Remember my Alamo rate

Question: I would like your help resolving a problem with a car rental. My wife and I rented an Opel Astra from Alamo Rent A Car on a recent visit to Ireland. When we arrived at the car rental counter, an agent told us the car we reserved was not available, but that she could get Budget Rent A Car to rent us a comparable car at the same rate.

When we received our credit card bill, we discovered that Budget had charged us $572 — more than two and a half times the quoted rate of $222.

I admit that I signed the rental agreement with Budget, which in hindsight I see was a mistake. However, the Alamo representative led me to believe that Budget was charging me the Alamo quoted price. Had I known that we were paying more than twice what we were first quoted, I would never have agreed to the Budget rental.

I feel that Alamo owes us the difference between the first and second rate. I’ve been trying to resolve this problem with Alamo’s customer service department, with no luck. Can you help?

—Steve Chan, Camarillo, Calif.

Answer: Alamo did the right thing by offering to arrange a rental from another company when it ran out of Astras. But it should have covered all of your expenses, not just some of them.

This could be a simple misunderstanding. Maybe Alamo gave the wrong rate information to Budget. Maybe Budget made an error in calculating your rate. There might also be some currency confusion at work — substituting dollars for euros or euros for British pounds.

But it is also true that car rental companies — actually, any travel company — will usually try to charge you the highest possible rate. After all, they’re not running charities. That’s why it’s so important to always be on guard, checking and double-checking every rate quote and bill before signing it.

Here’s what should have happened. When you checked in at the Alamo counter, you should have had a printout of your confirmed rate in hand. When the agent told you there were no Astras available, she should have offered you two options: Alamo would either upgrade you to the next class of car at no additional cost, or it would pay for your entire rental of a comparable car through another company.

Assuming you chose the second option, you should have then gone to the Budget counter with the Alamo agent to verify you were being charged your quoted rate. I know you realize now that signing the contract without reviewing it was a mistake, and I don’t want to make you feel any worse about it, but for future reference — always read before you sign!

Your signature makes it difficult to negotiate a refund from Alamo and all but impossible to pursue a credit card dispute or to take the company to court. Still, your situation wasn’t hopeless. If you reserved your car online, you could argue that Alamo was breaking its “best rate guarantee.” Or, if you booked through a travel agent, you could ask your agent to help secure a refund.

As it turned out, I contacted Alamo on your behalf, and it issued a refund for the difference between the first and second rates.

Christopher Elliott is the author of Scammed: How to Save Your Money and Find Better Service in a World of Schemes, Swindles, and Shady Deals. Critics have called it “eye-opening” and “inspiring” — it’ll “grab your attention and won’t let go.” Order your copy now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble or iTunes.

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