Other Car Rental Programs/Partners (ie. Alamo, Enterprise, Sixt) - Scammed by Alamo: Is there anything I can do?

I booked a mid-sized car at SLC via Hotwire (these were described as Ford 500, Pontiac G6, etc). The vendor turned out to be Alamo.

Today I picked up the car, only to discover that at Alamo, they consider a "mid-sized car" to be a Chevrolet Cobalt. I asked both, the person at the counter and in the parking lot, about this, and both said that Alamo now considers the Cobalt "mid-sized". No alternatives were available, short of paying for an upgrade.

Ordinarily, I would just shrug it off and just make a note to be careful not ot book "mid-size" and not to use Alamo again, but I'm renting for 10 days and I actually need the room (to transport four adults).

What, if anything, can I do to get this resolved? Am I wrong to feel that the offering here was grossly misrepresented and that they owe me a mid-sized vehicle?

Sounds like your beef is with Hotwire, not Alamo. It was Hotwire that promised you a "Ford 500, Pontiac G6, etc", not Alamo.

Sounds like your beef is with Hotwire, not Alamo. It was Hotwire that promised you a "Ford 500, Pontiac G6, etc", not Alamo.

+1

Hotwire seriously needs to update their vehicle examples, the 500 was re-branded as the new Taurus 2 years ago and has always been a fullsize car in my rental experience. The G6 is also not considered a midsize by any company I've used (all majors), it's a standard, the next class up.

As annoying as this may have been I hardly think you were "scammed". :rolleyes:

I booked a mid-sized car at SLC via Hotwire (these were described as Ford 500, Pontiac G6, etc). The vendor turned out to be Alamo.

Today I picked up the car, only to discover that at Alamo, they consider a "mid-sized car" to be a Chevrolet Cobalt. I asked both, the person at the counter and in the parking lot, about this, and both said that Alamo now considers the Cobalt "mid-sized". No alternatives were available, short of paying for an upgrade.

Ordinarily, I would just shrug it off and just make a note to be careful not ot book "mid-size" and not to use Alamo again, but I'm renting for 10 days and I actually need the room (to transport four adults).

What, if anything, can I do to get this resolved? Am I wrong to feel that the offering here was grossly misrepresented and that they owe me a mid-sized vehicle?

I agree, alot of the problems we encounter are due to 3rd party sites such as hotwire, that "misrepresent" vehicle types available. In many cases they have the same vehicles types listed for every rental company. Having said that, I can appreciate that the cobalt is smaller than most "mid size" cars. I would go back and do an exchange and see what else is available as cars flow in and out on an hourly basis. Alamo would have no problem switching it out for you. If you are in another city with an Alamo location, they may also be able to help with the switch (unless its a franchisee location).

This is why with all travel I am a strong advocate for BOOKING RIGHT AT THE SOURCE. I use sites like Expedia/Travelocity to get a sense for pricing, but when it comes time to book the flight/hotel room/rental car I do so directly with the company. That way if things go heywire there's no middle man to be blamed.

Rentalguy, I have a question for you. With the recent re-tiering of car categories, and the Cobalt being a midsize whereas the Malibu is the next class up, what's happening with the Avenger/Sebring and G6? They both kind of fit between the two categories.

I would have been just as upset as the OP, had I booked a mid-sized car and got a Cobalt. I just booked a car on the actual Alamo site and their mid-sized car is listed as a Pontiac G6 or similar. Their compact is a Nissan Versa which IS comparable to a Chevy Cobalt. I don't consider a Cobalt similar to a G6. Earlier this year I booked a compact with Avis and got a Cobalt.

I'm afraid it's not just third party problems. I just rented a "FULL SIZE" in San Diego. It was an HHR. The Alamo website described a full size as an Impala. After arguing with the agent, he changed it. He told me that after being bought by Enterprise, all the cars were reclassified and since the HHR had lots of cargo room, it's full size too. I guess an Impala is now a limo!!!

I'd like to point out that while the websites may list a certain car like an Impala it always says or similar. Therefore, an HHR is considered similar to an Impala. I always hated explaining this when I worked for Enterprise. It's part of the reason I quit...I never understood why people got so worked up over a car they'd have for a few days.

This is why with all travel I am a strong advocate for BOOKING RIGHT AT THE SOURCE. I use sites like Expedia/Travelocity to get a sense for pricing, but when it comes time to book the flight/hotel room/rental car I do so directly with the company. That way if things go heywire there's no middle man to be blamed.

Rentalguy, I have a question for you. With the recent re-tiering of car categories, and the Cobalt being a midsize whereas the Malibu is the next class up, what's happening with the Avenger/Sebring and G6? They both kind of fit between the two categories.

Not sure where Rentalguy is but I can answer this one - Sebrings, Avengers, G6's, Sonata's and Fusions are now SCAR (Standard size). Altimas, Impalas and Tauri (Taureses?) are FCAR. Buick Allures are now PCAR (premium) for some unknown reason.

JasYHZ

Enterprise taking over Vanguard (A/N) is bad news for the consumer. Their first move after the transaction as completed was to eliminate sat radios from the fleet. Older FFs will remember the US DOJ getting on them for their hiring practices which, until the late 80s, used to be pretty much exclusively white and male.

Yes, if you look at Alamo's website, a "midsize" is a G5, "or similiar". Yes, it is hard to take that seriously, but they do apparently. This is a recent change, in the last 45 days or so. The previous representative car was a G6. Also, while Alamo's website lists "standard" cars, the reality is that standard size does not exist in most Alamo fleets-ask the station MOD if you doubt me.

Finally, I do a lot of playing around and pricing with Alamo's website. It's amazing to me how quickly things can change price-wise, specifically in markets like MSY and FLL. I forgot to book a car in MSY once, and was shocked to see a $90/day rate same day. So, I hopped my flight from LAX, arrived, went online immediately after deplaning and found that Alamo's rate dropped to $36/day in 5 hours. Also, I have a lot of contract IDs to play with, and you keep playing with them quite often you catch a break. Hotwire is good, but as other posters have noted, I'm too a big fan of dealing with the source.

Sorry for the delay in following-up -- I was on the road -- in the Cobalt...

I tried calling Alamo, who offered no resolution except to call the SLC rental counter, then abruptly hung up on me (no, I wasn't being aggressive or anything else like that to prompt that). I then called SLC who wouldn't budge an inch on it -- they offered to "upgrade" me to a "full sized car" (a G6) if I chose to pay another $60 a day and if they happened to have one on the lot the next day.

I ended up renting an extra vehicle for the few days I needed to carry extra passengers. I was left with a deep mistrust of both Hotwire and Alamo after that particular experience. Never again.

Incidentally, that Cobalt was easily the most gutless rental car I have ever driven. It has the power and acceleration of a drugged sloth. It's the only rental that's made me wish I had a Dodge Caliber instead. And believe me, it takes a pretty special car to do that.

OP, did you ever try calling hotwire?

Sorry for the delay in following-up -- I was on the road -- in the Cobalt...

I tried calling Alamo,

What did Hotwire say? They should be your first call instead of Alamo because of how the represented the car that you paid for.

I'd like to point out that while the websites may list a certain car like an Impala it always says or similar. Therefore, an HHR is considered similar to an Impala.

What's your definition of "or similar"? They both have a bowtie on the front that shows GM made the vehicle? Or that they both have 4 black tires with metal rims? The Impala has/is:
-13% longer
-5.5% wider
-8-11% more shoulder room
-Seating for 1 more
-26% more horsepower (LT models on both), etc

Better business bureau is the way to go

IMHO, this is an excellent case for application of your credit card billing error rights under the Fair Credit Billing Act. Try to resolve with Hotwire (since that's who will be billing you), record your efforts via notes and/or letter, if not resolved dispute in writing to special billing error address on your credit card bill somewhere--not address to which check is to be sent.

Chances are this will work.

Which credit card company is the charge on?