CAR RENTAL REVIEWS ON ALAMO AT LOS ANGELES AIRPORT, LAX

If it's not self-service pickup, the staff will try to sell insurance and have a bad attitude if you refuse to buy.

The counter staff was not very friendly when I was picking up the car. They immediately recommended an upgrade, and when I declined, their attitude worsened. They then suggested buying additional insurance, and when I refused, they started mumbling. Now, Alamo offers self-service kiosks with Chinese language options, so I recommend using the self-service machines.

Excellent

Like: Very easy self service pickup. Great car. Good fuel economy and so comfortable.

The whole trip was quite good, but the experience of changing the car at the end was extremely frustrating. The manager at Alamo's Los Angeles station and a female African American clerk deceived and extorted us when we went to replace the key out of goodwill and honesty, charging us $223 for a lost or damaged key. Our car window was broken in San Francisco, and we were worried the car change process would be cumbersome, so we arrived at the return point more than an hour early. A young Chinese man received us, issued an incident report, printed a receipt, and told us not to worry, the insurance company would handle it, and we could leave after collecting our belongings. As we were heading to the airport, we realized after passing through security that we had forgotten to return the car key. We were about to board the plane, so it was too late to go back. Although we could have pretended we didn't know since the car was successfully returned and we had a receipt indicating everything was normal, we decided to be honest. We couldn't bear the thought of the young man taking the blame for the missing key. I called a relative in the US to help contact the car rental company, stating we could return the key to the Los Angeles Alamo after we landed. The Alamo customer service said we could return it by mail to San Francisco or bring it to their Los Angeles station, though we might have to pay for postage. Although I was a bit frustrated about the postage, we went to Los Angeles International Airport's Alamo the next morning to return the key. A female African American employee in the after-sales department received me, and after explaining the situation, she brought her manager, a Middle Eastern man. These two staff members made this rental experience a disaster! They showed the small tag on the key, which stated a $223 fee for a lost or damaged key. Honestly, we hadn't noticed the tag after using the car for days. I told her I didn't lose or damage it; I accidentally took it and came here to return it out of goodwill. If it was just a matter of a few dozen dollars for postage, we could negotiate, but I would not accept the $223 fee. Their staff did not remind us to hand over the key, and we had completed the return process. If I didn't return the key, it would be more trouble to make a new one. The woman smugly said I could take the key back, and they would deduct it from the pre-authorization. I said we returned the car just last evening, explained the situation to customer service, and came to return the key first thing in the morning; they shouldn't have made a new key yet, and there was no real loss. She then told me to wait. The manager was on the phone, seemingly confirming with San Francisco. After the call, he sternly told me that they had already made a new key, so I must pay for it. I had to wait there while my relative directly called Alamo's San Francisco station, who confirmed they had not made a new key and appreciated our effort to return the key but hoped we could mail it back by Tuesday. It was a weekend, so the courier service was closed, meaning I had to use overnight delivery on Monday. Though postage would be costly, it was reasonable compared to $223. Before leaving, I asked to take a picture of the Middle Eastern manager's name tag, but he gave me a business card instead. His name is Sameer Saddiqi, Station Manager, and I will file a complaint to Alamo about his and his employee's despicable behavior. UPS delivery cost $39.85, a lesson for my kindness! It wasted most of my day arguing with those scumbags and finding a courier to mail the key! I hope Zuzuche will hold such car rental companies accountable and give them a poor service rating!

It was a great self-drive experience.

Friendly attitude, no waiting in line

Like: Quick service, no much of bureaucracy, kiosk check in save time in lines, staff on pick-up very friendly. Free upgrade for a Toyota Rav4 because they didn't have a Toyota Camry.
Dislike: We reserved a Toyota Camry to be more conscient of fuel usage and our car was not available at the day. So we have to use a category above with more fuel consumption.

Fast and nice

Great

The service provided by Zuzuche was not consistent with what Alamo mentioned.

Like: The choice of my vehicle...I was very pleased!

The self-service pickup is quite convenient.

I had already paid the fine for illegal parking and showed them the receipt, but they charged me again. It has been almost 2 years and I still haven't received a refund. It's really frustrating.

Absolutely fantastic

The staff requested self-registration, but the automated machine failed at the last step... It wasted my time, and in the end, I still had to queue for more than ten minutes.

The car showed an oil change warning after just a few days of use, and it took a long time dealing with the store for maintenance.

The United States is indeed a country on wheels. Once you get off the plane, there are no taxis or subways; you basically head straight to the car rental companies. However, compared to my car rental experience in Europe, there are too many extra charges. Initially, I had already spent over 5700 RMB when booking from China, which claimed to include all rental fees, taxes, insurance, and additional drivers. But upon picking up and returning the car, I was charged an additional $344 for alleged various airport taxes and insurance. Additionally, despite returning the car with a full tank of gas, I was still charged around $60 for a full tank, even though locally filling up a tank does not cost that much. Returning the car two hours late incurred an extra day's rental fee plus tax. Moreover, they refused to refund me, citing that I was over two hours late. Well, if you don't have ample free time, I suggest you don't choose Alamo and try other options!

Picking up and dropping off the car was easy to handle. We encountered an emergency in San Francisco where the car window was broken. We waited 1.5 hours to get a replacement car at midnight due to their issue. They didn't explain why and had a bad attitude, telling us to 'Just wait!' The parking area supervisor was David.

Used a self-service machine, no queue. Staff proactively suggested certain fields could be left blank, saving time.