Alamo Reviews 

Easy to book online. Customer service was excellent. The car was lovely and staff on return friendly and helpful. Rented from Manchester Airport and would recommend.

BE CAREFULL!
During many years I have been renting cars all over the world, but the experience with ALAMO Stansted is the worst ever.

Upon pick-up they heavily tried selling an insurance covering the self risk. They specifically focused on the risk and cost of punctures, but with +30k km/year during 30years and no punctures, I see this risk very limited and declined buying the extra insurance.

Upon return of the car ALAMO claimed a damage of one of the tyres due to a VERY small scratch on the surface of the tyre. The scratch is really small and has absolute no importance. Upon pick-up of the car, nobody would focus and register such a very small scratch on the surface.

A big company like ALAMO should have a much higher level of integrity! Their claim will certainly be rejected via my own insurance company.

NB: I have photos of the scratch if anybody requests this.

Cowboys never retuned my deposit

I hired a nine-seater van through Alamo at the Enterprise Waterloo branch on 26–27 September. The collection process was poor, I had concerns about the vehicle while driving it, and I am now disputing a bumper damage charge.

My collection was booked for noon. I arrived around 11:40 am did not leave until 1:10 pm. The pre-arrival email said a physical debit card could be accepted subject to an in-branch verification check. When I got to the place, I was told I needed a credit card. I had to arrange for my cousin to come to Waterloo with hers credit card and pay we were charged additional £15 to add her as a second driver. I want to know whether the debit-card check was actually carried out and why my card was refused.

A staff member gave me the keys and told me to look around the van while he fetched an iPad. I told him I could see damage, but he did not conduct a joint walkaround with me or record the marks I had noticed. The lower front bumper damage was already there when I collected the van.

During the hire, the three rear seats appeared to move while the van was in motion. I also found that stopping from around 30–40 mph required unusually hard or early braking. I have years of professional driving experience, and both issues concerned me.

I drove the van for approximately five hours and returned it the next day. Staff said the bumper dent was new because it was not on their system. I disputed that immediately. On 29 September, the branch emailed to say it had processed an excess charge while my damage report was still being reviewed. Almost £300 has been taken from my account.

I expect Alamo and Enterprise to investigate the vehicle’s condition, show dated evidence of the bumper before and after my hire, explain the payment and additional-driver charges, and refund any charge for damage I did not cause. This has been a frustrating and unacceptable experience.

Do not rent a car from these people! They may look like the cheapest, but they put charges on for everything, including an upgrade charge that I didn't request. They are sharks. I do not recommend!

Very disappointing experience with Alamo at Bordeaux Train Station.

I booked and paid in advance for a 9-seat automatic van. When I arrived at Bordeaux Train Station to collect it, I was told that the vehicle I had booked was not available.

I was offered a manual van instead, at a 50% reduction, which I accepted because I had no practical alternative at the time. I was told that I would receive a refund for the difference.

It has now been three weeks since I returned the van, and I am still waiting for this refund.

The customer service has been extremely frustrating. It is almost impossible to contact the Bordeaux Train Station office directly. Customer service can only pass messages on, but nobody appears to respond. I have received no contact or update whatsoever about my refund.

I paid for a specific vehicle in advance, Alamo could not provide it, and I am now having to chase them for the money I am owed.

Very poor service and communication. I would think twice before booking with Alamo again.

Fantastic service from Alamo Manchester!

From the moment we arrived, the staff were pleasant, helpful and nothing was too much trouble. Alice, who was behind the desk, was always smiling and provided fantastic customer service.

When my daughter and I arrived after our flight, we were hungry, and the team were kind enough to give us some great ideas on where to eat. It was really appreciated after a long journey.

When we returned the car, I saw Alice again and made sure to thank her for all her help — not only with the car but also with the food recommendations. She always did her job with a smile, which really made a difference.

I’d also like to mention TY, who checked the car over when we returned it. He was polite, friendly and very helpful too.

Overall, a great experience with Alamo Manchester. The staff made the whole process easy and enjoyable. Thank you to Alice, TY and the rest of the team for such excellent customer service!

Upon return of the vehicle a pinhead size defect was found on the windscreen which would not normally have been noticed and was invisible on a general photo of the car. It was not as a result of my hiring. The week before on 27 August there had been an exceptional storm reported in the news including 125km/h winds and hail. The branch manager refused to accept that I was not responsible for the damage and deducted 2000eu from my credit card.

This is unacceptable in principle and clearly a racket.

Amongst normal dirt on the windscreen the checking operative knew exactly where to look, making a beeline to point it out.

Being invisible on a normal photo of the car the defect would not be noticeable to a hirer checking the car at the beginning of a hiring.

The defect is at the bottom of the windscreen not interfering with driver view nor inbuilt intelligent systems. Being less than 1.5mm it could be repaired with a professional resin repair for less than 20eu materials. Checking Google a complete windscreen replacement should cost between around 600 and 800 eu at the most.

The charging of 2000eu to my card in these circumstances is criminal both in principle and extent.

The 2000eu charge is a great worry, together with the time involved in contesting it, and has ruined our holiday and caused me loss of sleep and migraine.

If you want to sleep well, don't hire from Alamo.

Hired a car trough booking.com from Alamo car hire on the booking.com site it advertised no credit card so I booked the car for 2 days to travel back to see a sick relative when I got to the desk no credit card no car left me stranded and £80 + out of pocket false advertisement at its best.They were aware Booking.com advertise their cars stating no credit card required they said Booking.com shouldn't do that no support offered please be aware of this so it doesn't happen to you and leave you stranded

Ended up charging an extra £400 over quote. US customer service says I received a $106 refund that is not present on my credit card statements, but that they can't help with anything else. UK customer service unresponsive.

My invoice has a bunch of extra random fees that were not in the original quote. Premium Service fee?

Very bad at Edinburgh. They charged is 1550£ for two broken tyres (they were old, 2024, with 45000km). The staff was rude and hurried. SHAMEFUL!
The problem is all around Europe, it’s a pity I read the reviews only after this terrible experience.

WARNING! Fuel fraud at Stansted branch!Alamo illegally charged my card £130.37 for "Pre-Purchased Fuel" even though I returned the car 100% FULL under the Full-to-Full policy. I refueled right next to Stansted Airport and took a photo of the full dashboard at the drop-off lot (with exact time and GPS metadata). They just stole the money from my card, hoping an international customer wouldn't notice. Complete lack of response to customer support emails. Avoid this branch, they are scammers! (RA #4GS284)

Good luck getting your insurance deposit released, even after no issues recorded when handing the car back. That's been over two weeks of my credit card showing a pending payment, and getting in a response from alamo in Dubrovnik is near impossible. It takes 2-5 days to reply to email according to uk customer service, this is day 5 and nothing yet... I'll be calling my credit card company tomorrow if I haven't heard from alamo. Not happy.

Fantastic experience with Alamo. Hired what I thought was going to be a Nissan Qashqai and was upgraded to a Volvo XC60 with all the toys. Very grateful as I was driving my son to do the national three peaks challenge. Vehicle dropped off in Bristol airport and had a follow up call from the manager in Glasgow the day after. Would definitely use these guys again. Top class service

Always use Alamo when we go to Florida twice a year. Easy online booking. The skip the counter option is brilliant allowing you to avoid the queues at the airport. Large choice of cars for you to choose from and always manage to find a low mileage newer model to jump in to.

Updates done via texts and rental agreements sent digitally immediately on picking up and returning the vehicle.

avoid!! the stole my money.double ensurance 4 nothing!!!!

I’m impressed.
Booked online was easy straight forward with all I’d checks before I arrived.
Hired a truck from Tampa airport. Did the speedy check in which was speedy. When I went to pick up the truck I had a choice of 4 to choose from. Said keys in them have a look and then just take the one you want.
Coming home my flight got canceled so went online and extended the booking in minutes.
The drop off was quick and easy.
Toll invoice came through approx 2 weeks later and they took the funds was an easy process. Will certainly be using again next year

After a smooth collection,From South terminal Gatwick,a great car and 5 day use on a flying visit to UK I dropped off the car out of hours. keys in drop box as instructed.
Car fully intact,refueled, as new looking as when I picked it up.
I boarded my flight home to Austria thinking that was my best car hire experience.
Two days later..£1750 is taken from my credit card!
On calling to find out why this occured I'm told because there was damage.
Clearly done by one of the muppets employed to move the cars back from North to South Terminal.
Despite this, the car is my responsibility till inspected by on of Enterprise employees, it's in the fine print.Not a leg to stand on.
No problem I have an excess policy that covers any damage.
But to claim on this I have to be invoiced for said damage.
A minor scuff, according to the report and proven by photos.
To the untrained eye looks like something would be polished out.
However, one month later I am still waiting for the damage invoice and the difference refunded to my credit card.
I have been told the costing is there, but can't be told over the phone what it is.
The billing department will send it out but is currently in their queuing system, can take up to 60 days.
So...the company can hang on to nearly 2 grand of my money for a bill which could be about a 100 quid..for 2 months!!
There is no one to talk to, assistance comes from youngsters reading from script,
there is no customer service mechanism to complain to.
My advice
Avoid, Alamo/Enterprise.
Read reviews on lesser known company's that are competing for business with these corporate behemoths that don't give a flying f#$k about their customers.

I've booked online a car from Luton Airport, paid at the arrival. Got their extra insurance for peace of mind, everything was smooth at the pick-up and return. A couple of days later after I returned the car, I got my deposit back to my debit card. Happy with the experience

Genuinely appalling
I had booked car 6 months previously from holiday autos
Arrived at desk to be told booking had been cancelled as flight was late. Told that I hadn’t given my flight number. I produced the voucher with the flight number which was ignored. I was told that booking was invalid (£900) and they had no cars - “ phone Alamo”
Luckily i held my ground until manager arrived.
Worst customer experience I have ever had- Milan Bergamo
Do not hire from them