The following review reflects my opinion of my experience of renting a car from Alamo in…read moreCopenhagen.
I flew to Copenhagen in January 2018 as I was attending my mother's funeral in Malmo. As I needed a car to drive to the cemetery, I decided to rent a car. Having previously booked all my car hire almost exclusively through either Avis or Hertz, this time I decided to book via Expedia and found a good deal with Alamo at Copenhagen airport.
I had never used Alamo before, but was of course aware of them. Alamo is a US car rental company and is today owned by Enterprise Holdings, the company that also owns Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Enterprise CarShare. Enterprise Holdings is owned by the Taylor family. The word Alamo has links to America's cowboy heritage.
When I arrived at the Alamo counter, I was greeted by Stefan, who proceeded to talk through the car that I had booked. Inevitably, this involved trying to sell add-on services to boost the rental fee which seems to be standard practice (google "6 Confessions Of An Alamo Car Rental Agent). As I had taken out car hire excess insurance, I declined all the add-on insurance offered by Stefan.
Stefan insisted I would need winter tyres, as I was travelling to Malmo - in fact, Swedish law requires winter tyres to be fitted in wintry conditions (when there is snow, ice, slush or frost on the road). Weather conditions were mild and forecast to remain so, and the car itself was only booked for 36 hours, so I declined.
Stefan then told me it was a legal requirement that I pay for additional roadside assistance protection since I was taking the car to Sweden. I was not aware of what the legal requirements were, so accepted this, but I have subsequently become aware that this too was optional and should have been declined.
I was then offered the opportunity to rent satellite navigation equipment by Stefan - since I knew where I was going, I declined this option. This offer was made to me whilst the keys to rental car I had booked were on the desk in front of Stefan. When I eventually got to the car, I saw it had factory-fitted satellite navigation as standard. Classy move.
The car that Alamo provided me with was a white Nissan Qashqai (registration BV27534). When I arrived at the car itself, this was parked in a narrow space in a dimly lit indoor car park. I was short of time but quickly checked the bodywork for any obvious damage before setting off. With no damage spotted other than that already marked in the rental agreement, I was on my way on my short and uneventful journey to Malmo.
During the rental period which lasted 28 hours, I drove a grand total of 90 km. I drove to the hotel to drop off my luggage, parking in a wide bay with no cars alongside. I then drove to the cemetery to attend the service, parking in a near-empty car park with no vehicles alongside. Overnight, the car was parked in the same wide bay at the hotel indoor car park, with no cars alongside, and the following day I drove the car back to Copenhagen airport.
When I returned the car to Alamo, the check in person (Noemi) immediately began at the rear right side of the vehicle and promptly "discovered" damage to the plastic rim above the rear wheel (slightly detached from the body work) and I was then informed that I would be liable for the repair cost, set at a minimum of 3000 Danish kroner. It was described as a hit-and-run accident. I am 99% certain that this damage did not occur during the time the car was in my possession. Whilst I am insured, I would like to share my one and only experience of renting a car from Alamo.
The memories of the death and funeral of my mother will forever be tainted by my experience of renting a car from Alamo.
