hi
we came back from florida on the 12th october,, during the week i was back i noticed that alamo had taken 190.12 and 46.44 from my bank account,, after contacting thomas cook who has looked into it they wrote to me yesterday informing me that we had signed for roadside assistance and personal protection. Well this is news to us as it was never offered to us if it was it would have been declined. There were 6 adults at the desk[from our party] who are of the same opinion as me as it would have also been discussed, and definatley at that price it would have been declined..we hired two mini buses and each person signed so that they could be additional drivers. Also i did sign my debit card because they always request this but as this was our fourth visit and hired from this place before i expected to do this. They said that the roadside assitance and personal protection was initialled [they may mean signed?] by the two main drivers of the vans, but it was not signed for by me,, and they used my card to pay for it,,,, can they do this have i been duped and can i do anything about this any help would be great as i am fuming!!!
many thanks
Last edited by Tony; 6th December 2008 at 01:04 PM.
It is an interesting question. I hate the way these car hire companies operate, you arrive at a foreign airport hassled and tired after your journey. Usually, they bombard you with options that push up the cost of the hire that you were quoted. These are usually just tick boxes some are opt-in and some opt-out and it is confusing even when you have it explained to you. It seems to be that it wasn't explained in your case and that Alamo staff slipped in a couple of checked boxes. As your whole party is in agreement about this I think that a letter would do the trick. The fact that someone else signed and you paid is also interesting as I would expect that they would need your explicit permission. Have you got copies of all the rental forms?
I hope this helps, let us know what the outcome is.
thomas cook have got copies of them i am going to request that they send them to me as i would like to look at signatures,, but they might have been signed by us anyway,unawares to what it was.
Good luck with pursuing this Jue, I am in complete agreement with Tony on this. I find the Car Hire places at the airports one of the most annoying things to have to deal with.
The last time we went to Florida I actually had an argument with the desk bloke at Dollar. We'd paid for the "All Inclusive" insurance and had also hired the biggest minibus they had. This meant that unless they made us hire another car, they couldn't offer us an upgrade "for just $x dollars" or so I thought.
When I reached the desk I was asked if I wanted to purchase "insurance for the tyres". I said I didn't need it as I had the "all inclusive" insurance. The guy behind the desk told me that the all inclusive insurance didn't include tyres and that if I got a blow out it would cost me hundreds of dollars to get fixed etc etc. Tired, hot and rather angry I said that why advertise something as "all inclusive" if it clearly is not? I didn't take this "extra" insurance obviously and unlike your case, they didn't charge me for it either.
I loathe the fact they try the hard sell and emotional blackmail nonsense when you are tired and just want to get to your accommodation. I think it is a terrible way to try and increase business.
I really hope you get a satisfactory conclusion to this. Let us know how you get on.
well as from today been in touch with thomas cook... would not give me the details of the forms signed,,, i asked why,, they said because it was in dispute,,,, so ok,,,,, might have to wait another two months for their reply. well hopefully not this time but as soon as i here from them i will let u know the outcome
You can make a Data Access Request, it is your right under the Data Protection Act . They can charge £10 for this. If it has your name on it, and is about you they have to show it to you. Otherwise the Information Commissioner will do absolutely nothing - not much of a threat really : )
I find it staggering that Thomas Cook will not allow you to see the "in dispute" paperwork that you are supposed to have signed! While I do not expect them to send you the originals through the post, surely a photocopy is acceptable and would provide you with enough detail to confirm whether this is indeed your signature or not?
Keep at it. I had a similar experience with a car hire company in Ireland earlier this year. They charged £160 to my credit card for what was initially a £40 car rental. It took a little while (about a month) of snotty emails but in the end I received the money back I was owed.
We were caught in the same position in the summer in Orlando International airport using Alamo. Extra preiums were for extra named drivers and the roadside assistance was mandatory. There was very small print in the contract we had on picking up the car and basically we signed for the extra stuff completeley unaware cos we didnt take the time to read through it.
I think they jump on the bandwagon that people are very tired after a long haul flight and dont have the time or energy to check all the print.
We were caught in the same position in the summer in Orlando International airport using Alamo. Extra preiums were for extra named drivers and the roadside assistance was mandatory. There was very small print in the contract we had on picking up the car and basically we signed for the extra stuff completeley unaware cos we didnt take the time to read through it.
I think they jump on the bandwagon that people are very tired after a long haul flight and dont have the time or energy to check all the print.
the thing is jackie it was not offered to us in any shape or form...thats the most annoying thing about it,, i believe they stole this money from my bank account,,,, will wait to see what thomas cook bring back but not hoping for much there in it with each other, but i will take it further so should you
the thing is jackie it was not offered to us in any shape or form...thats the most annoying thing about it,, i believe they stole this money from my bank account,,,, will wait to see what thomas cook bring back but not hoping for much there in it with each other, but i will take it further so should you
We werent offered it either just noticed it a few days later on further inspection of the rental agreement that there was additional charges not explained to us at all when we picked up the minibus and signed for it.
As I said in the earlier post they bombard you with details and it does all seem a con as far as we were concerned we had paid everything before we arrived. We put it down to experience but wont let it happen again next year.
Alamo car hire Sanford Florida 
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