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#121,034
#121,034
I'll never rent from Alamo again.:mad:

This is not about this specific Alamo location, as the young woman at the desk when I dropped my rental off (rented from another location) was very nice and apologetic. This is more about Alamo corporate, their customer service, and their Roadside (Non)Assistance.

I, along with my two daughters (ages 15 and 11) along with one of their friends (age 16) had to rent a car to drive home from Orlando, FL to Asheville, NC this past Monday after our flight got cancelled. At approximately 9:30 pm, my left rear tire blew out on I-95 about 2 miles south of Richmond Hill, GA. I was able to get to the shoulder of the interstate, but the tire was shredded, and I could not limp the vehicle on up the road to the next exit. Since we were off the road, instead of calling 911 or 511, I called Alamo 24 HR Roadside Assistance. This was my first mistake. We sat on the shoulder of the interstate for 3 hours while Alamo continued to "try to get someone out to help" me. You may be wondering why I didn't just change out to the spare tire myself and get on up the road to another Alamo rental location at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport less than 25 miles away, but that would be because all of the tools necessary to change the tire were not present in the vehicle. A Bryan County Sheriff's Office deputy was the only person that stopped to check on us. The second time he stopped, right around midnight, I asked him if he would mind taking the girls up to the next exit to a hotel that I had booked online, and he was glad to help. I was going to stay with the rental since Alamo was "trying to get someone out to help" me. The officer returned around 12:30, and of course, I am still sitting on the side of the road with no ETA on help. He said that he could not just leave me there as it was unsafe. I asked Alamo what I should do with the car, keys, lock the doors, etc. I received no guidance other than to just leave the car there and she would arrange a tow, so I locked it up, took the keys with me, and I went on to the hotel and got some sleep. I was also told that she would be sending me a link to an Uber that would be arranged to take me to the next Alamo branch where I could get another vehicle. At 7:30, there had been no further communication from Alamo, so I initiated another conversation. Soon, I get a text reply that stated, "Express Towing has been assigned to your service request and will be there in 45 minutes." (Mind you, I'm not at the vehicle, and I've also explained to them that the car is locked, and I have the keys. I was only told to turn in the keys at the next Alamo location.) Express Towing calls me directly to get a more exact location of the vehicle, but then also asks me "Where am I towing you to?" How am I supposed to know that info??? After more discussion, he also tells me that he's not sure what he or the shop would be able to do with the vehicle since it was locked and I had the keys, and he also would hate to essentially drag the vehicle onto his rollback, when he could swap out the tire right there (he had a tool to get the lug nut covers off, which I didn't have said tool) but he couldn't get to the tire because the vehicle was locked and I had the keys. At this same time, Alamo alerts me that an Uber has been scheduled to take me to the next Alamo location. I'm hoping instead that I can beg the Uber driver to just drop me off on the side of the interstate with my rental car while Express Towing is also there so I can just get the tire swapped and get on up the road to the next Alamo....with myself, the girls, and the rental car.

About this same time, I get a call directly from the Alamo location that the Uber is supposed to be taking me to so I can swap rentals. This lady tells me that she cannot swap me out at her location, that it has to be done at an airport location. About that same time, my first Uber cancels. I call Alamo Roadside Assistance to tell them that my Uber had to cancel, but that they are also sending me to an Alamo location that has called me directly to say that they cannot help me. Roadside Assistance arranges me another Uber.....to the same location as the first one was going to take me. Meanwhile, Express Towing has waited for as long as he could at the vehicle and has now left to take care of other calls. I cannot seem to make Alamo Roadside Assistance understand any of the situation I'm in, nor that they're trying to get me somewhere that can't help me, nor has anything been done to get their vehicle off of the side of the interstate. At this point, I am BEYOND frustrated with Alamo, and I tell them to just forget about trying to “help” me and I will take care of it myself, so I walk 2.5 miles back up the side of I-95 to the car and change the tire myself, thanks to Express Towing for at least removing the lug nut covers for me. I swap the tires out, head back to the hotel, pick up the girls, and we head off for Alamo at the Savannah Hilton Head Airport. I get there, and of course, not only were they not expecting me, but they also had not reserved me a vehicle to exchange for and did not have any other midsize SUVs to offer me. “Fine, I’ll take something larger, and I’m not paying for the upgrade” I say. They did not have anything larger to offer me, only offered a Toyota Corolla, which is not going to carry four people and four pieces of luggage home to NC. But they did offer me an alternative option. I could take my current vehicle to a tire shop and have the tire replaced at no cost to me! What a deal! I just have to do ALL the leg work!! So, I go to the tire shop they gave me the address for, and of course, the manager there does not know anything about billing Alamo directly for a tire replacement, but after she makes a few calls, she got everything sorted out and can replace the tire, but I will have to wait 1.5 hours or so. Given how much trouble I’ve had so far, I can handle only a 1.5 hour wait. Tire gets replaced, we get back on the road, and I call Alamo to voice my displeasure with my experience and that I will need to speak to someone in customer service. They understand and say that someone will call me. Before that phone call happens, I get a warning light on the dashboard. “Check Oil Level” it says, so I have to stop and buy a quart of oil and put it in the engine.
Customer service calls me, and he seems like a nice guy. I give him the entire story, and he offers to knock $100 the price of my rental. I told him for everything I’d had to deal with…$100 credit was not going to be sufficient. He asks what I think would be appropriate compensation. I said they should credit me for the entire rental. He says, “Ooohh. I’ll have to talk to the manager about that amount.” Fine. Whatever. He calls me back a while later, says the best they can do is 75% off. “Fine. I guess I’ll take it….but this isn’t over.”

And that brings me to here. I’m going to post this on every forum, website, search engine, local bulletin board, etc. that I can find. For everything I had to deal with, they owe me much more than just 75% off my rental.
 
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#121,036
#121,036
Tom Brady played an entire year with a torn MCL at 43 and won a Super Bowl.

Greatest team athlete ever
 
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#121,043
#121,043
Regulator said:
I'll never rent from Alamo again.:mad:

This is not about this specific Alamo location, as the young woman at the desk when I dropped my rental off (rented from another location) was very nice and apologetic. This is more about Alamo corporate, their customer service, and their Roadside (Non)Assistance.

I, along with my two daughters (ages 15 and 11) along with one of their friends (age 16) had to rent a car to drive home from Orlando, FL to Asheville, NC this past Monday after our flight got cancelled. At approximately 9:30 pm, my left rear tire blew out on I-95 about 2 miles south of Richmond Hill, GA. I was able to get to the shoulder of the interstate, but the tire was shredded, and I could not limp the vehicle on up the road to the next exit. Since we were off the road, instead of calling 911 or 511, I called Alamo 24 HR Roadside Assistance. This was my first mistake. We sat on the shoulder of the interstate for 3 hours while Alamo continued to "try to get someone out to help" me. You may be wondering why I didn't just change out to the spare tire myself and get on up the road to another Alamo rental location at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport less than 25 miles away, but that would be because all of the tools necessary to change the tire were not present in the vehicle. A Bryan County Sheriff's Office deputy was the only person that stopped to check on us. The second time he stopped, right around midnight, I asked him if he would mind taking the girls up to the next exit to a hotel that I had booked online, and he was glad to help. I was going to stay with the rental since Alamo was "trying to get someone out to help" me. The officer returned around 12:30, and of course, I am still sitting on the side of the road with no ETA on help. He said that he could not just leave me there as it was unsafe. I asked Alamo what I should do with the car, keys, lock the doors, etc. I received no guidance other than to just leave the car there and she would arrange a tow, so I locked it up, took the keys with me, and I went on to the hotel and got some sleep. I was also told that she would be sending me a link to an Uber that would be arranged to take me to the next Alamo branch where I could get another vehicle. At 7:30, there had been no further communication from Alamo, so I initiated another conversation. Soon, I get a text reply that stated, "Express Towing has been assigned to your service request and will be there in 45 minutes." (Mind you, I'm not at the vehicle, and I've also explained to them that the car is locked, and I have the keys. I was only told to turn in the keys at the next Alamo location.) Express Towing calls me directly to get a more exact location of the vehicle, but then also asks me "Where am I towing you to?" How am I supposed to know that info??? After more discussion, he also tells me that he's not sure what he or the shop would be able to do with the vehicle since it was locked and I had the keys, and he also would hate to essentially drag the vehicle onto his rollback, when he could swap out the tire right there (he had a tool to get the lug nut covers off, which I didn't have said tool) but he couldn't get to the tire because the vehicle was locked and I had the keys. At this same time, Alamo alerts me that an Uber has been scheduled to take me to the next Alamo location. I'm hoping instead that I can beg the Uber driver to just drop me off on the side of the interstate with my rental car while Express Towing is also there so I can just get the tire swapped and get on up the road to the next Alamo....with myself, the girls, and the rental car.

About this same time, I get a call directly from the Alamo location that the Uber is supposed to be taking me to so I can swap rentals. This lady tells me that she cannot swap me out at her location, that it has to be done at an airport location. About that same time, my first Uber cancels. I call Alamo Roadside Assistance to tell them that my Uber had to cancel, but that they are also sending me to an Alamo location that has called me directly to say that they cannot help me. Roadside Assistance arranges me another Uber.....to the same location as the first one was going to take me. Meanwhile, Express Towing has waited for as long as he could at the vehicle and has now left to take care of other calls. I cannot seem to make Alamo Roadside Assistance understand any of the situation I'm in, nor that they're trying to get me somewhere that can't help me, nor has anything been done to get their vehicle off of the side of the interstate. At this point, I am BEYOND frustrated with Alamo, and I tell them to just forget about trying to “help” me and I will take care of it myself, so I walk 2.5 miles back up the side of I-95 to the car and change the tire myself, thanks to Express Towing for at least removing the lug nut covers for me. I swap the tires out, head back to the hotel, pick up the girls, and we head off for Alamo at the Savannah Hilton Head Airport. I get there, and of course, not only were they not expecting me, but they also had not reserved me a vehicle to exchange for and did not have any other midsize SUVs to offer me. “Fine, I’ll take something larger, and I’m not paying for the upgrade” I say. They did not have anything larger to offer me, only offered a Toyota Corolla, which is not going to carry four people and four pieces of luggage home to NC. But they did offer me an alternative option. I could take my current vehicle to a tire shop and have the tire replaced at no cost to me! What a deal! I just have to do ALL the leg work!! So, I go to the tire shop they gave me the address for, and of course, the manager there does not know anything about billing Alamo directly for a tire replacement, but after she makes a few calls, she got everything sorted out and can replace the tire, but I will have to wait 1.5 hours or so. Given how much trouble I’ve had so far, I can handle only a 1.5 hour wait. Tire gets replaced, we get back on the road, and I call Alamo to voice my displeasure with my experience and that I will need to speak to someone in customer service. They understand and say that someone will call me. Before that phone call happens, I get a warning light on the dashboard. “Check Oil Level” it says, so I have to stop and buy a quart of oil and put it in the engine.
Customer service calls me, and he seems like a nice guy. I give him the entire story, and he offers to knock $100 the price of my rental. I told him for everything I’d had to deal with…$100 credit was not going to be sufficient. He asks what I think would be appropriate compensation. I said they should credit me for the entire rental. He says, “Ooohh. I’ll have to talk to the manager about that amount.” Fine. Whatever. He calls me back a while later, says the best they can do is 75% off. “Fine. I guess I’ll take it….but this isn’t over.”

And that brings me to here. I’m going to post this on every forum, website, search engine, local bulletin board, etc. that I can find. For everything I had to deal with, they owe me much more than just 75% off my rental.
Click to expand...
Dang man. That’s awful
 
#121,044
#121,044
Regulator said:
I'll never rent from Alamo again.:mad:

This is not about this specific Alamo location, as the young woman at the desk when I dropped my rental off (rented from another location) was very nice and apologetic. This is more about Alamo corporate, their customer service, and their Roadside (Non)Assistance.

I, along with my two daughters (ages 15 and 11) along with one of their friends (age 16) had to rent a car to drive home from Orlando, FL to Asheville, NC this past Monday after our flight got cancelled. At approximately 9:30 pm, my left rear tire blew out on I-95 about 2 miles south of Richmond Hill, GA. I was able to get to the shoulder of the interstate, but the tire was shredded, and I could not limp the vehicle on up the road to the next exit. Since we were off the road, instead of calling 911 or 511, I called Alamo 24 HR Roadside Assistance. This was my first mistake. We sat on the shoulder of the interstate for 3 hours while Alamo continued to "try to get someone out to help" me. You may be wondering why I didn't just change out to the spare tire myself and get on up the road to another Alamo rental location at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport less than 25 miles away, but that would be because all of the tools necessary to change the tire were not present in the vehicle. A Bryan County Sheriff's Office deputy was the only person that stopped to check on us. The second time he stopped, right around midnight, I asked him if he would mind taking the girls up to the next exit to a hotel that I had booked online, and he was glad to help. I was going to stay with the rental since Alamo was "trying to get someone out to help" me. The officer returned around 12:30, and of course, I am still sitting on the side of the road with no ETA on help. He said that he could not just leave me there as it was unsafe. I asked Alamo what I should do with the car, keys, lock the doors, etc. I received no guidance other than to just leave the car there and she would arrange a tow, so I locked it up, took the keys with me, and I went on to the hotel and got some sleep. I was also told that she would be sending me a link to an Uber that would be arranged to take me to the next Alamo branch where I could get another vehicle. At 7:30, there had been no further communication from Alamo, so I initiated another conversation. Soon, I get a text reply that stated, "Express Towing has been assigned to your service request and will be there in 45 minutes." (Mind you, I'm not at the vehicle, and I've also explained to them that the car is locked, and I have the keys. I was only told to turn in the keys at the next Alamo location.) Express Towing calls me directly to get a more exact location of the vehicle, but then also asks me "Where am I towing you to?" How am I supposed to know that info??? After more discussion, he also tells me that he's not sure what he or the shop would be able to do with the vehicle since it was locked and I had the keys, and he also would hate to essentially drag the vehicle onto his rollback, when he could swap out the tire right there (he had a tool to get the lug nut covers off, which I didn't have said tool) but he couldn't get to the tire because the vehicle was locked and I had the keys. At this same time, Alamo alerts me that an Uber has been scheduled to take me to the next Alamo location. I'm hoping instead that I can beg the Uber driver to just drop me off on the side of the interstate with my rental car while Express Towing is also there so I can just get the tire swapped and get on up the road to the next Alamo....with myself, the girls, and the rental car.

About this same time, I get a call directly from the Alamo location that the Uber is supposed to be taking me to so I can swap rentals. This lady tells me that she cannot swap me out at her location, that it has to be done at an airport location. About that same time, my first Uber cancels. I call Alamo Roadside Assistance to tell them that my Uber had to cancel, but that they are also sending me to an Alamo location that has called me directly to say that they cannot help me. Roadside Assistance arranges me another Uber.....to the same location as the first one was going to take me. Meanwhile, Express Towing has waited for as long as he could at the vehicle and has now left to take care of other calls. I cannot seem to make Alamo Roadside Assistance understand any of the situation I'm in, nor that they're trying to get me somewhere that can't help me, nor has anything been done to get their vehicle off of the side of the interstate. At this point, I am BEYOND frustrated with Alamo, and I tell them to just forget about trying to “help” me and I will take care of it myself, so I walk 2.5 miles back up the side of I-95 to the car and change the tire myself, thanks to Express Towing for at least removing the lug nut covers for me. I swap the tires out, head back to the hotel, pick up the girls, and we head off for Alamo at the Savannah Hilton Head Airport. I get there, and of course, not only were they not expecting me, but they also had not reserved me a vehicle to exchange for and did not have any other midsize SUVs to offer me. “Fine, I’ll take something larger, and I’m not paying for the upgrade” I say. They did not have anything larger to offer me, only offered a Toyota Corolla, which is not going to carry four people and four pieces of luggage home to NC. But they did offer me an alternative option. I could take my current vehicle to a tire shop and have the tire replaced at no cost to me! What a deal! I just have to do ALL the leg work!! So, I go to the tire shop they gave me the address for, and of course, the manager there does not know anything about billing Alamo directly for a tire replacement, but after she makes a few calls, she got everything sorted out and can replace the tire, but I will have to wait 1.5 hours or so. Given how much trouble I’ve had so far, I can handle only a 1.5 hour wait. Tire gets replaced, we get back on the road, and I call Alamo to voice my displeasure with my experience and that I will need to speak to someone in customer service. They understand and say that someone will call me. Before that phone call happens, I get a warning light on the dashboard. “Check Oil Level” it says, so I have to stop and buy a quart of oil and put it in the engine.
Customer service calls me, and he seems like a nice guy. I give him the entire story, and he offers to knock $100 the price of my rental. I told him for everything I’d had to deal with…$100 credit was not going to be sufficient. He asks what I think would be appropriate compensation. I said they should credit me for the entire rental. He says, “Ooohh. I’ll have to talk to the manager about that amount.” Fine. Whatever. He calls me back a while later, says the best they can do is 75% off. “Fine. I guess I’ll take it….but this isn’t over.”

And that brings me to here. I’m going to post this on every forum, website, search engine, local bulletin board, etc. that I can find. For everything I had to deal with, they owe me much more than just 75% off my rental.
Click to expand...
Holy ****. I can't believe they aren't crediting the full rental for all of that. They really should credit that rental and then offer you a big credit towards a future rental, although I'm sure you don't want to patronize them again.

Also, is getting rentals with low oil common? We had to do the same thing on our trip a few weeks ago. Oil light came on and it took an entire quart of oil.
 
#121,050
#121,050
Regulator said:
I'll never rent from Alamo again.:mad:

This is not about this specific Alamo location, as the young woman at the desk when I dropped my rental off (rented from another location) was very nice and apologetic. This is more about Alamo corporate, their customer service, and their Roadside (Non)Assistance.

I, along with my two daughters (ages 15 and 11) along with one of their friends (age 16) had to rent a car to drive home from Orlando, FL to Asheville, NC this past Monday after our flight got cancelled. At approximately 9:30 pm, my left rear tire blew out on I-95 about 2 miles south of Richmond Hill, GA. I was able to get to the shoulder of the interstate, but the tire was shredded, and I could not limp the vehicle on up the road to the next exit. Since we were off the road, instead of calling 911 or 511, I called Alamo 24 HR Roadside Assistance. This was my first mistake. We sat on the shoulder of the interstate for 3 hours while Alamo continued to "try to get someone out to help" me. You may be wondering why I didn't just change out to the spare tire myself and get on up the road to another Alamo rental location at the Savannah-Hilton Head Airport less than 25 miles away, but that would be because all of the tools necessary to change the tire were not present in the vehicle. A Bryan County Sheriff's Office deputy was the only person that stopped to check on us. The second time he stopped, right around midnight, I asked him if he would mind taking the girls up to the next exit to a hotel that I had booked online, and he was glad to help. I was going to stay with the rental since Alamo was "trying to get someone out to help" me. The officer returned around 12:30, and of course, I am still sitting on the side of the road with no ETA on help. He said that he could not just leave me there as it was unsafe. I asked Alamo what I should do with the car, keys, lock the doors, etc. I received no guidance other than to just leave the car there and she would arrange a tow, so I locked it up, took the keys with me, and I went on to the hotel and got some sleep. I was also told that she would be sending me a link to an Uber that would be arranged to take me to the next Alamo branch where I could get another vehicle. At 7:30, there had been no further communication from Alamo, so I initiated another conversation. Soon, I get a text reply that stated, "Express Towing has been assigned to your service request and will be there in 45 minutes." (Mind you, I'm not at the vehicle, and I've also explained to them that the car is locked, and I have the keys. I was only told to turn in the keys at the next Alamo location.) Express Towing calls me directly to get a more exact location of the vehicle, but then also asks me "Where am I towing you to?" How am I supposed to know that info??? After more discussion, he also tells me that he's not sure what he or the shop would be able to do with the vehicle since it was locked and I had the keys, and he also would hate to essentially drag the vehicle onto his rollback, when he could swap out the tire right there (he had a tool to get the lug nut covers off, which I didn't have said tool) but he couldn't get to the tire because the vehicle was locked and I had the keys. At this same time, Alamo alerts me that an Uber has been scheduled to take me to the next Alamo location. I'm hoping instead that I can beg the Uber driver to just drop me off on the side of the interstate with my rental car while Express Towing is also there so I can just get the tire swapped and get on up the road to the next Alamo....with myself, the girls, and the rental car.

About this same time, I get a call directly from the Alamo location that the Uber is supposed to be taking me to so I can swap rentals. This lady tells me that she cannot swap me out at her location, that it has to be done at an airport location. About that same time, my first Uber cancels. I call Alamo Roadside Assistance to tell them that my Uber had to cancel, but that they are also sending me to an Alamo location that has called me directly to say that they cannot help me. Roadside Assistance arranges me another Uber.....to the same location as the first one was going to take me. Meanwhile, Express Towing has waited for as long as he could at the vehicle and has now left to take care of other calls. I cannot seem to make Alamo Roadside Assistance understand any of the situation I'm in, nor that they're trying to get me somewhere that can't help me, nor has anything been done to get their vehicle off of the side of the interstate. At this point, I am BEYOND frustrated with Alamo, and I tell them to just forget about trying to “help” me and I will take care of it myself, so I walk 2.5 miles back up the side of I-95 to the car and change the tire myself, thanks to Express Towing for at least removing the lug nut covers for me. I swap the tires out, head back to the hotel, pick up the girls, and we head off for Alamo at the Savannah Hilton Head Airport. I get there, and of course, not only were they not expecting me, but they also had not reserved me a vehicle to exchange for and did not have any other midsize SUVs to offer me. “Fine, I’ll take something larger, and I’m not paying for the upgrade” I say. They did not have anything larger to offer me, only offered a Toyota Corolla, which is not going to carry four people and four pieces of luggage home to NC. But they did offer me an alternative option. I could take my current vehicle to a tire shop and have the tire replaced at no cost to me! What a deal! I just have to do ALL the leg work!! So, I go to the tire shop they gave me the address for, and of course, the manager there does not know anything about billing Alamo directly for a tire replacement, but after she makes a few calls, she got everything sorted out and can replace the tire, but I will have to wait 1.5 hours or so. Given how much trouble I’ve had so far, I can handle only a 1.5 hour wait. Tire gets replaced, we get back on the road, and I call Alamo to voice my displeasure with my experience and that I will need to speak to someone in customer service. They understand and say that someone will call me. Before that phone call happens, I get a warning light on the dashboard. “Check Oil Level” it says, so I have to stop and buy a quart of oil and put it in the engine.
Customer service calls me, and he seems like a nice guy. I give him the entire story, and he offers to knock $100 the price of my rental. I told him for everything I’d had to deal with…$100 credit was not going to be sufficient. He asks what I think would be appropriate compensation. I said they should credit me for the entire rental. He says, “Ooohh. I’ll have to talk to the manager about that amount.” Fine. Whatever. He calls me back a while later, says the best they can do is 75% off. “Fine. I guess I’ll take it….but this isn’t over.”

And that brings me to here. I’m going to post this on every forum, website, search engine, local bulletin board, etc. that I can find. For everything I had to deal with, they owe me much more than just 75% off my rental.
Click to expand...
That sucks. When it comes to car rentals I usually stick to Enterprise or Hertz.

I will say U-haul roadside assistance is awesome. We had a blow out on 3 tires on a trailer we rented from U-haul from Alaska to TN. Other than the amount of time it took to get someone to us (we were on the Alaskan HWY so it's understandable), they were very responsive. The one tire we didn't notice until we stopped for the night (they changed it overnight). The 3rd time we asked the guy to just change the 4th tire if he could as well. He did.
 
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