We traveled via Amtrak from WI to NY. I made the reservation for a 7 passenger minivan at least 2 months in advance (on the phone with them, not through a third party website) for the Alamo in Niagara Falls, which is located inside the Niagara Falls Airport. What they don't tell you is that there is no Alamo desk there, but rather, just ONE Alamo representative who is ONLY there when the planes are scheduled to arrive, not all day. My reservation was for 5pm, so we arrived at 4:30pm, we were surprised to see the car rental desk closed...even with the business hours stating that they closed at 5pm that day. There were no alternatives, no after-hours phone numbers, nothing.
So, not only where we 775 miles from home in an unfamiliar place, but we also had a handicapped person in our party who needs a wheelchair, and no vehicle to get to our destination. To make matters even worse, the Niagara Falls Amtrak station closed at 5pm, so we were left to all sit outside. The only thing that made it better was that we found a limo rental that took us where we needed to go, at a great rate.
When I called Alamo, they would ask for the reservation number, and when I gave it, they would promptly hang up. I called over 6 times and received the same treatment. Then I called and said I didn't have a reservation number. After explaining the situation to the employees, I was told that the Alamo desk should have been open, my reservation was still active, blah blah blah. We were also told THREE DIFFERENT PICK-UP ADDRESSES...none of them were even in the same vicinity!
When I told them I had a handicapped person and two children in my party, they said I should have rented from the center in Buffalo instead because it's "too much of a hassle for such a small rental counter in a small airport". If your company cannot handle it, then do not offer your services. And exactly how was it a hassle for a rental car company to rent a minivan? This van required no extra equipment, no special doors or ramps, etc.
Long story short, DO NOT RENT FROM ALAMO. Pay a little extra and go with a different company, or simply rent from a place in a bigger city. The absolute ONLY reason I got my vehicle was because I filed an initial complaint, which I will still follow through, and because Alamo was the only car rental company who had the van we needed. I will NEVER rent from Alamo again, not even if it were $1.
