Alamo Reviews 290

The local staff (at Newcastle Airport) were helpful both at pick-up and drop-off. The car (an Octavia) that I had booked was not available - and indeed that make of car had not been available for a long time, though it was still on the website. The local staff were understanding that their preferred replacement wouldn't work (it had no boot) so with little quibble they gave me a larger vehicle - which was good. However the original pricing was quite deceptive and in order to get the insurance waiver down to £100XS, and then (while at the airport) have explained that there was ANOTHER addition (to get XS insurance on the windows (!!) and roadside assistance) the final cost of getting the car on the road was DOUBLE the headline cost on the website.

KEEP AWAY from ALAMO.. They are thieves.

I’ve rented from Alamo multiple times before and have always returned vehicles in good condition, so I was really disappointed by my latest experience.

I returned a rental on April 6th at Gatwick Airport, and during the inspection, a staff member pointed out a scratch on a plastic section of the car and suggested I was responsible. I strongly dispute this.

I am certain I did not cause the damage. The scratch was isolated and in a spot that makes it unlikely to have occurred while driving—there were no additional marks or signs of impact along the vehicle. It seems far more likely that it happened while the car was parked, possibly by another party.

What’s most frustrating is that I actually have a photo taken just one day after collecting the car, and the scratch is already visible in that image.

Car broke down 1/2 way through our rental. 3 phone calls later to get routed to someone who would help (after attempting to log the request online per their instructions … where they wouldn’t accept out Canadian phone number) and we are instructed to wait for a phone call back or to call again in 30 minutes if we haven’t heard. So that’s lacking. Here we are spending vacation sitting on the side of the M6.

I have booked a car with Alamo for October in Orlando. I paid in full using my credit card..in my name (remember this point it is important for later). My husband is the main driver so I booked the rental in his name.

I have now tried to add "skip the counter " following an email reservation confirmation.

When trying to add my husbands credit card it wants to charge the full rental amount again. Which has already been paid.

Contact Alamo customer service to find out why they want to charge me twice, Only to be told they can't talk to me, to protect my husbands privacy they can only talk with him .. .even though I PAID for the rental. All billing enquiries can only be discussed with the renter.

Thanks DREW, you were a massive help. Clearly the little woman knows nothing...run along now and tell your husband to reach out to us so we can sort this issue out for him.
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My experience with Alamo’s damage process after returning a vehicle at Manchester Airport was extremely disappointing.

A tyre issue was alleged at return. I disputed liability immediately, as it was a minor mark you could hardly see and asked for clear evidence of what they alleged to be a gouge-tyre cut on the tyre and an itemised breakdown before any money was taken. Despite this, £500 was charged.

Only later, once the claim was marked complete, I received paperwork showing the breakdown as admin fees £78 and ‘damage’ £94.45, with a refund of £327.55 processed back to my card (net cost £172.45).

Regardless of the final net amount, the process lacked transparency and felt unfair: funds were taken first, while the meaningful detail arrived later, after repeated correspondence. The responses I received relied heavily on generic policy statements rather than addressing the dispute in a practical, evidence-led way.

Advice to others: take timestamped photos (especially tyres) at pickup and return, keep all emails, and watch your card for deposits/holds converting into charges.

Good enough car, although it was entirely different to the one we wanted and booked! However, we waited ages for the car (at a major French airport) and still have not received the promised compensation 5 months (!!!) after the event.

Wait is far too long in Geneva Airport book with sixt instead more staff less waiting time won’t book again !! !!!’

As many others have said the worst car rental experience of my life. 1 star is TOO generous. DO NOT EVEN CONSIDER renting a car from this company. I arrived tired, with two young kids and a ton of holiday baggage to an unwashed vehicle with a 3/4 full tank of fuel, with human hair, chopsticks and various other rubbish still in the vehicle.

The pickup location(st Pancras) is in a dark multistory car park so impossible to properly inspect the car. Once in the light the cleanliness became apparent and also that the car had existing damage. Of course no one would answer the phone that same day so I returned the car at a different location the following day.

A slight scuff to the bumper which Alamo valued at GBP1900 to repair. I have not received a refund for the remaining days on my rental and am receiving intimidating and threatening letters for the collection of the frankly extortionate repair costs.

I’m now nearly $7000 out of pocket for 24hrs of rental and a tiny bumper scuff that was pre existing. I will never rent from these cowboys (Alamo, enterprise) again and if you’re reading this I suggest you go straight to a competitor.

I hired a car from Chambery airport - an airport overwhelmingly used for ski resorts. On day 3 (when it snowed in the resort) I discovered the car was fitted with summer tyres, rendering the car unusable. Not only was this inconvenient it was also dangerous and would appear from a google search, illegal between Nov and March. The hire company's response - "this is a national fleet, you could have been going anywhere".
In summary - online pricing appears to be to get a customer and not to provide a safe and legal car

Was handed over a car in a dark car park at Gatwick Airport where it was impossible to properly check the vehicle….. Alamo scam you by saying minor scratches on the body and any scuffs on the wheel rims are ok . But cuts and gouges on tyres are chargeable…. When handing over a car in the dark it is impossible to verify the state of the tyres especially for minor scratches. The video content that I took could not identify the existing minor scratches in the dark and there is no way of verifying that the tyres were perfect unless Alamo had visual / picture evidence ahead of the hire. The car was used for a journey to/from London parked on a private driveway so no chance of being kerbed. On vehicle return the existing minor tyre scratches were deemed to be my liability and Alamo took my insurance excess immediately…. Despite my disputing this damage with best available images which were inconclusive for both parties they billed me for the tyre and an admin fee circa £190….. This is a scam and I would recommend avoiding Alamo or its sister company Enterprise….Last time I use them without a doubt . Not a good experience at all.

Terrible experience with Alamo. On arrival at the desk I was told the previous customer had not yet returned the car and that I would have to wait. 1 hour later the previous customer returned. The staff member asked me to wait a further 5 minutes so he could ‘clean and check the car’ on he’s return. He showed me to the vehical. NOT WHAT I HAD ORDERED!!! I had reserved a medium sized car. And what I was given was a micro car. A fiat 500. So small I had to put the seats down to put my small luggage inside. The car was dirty inside and out. And there was no liquid in the windscreen washer. Overall a terrible experience. I immediately put in a complaint and I’m still waiting for a response from a manager. I’m a frequent car hire user and will never use this company again

I am writing this review to share my experience with ALAMO / Enterprise in Scotland, which I found extremely distressing and unfair.

I was accused at the rental desk of having caused damage to the vehicle, which I strongly dispute. As a result, £2,000 were immediately taken from my card. I was alone, late in the evening, in a foreign country, and I felt under intense pressure.

I was then required to sign documents and accept an automatic vehicle upgrade that I had not requested. I felt I had no real choice if I wanted to leave.

Weeks later, the company acknowledged that the damage was not my responsibility and partially refunded the amount, confirming that an error had been made. However, the cost related to the automatic transmission upgrade has never been returned, despite multiple written complaints.

What disappointed me most was not only the financial issue, but the way I was treated. I felt intimidated, unheard, and completely unprotected as a consumer.

I also contacted a consumer dispute resolution body, but was told that because I had signed under pressure, no action could be taken. This left me with the clear impression that, in this situation, consumer protection was effectively absent.

In Italy, where I come from, consumer rights are taken very seriously and situations like this are investigated with much more balance. This experience has seriously damaged my trust in ALAMO and in the level of protection offered to customers in this context.

I strongly advise anyone renting a car in Scotland to be extremely cautious and be aware of how vulnerable you can feel in situations like this.

Both Daisy and Jonny were friendly, cheerful and very helpful. Fastest check-in / out of a car I can remember for a while.

Very poor service, I have rented a car in Geneva airport, they have charged more amount on my credit card than the due amount, and also instrucated a debt collection agency to collect the due amount, very difficult to contact the customer services clarify what these amounts are, all they have is an email facility which i was told will take a week to respond. I will avoid using the company going forward.

Disgraceful and dishonest avoid at all costs. When dropping off, the agent states that the true had a hole. I challenged this, there was no evidence of said damage. He said he would raise it to his manager. All that happened was that they refused to refrain deposit. There was no ability to challenge and demand evidence. Avoid at all costs. I have never had such treatment from a car hire company. Never again .

BEWARE!!!
I have rented literally hundreds of cars over the past 40+ years and Alamo Rental Car at London Heathrow is the worst experience I have ever had...long waits, disorganized system, scammy or incompetent rental staff, lip service given to complaints, and more. I am now engaged in a back and forth and they are still lying...despite clear evidence...about the unnecessary charges they are trying to charge me. Mind boggling how bad they are.

After hiring the car they tried to charge us for damage to a tyre where no damage was there when i returned it. I did have to fight to get my money back. Then they charged an admin fee for a toll charge that had been paid and would not refund the charge. Will not use again !

Everything as it should be. It was my first time renting a car and was nervous about hidden charges or been left stranded.
I need not have worried. The girl i delt with in Bristol, i think her name was Einam was so helpful and nice it made my wholr trip much nicer. So a big thank you to that fine lady and i would use Alamo again with out a doubt.

I hired a car earlier this month from Alamo at Bergerac Airport- having read the reviews l was obvs concerned.
However we had a great experience from start to finish :-

Hybrid Automatic Toyota
Very clean
Great staff
Drop off ok , however had to explain to member of staff that the low tyre pressure warning light was not a flat tyre 🙄 l had it checked in Bordeaux earlier 👍
Just photograph any marks not on collection paperwork and send these to office once you've collected car 👍
I would definitely use these guys again 👏👏

We collected our rental car from Cardiff Airport.
Patrick was courteous and friendly and explained the companies policies to us in a helpful manner.
On our return we dealt with Haz who again was extremely pleasant.
We were very pleased with our car and would recommend this company for its staffs professional and friendly service.