Caution Alamo.... Don't rent from them....

[Poohbear2398]

I was in WDW from April 4th-April 8th and I rented a mid-size car from Alamo. When I went to pick my rental up I was offered a Toyota Corolla, Mits. Lancer, Daweoo Leganza or a Chevy Metro. I questioned the Alamo employee as to why I was given a choice of cars that were much smaller then a mid-size. The employee stated that they all were mid-sized cars on the inside, but they may look different on the outside. I questioned how a Toyota Corolla was compared to a Pontiac Grand Am?? The Alamo employee told me that they just recently have re-classified their cars and the cars mentioned above are now considered mid-size cars. I asked if this information had been published and he said he was unsure. I told him that it had not been and if I would have known about there "re-sizing" I would have chosen a different car size. After going back and forth for about 10 minutes, I had to make a decision. I decided on a Toyota Corolla. When I got out to the car, it was as I had expected. A very small car. When I got into the car, it was dirty and if smelled like smoke. Me being somewhat allergic to smoke, decided that I would go back in complain and request a different car. As I was driving the car to the front of the Alamo building I passed some Lancers and Leganzas. The Lancer was not much larger then the Corolla. I stopped and looked a Leganza and it was bigger then the Corolla. When I returned to the rental desk, I again explained my frustrations and requested a different car, because of size and the smoke issue. The Alamo employee was not the nicest to deal with, but once he realized that I was not leaving until I was satisfied (as much as I could be) he said that he would do a courtesy exchange. I told him that I would like a Leganza because they seem to be the closet to a true mid-size car. The employee again, explained that all "mid-size" cars were the same size on the inside. I disagreed and again requested a Leganza. Finally, he changed the car and I was on my way back out into the parking lot. When I got in the Leganza, it was bigger then the Corolla and I didn't feel like I was sitting on top of my passenger. When I was leaving the parking lot, I noticed that one of the tires on the Leganza was low on air. I asked the employee at the checkpoint when you leave Alamo, how I could get air in my tire. He directed me to go in the Rental car return area and drive to the gas pumps where there would be an attendent. I did as I was told and I saw the attendent. I told him that I needed air in one of the tires and he directed me to the air pump. I drove over thinking he was following me. What was I thinking... I sat there for a few minutes and then realized that I was going to have to put air in my own tire if I wanted it. By this point I was so frustrated that I just put air in the tire and left. The Leganza was not a bad car, it served its purpose.

But please think before you choose to rent from Alamo. I will NEVER again rent a car from them. I would rather pay more money somewhere else to actually get some type of customer service.

Poohbear2398
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July 1999
July 2000
July 2001
New Years 2002
April 2002
June 2002.... Only 32 days left.....

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I would write to Alamo and express your chagrin at their new policy stating the fact that their website show mid to be grand am or similar and will hold 5 people. Also, they have no smoking cars, did you request one? If not, you get assigned whatever comes up on their screen.
Sorry you experienced this aggrevation, I have had nothing but positive experiences with Alamo. And....would rent from them again in a minute.

 

[nuthut]

I would say no to Alomo also, When the airline put me on a 6 am flight I returned my car the evening before I was scheduled to they change my rate for a full size car from $130 a week to $499 a week. The two ladies at the dest were rude and would not fix the rate on my rental. There is no customer servie at Alamo in Orlando... I had Discover card remove the rental from my statement. Never again ALAMO. Besides the location in Orlando is so poor.

 

[sgtdisney]

Oh I see Alamo is still up to their wonderful old tricks. This very VERY same thing happened to me many years back. I had 4 adults and reserved a 4 door mid size car which they said would be a Corsica or Grand Am. When I got to the Airport, after waiting in line for literally 1 1/2 hours, I was given the choice of a 2 door Cavalier, period. Now, I can tell you a Cavalier is not midsize. I explained my dilema to the clerk and was told I had 2 choices, take the Cavalier or pay for an upgrade. Now, normally I would have told them what to do, but, I was already late for a rehearsal dinner (we were going to a wedding). I paid for the upgrade, which was beat up like an old used car, but that is another story. I wrote, and wrote and complained to Alamo when I got back and guess what they did for me....

Nothing!

They said I needed to take care of that at the time of rental. That said, I will NEVER, EVER rent from Alamo again, personally. No matter what savings. Frankly it doesn't surprise me that they haven't changed. They used that same reclassifying excuse on me.

 

[nuthut]

Say no to Alamo. Anyone but Alamo.

 

[grover]

I have to agree- We will never ever use Alamo again! Customer Service is non-existent. We had problems with the payment for our rental car with them, I had rented it thru a airmiles program- no cost to us, they said they didn't have the info and would not accept my paperwork/confirmation letter from the airmiles program. They wouldn't look into it, and were basically rude and unhelpful. Had to stand outside on the payphone and contact the airmiles program myself, they did fax Alamo and then it was fine- fo figure. We were within minutes of missing our flight home. I emailed them and what did I get-- not even a response! So they will never get me as a customer again. I had no problem with the car though-it was great!
Grover in Winnipeg

 

[sammi]

Three years ago we used Alamo and would never, never rent from them again.

We were told (after waiting for what seemed like day in line!) the coupon for an upgrade was ok'd when our TA booked our car rental but when we got to the desk they said they didn't have any intermediates available and to make a long story short (there were lots and lots of intermediates as it was a slow time when we went) we ended up having to upgrade and pay a heck of a lot more as we had family that were flying in the next day and we were needing only the one car! I was furious having been up since 2am for our flight and then to be faced with this! never again!

 

[seashoreCM]

When you write a letter of complaint after you get back home, name a specific number of dollars of compensation or refund you would like.

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

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4/85 (Kon-Tiki* on 192)
'80s Disneyland once or twice
7/94 POR
9/97 ASMu
11/98 ASMu
12/98 (Knights Inn on 192)
9/99 ASMo
12/00 ASSp
9/01 ASSp
11/01 ASSp
*no longer exists

Get on The Dis forums faster! Bookmark www.disboards.com instead of wdwinfo.com

 

[Poohbear2398]

bumping....

poohbear2398

 

[Miss Jasmine]

In case you all didn't know, Alamo's parent company (which is also National's parent company), ANC Corporation, is in Chapter 11 right now. So I am sure that is adding to the problems.

 

[madcoco]

We use to use Alamo quite a bit for one way drives between MCO and Melbourne vice/ versa. It was easier to rent a car then drive my own over and pay for parking.The customer service progressively got worse and got sick of the "pressure timeshare type pitch" in reguards to insurance coverages. As the other poster said" they are back to their own tricks".Will not rent from them again as well.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

I have never had many problems with Alamo and when I did, they took care of it immediately.
I booked for my friends recently for a full size and they ended up with a Camry and were very happy. It was a totally hassle free experience for them.
I have always ended up with the proper car for the class or an upgrade to the next size (without charge).
The fact that the parent company is in Chapter 11 really has no bearing on anything, it is business as usual at both National and Alamo.
It is unfortunate that people have bad experiences, but, that happens everywhere, even with
the other "big" guys. I personally will never use Hertz primarily because of their stupid rules about ressies. IE: make one 9 months out, they say it is good, give you a confirmation number, you get there and they have "forgotten" to tell you you have to reconfirm 90 days out. Why give you a confirmation if you have to reconfirm. Not a lot of sense there.
I have yet to be "hard sold" on insurance. I tell them no. Easy, I tell them once, they persist and I send a look that would wither anyone. They stop. Might be that I am a Quicksilver member and my preferences are stored. But, who knows.
They have treated me well and I have no complaints. However, I am not that loyal, if I find a rate that is less with National, Budget, Dollar or Avis, I will go with them.
Just expressing an opposing view.

 

[Esmerelda]

I have rented from at least 5 of the other major car rental places over the last 10 years numerouse times (Avis, National, Budget, Hertz, Enterprise) ...sadly enough...the only one we ever had a problem with was Alamo.

Our experience was 4 years ago in Orlando...and then we tried them again in Chicago (even worse) and I would never recommend them to anyone. Their customer service is just simply....

non existent....


E..

 

[ragamuffin]

I once requested a mid-size SUV (Mountaineer, Grand Cherokee, etc)- when I got there all they had was the smaller SUVs, but the lady said that was all they had at this location even though when I booked it online I was given that option.

So I hiked over to Hertz and was given spectacular service and a vehicle of my choosing...

I've also had very good service from Dollar - meaning that they actually give you the type of car you asked for.

 

[Miss Jasmine]

The fact that the parent company is in Chapter 11 really has no bearing on anything, it is business as usual at both National and Alamo.

Actually it is not. In some places where National and Alamo have had seperate businesses, they are now joining forces at the same counter. They had to go through the court system to do this, as they were being sued by the other rental agencies. So I think we are seeing a drastic change in both Alamo and National at this time, as they go though reorganization. What we may see is both companies forming one. Thus the reclassification of Alamo cars at this time.

 

[travelbug]

I have rented many, many cars from most of the major rental companies. Unfortunately, my one and only bad experience was with Alamo at the Ft. Myers airport. I had booked a car for 9 days, but knew that my plans could change and that I may be returning the car after only 7 days. When I booked the car, I made this known and asked if there would be any penalty or charge for returning a car early. I also asked again when I actually picked up the car. At both times, I was told something like, "Oh, of course not. You're only charged for however many days you actually have the car. People's plans change all the time. We don't penalize people for bringing a car back early."

Well, you guessed it. When I brought the car back after 7 days instead of 9, they wanted to charge me for the remaining 2 days PLUS $100 PENALTY. I couldn't believe it. I asked the customer service girl to show me that policy in the lease agreement. She couldn't find anything, so I asked to see the manager. The manager was incredibly rude and said "That is our policy, whether it's in writing or not." I had a plane to catch, and she was saying things like "Well, if you don't sign off on the charges, we DO have your credit card number, you know." I finally signed for the charges, but got her name and told her I'd be contacting the company.

So I did. It took some doing, but I was refunded everything I was owed. I also lodged a formal complaint against that manager, and received a phone call back from the regional supervisor. He assured me that the manager would have a letter of reprimand put in her file. Of course I have no way of knowing if that actually happened.

Sorry for the long story, but that's my reason for ruling out Alamo no matter what price they are offering.

 

[lookingforward]

Just a personal experience...I rented from Alamo recently in West Palm Beach and while the counter people were really quite pleasant the cars that they try to pass off are MISERABLE! I was talked into an upgrade from an economy car to a mid size and was given a Lancer which was beat up, dirty and OLD. I asked for another car and the manager was very nice about it. However, the new car, a Mitsubishi (I forget the name but it was just a little bigger) was horribly dirty and smelled like smoke. (Yes, I had requested a non smoking). They told me to drive to the car cleaning area and the man there did a quick wipe down of the coffee that was spilled all over the car, but it still smelled and was sticky. At that point I just wanted to get where I was going and left and spent an hour cleaning it myself the next day. I would not rent from Alamo again.

The manager did tell me that since they were in a bankruptcy many of their rules and policies were changed by the trustees, etc. The manager at West Palm was really quite nice.

 

[poohbear2]

ANOTHER THUMBS DOWN FOR ALAMO.

The one year I let my brother-in-law make car arrangements and he went with Alamo because it was" cheaper". Besides the car being not what I expected, the service was LOUSY. Who wants to go back in a two hour line to complain?

The worst lines my whole vacation weren't at Disney, they were at Alamo.
National or Dollar or Budget the next time.

 

[tax58]

We are not Alamo fans at my house. The only trip that we ever told a travel agent to get us her best deal landed us at Alamo. Very very slow long lines with very rude employees. My wife and two small children waited about an hour in the July heat for me to wait in line. The girl at the desk spent 5 minutes trying to get me to upgrade the car to only find out they were out of my size and gave me the upgrade anyway. This was the most no magical part of a good trip.