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I have had 2 bad experiences with Alamo regarding damage. The first occurred in W. Palm Beach in the spring of 07 when I rented a car, reported on my way out of the airport that there were scratches, had it the rental agreement initialed by the attendant and proceeded on my way. When I returned to the airport and checked in the car I was accused of causing the prior damage. I complained to the fellow, who spoke very poor English, of the situation to no avail. The billed me later for nearly 700 and I had misplaced the initialed report, (which I later found). It took several letters and phone calls to straighten this matter out. Now they have another claim open against me, which is just as baseless. I reported that an indicator light, 'tire damaged', was on to my insurance company. The next day, in the day light, there was no damage. The light went out and I returned the car.
The case is still opened 2 months later and my insurance company keeps sending me letters referring to a case number. I have a reservation with Alamo that is about to be canceled. Buyer Beware!
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
I am currently having the same experience with Alamo. One month after returning a car to Palm Beach Fl, I was called on the phone and told that there was $600 worth of damage to the the car's rear bumper. I can attest that there was NO DAMAGE when I left it at the Alamo car return. I pulled my bags out of the trunk, I certainly would have noticed any damage. I am particularly paranoid about that.
I rejected their claim and now they have sent me a letter wanting me to send them the information of my insurance agent and Visa coverage. No other information on this letter. No amount, no damage and repair report, no documentation. Very unprofessional.
My insurance agent agrees that it is bogus. I am going to turn this over to the corporations to battle it out together. Its a scam for more money in their coffers and we need to be very exacting about all documentation with these car rental companies because they are definately not our friends.
i rented a car with Alamo in Denver at DIA on 4/22/08. i did the walk around and saw no damage, but obviously really didn't look at the windshield. but from inside there was no damage to the windshield. drove car 65 miles to destination and then was parked for 2 days. drove car on 4/25/08 90 miles to another destination, but when stopped for gas at about 45miles, got back in car, there was a big crack starting from the bottom of the windshield by the hood up to the windshield wiper. I know nothing hit the windshield when I was driving it and from where the crack had started, if it was a little ding, you could not see it inside or out because the windshield was dark right there and plus it was way under the windshield wiper. so of course i get the resultant damage if something did hit the windshield when the previous driver had it. i reported it to Alamo on 4/27/08 and then bring it back to Alamo and tell them on 4/28/08 when I left Denver to go back home to Vegas. I reported it to my insurance co. also. Haven't heard anything until today, 5/20/08, when someone from Alamo Recovery Damage dept. calls me and demands payment of me for the windshield. It's $163 but i explained to him the situation and also how i thought he was very unprofessional to just be calling me demanding payment when i haven't even heard from Alamo what the results of the investigation was first. i would have appreciated that. this guy from the Recover Damage dept. sounded like a collection agent..and I told him that too. Told him how I didn't appreciate this call and how he was very unprofessional and said i'm calling my insurance co. and you'll hear back or you won't, good-bye. i called my insurance co and waiting to hear back on what to do. i don't want to pay for this damage because it's really undeterminable how it was caused and who had the car when it was caused. of course they said they had to look at past damage history on the car, but if this crack was so small to begin with and you start driving and especially in CO with all the bumps and pot holes, you're gonna get a crack like I had. but nothing happened when i had the car to cause it. if a rock would have hit while i was driving i would pay for the damage...but the crack just appeared out of nowhere and i was like...what the ****? From reading all these other complaints, I picked the wrong car rental company. they sound like a scam. can't trust them!
I had similar experienc in TX. I just found out Alamo is trying to charge me close to $1, 200 for damage to car I rented in September. I have been in an Alamo rental car since Aug 2. The car I rented had a chip in the windshield, large dent/stratches, and a license plate falling off I kept having to fix. However, I had been driving a car with low MPG and requested an exchange for a more fuel efficient car and I was happy to get the car. I just assumed the condition of the vehicle was known. This was a very small Alamo location. I had the car for a while and do not believe any damage occurred while I had the car. I find it even more suspicious that they didn't mention any damage when I turned the car in. How can they wait days/weeks later to make a damage accusation. How do I know who has had the car since then. In fact, when I was exchanging a car at the same Alamo location, I observed a worker pulling the floor mats out of the front of a returned car and beating them on the side of the car to knock the dust/dirt out. I mean beating the mat against the car HARD. I wonder who got charged from scratches?
I rented a car with Alamo from Dallas/Fort Worth Airport in July of 2008. I had major family illnesses and serious problems back home in Louisiana. I explained all of this by email to Alamo and NOBODY gave ANY regards to my emails. I was under the impression that charges were made to my credit card as I explained for them to do as well they should contact me if ANY of this was a problem..well..of course, no one did..I remained with the car until March of 2009. Keep in mind all the while through the months contacting Alamo about what was going on, they have my credit card info., phone numbers and no one contacted me. I was pulled over by a Texas Police officer and they told me that the car was reported as stolen! I WAS TERRIFIED!
However the officer told me that because I was so cooperative she would let me go (after reading me my rights) and that Alamo would be in contact with me and that I should just explain to Alamo everything I explained to her.. Well, needless to say, Alamo NEVER CONTACTED ME... however a DETECTIVE WITH THE DALLAS FORTH WORTH AIRPORT POLICE DEPARTMENT CALLED ME AND TOLD ME THERE WAS A WARRANT FOR MY ARREST AND THAT I SHOULD TURN MYSELF IN BECAUSE MY BOND WAS ALREADY SET AT $20, 000.00.
I did contact a lot of different bondsman and no one could find a warrant on me in any of the counties in the state of Texas. One bondsman told me that there was no way possible I could have a bond already set and I've never been arrested.. this is where I am at today with this matter..any suggestions? P.O. Box 301185, Arlington, TX 76007 Thanks...
I feel the same as the previous complainants. We rented in November 2011 from the Orlando/Disney agency. The car was filthy inside and out as well as too small for present day highway driving in an area that is unknown. We were aware to take COMPLETE photos of this little "hooptie" before driving off. We felt like Fred Flintstone and that with each attempt to brake we should put our feet out of the car. We even had to put covers on the seats for fear of something jumping out on us. Not only was the inside a disaster but they took the liberty of removing the standard spare in the trunk and replacing it with a "donut" - which caused the wheel cover to sag and we thought that our luggage (2 pieces) would fall through and cause damage that they would then try and blame on us. I mean, REALLY, who rents out cars in this day that do not have automatic locks? It has been so long since KIA made this model I don't think that a Used Car Lot has any like this - 2nd or 3rd hand sales! The dinky little office was a mess, the pickup service was a joke - one couple had to almost BEG to get a ride to PICK UP A CAR - yes...they are paying customers...REMEMBER! My husband decided to return the car at the end of the disastrous rental period alone for fear that I would unleash my "displeasure" on the poor unsuspecting agent and cause an International incident. On top of everything else when they called as a follow up "survey" call they never returned the initial contact call to obtain the details! This is the first, last, and final rental that they will get out of us! During our 10 day vacation at various spots we used 3 different agencies - Hertz and Enterprise we FANTASTIC! Hertz even had the same make (VW) of car that we own- it was also BRAND NEW! - ONLY 944 MILES ON IT WHEN WE PICKED IT UP - so having a choice in our rental was exceptional! Enterprise provided a REALLY nice, clean car with many features that we were unaware were available in an American maker. NOTE TO ALAMO...GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER - I HAVE JUST BEGUN MY RAMPAGE!
March 6, 2018...two days ago I received a letter from Alamo insisting I had damage on the 2017 Expedition we had rented in Orlando for 5 days. No mention as to where or extent of damage, just wanting my insurance and to call their claim number. When we picked up the car it was an upgrade from a mid size, that they were out of, and offered an upgrade to an SUV. It was after 11 PM and the man that showed us to the end of the SUV row said, "just pick one, the keys are in it. We, (4 of us), jumped in the SUV and headed out to our condo. I was the only driver of this vehicle and the next morning commented on the fact that no forms for previous damage or a walk around was offered. I looked at the SUV in the morning and found a large dent, left side behind the rear door, as well as a few scratches on the tail gate and a missing radio button. The front bumper had a slight "bend" back but nothing major. When ever I parked the SUV I would always look it over to see if there was any "dings" from other car doors or any thing else out of the norm. Returning the SUV was a real mess, with at least 6 other vehicles were lined up and people getting their belongings out of vehicles and car attendees trying to move cars. The woman who was attending the SUV we were returning waited until we had our stuff, I looked at her expecting to sign something, she looked at us and said, "your good to go" and we left. So, I called the Damage number and talked to Brenton?, answered his questions and explained I returned the SUV in the same condition as we received it. He stated that it probably is previous undocumented damage, but there will be an investigation and they would get back with me. I asked him exactly what was the damage they found and he said the left front bumper and fender where the transition to the wheel arch was crumpled with a hole in the fender. I keep reading these documented letters that repeat this Scam and wonder why its still happening. I did not damage that vehicle but from the looks of it will have to waste my time fighting to prove I didn't damage it. Is there any pending law suits directly related to this "scam"? Put my name on that list! I wish I had known, I would have taken pictures and made sure there was no question.