Beware Alamo MCO!!!

[LeslieG]

Just got back from our trip to WDW. It ended on a sour note returning our vehicle to Alamo. First of all, they tried to charge me over $100 more than the price I had booked it for. This was all an issue at the end of the rental and not the beginning because I used Alamo's Quick Silver program and went straight to my car and exited without speaking to anyone at the counter.

Anyway, upon return the people who are usually there to greet you in the lot weren't there. Finally someone told me I had to go to the booth in the garage because it was late (11 p.m.) I proceed to the booth where I'm given the $238 price for my $107 rental. She said there was no way I could have rented a minivan for $107. I said I had the paperwork, but we had dropped everything off upstairs at the Hyatt and that's where the paperwork was. She said I would have to prove it to her, so off I go up to the Hyatt, which by the way is not a short walk, especially having spent the day at MK with two small kids in 90 degree heat. And why wouldn't my rental info be in their computer?

I proceed back to Alamo with my paperwork. She informs me that since I picked up the car 1/2 hour before the time on my reservation and that since it was such a good rate that they would not allow that, and so consequently it doubled my rate. I told her that was ridiculous, that it was just 1/2 hour. Then she makes an adjustment and brings it down a little more. I said no, it was $107. Then she said that my reservation was just an estimate of what the charges would be, that it wasn't guaranteed to be the same as what my confirmation said. I said also that was ridiculous, that I had rented from Alamo many times in the past, and it was always the same amount as what my confirmation had indicated.

So she proceeds to make another adjustment, which was still higher than what I had reserved, but it was now approaching midnight, and I did not have the energy to argue with this woman any more. By the way, her nametag indicated she was a manager, believe it or not.

So beware of Alamo. I will absolutely no longer deal with this company. They tried to up the rate on me for my rental last year, and I stood my ground with my confirmation sheet. I chalked it up then to an isolated incident, but I don't believe it was, as others on this board have reported similar experiences.

 

[keliblue]

Thank you...

I did have this happen once before with Alamo and was going to give them another shot........NOT this trip.

 

[seashoreCM]

What would have happened if you did not sign the final charge slip?

For awhile I had been preaching: put some notation above the signature line stating you do not agree with the charge prior to actually signing. I once suggested, for brevity, the phrase "under duress". Although no duress per se may have been felt, this tips off anyone investigating a near future credit card dispute that they can't simply say "well you signed it didn;t you?"

If you are arriving early you should not simply walk over to the quick silver aisle and select a car and drive off. You might cause a car shortage for someone else. There should be an attendant in the garage to assist you. While the rental agency has the right to charge you more or refigure your reservation in exchange for an early pickup, they have to notify you and give you the choice to wait until the appointed time for the pickup and receive the original contract price and terms.

Where do you hand in the slip where you mark off pre-existing damage to the car at pickup time? Is there another booth with an attendant and a gate where you exit with the car? Do they hand you some paperwork at that location. If you find a higher charge on that paperwork, turn around, come back, and dispute it right away.

Now that you are back home, write to Alamo's headquarters. If the first letter doesn't net you satisfaction, write a second letter, this time "to the company's president".

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[LeslieG]

Just a note about my QS experience. I was expecting to go to the booth in the garage. There was an attendant there in front of the booth who told me if I had QS to just go right to the car and exit. When I got to the exit, the lady asked for the little card that's hanging from the rear view mirror. I gave her my confirmation and coupon. She kept my coupon, gave me back my confirmation, and I received absolutely no paperwork. I did ask her to note somewhere there was a ding on the passenger side door. She noted it on the little card and gave it back to me. I thought it was odd I got no documentation at all. I was lucky I had printed off two coupons off my computer, because I was waiting for that to be the next thing. Oh, you don't have your coupon? I had another one that I gave the very unhelpful lady when I returned the car, or she probably wouldn't have given me the $25 coupon discount.

If they were going to double my rate because I picked up the car 1/2 hour early, they should have notified me at the time I picked up the car, but like I said, there was no paperwork to tell me anything. And the lady at the exit booth didn't say a thing, and she had my confirmation paper in her hands.

 

[iluvwesties]

After reading you post about the price changing due to picking up earlier than reserved, I decided to re-do my reservation

I put in the new time (1 hour earlier than previously reserved) and got a really good rate!!!!!!

For May 20th - May 24th for a compact car with Amex discount code I got a reservation for $13.90 per day ($65.85 including taxes for total)

Thanks for posting the heads-up about getting the car earlier than reservation time

Hoping they don't reverse this on me should I get in later due to unseen flight delays

iluvwesties (aka Carol)

 

[seashoreCM]

If you are late to pick up the car, the rental company may cancel your reservation and start from scratch (or give you no car at all). Check the policies and rules (on their web site and on Travelocity, assume the worse of the two) to find out what kind of a hold they will put on your reservation.

 

[luvdiz]

I was just trying to re-work on my reservation because I just booked my airline tickets. We are leaving 3 hours later than I thought we would be. When I entered that change, our mini-van rental went from $189 to $344!!! Unbelievable!! I can get a great rate with Thrifty, but it's off-airport !!

 

[HauntedMansionMan]

If you are using the alamo website, it will automatically attempt to change your rate if you make a change to your ressie. Just call alamo and give them your new arrival time. Your rate will most likely not change unless your length of rental changes +- a day.

 

[NotUrsula]

The big gotcha is always Thursdays. If you are getting a weekend rate, the fine print almost always requires that the vehicle not be taken out before noon on Thursday. That's one time when even a minute may make a huge difference.

 

[jncvh]

Ok. Now you got me worried. I usually rent 8-10 times a month and never had a problem. I usually rent through Hertz or Dollar and found them great. I booked 10 days in October for a mini-van through Alamo, whom I have never used before. I got a great rate of $358. taxes in. I did try to add an extra day to the ressie and the rate changed to over $700. I hope they don't try to pull one over on me as I got such a great rate. I also booked a convertible through them through Costco for 5 days in June at a rate of $158 taxes in. I will be looking at other companies now.

 

[PlutoPony]

The big gotcha is always Thursdays. If you are getting a weekend rate, the fine print almost always requires that the vehicle not be taken out before noon on Thursday. That's one time when even a minute may make a huge difference.

Had a reservation last fall beginning at 10 am on a Thursday in Columbus OH. Plane got in early and it was 9:45 when I got to the National counter (not EA). The printed contract they wanted me to sign showed double the reservation price and when I asked was told I had a weekend rate, which started at 10 am. Not gonna do that so they cancelled out my contract (but not my reservation) and I waited a few minutes until 10 am - they again printed my contract, the price was as quoted and I went on my merry way. Fortunately this wasn't an expensive lesson but it could have been ...

 

[LeslieG]

I picked up my vehicle on Thursday evening, so I don't think the weekend rate was a factor, but I'm wondering if it's normal not to get any paperwork when you use QS and bypass the counter. I never signed anything when I picked up or turned in the car. If they had given me any paperwork, I would have immediately known something was up.

I guess my biggest issue is that this seems to be a pattern with Alamo. I've had problems the last two times I've rented with them, and even though they have some good rates, I'm going to look elsewhere in the future.

 

[CarolA]

I am always hesitant to post on Alamo threads, but every time I see a thread with "I got a great rate on Alamo" I think "you may earn it"

I rent cars over 40 times a year. Alamo ranks as my ALL time horror story. And we have a LARGE populuation with some interesting stories. I long ago decided that NO amount of savings were worth the hassle of Alamo. So far National has NOT adopted the Alamo model so I still rent from them, but as soon as they start this mess. I am gone...

I normally rent from Hertz, yes it costs a little more, but I get good service. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

 

[DebbieB]

When you use Emerald Aisle with National, you don't get any paperwork either. I've rented with them maybe 10 times and only once had a discrepancy with the price.

When I was there last week with friends, we had Alamo. We got gas at the Boardwalk Hess station before we went to the airport, I've never had a problem with National charging for gas. Alamo charged us for 2 gallons at $5.99 per gallon! They said it was slightly off full.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

I am always hesitant to post on Alamo threads, but every time I see a thread with "I got a great rate on Alamo" I think "you may earn it"

I rent cars over 40 times a year. Alamo ranks as my ALL time horror story. And we have a LARGE populuation with some interesting stories. I long ago decided that NO amount of savings were worth the hassle of Alamo. So far National has NOT adopted the Alamo model so I still rent from them, but as soon as they start this mess. I am gone...

I normally rent from Hertz, yes it costs a little more, but I get good service. Sometimes you get what you pay for.

I wouldn't trade my Hertz Gold Five Star card for anything!

 

[LeslieG]

I'm just wondering. We've rented from Alamo in Las Vegas every year and never had a problem. Do you think it's just specific to MCO with all these problems?

 

[CarolA]

My nightmare was actually in Atlanta.....so I don't think MCO is alone in BAD Alamo management.

 

[Esmerelda]

a tip: cheapest is not always the best (ever notice how their rates are always lower....?)

I'm sorry Leslie about your experience. I have had so many poor experiences with Alamo I think the last time I used them was 1999. I learned my lesson.

I have used..National...Hertz, Dollar and Avis in Orlando and had no problems.


Esmerelda

 

[PatMcDuck]

another note on Alamo at MCO-- we were first baffled as to where the standard SUVs WERE. No sign. NO attendents anywhere. We finally found some, and ALL had the third seat up. We wanted it down, to fit luggage. We strugggled with a few different models, and could not figure out how to lower the seat on any of them.......... we ended up taking the mid SUV instead. So, this was a pain, no attendents in the lot (a Thur morning @ 10:30am)

I am using them again in August. The price is right. But I wish National was closer in price.

 

[Disneyhappy]

another note on Alamo at MCO-- we were first baffled as to where the standard SUVs WERE. No sign. NO attendents anywhere. We finally found some, and ALL had the third seat up. We wanted it down, to fit luggage. We strugggled with a few different models, and could not figure out how to lower the seat on any of them.......... we ended up taking the mid SUV instead. So, this was a pain, no attendents in the lot (a Thur morning @ 10:30am)

I am using them again in August. The price is right. But I wish National was closer in price.

I had the same problem in April. Alamo uses Trailblazers with the third seat. One our our family autos is a regular trailblazer and I would have thought I could have figured out how to lower the third seat! I looked for the manual in the glove compartment and it wasn't there. I think I finally found the manual in the spare tire compartment in the back which showed me how to lower the seat. I couldn't switch autos because I already drove off with it from MCO and was in Bradenton. After a business trip, I was assisting my parents home from their annual Florida winter jaunt and needed the space for their luggage!