Alamo Miami upgrade fraud

mcfly · 18 May 19, 01:04 PM

Hi all

This is a warning to all Dibb readers that are persuaded to upgrade at Miami airport. I was careful to book my car hire in advance. I used Alamo Brits as Id heard good things on this forum about them so I booked a large SUV (Ford Expedition or similar) for myself, wife and 4 kids. I prepaid $630 and I even printed my "skip the counter" voucher ahead of travelling so we could just pickup the car and go.

When we arrived at the airport we were shown to a line of approx. 10 vehicles in the class we had booked. All were a good size but none had enough space for our 4 suitcases. I asked "Jose" at the counter if any more vehicles would be coming soon and he told us yes and just to wait at the side. About 20 minutes later he fetched us and asked if we would like to take a Ford Expedition Max. We looked over the car and as it had a little more boot space than the others we went for it. He told us it was the next class up and would cost $45 extra. I thought that's fine so we went for it. He gave me a contract to sign and as I was signing I asked him if it was really $45 total - to which he said yes. The form did contain some extra charges so the new total was $748 - but he waived that off as incidentals (his English wasn't very good and he was rushing as there was by now a queue building). Even though this was an extra $118 I thought it was still a good deal and I just wanted to get out of there. I knew from looking before travelling that the extra class up was about $100-150 extra anyway so I was happy with that.

When I returned to the airport 2 weeks later (after a fantastic vacation) I was shocked to find that the charge was in fact $748 in ADDITION to the $630 I had pre-paid. At the time I couldn't argue as we had to catch a flight. Since then I have been fobbed off by Alamo US and UK - the initial response was that you have signed the contract and please go away and since then Ive had no response except that they will pass it onto a "manager".

Im sure Alamo are a good company and the car we did hire was pretty nice - but it wasn't $748 nicer. I feel that "Jose" cheated us on purpose. What is worse is that since I contacted Alamo they have shown absolutely no interest in listening to my complaint. I am disputing the charge via the credit card company using section 75 procedure but I am resigned to not getting this resolved in my favour.

Let this lesson be a warning to others to avoid the "upgrade" at all costs and do not let "Jose" or his ilk push you into anything and ask more detailed questions before you sign anything. I know this has been mentioned before on this forum - but I read those posts and I was still caught out.

McFly

18 May 19, 01:04 PM	#1
	18 May 19, 01:04 PM mcfly Looking for my Ears
mcfly Looking for my Ears Join Date: Mar 19 Location: Gloucestershire	Alamo Miami upgrade fraud Hi all This is a warning to all Dibb readers that are persuaded to upgrade at Miami airport. I was careful to book my car hire in advance. I used Alamo Brits as Id heard good things on this forum about them so I booked a large SUV (Ford Expedition or similar) for myself, wife and 4 kids. I prepaid $630 and I even printed my "skip the counter" voucher ahead of travelling so we could just pickup the car and go. When we arrived at the airport we were shown to a line of approx. 10 vehicles in the class we had booked. All were a good size but none had enough space for our 4 suitcases. I asked "Jose" at the counter if any more vehicles would be coming soon and he told us yes and just to wait at the side. About 20 minutes later he fetched us and asked if we would like to take a Ford Expedition Max. We looked over the car and as it had a little more boot space than the others we went for it. He told us it was the next class up and would cost $45 extra. I thought that's fine so we went for it. He gave me a contract to sign and as I was signing I asked him if it was really $45 total - to which he said yes. The form did contain some extra charges so the new total was $748 - but he waived that off as incidentals (his English wasn't very good and he was rushing as there was by now a queue building). Even though this was an extra $118 I thought it was still a good deal and I just wanted to get out of there. I knew from looking before travelling that the extra class up was about $100-150 extra anyway so I was happy with that. When I returned to the airport 2 weeks later (after a fantastic vacation) I was shocked to find that the charge was in fact $748 in ADDITION to the $630 I had pre-paid. At the time I couldn't argue as we had to catch a flight. Since then I have been fobbed off by Alamo US and UK - the initial response was that you have signed the contract and please go away and since then Ive had no response except that they will pass it onto a "manager". Im sure Alamo are a good company and the car we did hire was pretty nice - but it wasn't $748 nicer. I feel that "Jose" cheated us on purpose. What is worse is that since I contacted Alamo they have shown absolutely no interest in listening to my complaint. I am disputing the charge via the credit card company using section 75 procedure but I am resigned to not getting this resolved in my favour. Let this lesson be a warning to others to avoid the "upgrade" at all costs and do not let "Jose" or his ilk push you into anything and ask more detailed questions before you sign anything. I know this has been mentioned before on this forum - but I read those posts and I was still caught out. McFly Edited at 01:07 PM.