December I traveled to Austin, TX to visit my family for Christmas. I rented a Chrysler 300 from Alamo at ABIA. Upon check-out I did the standard walk around damage check with the agent.
I loaded my luggage and headed for the highway. Upon reaching highway speed the car began to make a strange noise. Being a car I had never driven on highways I have never driven in high wind I did not think much of it. I drove the car to my daughters house and went in for the night.
The next day I drive the car to the mall to finish last minute shopping. While driving I heard the same strange noise again. Upon arrival at the mall I noticed that the front bumper was coming apart! It appeared that either someone previously parked the car over a curb and pulled the bumper lose or the car had a manufacturing defect.
I returned to my daughters house and called Alamo to advise them of the condition of the car and let them know I did not feel safe driving the vehicle for the next week. Alamo advised me to drive the vehicle back down to the airport and were they would exchange the car for another.
I stayed in Austin through January 2. When I returned the replacement car to Alamo nobody bothered to tell me that the previous vehicle had significant damage that I would be charged for. Mind you they had the car back in their possession for nearly 10 days at this point.
Fast-forward to May and I receive a letter in the mail stating that I was being charged a total of $2500 for repair of the front bumper, processing fee's, 4 days lost revenue, and diminished value. The diminished value charge is the kicker, how much can the value of a rental car diminish?
My auto insurance company paid for the damage to the vehicle but did not cover the processing fee's, lost revenue or diminished value, this I received a bill for $670 from Vanessa Snell. After several months of attempts to negotiate the bill with her I finally paid the $670 to keep the charge from being reported on my credit.
Now that I have read all the reports of Alamo pulling the same stunt with hundreds, if not thousands, of other renters my stomach is turning knowing that I paid them. I have requested that Alamo send me a copy of the invoice for repairs, the date the vehicle went out of service and returned to service, and the vehicle damage history. I guess I will just have to wait and see what they say.
If anybody is reading this because Vanessa Snell sent you a letter, call Alamo and demand an invoice for repairs, the date the vehicle left and returned to service, the vehicle damage history, then call an attorney for assistance.
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