I made an online reservation one late Friday evening (7.25.08) to secure a a car (one way) from Pittsburgh to Cleveland. I reserved my car with a debit/VISA credit card.
I was heading to Cleveland to buy a new car and only needed a one way rental.
When I showed up at the Pittsburgh Airport (7.26.08) at @7:30 a.m. a very rude female agent named Pat said that I could not pay with the very same card I used to hold my reservation, even though I produced multiple forms of Identification, other bank (National City) debit cards and even offered to pay cash!
She said very rudely, "It’s company policy. People have stolen cards from us and we can’t simply take that kind of card. You should have easily seen the notice on the Alamo Web site!"
So, I had to travel back home – making a 2.5 hour reroute back to the Alamo desk to again pay for my rental with a credit card.
It’s amazing to me the amount of money a brand such as Alamo spends on marketing only to fail at the goal line – the service counter – with rude service and a stupid policy.
It’s amazing how quickly I went from being a huge Alamo fan – because National and they only offer the one-way rental – to completely reversing my feelings and will never, ever rent from them again.
Oh, and regarding their customer service department? It’s been nearly one month since I filed an online complaint and no one has ever responded to me.
BTW – I’m not the only person unhappy with Alamo – check out this site: http://alamocarrentalsucks.com/?cat=14
Does the brand promise you make in your marketing communications resonate throughout your customer service?
