# The SBHonline Community Daily > Everything Else >  >  DAMAGE RECOVERY UNIT ALAMO CAR RENTAL

## didier

Imagine my surprise waking up to a bill from the recovery unit from alamo this morning.  I don't understand as I returned the car in perfect condition. The fellow who checked in my car rental looked over the car with a fine tooth comb.  He even opened the door to check the roof of the car since it had a sunroof.  He was satisfied that the car had no damage and gave me my receipt.  I thought this was the gold standard, to get a receipt after returning a car.  nothing noted about any damage.

Now I receive a bill for a windshield repair for 465 dollars.  I wrote a letter to the ceo of alamo group this morning to see if he could help with this obviously fraudulent claim.  

Has anyone else in here received anything like this after returning a rental car?

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## didier

can anyone respond?

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## phil62

You should also contact your credit card company and ask them to help. My understanding is that once a clean receipt is issued, the renter is off the hook. Again, your cc company should be able to assist you. At the very least, you should deny the charge. Alamo will then have to justify the charge to your cc company as well. 

Good luck.

Phil

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## didier

thanks Phil.   I definitely am denying the claim.  funny thing is that I returned the car to baltimore bwi.  the receipt for the replacement of the whole windshield was out of ohio.

  very odd.  I wrote to the ceo of alamo this morning, odd thing is that he responded and said that he is not the president of the rental car company but gave me the person who is in charge of alamo/ enterprise holdings, that is Chrissy Taylor  enterprise holdings.  I have written to her and so far no response. she may not respond on sundays.

 I will take it up with the credit card company tomorrow which is in st. barths.  this card insurance covers rental cards out of the country, but I will ask them to also deny the claim if submitted to my card.  its not a lot of money, but I have been researching this on the internet and it says that alamo, national and enterprise rentals are all doing this.  its random, a way to make more money because of the lean times from covid?   I have read horror stories of people who returned their car in perfect condition. and was socked with a large damage claim.  some over 2000 dollars.

Funny thing is that I used to take pics of the car when I returned it, but have had such a good experience with alamo, I stopped doing that. I always use costco car rental program when I rent a car for the savings. 

I will no longer rent from the big 3.

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## andynap

They are supposed to give you a list of damages before they take the car back. The receipt you got is evidence in my view that there was no damage when you turned it in. Definitely contest the claim with your cc.

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## 24loar

Many states require automobile insurance provide windshield coverage with a $0 deductible. Your insurance in SBH may be different. However, this may explain an unscrupulous rental agency trying to exact $$$ from you personally, knowing you have no recourse in Maryland.

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## NancySC

Scam I think, knowing you are not in USA perhaps ?  Keep fighting the charge.  Let us know outcome please.

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## didier

> Scam I think, knowing you are not in USA perhaps ?  Keep fighting the charge.  Let us know outcome please.



thanks I have looked online and lots of people in the bwi and dc area are getting this from Alamo and enterprise car rentals.  most are people who have left for an early flight and did not have someone to check out the car for them.  that was not the case with me, someone gave the car a once over, he even opened the door and stood on the floorboard to check the roof since there was a sunroof on the suv.  seems this is only happening with national, enterprise and alamo.

some people have actually fought this claim, some did nothing and it went to a collection agency.  it seems they do not have the authority to actually charge the credit card that I used to rent the car,  they do not even give me any details or pictures.   I have written to the ceo of enterprise since they own alamo.  I hope she will respond and perhaps she can put a stop to this.  My guess is that someone is getting a kickback for reporting false damages.  

no more renting from alamo, national or enterprise for me.

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## shihadehs

We rented a car last week from Avis at SFO airport.  As soon as we got on the road we noticed a small crack in windshield.  We immediately called Avis and reported it and I took picture that has the time and date...imagining we would have been charged for that upon return..

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## didier

> We rented a car last week from Avis at SFO airport.  As soon as we got on the road we noticed a small crack in windshield.  We immediately called Avis and reported it and I took picture that has the time and date...imagining we would have been charged for that upon return..



I rented at avis at sfo last week too.  small world.  I was there on the 6th of June, drove along the pacific coast south....wonderful drive.

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## shihadehs

> I rented at avis at sfo last week too.  small world.  I was there on the 6th of June, drove along the pacific coast south....wonderful drive.



That is a stunning drive...

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## stbartshopper

We have made that drive numerous times. One of our favorite places to stay is The Post Ranch Inn. Need to reserve up to a year in advance though.

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## stbartshopper

http://m.postranchinn.com/

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## amyb

Has the highway been fully repaired since the fires?

Hopper, one of my all time favorite places to stay--Post Ranch Inn.

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## JEK

My current Desktop on Mac OS Big Sur

Screen Shot 2021-06-21 at 9.01.57 AM.jpg

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## cec1

Beautiful!

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## JEK

Comes with the Mac and dynamically changes with the hour as the light changes

Midnight

Screen Shot 2021-06-21 at 9.28.17 AM.jpg

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## cec1

Happy Summer Solstice!

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## amyb

great, John

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## stbartshopper

We have Big Sur as well. Catalina was nice- this is better!

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## shihadehs

Not sure about the road status after fires....did not do the drive this time...we are up in Tahoe

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## stbartshopper

1CC97586-E7AC-4C60-89ED-DEF16031AD72.jpg

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## BellaV

> thanks Phil.   I definitely am denying the claim.  funny thing is that I returned the car to baltimore bwi.  the receipt for the replacement of the whole windshield was out of ohio.
> 
>   very odd.  I wrote to the ceo of alamo this morning, odd thing is that he responded and said that he is not the president of the rental car company but gave me the person who is in charge of alamo/ enterprise holdings, that is Chrissy Taylor  enterprise holdings.  I have written to her and so far no response. she may not respond on sundays.
> 
>  I will take it up with the credit card company tomorrow which is in st. barths.  this card insurance covers rental cards out of the country, but I will ask them to also deny the claim if submitted to my card.  its not a lot of money, but I have been researching this on the internet and it says that alamo, national and enterprise rentals are all doing this.  its random, a way to make more money because of the lean times from covid?   I have read horror stories of people who returned their car in perfect condition. and was socked with a large damage claim.  some over 2000 dollars.
> 
> Funny thing is that I used to take pics of the car when I returned it, but have had such a good experience with alamo, I stopped doing that. I always use costco car rental program when I rent a car for the savings. 
> 
> I will no longer rent from the big 3.



I came across your post because I am dealing with the same thing from Alamo. After dropping off the car and no damage recorded they sent me a damage report. I am disputing it, of course, but having hard time getting to anyone .
I am curious of your outcome and who were the people you contacted .

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## adrshen

Hi Bella, I am in similar situation. They making me pay for damages which I event don't recognize. Can you share where are you at on this ?





> I came across your post because I am dealing with the same thing from Alamo. After dropping off the car and no damage recorded they sent me a damage report. I am disputing it, of course, but having hard time getting to anyone .
> I am curious of your outcome and who were the people you contacted .

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## Jim Kelly-Evans

We just finally won a credit card dispute with Hertz for over $800 in excess charges for a one day rental. It appears that renting a car nowdays is risky business!

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## Jim A

We too had a recent issue with Hertz in France. We rented the car from the Lyon airport, drove to Beaune and then dropped it off in Paris. We really only drove it to/from our locations and one day in the countryside of Burgundy so I knew there was no damage we did. A few days after dropping it off I received a bill for damages. I had taken a video of the car at the airport before leaving which included me specifically pointing to a small scratch on the car. Luckily I did this, because this ended up being what they charged me for. I replied to all of their emails and even sent a still shot of the video (date and location stamped) showing the minor damage and heard nothing back. I also disputed the charge with AMEX and also filed a claim with AMEX as I have the additional rental car insurance for $19.95 each time I rent a car (it's a pretty good deal). After a while I received a survey from Hertz about the rental and gave horrible marks and detailed the issue in the comments. The customer satisfaction (or whomever) group at hertz responsible for responding to the surveys finally were the only ones to reach out to me. I sent them the photo of the damage as well. After a week or so I was told the charge would be reversed. Even though I ultimately didn't pay, I should not have needed to prove that I didn't damage the vehicle. Very poor job by Hertz France IMO. It likely would have been the insurance through AMEX and not me paying, but that wasn't really the point to me.

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## cassidain

was verifying MC car rental coverage terms (CapOne Venture Professional card) and noticed in the last year they have snuck in that rental has to be "primarily for business purposes." You just have to stay on your toes with insurance fine print. 

A. To get coverage:
The rental vehicle must be rented_ primarily for business purposes_, and you must initiate and then pay for the entire rental agreement (tax, gasoline, and airport fees are not considered rental charges) with your covered card

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