Alamo child seat question

[california37]

Hi guys!! We just arrived yesterday however as we checked in to get on the plane, we realised we left DD's car seat in the car (and my dad had already driven off as he brought us in our car!) so we needed to hire one. We had already got a car with Alamo..
We checked on line at the airport and we found two quotes- one saying $9 per day and another saying $59 for a week.... (We're staying 19 days) we'd considered just getting a seat for a day (worried about quality) and heading to Walmart to buy one.
However... When we asked at the counter at Orlando Airport the guy said it would be $70 for the duration - max. But you sort it out at the kiosk in the parking garage.... We went over with DD and the guy there didn't want to take any payment- he said 'no worries just go and help yourself' we asked to pay and he just waved us by.... Kind of implying it was free ?!? If it was $70 or less we can handle that and would be ok. As we were tired and still needed to get 'home' and DD had had enough we just wanted to get going....

I am now worried that when we return the car they will charge us a stupid amount on our credit card for the carseat... Would have rather paid up front.... Happy to pay obviously and $70 would be ok...

Anyone been in a similar situation?! What happened?!

BTW- if anyone is wondering at Alamo the car seats are clean and you get to pick what you have (I looked at about 4) I have no problems getting one again!! Oh and DD is 2 so it was a child seat not just a booster Or an infant!

TIA

 

[Jon84]

I would say that they've noted it on your account as a charge to be paid when you leave.

 

[P800aul]

Hi

Not a car seat thing but I was once charged for excess insurance which I didn't ask for, I didn't notice until towards the end of the holiday (13 day holiday) I spoke to the supervisor at the desk when I returned the car (no line thank the lord) and she refunded without any question. So my impression is that if you are charged unfairly tell them when you return the car and they will sort it out.

I wouldn't worry about it and let it spoil your holiday.

Regards

Paul

 

[california37]

Thanks for your replies!

We did the 'skip the counter' so at no point did we give any details to either man we spoke to. so they had no way of recording that we took a seat. When you give your details over when you drive away as you leave the garage - the woman didn't look and she wouldn't have been able to tell that DD was not in her own seat. There's nothing recorded on our paperwork... Just wondered if anyone had enountered the same?!

A few years ago they tried to charge us for more fuel (even tho we returned it full) but it was after we got home so we challenged it and it was eventually refunded. Don't like now knowing what's coming off our cc!!!

 

[Jon84]

I don't know if Skip the Counter for Alamo works like the others, have they already reserved a car for you, or are you taking one of your choice?

If it's the former, then they know who you are and could have added it, or they could add it when you return the car as the seat will be there, and the charge added then.

All of the rental companies as cowboys, I had the return empty thing added to my paid in full rental with Dollar, they guy said it was optional, then when I gave the car back, the final bill $70 instead of $0.00, I stormed over to the counter in the garage and refused to leave till it was taken off!

 

[california37]

Hey there-yes we chose whichever car we wanted so they didn't tie the car to the rental if you see what I mean. They didn't know until we asked that we wanted to take a seat (and didn't need to if we actually rembered to take our own!!)

 

[Jon84]

Hey there-yes we chose whichever car we wanted so they didn't tie the car to the rental if you see what I mean. They didn't know until we asked that we wanted to take a seat (and didn't need to if we actually rembered to take our own!!)

Ok so when you leave the garage they scan the car, when it's returned, the will scan it again, and will take back their seat, that is when they could make the charge.

 

[chmurf]

2 experiences here.

february 2012 : I booked the child seat by adding the option
the rep at the desk (that was before skip the counter) simply forgot to charge.
I didn't say anything, and went by 'if they charge me, I was willing to pay anyway'

never paid a cent for the car seat. The rep who scanned the car upon return didn't mention anything

october 2012 : forgot to book the car seat. Forgot that I had forgotten, and didn't realise until I was in the garage (well don't tell anyone but I was remotely aware of that, and kind of expected I'd get if for free again)
I asked someone in the garage. The guy pointed vaguely at the shack behind the office and said help yourself. Sure, I will.
Car seat was not on the rental agreement, I never paid anything, alamo never charged.


When you return the car, they're concerned about fuel and mileage, as well as damage (unless you have CDW in which case they don't even look at the car once they scan the barcode)

For all they know, if you have a car seat, you've paid for it. You might even have left your own in the car, not their business, if you see what I mean.
The car will stay in the return line for a few minutes, then go "backstage" so to speak, where they'll take the car seat as part of the cleaning process. Nobody there is bothered checking if you were supposed to have one in your car.


Now, you can't pay for the car seat for a duration shorter than your rental period. So @OP don't say a word, don't feel bad about it.

Just return the car with the car seat, and don't mention it.

worst case scenario, they charge you for a service you received. But most likely, you've received a "free garage upgrade"

don't be concerned, alamo is not.

 

[Scillycruisers]

When we hired from Alamo we were told to sort the seat out when we got to the desk to get the car. At the desk they just told us to pick whichever we wanted on the way out. They never charged us for it.

 

[Sunset_Princess]

Glad to hear the seats are clean. I posted on another thread the other day asking about the seats as I've read horror stories that they are horrible quality. Thanks for the reassurance.

 

[disneyholic family]

i was wondering about whether they're clean...we're going to need two car seats...
perhaps we'll carry one with us, but certainly not two..
interesting idea about just having them give us two seats when we get to the garage..
i think i'll try that....worst case, we'll have to pay...best case, we won't..
besides, i won't want them if they're filthy.....i'll take them just to get us to a walmart to buy new ones...(they're so damn cheap in the US, better to just buy them, if the alamo ones are dirty)....
so i guess i'll wait and see..
but good to know i shouldn't add it on up front.....

 

[Stitch's Greatest Fa]

In my experience (and we have hired seats many times) the car seats are usually Graco ones, pretty easy to install and generally clean. I mean the fabric doesn't look brand new of course, but it's always been decent!

 

[california37]

Just as an update guys.... So the car seat we took from them was a cosco one and as I've said before it was clean without any marks on the fabric and I checked the plastic thoroughly and there were no cracks etc... It was black and white in pattern and we saw the exact same one for sale in Walmart during our trip. It was pretty much like new. As a pp said-we couldn't take one for a day to get us out of the airport-we could only take one for the duration (so didn't make any sense buying another) and to be honest-it was decent enough -not as padded as the one we would have taken from home but it was good-I now wouldn't mind having one again! As I said we checked about 4 seats and they all looked the same... All the same brand (from Alamo anyway) for all types of car seats (booster, toddler and infant) - all cosco branded.

We have yet to be charged for borrowing one.. We returned the car on thurs and left the seat inside- our receipt said no charge. As a PP said-how are they to know we didn't buy that one from Walmart and left it?!?

It's risky I suppose going expecting it to be free but it looks like ours was this time... It was a genuine mistake that we forgot ours in England. I don't think I would pre-hire one but I know it is there if needed. Looking at the t&c's in the website it looks like they *could* charge $10 per day which if you are there for a while could add up-no idea how much a pre-pay would be.... I hope that helps people... If there's any questions please ask!

Oh and the car seat fixing was a lot different to how ours is at home-top tether anchor and the seatbelt needed to be passed through the seat and then again... Without a valet guy who knew what he was doing to help us (one of the trolly guys at carosel 8a who help you with your luggage) we would have been there forever (in the heat and with tired kids!) the seats do come with instructions but that was the last thing we wanted to be reading and working out!!

 

[Easy Rover]

In 2014, my family rented from Alamo at the Tampa airport while visiting family. We were borrowing a car seat from a friend of a relative in Florida who suddenly needed it back a couple days into our trip. We drove to Magic Kingdom for one day and I called the Car Care Center explaining that I needed to rent a car seat for the next 4 days. I walked up to the counter and stated I just called about a car seat and the attendant waved his hand toward the mass of car seats and said "go ahead!" He didn't even look up my reservation number or ask for anything to verify that I had even rented a car from Alamo. The car seats were all very clean, and the one I had still had a tag on it. Brand new. We returned the car with the car seat to the Tampa Airport, where we flew into originally, and I never received a charge for the car seat.