Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Alamo/Expedia forced Fuel Prepurchase - Is this right?

Hi all and firstly sorry if this is OT as not technically related to the Alamo Membership Scheme.

2 Weeks ago I booked a 2 Day Car Rental from Alamo through Expedia with a pick up at Washington IAD. On collecting the car the agent advised me that as I had booked through Expedia I had to take the Pre-Purchase option so was charged $38 for a tank of gas. I only ended up using just under half of it so was unhappy that I was "forced" to take what I thought should have been an option! I would have been happy to fill up on the return as I knew the mileage would not have been a full tank.

On my return I emailed Expedia(.co.uk) and they responded with ...

Thank you for your recent email regarding your recent car hire with Alamo Car Rental.

We are sorry to hear that you feel that you was not provided with the service that you deserve.

I have investigated your account and can advise you that when you made the booking it would of asked you to read the rules and restrictions from here you could of had the opportunity to select 'detailed car rules'.

Under the additional charges segment mentioned the following statement 'Additional charges may be payable locally and/or applied at the time of hire such as refueling, additional driver charges, young driver surcharge and delivery and collection fees. Where expressly stated ‘Expedia Special Rates’ include insurance, taxes, and surcharges. In all other events you acknowledge that in no event shall Expedia.co.uk be liable for such additional charges as detailed or otherwise.'

We understand that this is not the answer you are looking for but we will be unable to offer a refund on this occasion.

I hope that this incident has not stop you from being using us in the future and to provide you with the customer service that you deserve.

We are sorry we cannot assist on this occasion, but we hope to see you soon for your next trip.

Yours sincerely,

As you can imagine I am angry not with the cost which is relatively low but the fact I was forced to take the fuel option. No pre-purchase meant no Car Rental. And after a long haul flight I really wasn't in the mood to argue, though I did ask them to clarify where the booking stated this fact!

Can anyone else tell me if they have experienced this and is it policy or was it the car agent chancing it to increase sales and are Expedia just ducking out of dealing with it by quoting legal jargon?

Many thanks, Rich

Sounds like you were conned by that Alamo agent. I strongly urge you to complain about it to Alamo CS, this is completely unacceptable, and you should get a refund, and that agent should get a boot. :td:

That said, I do not see any fault of Expedia's in this whole process, they were not the ones who scammed you, and they should not be responsible for this.

It does sound like the representative of Expedia failed to understand the situation as I understand it from the original poster. Either the Expedia rate forced you to take the fuel option or it didn't. Their answer doesn't say. But I doubt that it did.

You were lied to by the Alamo agent (and these agents are compensated for upselling things like prepaid tanks of gas, etc., so some will resort to dishonest tactics). I expect he sized you up as a tired non-American coming off a longhaul flight and worked you. There is never a requirement that you buy a tank of fuel up front in the US, and the Expedia language you were referred to is simply boilerplate covering miscellaneous taxes and extra charges (it says there may be a charge for REfueling, but not initial fueling).

You should complain to Alamo/National and demand a refund. Indicate that you will otherwise contact the Virginia Attorney General's office to discuss the IAD franchisee's fraudulent business practices. :)

Actually the agent was right. Alamo has a rule for some time that European residents HAVE to purchase the fuel no matter what. If you book on their site, they at least advice you of it...

Greetings - Dirk

Alamo has a rule for some time that European residents HAVE to purchase the fuel no matter what.



Wierd!

http://www.alamo.com/rental_policies/include/Topic.asp?HelpItemId=GAS

Important Note: For Europeans booking in the US and Canada, unless included in the rate package, payment for this tank will be required at time of rental. No refund will be given for fuel purchased but not used.

Actually the agent was right. Alamo has a rule for some time that European residents HAVE to purchase the fuel no matter what. If you book on their site, they at least advice you of it...

Greetings - Dirk

Incredible! :td: :td: :td:

Would it not be a discrimination based on the national origin? I'm not a lawyer, but there was a similar case in Pennsilvania several years ago against AVIS: http://www.attorneygeneral.gov/year97/civilrightsenforsign.cfm

That can't possibly be legal. I'd love to see a court challenge.

I had a similar experience with Travelbag (UK based agent) at SEA. I had to give them $50 to get the car from them for various extra charges. I know for a fact that Travelbag shored up their procedures after this and I did get a refund. Unfortunately they'd forgotten to charge my card so the $50 was subtracted from the £300 I owed them :(

Would it not be a discrimination based on the national origin?

Probably, yes. In my case however (I noticed this about a year ago already) it led to the point that I even will not consider Alamo any more...

Greetings - Dirk