Somehow and I’m still not quite sure, my Alamo Car Rental for one night in Canada went from an online reservation estimate of $94.17 to an actual billing of $254 (all funds Canadian). Here’s how it went… don’t harass me for the SUV at $70.14, a compact was $68 at other sites and Alamo didn’t offer a lower priced rental. The online reservation estimate was for $94.17 (see below).
On site, I added my girlfriend on as an additional driver and the collision damage waiver since she doesn’t have car insurance. Around this time, Alamo somehow increased their rate for the airport pick up location from $10.42 to $16.10 (no idea why). The taxes also increased. The new total of the on site estimate was now $144.89 per day (see below).
So then I asked whether the in city drop off location (which was set in the initial reservation estimate) had a drop box and how charges would increase if the car was late. We expected to drop off the car 2-3 hours late. The agent told us that the rate would be pro-rated hourly after 24 hours. We went on our merry way.
Anyway, I called Alamo and those folks are nasty. The person I spoke to on the phone at customer service was defiant and unwilling to budge. He finally called the pick up desk at the airport and they called me the next day. The woman who called from the airport desk was even nastier. She offered me a $6 credit. Despite the fact that I told them we were clearly misled about the after hours drop off pro-rated billing, she didn’t budge at all.
I have to say this is nearly the worst customer service experience I’ve ever had. There aren’t low enough grades but Alamo wins an F-. I seem to remember having a bad experience with them the last time I rented from them years ago. So, be warned. Stay away. I’ve had good experiences with Enterprise in the states (though they weren’t available in the international location I was traveling