flyerfmaz

Strange interaction yesterday when I was picking up an Alamo rental -- the rep at the counter insisted my AMEX Premium Car Rental insurance paid secondary (obviously trying to spook me into buying their CDW). I told him it was primary. He continued to push back until I got fed up and told him that, whether he wanted to continue the discussion or not, that AMEX paid primary and in the (rare) event of some problem there would be no problem for Alamo to work with AMEX. He insisted that they would run any claim through my car insurance company, and that AMEX was "my business".

Are these people nuts?

randix

1. It would have been helpful in your post if you named the Alamo location where you had the interaction, even better if you named the Alamo employee you dealt with;

2. There are bad locations and bad employees at every rental agency that exists on this planet, even Hertz, so although it's useful to see the story you shared, extrapolating the episode beyond the location and employee you dealt with, would be erroneous and not helpful.

3. Personally I would not have engaged in the exchange with the agent, I would simply and firmly said, that I was declining their coverage. If he persisted in pursuing the topic, I probably would have requested that I speak with his supervisor.

4. Other than venting here, I would hope that you will follow up and contact the supervisor at the location in question, or contact Alamo's regional or national office.

In the past I've on rare occasion had issues with Alamo (the last time, when I found out that the manager at the location was purposely turning off the kiosks to make folks go thru the line to get the sales pitch). The regional manager of Alamo who happened to be responsible for ordering those kiosks at no small expense, was not amused and took prompt action.

There are "dicks" everywhere, as a frequent traveler I have no issue in following up when I encounter a rogue.

In the future, if you are going to use Alamo (who I happened to like, generally), I strongly recommend that you use the kiosks, resulting in ZERO interaction with the counter folks.

flyerfmaz

Randix: The location was Tucson airport. I live locally and pick up rental cars there weekly. This was my first time using Alamo (Hertz got too expensive). When he persisted I should have asked for a supervisor and probably will if it happens again. However, I did register a (polite) complaint with Alamo's customer service and should hear back from them in a day or two I guess. I don't want to be a PITA customer, but the way this agent behaved was totally out of line.

On a positive note, Alamo gave me a car that was in far better condition than almost anything Hertz has given me. The people who assign the cars are out in the garage, tho -- the problem agent was inside at the counter.

I did see the kiosk and tried to use it, but for some reason it sent me to the counter. Wonder if that kiosk is rigged as the one you mentioned in your post was. ;-)

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"He insisted that they would run any claim through my car insurance company, and that AMEX was "my business"."

How would Alamo ever find out who your personal auto insurance carrier was (or even if you had one -- some of us who rent cars don't own one), unless you disclose that information?

flyerfmaz

The Alamo agent insisted that I disclose it, along with my collision deductible amount.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

I would have said, "That's none of your business."

IAHtraveler

Not too far off of my experience at ILM/Alamo today. Agent asked how I would be insuring the car. I said I had several policies, including through my credit card. He went on this rant about how my card wouldn't cover most items & I should buy theirs. I laughed at him and then he tried to sell me a $10.99 upgrade into a base Altima (when I'm on a Full reservation anyway). I asked for my card/license back and walked over to Hertz.

FallenPlat

The only time I've rented from Alamo was at Boston, which is a "Skip the Counter" location. No fuss, no muss. Also, can't you join their Alamo Insider program for free and mostly skip just about any counter?

Most large rental companies let you do that, including Hertz, Avis, National and, yes, Alamo.

randix

If anyone wanta posts the original of the following fictional memo from Alamo headquarters, feel free...

"MEMORANDUM

TO: All Alamo owned and regional franchises

FROM: The Big Cheese

Effective immediately, please instruct your customer agents to strongly question all prospective renters re the source and nature of their insurance coverage. If the customer indicates any type of reluctance or pause, have your agents raise the question whether their carrier will provide effective renter coverage, in particular if a credit card is involved. Instruct your folks to be insistent that they need to advise prospective renters to purchase our insurance to make sure they are adequately covered.

The rebate to all customer service agents who upsell renters to our rental coverage will receive a 23% bonus on the net YXED rental total calculated percentage, during the months of August and September, through 12am on September 14th. Please make sure your agents enter the code "INSUP" in the applicable code box on screen 4 of their rental terminal entry, to insure they receive the applicable credit."



Deny the ability of the customer service agent to get a bigger paycheck so s/he can feed his family or buy an Apple Watch, by opting to use the kiosk on site!

flyerfmaz

Come to think of it, the agent at TUS/Alamo tried to upsell me as well -- after he was finished pestering me about the insurance. I had already reserved a full size car -- what more could I possibly want or need?

The funny thing is that after the agent unsuccessfully tried to upsell me, I went out to the garage and they were out of full size cars. So the guy in the garage voluntarily gave me a brand new (<2k miles) 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe SUV at no extra charge. I'm not complaining about that, but the agent inside was a jerk.

flyerfmaz

I'm an "Alamo Insider" member, but it made no difference at TUS. When I tried to scan my already checked-in reservation at the kiosk, the process failed and sent me to the counter, where the shake-down began.

As far as Hertz and others, it depends on the location. At TUS anyway, you have to go to the inside counter to pick up the keys, and the agent inside assigns you a car. You can't go out into the garage and pick what you want. Many of the Hertz cars at TUS are high mileage and previously smoked-in, which (along with Hertz's recent price increases) are some of the reasons why I've slid over to Alamo for a while.

The other wrinkle in this is that I collect Southwest points, and with Alamo (like Hertz) I can get 2400 bonus points per rental, which comes out to about a free airline ticket per month. I don't care too much about car rental loyalty programs and tend to migrate to where I can pump up my Southwest points.

lougord99

FT does not allow employee names to be posted

If the limit on your credit card is not large enough to cover a total loss, then it is the rental car companies business how you plan on insuring the car.

guv1976

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry: BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

Most rental car companies do not require that renters have "insurance" to cover loss of the rental car; in most cases, it is perfectly permissible for people to self-insure. But it's a moot point in this case, since the OP advised the Alamo agent that Amex Premium car-rental insurance was being used for this rental.

As noted, some renters do not even have a personal auto-insurance policy, and either rely on credit-card coverage, or take on the risk of loss themselves.

jayer

If they ask the name I reply it is AMEX Premium Assurance (it is not "Insurance") Company and don't know the policy number. I may be a bit off on the current name but it is otherwise an accurate reply. Don't mention a credit card. They fill in the blank and we move on.

rwinn

I had a similar situation about a week ago at an Enterprise in the Cleveland suburbs. The guy really wanted to argue about the coverage and finally I was like, "look, I'm late to pick someone up" and he dropped it. After returning the car, I had a nice conversation with the employee who gave me a ride after the rental. He said the location had seen quite a bit of turnover lately and that they were dealing with staffing issues, so I shared my experience about picking up the car and the sort of aggressive upsell technique that I encountered. The driver said that Enterprise has moved to system where staff are automatically written up if they fail to meet a certain number of insurance upsells.

I am guessing that this may be extended to other ERAC owned agencies (such as Alamo) but I have never experienced it with National.