustworthy company and be wary of hiring deceitful employees like ** and **. I know that I will NEVER in my life rent a car with Alamo again, these 2 individuals have damaged the reputation of your company and I will DEFINITELY tell all my friends about you guys. Choosing Alamo was the worst decision I've ever made. Thank you.

On November 7th 2013 I was checking my account balance and noticed that Alamo had taken another $431.69 out of my account on November 6th. My account was now -$381.52. I immediately called my bank and was told that it came across as a signature debit from Madison, Wisconsin. I asked them to place a fraud claim on it and they did. I then called the general manager of Alamo, his name is Scott. He informed me that I had only paid the taxes on the rental in July? I asked, "Why wasn't I notified of money owed?" He did not have an answer. He then told me that there was a billing error on their part, but I still had to pay it. I then called the Regional manager, Clint and he told me the same thing and he also could not tell me why I wasn't notified of any money owed prior to them taking it out of my account. I then called Hotwire and she gave me a claim number and told me that someone from Alamos headquarters would call me the next day and to give them the number she gave me. No one called me.

I have sent a complaint to the BBB in Wisconsin and to their consumer protection agency. I have checks out that didn't clear. One of those checks are for my 2 storage units. My husband and I are in the process of purchasing a home and everything I own is in the storage units. I will lose everything I own if I can't pay my storage fees. I also noticed that on September 30th 2013 that Alamo had credited me $72.09?

I am really upset that they simply cannot contact the cleaners and/or the people who stage the car to say, "Hey, can you go pull a shirt from the car that was left?" They seriously have no type of communication with the folks who turn over the cars when they are brought back in. I really wanted that custom made Breast Cancer Awareness T-shirt that I brought. I will never rent a car from them again.

Meanwhile we had a flight to catch and the man at the counter was very unsympathetic with our situation. He did not offer to help us resolve this issue in any way and told us that we would need to contact the Fresno branch ourselves. Why would we need to fix a problem that was not our fault to begin with? Why was he not able to change the name on the reservation so that we could resolve the issue right then and there? Following this, as we were in the airport, I called the Alamo # listed on the agreement for help. I was on the phone for at least one hour with multiple representatives, of which none were able to reach the Fresno branch to resolve the issue at that time. The man on the phone said that he had never had a problem like this before. This problem took days and multiple "customer service representatives" later without anyone being able to resolve the issue.

I do not understand the breakdown in communication within your company. It is a shame that the Alamo company would allow this to happen in the first place. With proper training of your agents at the Fresno branch this problem might have not occurred in the first place. In addition, the Fresno branch of Alamo did not have our requested car available. When I initially booked the car rental online, prior to our pick up date, I asked for an economy car, the smallest possible. The Fresno branch gave us a larger car than we requested, calling it an upgrade. I specifically requested a small car because of a parking situation we were going to have in the city of San Francisco. We also wanted the best gas mileage we could get. The hotel we stayed at offered free parking for small economy cars which is what we requested, however, Alamo only had a sedan available the day of our rental apparently.

When we went out to the parking lot we were not given an option for a car, the man in the lot showed us which car we were getting. The woman at the desk said nothing about them not having our requested vehicle class available. This resulted in $120.00 worth of parking fees that we had to pay for in the city of San Francisco because the car was too big to fit in the free parking offered by the hotel. If we had known at the time of the car pickup that they did not have our requested size vehicle available, we would have probably canceled and rented with a different company so we could avoid the parking fees associated with larger vehicles. I would like to know how this happened in the first place, why the Fresno Alamo location is so disorganized, and how the Alamo rental car business can let something like this happen, go on for days, and not have any customer service representative offer assistance that will actually fix the issue. Shame on the company and shame on Carrentals.com for supporting such a horrible business.

My husband spent hours the following day (10/21/13) on the phone with a Fresno Alamo representative, Dave. Dave argued with us during our phone call, and did not believe us when we told him that our hotel in SF offered free parking for small cars. The man is very unprofessional. Apparently your company DOES NOT believe that the customer is always right. He did not seem to grasp why a larger car cost us parking fees and that we requested a small car on purpose. He proceeded to argue with us on the phone that he lived in San Francisco for eight years and never heard of free hotel parking. I told him he can feel free to contact our hotel, The Mayflower, and discover for himself as he did not believe us. This was extremely unprofessional.

Our understanding of the prepaid fuel charge was that we would be billed at the lower price for each gallon below the full tank. However, we were wrong. What it means is that you pre-purchase a full tank of fuel regardless of how much fuel is still in the tank. One should therefore be returning the fuel tank as empty as possible - a nonsensical advice for drivers, really. Despite it clearly being a misunderstanding, the manager quoted the contract conditions and refused a refund.Thus, Alamo had its car back with a full tank and in addition received full payment for filling it up. A win-win for Alamo and a loss-loss situation for us. Not impressed at all with the manager's refusal to reimburse us. So, watch out and do not purchase prepaid fuel!

It was no surprise that he never addressed and corrected the matter, as I was now thousands of miles from confronting him in person. I then contacted the Corporate Office who initially gave me the run around. Finally, I demanded to speak to someone at corporate management level and discussed the matter with them. They too felt there was some wrong done and informed me they would look into the matter, only to refer it back to the rental location's Damage Collection Unit. To start putting the matter to rest, I finally said I was willing to pay a partial of the damage claim.

Alamo's practice of saying "Extra Protection" is really a Third Party Liability coverage is misleading. I recommend Alamo change their rental contracts to clarify Third Party Liability as such and Extra Protection as vehicle damage protection. The common person understands Liability insurance as protection from being sued and Extra protection as protection from possible unexpected damages.

After reading about the Alamo Car Rental problems people are having, I'm glad I chose not to accept at this time. The lady hung up and the phone disconnected. I called back and took option 2 to talk to the AT&T directly and got a recording to call another 800 number. I got this number from 411 nationwide so at this point without putting myself on the chopping block I'm staying away from such a deal. Anyone else that's done this and everything was fine I would like to know. My son is getting married and this, I thought, would be a great gift since its supposed to be totally transferable and that I'm a valued AT&T customer .

For the insurance he stated I had initialed for all insurance. Now I understand I made the mistake of not reading all T&Cs but not all of us do that in a rush anyway. The service attendant on the counter basically told me to initial all the places I had initialed even though I only told him I wanted basic insurance which was $14 a day. Upon my next trip to USA I will not rent with Alamo and recommend everybody not to do so. They only offer apologies and do not understand the loss of money, time and inconvenience suffered. I'm in my last week of holidays here and have been ripped off that I can not afford another rental car for the last week.

Alamo is trying to take advantage of me with this scam and I refuse to pay for damage that I did not incur upon their car. I called Alamo today and their representative informed me that a walk-around did take place according to the Key West location employees. This is a complete falsehood; I parked the car, unloaded my luggage, and personally inspected the car. Next, I spent 30 minutes in the parking lot of the facility waiting in the shuttle bus to go to the airport. During this time the employees never approached the bus to tell me that they had found damage on the vehicle I had rented. That is because I did not damage their vehicle!

When returning to the desk, I was informed that they would be charging my credit card in the amount of 272.29E. I was also told that I should have taken the extra insurance from them that they offered me when I arrived but I had decided against this as I was not intending doing much driving apart from going to and from the airport and driving around the private complex that I was staying at which has virtually no traffic but I required to drive my two disabled sisters around as they were unable to walk very far. There was no instance where I could have sustained this type of damage.

I therefore can only conclude that the damage was there before I took over the car. I did also tell them at the time of collecting the car that I had taken out excess insurance at home. When I asked them for a photo of the underside of the car prior to my taking it out, they were unable to do so. I do intend taking this up with our legal representatives but I am writing this review just to warn others that they need to take extra care when inspecting their car and even get down on their knees to inspect the "underside" of the car for signs of damage (not something a guy, let alone four elderly ladies, wants to do prior to embarking on their holiday). However, at this kind of cost, it is worth doing and I will certainly be doing it in the future.

My husband and I visit Murcia regularly and we always hire a car and have never encountered this kind of problem. We have, however, never booked with Alamo in the past and unfortunately this is not an experience I would ever like to repeat. I am wondering if these scratches were something that was perhaps missed on inspecting of the car after a previous hire and if we, as four ladies of a certain age, have just been the unlucky and vulnerable fall guys?

Needless to say, it doubled our fuel expense. The keys, both sets, were on a ring that had to be cut with a hacksaw, which we did later on because we left them in the car and had to call on Star to open the car and was charged $57.00 for that. When we returned, I complained about the SUV and the way we were lied to. The manager came out and tried to dazzle me by saying he was waiving the Star fee and the fuel fee for a total of about $190.00. When I called him on the fuel fee and reminded him the car was full when I returned it, he kept right on talking like I didn't say anything, so I yelled loudly as I took my receipt and left. You guys are nothing but a bunch of ** grave robbers...

The 3rd time, I called again and talked to Kirk at lost and found. He managed to call me back after finding out that the car was rented out that morning. He proceeded to leave a message to the renters. He suggested to call back in a week when the car will be returned. I called back on the day the car was returned and talked to a manager Joslin, who said she will call me back. Joslin even asked the value of the necklace, which would cost much more now since I had it made by a jeweler 15 years ago, but she never called me back. The day after that I talked to another manager Eden. She said she will put the car on hold and found the car was rented again that day.

No one had checked the car nor put it on hold before for the necklace since I called and notified of my jewelry left in the car on May 16th. Miss Eden said to call back at 5PM on May 30th, when the car is due in. Yesterday, May 27, I got a message from Marilyn saying they don't have the necklace. Of course not, since this was mishandled by all the employees since the beginning. Especially the first guy, Tule, who did not do anything for me. All he had to do is have someone go to the car, which was on the lot that day I left it at noon. It did not get rented until 24 hours after I left it.

Alamo claims they are not responsible for the lost of goods, but this case could have had a positive outcome if the Kahului Alamo employees acted responsibly. I did not lose my necklace. I am seeking for compensation for the stress it caused me and the replacement of the necklace to be made exactly the same style.

1. I was discouraged from taking the Economy car ("I'd like to see you fit into that car"), and then charged me $5/day for an upgrade (okay, at least I knew it was going to cost extra $5/day).

2. They presented a range of insurance options that, after being waived, the default was collision damage waiver at $12.50/day + taxes (I was not advised of the cost at the time - I was too busy initialing "here, and here, and here, and there").

3. They sold me an option to refill an entire tank of gas at a "reduced" cost per gallon (approximately $0.50/gallon less than "local" gas prices, which were actually inflated compared to everywhere outside the county) when the contract stated a flat rate.

4. Actual charges were nearly double the flat rate. There was NO final calculation based on $/gallon.

5. I was told several times that my planned trip to and from Madison, Wisconsin would use a full tank, but I still had 1/3 tank left upon returning.

6. The final toll of 1 mile from the car rental is unmanned and requires exact change ($1.50). Being twenty cents short, I had to proceed and face the consequences (license plate is photographed), including an automatic $17 charge after 7 days, plus God-knows-what additional fees Alamo adds on top for handling the automatic fine.

Why don't they advise customers of the need to have the exact change to return the vehicle to the lot?! More importantly, why don't they install I-Pass devices in all rentals and simply charge customers the final toll rate (which is about half the cash rate) for the sake of both convenience and speed (no need to stop and have exact change every 10-20 miles in Illinois)?

When I asked how to handle the toll charge upon returning the car, they told me that I could visit a website, punch in the license plate number, and pay the $1.50 toll. This is actually not true if you don't own the car and can't provide, and especially not true if you live outside the U.S. (we are from Canada). Result: lots of long-distance calling around (hey, who knew that Alamo does not have any arrangement with Illinois Tollway and that the matter must be dealt with by the customer directly with Illinois Tollway?).

7. Upon returning the car, they were unable to print a final receipt/invoice for me - how much will my credit card be charged?! Did I really want to risk finding out after flying back to Canada? Lots of delays (fortunately, we were early for our flight and not in a rush), but I finally got a printout. Holy jumping Jesus, it was $40 more than the quoted rate I received when I left the lot.

Customer service will listen and handle complaints, and even offer refunds, but you'd best be sharp from the very beginning and try to avoid getting overcharged in the first place. Don't be in a rush. Ask questions. Push back.

I filed the required police report the next day. The other driver did not. I did not know at the time that the American Express car insurance was not valid with my kind of card. I had taken pictures of the damage minutes after the collision, and of the driver, his car, and his license plate. When I protested the ridiculous high repair amount claimed by the local Alamo office, the central office here in the States sent me copies of the photos provided to them by the Santa Domingo office. Extra damage to the front fender and the rear fender have been faked with what appears to be black magic marker.

The Alamo central office in the US told me that since I signed that document saying that I saw damage on the car, that means that they can charge me absolutely anything they want. There are fake damages several inches higher than the scrape along the right side caused by the Toyota compact that the driver at fault was driving. The crooked Dominican Republic office also claimed that the front bumper and rear bumper need to be repainted even though the impact was just along the right-hand side, between the wheel wells.

I have gotten no satisfaction from Alamo in any way. All they say is that their office can charge a customer anything they want since they have a credit card number. I reviewed this on another site, and an Alamo Representative sent me a message through that site saying that they would look into it and get in contact with me. That was just a public relations lie, because her response went on the same page as my review. They've robbed me of $850. American Express also was completely blind to all of the fax I presented about this probable fraud.

We tried to explain to them that the roads in Argentina go from smooth pavement to gravel in a matter of miles and that there was no way we could be responsible for pitting from sand which had obviously been kicked up by the vehicles in front of us. Nope, no explanation was enough to convince them that we were not responsible for the pitting! We tried to explain that this was part of the normal wear and tear on a vehicle, especially driving on the Argentine roads which are a combination of asphalt and gravel all on the same road. They would not listen and we paid rather than be detained in a crappy Argentine jail for non-payment. And then we left and will never ever rent a car from Alamo anywhere in the world!

The rental car pickup instructions on the confirmation document from Alamo clearly states: If you have checked in online, you can proceed directly to the garage where you will be assisted by both a Virgin Holidays and Alamo representatives. This is confirmed on page 16 of the Virgin Holidays brochure: Online check in Fastway to the Freeway! Exclusive to Virgin Holidays, check in before you go! Don't want to queue at the counter, just check in online before you travel and then head straight to collect your car and you're on your way. Dedicated Virgin Holidays area at Orlando Airport with specialized Alamo staff and our Virgin Holiday reps on hand to answer any questions.

At approximately 5:15pm on 8th January 2012 (EST), I presented my online confirmation documents and my own CDW/SLI insurance documents to the Virgin Holidays representative in the box office at the Alamo garage in Orlando Airport. The young lady in question (she was English, not American) gave them a cursory glance and before she could say anything, the Alamo representative took them from her, welcomed me to America and said that he would speed things up for me. He then presented me with a document (attached) which, with no explanation whatsoever, he asked to initial, here, here, and sign here (you can see where the Alamo representative circled the places to sign, but he failed to get me to sign at the top of page two, the section that indicates that I was aware that I may have already been covered via other coverage).

He then took the document (he did not give me a copy of the signed document), pointed across the garage and said, "There you go. Just go and take which ever car you want out of that row." It is my contention that the Alamo representative at the Virgin/Alamo desk essentially took advantage of my tired state of mind, after a nine-hour international flight. I genuinely believed that I was signing merely for the car and a full tank of gasoline. Having supposedly seen my online check in and my own insurance documents, the Virgin Holidays representative took little or no part in this matter. She looked bored and paid no interest in what was going on.

On returning my car on 7th February 2013 at 03.36pm (EST), along with many other drivers, I was greeted cordially, asked if we had had a good vacation and if the car had been okay. I was then issued with a digital print out, thanked and waved off. We quickly made our way to the airport check in, as required, to ensure that we were there within the required three hours. After checking in, finally getting to sit down and relax whilst awaiting to board our flight, it was only then that we discovered that it appeared that we had just been charged $599.70 for CDW from Alamo for the last 30 days car hire. I was shocked, but unable to do anything at that time.

Upon returning to the UK, on the morning of the 8th February 2013(GMT), I made a phone call to MBNA, only to find that Alamo had in fact made these charges against my account. I immediately contacted Alamo direct by phone. I did this on three occasions, each time being promised that an Alamo representative from the billing dept. would call me back; this never happened. I must point out that this section of the agreement, shown below, was not signed by me because it was not shown to me nor was I asked to sign acknowledging that it was not necessary to sign for CDW, etc. as I already had other coverage.

It is now clear to me and our friends the Kemps, who also traveled with us and experienced exactly the same problem, that a deliberate act of deception was being carried out by the staff at the Alamo Depot in Orlando International Airport. For unsolicited CDW coverage to have been added to two separate accounts is unlikely to be accidental. That Alamo appear to be unconcerned by this behavior, when the evidence is clear that we had no requirement for CDW coverage speaks volumes for the company and does it no service. I believe it is highly unlikely that we are the first people to get caught out by this fraudulent behavior.

We have pursued the matter with Alamo as far as we can and they remained intransigent. We decided therefore to leave the matter in the hands of Virgin Holidays in the expectation that we would receive our monies back, preferably before any interest charges started to appear on our credit card accounts, and an apology from Alamo for the heartache caused by the actions of one of their representatives. Interestingly enough, Alamo had agreed to refund the charges made against our friend’s credit card but not mine. The complaint has now been forwarded to my credit card company and ABTA. I'll let you know how we go on.

We headed to the lady in the counter and asked if I could speak to the manager. She replied that she could help and I asked her that in case this happened in the future, if they have a phone number that these people can call who can speak in Portuguese or Spanish? She responded that this country was United States and that the language spoken here was English, that if she traveled to Italy she must learn Italian, in a sarcastic way.

It's sad that you rent a car and have problems with the car and having to deal with a person who has problems of racism. She gave me a discount of $100 and when she noticed that I was a little nervous, offered me another $100 discount. There are companies that offer telephone interpreter service. AT&T is one of them which I mentioned to the lady.

The worst part is that about 4 years ago, I used to rent cars from them on a weekly basis. Refund or not, they have completely lost my business indefinitely. I would suggest that you only rent from Enterprise. Hertz checks your credit rating and can deny you a rental because of it and Alamo has a scandalous way of getting your money with no services provided.

Ten days later, I had not heard anything and tried again. She said he had rejected my appeal. It does not seem fair to me that I should be responsible out of pocket because Alamo used surface mail rather than email to contact me in a timely manner. Worse, their "customer service" has clearly not given the slightest consideration to my complaint, but continues to delay and threaten my credit rating. Their most recent mailing (dated November 10th, delivered December 18th) says they will turn it over to a collector "in 10 days" if it is not settled. This was after I talked with their customer service and made sure they had my email. It also says I am not welcome to rent from them again - as if I would.

We finally got the woman to agree to a lower extended rate for the "extra" days. We still paid about $50 more. Lastly, we booked on AmEx travel site. There is apparently no affiliation or recourse about shady Alamo deals via AmEx. Bottom line, we didn't need to give AmEx my business. We could have gone anywhere. And just because the company name is well known (Alamo), it doesn't mean you won't get ripped off.

I did not do a vehicle inspection because I was in a hurry. The salesperson that was at the counter did not do a walk around with me. I absolutely did not damage the car. I figured they already knew about the damage and I put in a call to the station manager. She could not be gotten a hold of, nor could anyone at the counter. I left a message and no one called me back. Lo and behold, when I returned the car, they pinned it on me stating it was not there when I drove the car off the rental lot. Absolute bologna. I have to rent vehicles constantly for my profession. I will be sure to post a complaint on every site that I can. I will never rent from Alamo again. I will always do a vehicle inspection immediately with anyone I rent from. This should be a mandatory step when renting a car. To save yourself any hassle or situations like this one, please do a walk around. Demand it. I'm on to the next site to write a review.

Sometime after that, they called to say I broke the tail light. I questioned them, because obviously I did no such thing and went to view the vehicle. The vehicle they claimed was the one I returned that had a patch the size of an adult hand right there and obvious to the world. Also, they had moved the vehicle out of a line of 10 or so cars. Why wouldn't they have just left it alone? I had 5 other people either driving behind me or in and out of the trunk with me over that three days. So if for some reason it was there, wouldn't we have noticed that? Of course, we would have. It was not there, period. When we dropped the car off, we were standing around the tail light in question, retrieving our things from the trunk and giving/getting paperwork from the attendant. At that point, it was fine. They either switched my vehicle with another that they failed to make a claim on or they did it themselves and are trying to save their own butts.

The dispute person from Alamo is going to further investigate but tells me the vehicle I rented and the one that has the damage has the same VIN. The VIN is not on the paperwork from when I rented the car. Someone is lying, and it's not me. We will see how Alamo responds, but if it is not favorable to me, they will have a fight on their hands because I will not let anyone get away with scamming me. I will update this when the issue is resolved or there are new developments. In the meantime, I would absolutely not rent a car with them nor would I recommend anyone else.

The following morning, after hours of jerking around on the phone, I was brought a new car and they picked up the disable one at lunchtime. Needless to say, I lost out on my Grand Canyon trip. I contacted Alamo to express my dissatisfaction and to seek a refund, and they said there was nothing they could do for me. I just want everyone who reads this to be wary of who you rent a vehicle from because you could go through the nightmare we did on vacation.

After some messing about with a National rep, we were finally contacted by a less than pleasant local representative. Despite the fact that Alamo had provided us with a defective car/key-fob, she had the gall to demand that we pay for the towing. Even more unreasonably, instead of offering us a replacement car from the local outpost (5 minutes from our hotel), she insisted that we come back to the airport to pick up a replacement (an hour and a half round trip at least).

Frustrated with the Alamo reps increasingly patently absurd demands, we declined getting a replacement, and asked for a refund for the unused days. The local Alamo rep refused to do so. Having to depart for our friends' nuptials, we negotiated the drop-off of the key (on our departure from Maui at the airport the next afternoon), and opted to pick up the dialogue when we returned from our vacation.

The next day, we cabbed it back to the airport, dropped the key off at the Alamo counter, and flew home. On returning from our vacation, we contacted Alamo's National customer service and explained the situation. They apologized for the situation, agreed that the car was broken, agreed that the situation was handled badly, and that we were owed a refund for the unused day(s). The rep said, reasonably enough, that they couldn't refund the amount, as it was through an external travel agency, but that they would mail vouchers for the appropriate sum. Vouchers were received (although we never used them before they expired), case closed - neither party was made whole, but as far as we were concerned, we were all even.

Flash forward a year. We were contacted by Enterprise Holdings, Alamo's junkyard dog debt repo wing. We are being held for nearly $800 in charges related to towing (for a defective vehicle, need I remind) and a missing key (which was returned, as agreed upon, to the rental counter at Kahalui airport. I can't be held responsible for Alamo's sloppy internal procedures for rental returns).

My wife called the listed number and explained to the representative that this matter was settled some time back, but the rather discourteous lady instead harangues, belittles and insults her repeatedly, insisting that my wife is wrong. This was going from patently criminal to nauseatingly inappropriate. I called back, insisted that the matters had been settled, to cease contact, and advised that we will continue taking this up the chain of command should this persist. We, thankfully, don't receive any more calls. Once again, it seemed like Alamo had, internally, come to its senses. It seems, however, that Alamo has no sense of reason or moral rightness.

Another year passes. Alamo seems to have passed the buck onto a collections agency. Lovely. Sadly, this is the level of unprofessionalism that one can expect from the contemptible Alamo. I was willing to hold my tongue regarding Alamo's poor fleet of cars and increasingly poor service, but really, given this sort of continuing abuse, the truth will out. Perhaps it's time that I put my SEO skills to work.

Then, Alamo said that our luggage would not be there. We are two people, each and every one a medium flexible travel bag luggage and a little hand luggage. This suits perfectly in an intermediate car. This is evident from my internet research. This is reflected in your information on your website, but he repeated that these are small cars. In addition, Alamo said that the Pontiac only has 2 doors. This is very difficult for us because we put our cooler on the backseat and a small cabin with our tourist information and our electronics. Alamo went further and further. He said that a real American drives not a small car, but with a full-sized car. Alamo argued further - they said that in the small car, there is no cruise control, etc. In short, I became more and more nervous.

Alamo pushed and pushed. We had a trip of 23 hours and wanted to go to bed as soon as possible. The discussion took already half an hour. Alamo would charge only a small fee to upgrade to a full size. It turned out that it's $231. During the entire trip, I looked at the Chrysler Sebring and the Nissan Sentra. I have asked some owners to open their suitcase. During the entire trip, I had the unpleasant feeling of being scammed and deceived. Fuel service, they charge here $75. This is exorbitant. The maximum that we ever could have taken in the tank was $50.

Airport fee, your website has been reported that the Airport Concession Fee is included in the price. They charged $34 and above. Sales tax, they charge $57 and above. The total amount was over $1,049 instead of the agreed initial $658 with the Greek company. This is an increase of $391, which is 59.4% extra! At a given moment appeared the message "change engine oil soon." The car was thus not ready for renting. I called Alamo road assistance, they suggested to go to a service and have an oil change. Where the hell? Then, she suggested to San Francisco airport, to go there and ask for another car. They refused to make the call themselves to Alamo San Francisco. I had to call the next day.

I called them with a cell phone. The phone has been opened for half an hour, "All our employees are busy. Stay on the line. Thanks for waiting." I went there myself, thanks to the hotel reception, to a Alamo Center in San Francisco. There they said that I could just drive on. Neither the inclusion of the vehicle or on the return was audited. I should say beware of Alamo! They are money-pickers. I informed the Greek company about the problems. They supported Alamo over the complete line. I should say beware of the Greek company Economy Rental Cars.

I called Alamo, but they told me, “You signed the contract, so you have to pay.” My English is not very good and I am not able to read and understand the insurance contract because I don't know the American rules. I have to trust the people who are talking with me. If this people don't tell me everything, I am lost. Never again, Alamo.

When I arrived to my destination (that same day), I contacted the company that originally booked this rental with Alamo & asked for a full refund. I assumed since we did not get a car, we should be given a full refund. Then I was told that I'd have to wait again. It's been 3 weeks & I've written for a fourth time yesterday and still no answer. I'm frustrated & not sure what my next steps should be. I will never rent from Alamo again & will tell all of my friends about this incident.

After the combination of my payment and the insurance payment, I received numerous emails and letters, all with different balance due amounts. One of the letters dated April 9th, 2012 threatened me with collections and said I would no longer be allowed to rent from Alamo, Enterprise or National Car Rental (hey, no problem) unless I paid the amount due of $1,301.11. Keep in mind, the original claim was $1,613.29, I had paid $1,000.00 in March and my insurance company had paid over $300.00.

They acknowledged their mistake, told me I owed $301.11 and had to pay by the 19th of April. They gave me a website to make my payment, which I tried to do this evening, April 17th. The amount due now shows $616.82. This is now the fourth time I have been given a different amount. The frustration level with this company is off the charts. I will never rent from them again.

Upon dropping off the vehicle, my husband noticed the agent circling some items on a sheet and asked about it. It was a claim form and my husband told him at the time that we did not cause any of this damage he was searching for. My husband signed the claim form stating that we did not do any damage to the car and the agent said no big deal, he was just required to note it but there would be no claim.

Two weeks later, we received a liability claim asking us to pay $1,030 in damages. Upon asking for further details, we were sent a few blurry pictures and an appraisal for the repair which included a majority of the labor hours on so-called damage that was not documented in the pictures sent as support. I am frustrated because there seems to be no one to complain to other than their claims/collection department who has no authority. They just continue to send bills with claim forms for insurance every week.

We are very honest people and would have agreed to pay if we did the damage to the car. We have rented lots of cars and have never, nor would we ever have expected to be treated in this manner. We will definitely never rent from Alamo or the sister companies ever again! Someone help us as to what our next steps should be.

When we got the car, as being so tired, we believed him. When we took car back on March 3, 2012, the price changed. It was $249.25. If I known that ** was to take place, I would have taken the car that was there in the first place but Mark keep telling us there was no extra charge.

I am not very impressed with Alamo Car Rental. I think Mark should watch what he’s saying to people. I would have been glad to have the car that was there in the first place as I say not very impressed with Alamo Car Rental. That was $149.25 more than we expected. I also took pictures of inside and outside of the red 2011 Chevy Impala when I dropped it off in Orlando airport. I’m not very impressed with Mark as well.

So I went back to the front desk to call Alamo road side assistance at 1.30 pm and they told me that they will send someone in less than 50 minutes. I waited for one hour with nobody came so I went inside again and called. They left me for 15 minutes and I kept on calling every 15 minutes with same thing. They said they will send someone on 3:53 pm and no one came. Then they said at 4:28 pm and no one came and at 4:57 pm.

At last at 5 pm, someone came who is not working for Alamo. It is someone who is assigned by contract and he said that they one called him an hour earlier, which means at 4 pm and my first call was at 1:30 pm. They called him after 2 and half hours after my first call. I asked him to write that on the receipt and he did. The problem is that when I opened the trunk to get the medication, I took my laptop case thinking the medication is inside and it was not. I was crying on the parking lot because I was going to faint and all the security at the hotel knows about this.

It took them 3 and half hours to send someone to help me. Do you think this is a proper way to treat a customer? They want 57.00 dollars for this fast service. Do you think I should pay that or call an attorney?

Once I gain knowledge of the incident, we returned to the airport within 10 minutes and I requested a refund for the additional insurance advising the representative additional care was not needed. The representative Jemeica was totally rude and denied all allegations of any wrong doing. Jemeica insisted that in the future, to prevent any further mishaps, I should handle all affairs and let my husband stay in the car. I was flabbergasted! Jemeica lack any sense of customer service and told me if I wanted a refund, I would need to go back to the trailer where the car are released and have a manager inspected the vehicle for any damages that may have been caused in the last 10 minutes.

The manager on duty William advised me that because I was complaining, he would cancel the reservations altogether. He insisted he did me favor and my lack of appreciation would not be tolerated by him or his staff. I advised him, as a paying customer, if something or someone does not provide exceptional service or lack competence, then it is my right to express my dissatisfaction. William canceled my reservations and I rented a car through Budget.

I have never experience such service in all my days, both employees need customer service training and time off without pay. Customers are searching for bargains but not at the expense of customer service. I hope Alamo address both employees because they each play such a pivotal role in the company as front line employees. This experience has cost Alamo a customer! I am totally disgusted with Alamo. My time was wasted and the frustration Jemeica and William caused was unnecessary.

The customer service and next manager (Alex) refused to remove charge as they stated that their agent in Hawaii had a sheet of paper (no copy available for me) with initials on it, the same one the agent informed me I was waiving CDW fees by initializing. I had disgusting service from Alamo. Beware and go elsewhere.

So when I took the van that I used inside Maui for one week and and I used to go here and there basically shopping and no major drive, so when I returned the van to Alamo the agent showed me a scratch and damages that I caused the van and she made me sign an incidental report. I was so shocked what she was telling me and I had choice to do and I refused to sign the incidental report.

When I returned, I got a letter from the recovery unit with $1,407 of damages to van. So now, I'm opening a claim with my current insurance and I created a claim against something I have no clue of anything that happened to mini van. All I asked from the state is to monitor this false practice by these rental companies. I need to see a regulation against those companies. I will never rent again.

Upon my return home, I left a voice mail message with the regional manager and requested that she give me a call. I never received a call back. I emailed customer service and received a series of computer-generated responses. Finally, I turned in a dispute with my American Express card and included the documentation showing the reservation rate versus the billing rate. Alamo/Enterprise never responded to the inquiries made by American Express. The company subsequently blacklisted me and put me on their Do Not Rent list without ever responding over a 3 month period to any of my inquiries. Alamo/Enterprise does not give a rip about its customers and is too big to care.

I can't believe that in such a bad economy, that we can't help one another. I can't afford to just give away money. My sister needs me and I had to take the train back home and now I have to find a way back home to see her again. I was so desperate to get home, that I even sent an email asking another car agency to help me get to her so that I could be with her for whatever time she has left.

Please reconsider this fee. I am already struggling to take care of my needs including my home being in foreclosure. I just need a little help.

The customer service agent referred me to their website and proceeded to copy and paste the information where it clearly states that yes this is okay. Wrong! I get to the counter, provide my information only to be told that I could not rent with a debit card and a return train ticket and that the policy was changed months ago. What?

The customer service agent proceeded to get a manager who seemed somewhat confused when I mentioned to him that, per their website, it states debit and check cards may be used when the renter has proof of a round-trip travel ticket (airline, cruise ship, or train) at time of rental. The manager only apologized repeatedly before proceeding to tell me that there was nothing he could do. Needless to say, I have no intentions of renting with Alamo again. Even if I get a credit card, I still won't rent with them.

Luckily for me, I thought ahead and reserved other vehicles at other locations to be on the safe side. I walked right over to Dollar Rent a Car and had a vehicle within minutes for the exact same price. These days, most car companies accept debit cards with a deposit. I'll just stick with them and say no thanks to Alamo.

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?