National Car Rental/Alamo Rent A Car

Review: do not know who to go to other that you.

As evidenced by the attached I have been trying to unsubscribe and get them to quit sending me emails for months. So far after aprox 6 times no luck and they keep sending.

I tried once to call them and got passed from department to department and basically told they were not sure how to remove me???? After a half hour I gave up.Desired Settlement: Please help. All I want is off their email list and not to get any more. Sincerely:

Business

Response:

There is an unsubscribe button to push to get off of any mailing list or website advertising. Go to the website and click on unsubscribe.

Business

Response:

Dear Mr. [redacted],

We received the Revdex.com complaint below and I would like to help you resolve this situation. The phone number provided is not in service but the fax number is working.

Please contact me at your earliest convenience. Best regards,[redacted] Administrative Manager

###-###-#### direct

###-###-#### cell

###-###-#### fax[redacted]> [redacted]

USA

I set up a reservation online, drove for 45 minutes to get there, and then was told that they don't take debit cards unless I have flown in or am flying out. I don't know why I would rent a car and then fly out. I am a local and need to have my car repaired which will take about a week. This company is not hood for locals and has bad business practice for locals.

I rented a car from Alamo through a company called [redacted] rental. Their contract is in my opinion very unclear and hides the true cost of renting a car. The contract states all items which are either included or excluded. But in another section, away from the include and excluded items, they wrote D.O.W. fee is approx. 99 USD" As a customer I do not know what D.O.W means. It is not an Alamo issue, but since Alamo works with this company I like to share this with you. In the end the rental experience was not too good, I was unpleasantly surprised to have to pay 99 USD. If you have any influence on the contracts of your partners, I would suggest to not hide cost.

I rented a car through Alamo for 1 day. The Estimated Total Charges were $67.31 for the ONE DAY. When I arrived at the airport to retrieve my rental car, the estimate had gone up to $96.57 because Alamo failed to inform me of a $25 extra fee because of my age (even after I submitted my drivers license info online when booking). When I returned the rental car I was hit with a total of $167.24 I had to pay up before boarding my next flight. For a ONE DAY RENTAL. There were added fees and unintelligible abbreviations with extra dollar signs that I was not made aware of until I arrived back at the airport, in a hurry to catch a flight.

I am completely distraught, as a full time student, that this is the way Alamo chooses to conduct its business. I do not recommend this company to anyone. I will not use this company again. A near 300% increase of the estimated total charges is unacceptable and deceiving, and it's not okay.

Count on Alamo to leave you stranded, broken down and helpless. On our short honeymoon, we rented an Alamo car from Bozeman, Montana Alamo to tour Yellowstone Park. On our way back to Bozeman, we were driving up a highway incline in the middle of nowhere, when the car slowly came to a stop. We were able to pull off the road just in the nick of time. I quickly reached for my phone because the Alamo brochure boasts about its new 24 hour emergency roadside assistance. Of course, because of our remote location there was no cell service. After trouble shooting, we decide to start walking to try to get within cell range. After a walking a mile and finding one particular spot, we could just manage to get the phone to dial Alamo in Bozeman. After explaining to the customer service agent our situation, our location, and the danger of our situation, I quickly explained how I might lose my cell signal at any moment and that they needed to get a tow truck on its way. Instead of having concern for us and the situation we were in, the agent began to question if we had run out of gas or if we had used diesel and so on, implying that we got ourselves into this situation and never once saying they will help and get a tow truck on the way. After repeatedly stressing I could lose my cell connection at any moment, the agent put me on hold for 5 minutes and then again for 10 minutes, which is when I lost my connection. After again finding a cell hot spot, I tried calling the Alamo number for the next 20 minutes, only to get a busy signal.
Since the lackadaisical Alamo agent was unconcerned about our situation and safety, our only hope was for a good Samaritan to pick us up before night set in. Luckily for us, a good Samaritan reluctantly stopped and agreed to give us a lift the 2.5 hours back into Bozeman. I called the agent once we were in cell range, to find out he had never sent a tow truck or anyone else to help us for that matter and he never once apologized for the situation, but instead said that once we dropped the keys off at the office they would send a tow truck to pick up the vehicle. And then to add insult to injury, he proceeded to threaten us with the $600 towing charge if it was found that it was our fault that the car stopped working. Unbelievable! Alamo customer service saying should be, "We have no concern for customer safety and the customer will always be assumed to be at fault, even if they end up stranded on the side of a remote highway.” This took up a day and half of our honeymoon. The next day we spoke with the manager who was useless and uncaring, the equivalent of the company robot. After calling everyday for over a week, leaving messages for the manager and waiting to hear when we would be, at the very least, refunded our rental fee, we finally heard from Alamo that it was a mechanical issue (no fault of ours) and we would be refunded. There was never an apology or gesture by the company for the poor customer service that put us in an unsafe and dangerous situation. Shameful!

I booked a trip to Phoenix through [redacted], and paid them to rent an 'Alamo' rental car for 6 days for $249.

I got to the car counter, and since their ONLY available economy car ONLY has 2 doors I opted for the next size up. They said it would cost more, to which I stupidly agreed. I say stupidly because according to their national site, there is ZERO difference in the weekly price between the two types of cars.

Then I purchased their insurance, which I thought sounded high at $24.99 since I only pay $80/month for full coverage on my own car.

I walked out of there with their bill, which was $43 higher than what I'd already paid [redacted] and assuming that the amount would be subtracted from it only leaving me the difference to pay, as in when I'd rented from other car rental companies.

So then I get my credit card bill and both full charges are on my bill, not the subtracted difference version I had expected, which came to $541 to drive their little [redacted] around Phoenix for 6 days.

Come to find out the insurance was $24.99 PER DAY, and the 'upgrade' cost me $72.

Had I upgraded to a luxury vehicle I might have expected that, but I did not rent a luxury vehicle. It was a very basic [redacted].

Add in various charges and fees, and that makes this company not only deceitful in their billing practices.

When I rented from [redacted] earlier this year, the additional charges for insurance and fees were only $129 and that was for 7 days, and their 'Economy' car that I drove was the same little model of [redacted] that Alamo claims is an 'Intermediate' car that I drove in Phoenix.

[redacted] should dump them immediately because they are most definitely NOT AFFORDABLE, and their quoted base price not based in fact.

I am at this time awaiting a response from the complaint dept at Alamo, but I should not have had this happen at all.

I have been renting cars for business use with National for several years. In particular I have rented from [redacted] location (Alberta) four times over last six months. In general things were OK until my most recent experience. When I returned the car check-in clerk went directly to the passenger side of the car and pointed out scratch on the rim. It definitely felt like he knew that damage was there from before. I was foolish enough not to do detailed inspection of the car at the pickup. When travelling on business one does not always have time to do that. I simply trusted their “detailed” inspection. To my surprise I was provided with the repair bill of for $329. After several phone calls I have quickly realized that they really do not value my business (they sold 3,000 worth of my business for one 300 fraudulent claim…I do not get it). In addition they charged me for 1/8 of the tank although I refueled minutes before returning the car. I even presented the receipt. To be fair, I managed to get that money back after talking to the branch manager.
In any case, they will never see me as a customer again. For all of you out there BE AWARE, they’ll get you if you let your guard down for just a minute.

Review: I rented a car from the Tucson Airport on Friday and changed my plans. (I was in Tucson to attend my brother's funeral. I discovered that his two cats would need a home and elected to drive them back to Livermore.) I returned the car to Livermore on Monday. I had called their customer service number and changed the reservation on Saturday. I was not quoted a drop off fee. I received a bill for $692.74 balance. I spoke with [redacted] at the Tucson location and we agreed a more reasonable bill would be the stated charge on the internet (for renting a car in Tucson and dropping it off in Livermore) or a balance of $214.09. I sent a him a check for that amount -- certified mail, returned receipt. He has not cashed the check. He will not answer my calls or letter. I contacted Enterprise's central customer service address by mail. I have not received any reply. Today I received a third bill from Enterprise threatening legal action. I would like [redacted] to tell me why he refuses to cash my check after agreeing on the price.

Product_Or_Service: Car rental

Account_Number:[redacted]Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Other (requires explanation)

I mostly want to talk to the people at Enterprise. I do not understand why they refuse to communicate with me. I believe, at this point, that communicating in writing would be best -- less subject to misunderstanding.Thank you for your help.

Business

Response:

This has been taken care of. The customer dropped the car in California without permission and her rate was adjusted to a one way rate, her card also declined so she was placed on DNR. The customer and [redacted] came to the agreement listed below and she mailed a check to cover the cost of the rental. The check has been sent to accounting for processing and she has been removed from DNR. [redacted] contacted the customer again this morning to let her know she has been removed from DNR and this has been settled as she asked.

Review: I recently rented a car from National Car Rental. Upon returning the vehicle, the agent asked me if I had noticed a scratch on the rear of the car, or if I had back up into anything. When I told him that I did not notice the scratch, nor did I back up into anything, he responded "No problem. It probably happened before. Have a nice flight." A week later, I received a claims notice from a collection agent representing National Car Rental, pressuring me to complete an insurance claim and threatening me to collect additional funds. The car had over 22,000 mile on it, with no previous claims.Desired Settlement: I would like National Car Rental to immediately stop the collection process against me and send me a letter of apology.

Business

Response:

[redacted]

I received your information from the Revdex.com and I do want to apologize for any and all inconvenience. The claim has been removed and all collection process stopped. Again, I do sincerely apologize for our error. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please contact me as any time.

Thank you

-[redacted]

I will never rent from National Car Rental again. If you go to the desk to rent you can be charged up to twice as much to rent the same car that you can rent from them through their website. I rented the car at the office and needed to extend the contract. When I went to the web to extend the contract I found out the same car, from the same office, for the same time period and the same dates was half what I was paying! I tried to get the web price when I extended my contract for another week but they refused. I returned the car to a different office in the same city and was told that it depended on the outlet...if I had gone to their desk the day I rented I would have gotten the web rate!!!!!! I phoned the national line to complain and they again said it depended on the outlet. What a terrible company policy. I have passed this information on to my friends and family, some of whom rent from them regularly for their jobs and for their business and they have changed vendors. I will continue to pass this information on.

My review has to do with Alamo upgrade pressure tactics. My wife and I used Alamo on a recent two week trip to England. When we got to the rental counter, the clerk would not take no for an answer when we repeatedly declined an upgrade. She told us that the car we had reserved would not be available but she had an upgrade ready now. After 20 minutes of this a finally caved. I'm not an experienced travel and this may be common with all rental car companies, but I will certainly not use National or Alamo again.

I have been extremety badly treated by uneducated young girls at the Alamo counter in Geneva after my wife was subjected to an aggression. I have been lied to regarding a second key which should come from Zurich. It took 8 days, despite a distance of 300 and DHL service available.Will never ever recomend your company,the Director- general f the UN IN GENEVA HAD SIMILAR COMPLAINTS AND WILL MAKE SURE THAT VISITORS WILL AVOID YOUR RENTAL CAR SERVICE. DR. DR. JOHANNES VAN AGGELEN, EX -SENIOR UN STAFFMEMBER

Beware of their location in [redacted] (Panama City). We rented a car from [redacted] with Agent Id [redacted] where we specifically told him we are not getting any insurance as our card covers us. He said yes no problem. He asked to sign the bottom one first showing the decline and then ask us to sign the top saying it is also for the other insurance without letting us read the 2nd one he was asking. Apparently this is a common practice in that location leading you to believe that you are signing the waiver but in fact it is not.
They like to SCAM their customer so pay attention and do not even bother renting with them!

Review: I had an accident in July 2014, [redacted] Insurance paid for the rental, Enterprise is harassing me for $170

In July 2014 I had an accident and the person responsible for the accident had [redacted] Insurance. We were sent to Enterprise, after turning in the rental I was charged for the time the insurance did not cover even though I was reassured it was taken care of. I have no idea where the $170 came from.

We had an accident in our first car from Enterprise and paid the deductible in September. They CHARGED my mastercard for $300 in October, I never challenged the charge because I wanted it over with. They even sent me $150 back for my deductible since I 'Paid it twice". The whole situation has been a mess and I should not be charged, they have taken over $450 from me, and even if the insurance did not cover those couple of extra days it should have been covered since it was under $280. [redacted]Desired Settlement: I don't want any refund, I want this bill canceled. It should have been resolved months ago, Farmers even agreed to pay the remaining days on the account, I have no idea what happened with that. I just want to be left alone, I did everything required of me.

Business

Response:

She was sent an invoice from Enterprise for $171 because [redacted] didn’t pay all the days of her rental. I confirmed with the DRU prior to calling her that her claim was paid in full. I let her know that she paid $150 of the remaining $321.21, but that unless she or [redacted] paid the remaining $171.21, she would continue to be responsible for this. She understood but said she just couldn’t pay it. She also said [redacted] had told her they would cover this and didn’t. I let her know that unless it was paid by someone she would stay on DNR and be sent to collections. I also emailed her my contact info for further questions.

Consumer

Response:

I came to an agreement of a payment plan with the branch manager Nicole B[redacted] they still sent me to collections (and was sent back to them), I paid them off but they still have me on their ban list.This is absolutely ridiculous and pretty poor way to do business. We just recently got in an accident and found out I was still banned. I have all the CC statements showing me holding up my end of the deal with payments. I have attached all payments I could find.

Consumer

Response:

I came to an agreement of a payment plan with the branch manager Nicole B[redacted] they still sent me to collections (and was sent back to them), I paid them off but they still have me on their ban list.This is absolutely ridiculous and pretty poor way to do business. We just recently got in an accident and found out I was still banned. I have all the CC statements showing me holding up my end of the deal with payments. I have attached all payments I could find.

Business

Response:

When this complaint cam* to us it was resolved. Her* is th* answer again as to what w* did. Pleas* close. Sophia F[redacted]Back when this cam* through, I left her a messag* that w* reviewed th* fil* and saw th* majority had been paid. I let her know in th* messag* w* would tak* car* of th* remaining balanc* (less than $20) and remov* th* DNR. I asked her to call m* in th* message, and sh* never did. I sent this sam* summary to [redacted] when I resolved it. I just doubl* checked, and she's no longer showing on DNR.

Business

Response:

When this complaint cam* to us it was resolved. Her* is th* answer again as to what w* did. Pleas* close. Sophia F[redacted]Back when this cam* through, I left her a messag* that w* reviewed th* fil* and saw th* majority had been paid. I let her know in th* messag* w* would tak* car* of th* remaining balanc* (less than $20) and remov* th* DNR. I asked her to call m* in th* message, and sh* never did. I sent this sam* summary to [redacted] when I resolved it. I just doubl* checked, and she's no longer showing on DNR.

Review: Booked rental car 11/16/14was supposed to get Chrysler 200 or similargot to rental counter 11/26/14 and was told the only vehicle available was a Kia Soul which is in no way similar to a Chrysler 200asked for a different vehicle only to be told the Kia was the only vehicle we could get unless we wanted to upgradewe told them we didnt want the Kia and we didnt want to be pressured into upgrading and asked for a refund to our credit card for the $160.91 which had been put on at the time of the reservation. We were told no one knew how to do a refund and the got the manager [redacted] who also didnt know howshe told us to wait 48 hours and we would show in the system as a no show and the charge would come offas of 12/2/14 no refund had been done called [redacted] three times and was told each time she was busy and couldnt come to the phonetried again 12/3/14 and she answered the phoneI asked her to take the charge off the credit card and she wanted me to give her my credit card number over the phone which I wouldnt doI asked her to call Alamo corporate or wherever I had done the online reservation but she said she couldnt. I need this $160.91 taken off my credit card now.

Product_Or_Service: rental car

Account_Number:[redacted]Desired Settlement: DesiredSettlementID: Refund

$160.91 refunded to credit card

Business

Response:

I did speak to this Customer initially, the reservation was prepaid online at [redacted]. I did ask her to give it a couple days to see if the refund would process automatically, I’m not familiar with how the prepay refunds work in the system. If it didn’t come off automatically I could try to contact her CC company to get a refund issued. When I spoke to her again and she stated the amount was still being held, I advised her I would call and try to have the authorization released. I have normal credit card access in Odyssey, however no access to the card number she used to prepay. I advised her of this and advised I would need the phone number and card number in order to call. I also gave her the option of the both of us calling to conference everyone in so we could find out what information was needed to refund the deposit, without her having to give me the credit card number. She stated she did not want to call her credit card company under any circumstances and stated she would not give me the card number either, that she just wanted her money back and we needed to figure out a way to refund it. I’m not sure any other way we could have handled this to get the customer her money back in the timeframe she wanted it. I will contact her again to see if her refund has since been processed in the system and follow up. I was able to reach the customer, she stated she did receive the refund she expected from Alamo. She stated it took about 2 weeks, but she did receive it.

Review: On the morning of 10/12/14, I returned my rental car and exited the building. While riding the shuttle to the airport I realized that I had left my cell phone in the car. I returned back to the rental car center and told the attendant what happened. Since the car was no longer in the area where I returned it, he left to go to the rental car. While waiting 10-12 minutes I asked another attendant if it was possible to contact the previous attendant as I needed to leave to catch my flight, he told me no and pointed in the direction where I could leave my contact information. At this time, I called my spouse to let him know what had happened. He spoke with [redacted] in Lost and Found, who said that he emailed the managers to ask the person who drove the rental car (which had my phone in it) away about my phone (given I was gone for about 25 minutes and the phone had disappeared completely and had been turned off by someone as it went straight to voicemail when called and had a full battery). Someone had turned off the phone because the iPhone tracking was disabled and since the phone has a lock code the only way this could have been done is by turning off the power. [redacted] told me that someone would be calling me on 10/13/14. I never received a call back as promised. I waited until late afternoon, then called and spoke to someone named [redacted], who couldn't have cared less about my lost phone and said once the car was returned then they could look in it again, as it had been rented out hours later. Then I called the customer service line who filed an incident report that was to sent to the branch and regional managers. The following day, 10/14/15 [redacted] called me and left me a voicemail right before 5:00 and gave me her direct line. I returned her call on 10/15/14 leaving a message. However, that voicemail box belonged to a different person, so I am not sure who received the call or heard the message.Desired Settlement: At this point, I am completely blown away by the lack of conduct at this company. First, my phone disappearing from the car, especially when I returned 25 minutes later to get it back. Second, from [redacted] who could have cared less about my lost phone. And lastly, from upper management from not returning my phone call and seemingly taking this matter lightly. At this point, days have passed and I've sadly realized that I will not see my phone again. The first time I rented from this car company was less than six months ago, and I did not have any issues, so I gladly used them again. Now, that I've used them again and had is[redacted]s I will not use them again. While I shouldn't have left my phone in the car, I would still expect to be able to retrieve it when I returned 25 minutes later--I mean that isn't too much to ask is it? And if so, I would expect management to promptly investigate what happened. Since the phone was turned off so quickly and it has not surfaced to be "online" with the security apps I had installed, the person that did this knows what [redacted] is doing, and this is definitely not the first time. I would like management to call me back and compensate me appropriately.

Business

Response:

We never found this pink iPhone. Approval from [redacted], we refunded her rental for $170.09 which is what she asked for in the letterPlease close. [redacted]Executive Assistant

Review: I am responding to letter received on 03/02/2015, regarding damages to a vehicle I rented on02/25/2015. I have not received any details from Alamo pertaining to damage alleged by Alamo.When I first received keys to my rented vehicle in Tucson Arizona, I was not given an opportunity to do an inspection of vehicle with your staff as stated in your letter. I had to find the vehicle on my own and find my way out of your lot. I did notice that vehicle had several rub marks on paint prior to leaving area.When I returned vehicle on 02/28/2015 I was informed by Alamo staff that there was two minor marks on the driver's side windshield, he also said that they were so small they would probably be a "non­ issue". The marks were very low on windshield below the dash and I did not notice them while operating vehicle. I informed your technician that I felt those marks were already there prior to me renting vehicle because Desired Settlement: I was not hit by any rocks while operating vehicle.

I rented a weekly car from Alamo after a trip from overseas. The car looked OK from when I walked around it but after 6 days of the 7 day rental when the car was parked on an incline I noticed damage under the front bumper. When I turned the car in I mentioned this and said it was from previous renter, I know I did not hit anything. The only way for me to have seen this in the rental lot is if I got down on hands and knees which I did not, shouldn't have to. They called me later that day saying I was the one who caused the damage as they ALWAYS inspect their cars which at this location is a lie. So they charged me 750$ for the repairs which my credit card companies insurance is paying for (hopefully). I mentioned to the insurers that I did not do it and they said if it is disputed I will be denied from car rentals in the future. They said don't worry but the point is it was not me who damaged it. Never again Alamo or [redacted]

Worst experience ever with Alamo car rental. The location clerk forgot to give my drivers license back when I rented the car at W 40th St location in Manhattan and my vacation trip completely ruined by that mistake as I was not a comfortable driving car in interstate without drivers license. When I called to check if my driver license was still at the location the clerk had no clue we forgot to give my license back after signing the rental agreement. When I called for refund the manager at the location mentioned its my responsibility to pickup the license. My experience is Alamo was a nightmare and I will never ever recommend this car rental service to anyone.

Review: I recently rented a car from National at the Phoenix airport. The rental number was [redacted] and the invoice number was [redacted]. The car was a single day car rental (June 13th-14th) using a free day. I did not have a chance to fill up the tank of the Ford Fusion I rented, which happens fairly often for me. The tank was showing that I used a third of a tank of gas. According to Ford's website, this model fusion holds 16.5 gallons. Therefore, according to the fuel tank I used about 5 gallons. I was charged for 9 gallons. When I checked out and looked at the receipt, I was shocked to see a $70.71 charge, seeing as it was a free day. When I originally booked the car, the estimate was $10. So I was expecting to see the $10 + roughly $25 for the gas = $35.I have no problem paying the increased fuel price ($5.50/gal) that National charges because it is convenient for those that don't have time to fill up the tank. However, I do have issue with grossly overcharging for the amount of gallons used (almost double).When I asked the attendant that checked me in why the gallons was so high, she said it's based on the miles I put on the car. I put 108 miles on this Ford Fusion. It was 90% highway driving, where the government rates the Fusion at 31 mpg. But for the sake of argument, lets use the EPA combined mileage of 25 mpg for this model. Going 108 miles at 25 mpg equates to 4.32 gallons, or close to the 5 gallons that the fuel gauge was showing.If the charge is based on the miles I put on, National is way over charging for the fuel in my case. I should have been charged for 5 gallons, but was charged for 9. I have already tried to contact National customer service, and they said a person from the Phoenix location will contact me. Even after allowing 3 weeks, this has not happened.It makes me wonder how many unsuspecting consumers this is happening to.Desired Settlement: I request a refund of the 4 gallons of gas I was overcharged for (4 x $5.50 = $22) + all the taxes and fees the overage was subject to:Concession Recovery Fee 11.11 pctVehicle License Surcharge 5 pctStadium Surcharge 3.25 pctTrans Priv Tax 10.30 pctWith all those taxes and fees, the $22 in gas turns in to $28.60. This is the amount of the refund I request.

Business

Response:

[redacted] was issued a refund in the amount of $33.55 on 7/4/13, on the credit card she used for this rental. The attachment includes the invoicing information and the credit card history showing the refund. If there are any more questions or concerns regarding this matter please contact me at ###-###-####.

Thank you!