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.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi: I’m sorry – I don’t quite understand your response above, regarding the Alamo/Budget rental (March 17 letter). The “second option” you offer is to have Alamo pay for the the entire rental, as they are “walking” the customer due to a lack of suitable vehicles. You immediately advise the letter writer to make sure that Budget is charging the couple the same rate that Alamo was to charge them. Huh? I thought you said that Alamo will pick up the cost of the rental. (Honestly, I’ve never heard of “walking a customer” in the car rental business, but would be happy to know that it existed.
Thanks.
Stephen,
The procedure that Elliott mentioned is the same as our travel agency presents to our clients – reservations reserved by our SABRE system is guaranteed. Guaranteed a car and guaranteed the rate.
If the walk you to another company, the car rental contract with our SABRE system states that the offending company must offer you a larger car at no additional cost above the original quote, or “walk” (send) you to another company and the original company must reimburse the client for any difference in basic rental cost. The are not obligated to pick up the entire rental cost. Yes, I have had to write letters on behalf of the customer as part of our service. We have been very successful at receiving the compensation.