Alamo Rent A Car

So I have super mixed feelings about Alamo Rent A Car. This was my first time renting from them and quite possibly my last. To be totally disrespected and cursed at in front of numerous people… I can’t even really put it into words! I missed work and it took 8 hours!
Today was the WORST experience I have ever had with a rental car company. But let me say first that the ladies in Windsor, CT at the Bradley International Airport location are amazing. Kristen and Kate and I can’t forget Daniel are the only reason that this post isn’t 100% negative.
This morning I came out to a flat tire. I was super annoyed but, I called the Roadside assistance and they had someone come out and change the tire, and it didn’t take forever. That’s where the good experience ended today…
I was told to go to the Westchester County Airport location to exchange my car because there was only the spare tire available in the vehicle and that wasn’t going to be safe to continue to drive on. It was all set up for me to pick up the car from the new location by roadside assistance. I came in and the first person I see would be the worst person possibly in their entire company.
Peter Camillone is the assistant manger at the location in Westchester County NY at the airport. When I came in he told me to go to the Enterprise counter (Enterprise Rent-​A-​Car Alamo Rent A Car and National Car Rental are partnered) because he was ordering his food delivery! That was mistake #1. Did I mention him being a «Manager». So I went to the Enterprise counter to only be told they had NO cars available. The guy that was at the other counter was very nice and went to go speak with his «Manager», who came out and proceeded to act a plum fool!
So in a nut shell he told me he wasn’t going to help me, it wasn’t his problem and I needed to figure it out since I was the renter, it wasn’t his responsibility. When I asked if he was the manager he got defensive and started being reckless at the mouth. He became even more disrespectful and when I stop talking to him and asked the other person who the «General Manger» was, Peter took his business card and threw it at me… then told me, «I could get the FUCK away from his counter.» I didn’t, I kept talking to the other employee and he told me he was going to get the police, I told him I would wait! After a bit of time he never returned so I got the corporate information and walked away, only to realize I left my I. D and my credit card. I walked back and there was an officer standing there. I asked if the other employee had seen my ID and credit card and we proceeded to look for it. Once I found it I asked the officer if I could speak with him. Here is the kicker each person I spoke to said this man had a problem. I am not the first person he has been disrespectful to and I probably won’t be the last. But he chose the right one this time. My instinct wanted to match his crazy, but not only am I far away from home, I refused to let him take me there.
I know that people have to work to make a living and to take care of themselves and their families but when I tell you I have had it with ignorant and rude people in customer service positions… I HAVE HAD IT! If you don’t like what you do, find a new job. Don’t mistreat people because your having a problem.
Then to top it all off they bring me another vehicle but it was absolutely atrocious. It was Kia minivan that smelled like something had died in it and was filthy. It has so many dings and scratches on it, I couldn’t even think to accept it. So they are bringing me another vehicle, lets pray this one is a lot better.
Needless to say I will never return to that location.

The staff was really helpful and friendly for the most part. I made my reservation through a third party and I anticipated it being a challenge to process my reservation but everything went extremely smooth.
One complaint I have which is universal and not just Alamo is the underage fee. (Just when you think 21 is the bridge you need to cross) Even in regards to this Alamo has the best rate from my shopping around for underage drivers in NY state.
Either way standard car rental procedures — no hidden fees for me. Everything went smooth and I was able to return the car after hours with no additional fees or anything of the sort.

Made reservation thru Costco due to low rate. When I decided to extend my use and drop-​off at new LaGuardia airport location, I was told the «drop-​off» charge would be $ 700.00! Conversation with managers and supervisors confirmed this ridiculous rate, even though Alamo has offices at LaGuardia. Subsequently dropped car off at White Plains airport as agreed, rented Enterprise car to drive to, and drop off, at LaGuardia for $ 80.00! Talk about «bait and switch.»

Made a reservation for the car through
. Learned upon arrival that — as a non-​US citizen — I needed my passport to get the car, Would have been helpful to get that kind of information when making the reservation where I had to enter all my personal data. The manager said he couldn’t use my international ID card, since it didn’t have the information in English. He handed me the ID card back and I left to get the passport. On my way, I realized that the ID card was in fact in three languages, including English, so I turned around and tried it a second time. The lady at the counter still wanted the passport, my arguing that the manager said the language had been the issue didn’t interest her. So, I left the second time to get the passport.
Finally got the car which was clean and in good condition. No issues there.
However, I also had included an E-​ZPass for the car which is a tag to automatically pay tolls for bridges in New York City, so that we could get to JFK airport for our return flight without waiting in toll lines. Sure enough, at Triborough bridge we got stopped since the E-​ZPass tag we got at Alamo was invalid. It was retained, we had to pay the toll in cash and wait for 25 minutes, before we got the papers and could continue our ride to the airport,
We also had a GPS from Alamo to make navigation to the airport easier. First I was happy to find that the address book of this GPS included the addresses of all Alamo car rentals, so I used this shortcut to navigate to the rental location at JFK airport. However, it turned out that it was the wrong address (Conduit Ave. rather than Federal Circle)! Fortunately, I had a smartphone with a data plan for the US on me, so that I could quickly find the right address, This detour cost us another 10 minutes, though, which was stressful, since we were now pretty delayed and didn’t know how long security check etc. would take us.
Overall, a service experience that could be significantly improved. I would have rated it with one star only, if the guy at the rental car return (named Ikram) wouldn’t have been as nice and attentive as he was.

Very friendly staff, upgraded my vehicle but didn’t try to upsell me (which would have failed and just irritated me anyway). I will definitely look to rent from them again.