Alamo Car Hire - Waterloo Train Station - London

Nikki

DO NOT BOOK WITH THIS COMPANY
They are dodgy and thieves looking for any excuse to help themselves to your account and saying oh its in the contract.

They keep taking extra excess chargers out of my account and when i ask them to explain what its for all they do is yell at me and say its all in the contract.

When I asked for a full damage report they refuse to give it and just keep referring to the contract.

So currently 3 weeks of trying to get something in writing about the money they have taken they refuse and just say its in the contract.

Hired a car from them and we had a not at fault accident (car backed into the car while parked)
It was reported to them and the contact of the other driver provided. They then took the bond and extra from my account without any contact. They did not tell us that the excess would be taken until the other party paid for the repairs. And now they are telling me it will take awhile for that money to be returned if and only if the other party pays for the damage.
This was after being left on hold for over 40 min to speak to someone.
I have asked for something in writing about the excess being taken and held until the other party pays for the damage and they have refused told me they can’t provide that and I need to contact claims.
Its terrible that they go and take money from peoples accounts without any contact about it and not providing anything in writing about taking excesses or holding bonds.
I was also led to believe the extra cover I paid for covered not at fault claims but I’m told that it only covers tyres, windscreen and roadside assist.
Would never book with this company again.

yassar H.

Be very careful when renting from there. For a pre-paid rental they had charged me rental protection insurance and excess insurance and not asked me. I just received a bill. Tried calling their office numerous times but not one answers. Now this is in dispute with the credit card company. Good central location, but extremely unethical employees.

Lauren D.

After reading some of the previous reviews, I felt hesitant and nervous about booking this car rental. However, I can confidently say this turned out to be the best car rental experience I’ve ever had. The staff was incredibly helpful in resolving issues, provided a fantastic car, and made both pickup and return seamless. They even returned the deposit promptly. 10/10 experience!

Lucas H.

Absolutely horrible. We had a booking on Easter Sunday. It was confirmed by Alamo. Went we went at 12, the place was closed, and the parking attendant said that the place was shut on Easter. There was 0 updates from them about being shut. We called up Alamo, and they didn’t even pick up a call and respond to us.

Worst experience. Please do not rent from here.

Matthew H.

A terrible hire experience, bad enough to wreck your family holiday in London.
We were given a hire vehicle with rim damage and were told not to worry as rim damage is counted as damage. We returned the vehicle the next day and got charged the full bond as there was a scuff on the tire. I asked for photos of the vehicle before I hired it, they couldn’t provide it. As soon as they know you have insurance through a third party they will look for any opportunity to take your full bond. In our case the scuff to the tyre required a spot light for it to be seen.

Very disappointing as we picked this company due to stronger reviews to avoid this problem. The most detailed return inspection I have ever witnessed when hiring a vehicle. They are clearly looking for any opportunity to pass on charges for older vehicles to customers.

No manager or similar to discuss with and left very frustrated due to the poor customer service. I wouldn’t recommend this hire car company.

Chidi N.

Firstly, the entire car rental process was one of the worst customer service experiences we have ever encountered. The staff, especially the manager, were extremely rude and made no attempt to apologize for their numerous mistakes. Initially, the address provided to us for the car rental was incorrect. Alamo failed to update the booking address with any third-party vendors, leading us to the wrong location. Despite this being an error on Alamo's part, the staff blamed us for not verifying the address, even though we followed the instructions provided by them.

When we eventually arrived at the correct address, we discovered that my bookings vehicle had been given to another customer. This meant that the car I had paid for was no longer available, and it was the only car left for the day. Consequently, we had to wait for another two hours until the other customer returned the car, causing us to miss our scheduled commitments. Throughout this ordeal, no apology or support was offered to us.

While we were waiting in the office, we were given no updates or communication regarding the status of our rental, which only added to our frustration. The manager, instead of addressing our concerns and approaching me to apologise, was seen verbally abusing a staff member, calling him an idiot and berating him for mistakenly double-booking the car or assigning our booking to someone else. This unprofessional behavior was conducted in front of customers, further adding to our distress. At no point did the manager greet us or offer any form of apology for the inconvenience we were experiencing.

The entire experience was a clear demonstration of terrible customer service and a complete lack of professionalism. Given the rudeness of the staff and the chaotic way the branch operates, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Alamo to anyone.

Claire R.

Don’t even consider renting from this outlet. We booked a hire car from Australia weeks in advance. Purpose of the visit was to visit a sick elderly parent and needed to drive for 3.5 hours from London to get there. Appalling service. Instead of the luxury sedan we booked we were offered a hatchback or a minibus, neither of which would be appropriate for our trip as that was all they had left in the lot. Wasted 4 hours of Christmas Eve negotiating, only to be offered an EV from a branch on the other side of London. The EV was totally unfit for the mileage we needed to do and not being familiar with EVs,and how quickly the last 20% of charge diminishes, we ended up out of charge and broken down on Christmas Day. On returning the vehicle we noted minor paint damage on the bumper (not caused by us) and ended up GBP900 out of pocket. No compensation for the time we wasted trying just to get the car we booked, nor the inappropriateness of the car we ended up with, and the inconvenience of wasting our brief trip to the UK to sit at charging stations. Absolutely disgraceful.

Janessa J.

Smaller locations like this are always a gamble but RUN quickly from this business. Its dangerous abmnd dodgy. This was my worst rental experience ever. I rent cars a few times per month and this was the most terrible experience. The car type I requested was not available and I was told there was only one rental available and I could "take it or leave it." The car had an overwhelming lemon scent to it to cover up the stale smell of the car. So we had to drive with the windows down for 2 days. The damange walk around prior to the rental was uncomfortable. The man I worked with noted one small scratch on the driver side but said nothing about the tires and alloys. They were in terrible shape. I pointed out how much damage there was and again was told it was the only car available so if I didn't take it I would have to go to the airport one hour away. I double and triple checked that the Damage of the car was noted in the account and was reassured that the videos and pictures would be recorded. the rental was prepaid but I then authorized a damage hold of 500 pounds. I was aware of the central london congestion fee of 15 pounds and had to correct the employees fee of 30 pounds because it was a one way rental. He then said the authorization would be 550 pounds and he couldn't use the card the car was prepaid with. I have not had that happen in the past but gave a new card for the 550 pound authorization. Then I returned the car to the heathrow airport location and the man there said that the tires were damaged and I would be charged 1500 pounds for them. At this point I told him that the car was given to me damaged in london from the waterloo station damaged and I was reassured that the videos and pictures were uploaded and recorded. The heathrow airport person said there was nothing in the account and they would not have been able to rent me a car with so much damage. Imagine my surprise to know that the waterloo location not only refused my prepaid suv rental but knowingly put my family in danger by renting me an unsafe car. I told him the damage was preexisting and to please compare the previous photos to the current state of the car. He went into the office and returned back telling me that there was no recorded damage to the car and it would be charged to me. At this point I started calling my insurance company and requesting that the heathrow employee contact the waterloo employee. After several minutes I was told that the heathrow employee would be bumping the car rental back to the waterloo employee and that I would NOT be charged for damages. That they were in the wrong for renting me that car. He then tried to charge me for the congestion fee, that I already paid for. Then I return home to see a 1500 pound charge from your company! Absolutely absured. This needs to be resolved. Then they take off the 1500 and add a new charge for 2100. All for a 300 unsafe rental. This location needs to be shut down.