How about my two experiences with Alamo.
Incident #1
I rented a car from Alamo (rent a wreck)in January this year through Holiday Autos in Mexico City, it was dirty, tatty and dented and was clearly well used. Whilst driving the car in heavy traffic, I experienced complete brake failure, the brake pedal went down to the floor without any braking effect. I telephoned Alamo who advised me to let the car cool down for half an hour and then try the brakes again and further advised me to use the gears more and the brakes less. They said that they were unable to assist with a replacement car.
A few days later, the car broke down completely in the countryside about an hour before dark. I finally managed to telephone Alamo who advised me that they were unable to assist and that I would need to find a mechanic locally to repair the vehicle. I subsequently found a mechanic who diagnosed a broken cam belt, towed us to his garage (shed) and replaced the belt. The mechanic advised me that the belt had broken due to the belt not being changed in accordance with the manufacturers instructions and showed me the condition of the spark plugs which were severely eroded. He told me that the brake failure was also due to lack of maintenance. I then had a perilous drive in the unlit wilds of Mexico in the middle of the night when I again experienced complete brake failure again on a steep mountain road.
The next day, I complained to Alamo and it was changed. When the car was changed over, the driver noted that the spare wheel was missing from the car. I then realised that the car had been burgled whilst it was left at the side of the road. To date, I have neither received a bill from Alamo for the lost wheel or received any offer of reimbursement for the problems or cost of repairs which I had carried out on their vehicle.
ncident #2
I rented a car again from Alamo through Holiday Autos this time collecting the car in California USA. I have now received my charge card statement and see that I have not only been charged for the rental by Holiday Autos but also by Alamo for the same car rental.
I wrote to Holiday Autos in February about the Mexico problem but they were unable to get any response from Alamo, I wrote to Alamo over two weeks ago about both incidents but I'm still waiting for an acknowledgement. I suppose they reckon that they have my money and more besides so what's the point of inconveniencing themselves
BTW. I haven't just typed all this out, I cutand pasted extracts from my letter to Alamo BBTW, the cost of the tow in, cam belt and labour charges even though I stopped the mechanic from sitting down to eat his evening meal to work on my car came to a grand total of £24.00 as the TV programme says, "don't try this at home"
[This message has been edited by Sensible (edited 28 May 2001).]