Alamo Car Rental Company

Overall Rating
 1 of 5

Value Rating
 1 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $681.00 from Reno

Year / Model Reviewed:
 Minian

Summary:
Very poor customer policies!

Alamo really surprised us with very strange business ethics! To sum up my experience:
Alamo personnel give customers false information (about reimbursement and about car details).
Alamo cannot handle special requests (we needed a special car and tried to solve this in advance).
Alamo rather takes short term money instead of building a long term relationship with a satisfied customer.

Strengths:
none

Weaknesses:
We made a reservation from Germany and rented a car in Reno. As we planned a camping tour, we needed a stow & go car because we intended to sleep in the back. In order to make sure that we get this special car we phoned Alamo in Reno in advance which car to book and explained that we definitely need this car type and no other. They told us we need a Full Size SUV and promised us that this is no problem. Once being there it turned out that the Full Size SUV hat no stow & go function. Unfortunately, we got into Reno with the last flight, so being back at the Alamo station we found this station already closed and everybody gone. So we had no other chance to take the “unusable” car and stay over night in a Hotel. The next morning we drove back to Alamo. It finally turned out that only the Minivan has this function. So they changed our reservation into a Minivan. As the Minivan was not cleaned up yet, we waited for another 45 minutes to finally find out that this special Minivan had a back seat which was not removable at all!!! I really started to wonder if Alamo personnel ever listen to customers’ needs? We got back to the station again. Finally talked to the Station Manager Denise Bandeo. We were really wondering whether Alamo expected to just accept this and sleep outside the car during our camping tour? Unbelievable.
We even tried to solve the situation and asked the station manager to take out the back seats, so we could use the car. But she refused. Asking her how to solve the problem because we had no other place to sleep, she advised us to check with other rental car companies. Aha??? She even told us that the money will be reimbursed once we are back in Germany. Even though we were not reimbursed on our credit card we took the word of the Station Manager and changed the rental car company. Being back in Germany nothing was reimbursed. After a long discussion and telling the story over and over again to different call centre personnel (who were unfriendly and

Similar Products Used:
(who were unfriendly and even hang up sometimes) and spending a lot of time and money on these phone calls, we were finally informed that there will be no reimbursement. So we ended up paying 681 $ for one night rental car driving to a Hotel!!!

I am really surprised about how Alamo handles customers in theses cases. It seems that making short term money is more important than building a long term relationship with a satisfied customer. I really wonder who is responsible for such customers policies. We are renting a lot of cars in the US, but this has never happened to us. Compared to all other rental car companies this is the poorest and most unbelievable experience we have ever made. With Hertz this would have never happened.
I really wonder how you stay in business.

By the way this was the original answer:

Dear Customer:

We have tried to book a reservation on the same web site that you booked your car through, and the Full Size SUV does not list stow and go seating as an option. We do not allow customers to remove seats from our vehicles or they will be liable for any damage to the vehicle so the manager at the station was correct in this fact. We apologize if a misunderstanding was given by the manager concerning a refund but it should not have been promised to you. We regret that no compensation will be given in this situation since a vehicle was provided that you chose not to use.

Sincerely
Sharon Cummings
International Customer Care
Alamo Rent A Car

Price Paid:  $40.00 from Long Beach, CA / Boi

Year / Model Reviewed:
2007 Alamo Car Rental Company

Summary:
In the last 3 months I have rented vehicles twice from Alamo. My first experience was at the Long Beach, CA airport. Service was first rate, was able to check in and get my car quickly. Also returning my car was done right in the parking lot. The car provided, a Buick Lacrosse, was acceptable for the price of a mid-size car.
My next experience was in early June 2007 at the Boise, ID airport. Service was good, was picked up at the airport and taken to a nearby lot where the car was. Was able to check in and get out fairly quickly and returing the car was done quickly. The problem, I paid for a mid-size car and was given a Toyota Matrix. To boot, the Matrix was not very clean.
Overall the service has been very good, but calling a Toyota Matrix a mid-size car is stretching it.

Strengths:
Good service. Check online specials to save more money. Good value for the money.

Weaknesses:
A Toyota Matrix is not a mid-size vehicle. Vehicles could be cleaner.

Similar Products Used:
Avis - more expensive, not much better service.