Ordered MPV from Alamo - got an Insignia saloon, had to leave disabled buggy at home

blue_monkey_2

I ordered an MPV from Alamo website, on collecting the car they had given us an Insignia saloon. The buggy would not fit in with the cases so I had to leave it behind, we was going away for 2 weeks so needed the buggy and all the clothes we had packed. The buggy and some extra stuff had to be left behind.

Is it worth complaining? I am still smarting over having to leave his diabled buggy behind if I am honest - it was the reason we ordered the damn MPV. Your thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks.

brazilianwax

Can't see MPV as a category on their website

blue_monkey_2

Also to add, they told us they never even had an MPV on their fleet yet I called and pre-booked a specific car with them. They then let slip they had one with a broken windscreen so they clearly did have one but had not got it repaired in time for us.

Should they be advertising MPV's on their fleet when they do not have them? Also, Alamo are actually National Car Rental - I did not order from National as they did not have the MPV.

We found out we had the wrong car 2 hours before we left for going on a holiday on a Saturday morning.

blue_monkey_2

brazilianwax wrote: »

Can't see MPV as a category on their website

It's Intermediate: http://www.alamo.co.uk/Content/740/uk/Fleet/main/?selectedCountry=GB

If you call their HO and ask what they offer they have 2 styles of Citreon or a scenic MPV. We ordered the Intermediate then called the local office and said 'we wanted a picasso' and they told us this would be noted.

brazilianwax

So they actually upgraded you by giving you a Standard car.

Had something similar in the US. We booked a specific car and they tried to give us something else. We were in no hurry, so we complained and got the right car within an hour or so. I didn't leave the desk so that they knew we were serious and they even refunded us $100 for the inconvenience.

I'd say a polite but strong letter of complaint would be in order.

My uncle in law is severely disabled (paraplegic) and he always gets an upgrade to a suitable car. If your child's needs couldn't be met by the car they gave you and you'd given them adequate warning of what you needed then you should be entitled to something back (I'd have thought).

Good luck.

blue_monkey_2

Hmmm, that is interesting I just looked on their website. We got a 1.8, the standard on there is a 2.0 insignia - they had a sheet on the desk when we went to get the car and the cars they show on their website were not on that list and this is what they told us was all they offered. There was not as many choices either as they show on their website.

We asked if we could upgrade to a people carrier or an estate as we would pay for something larger rather than something smaller and they said they did not have them so we couldn't - it was the Insignia or nothing. They said that they would call around and see if they could get us something else and that they would deliver it to our house. I said 'what if it does not get to us before you close? (just 90 minutes before closing)' and she said she did not know. If we had done as they suggested this would have left us without a car to go on holiday in. In the end we said we would wait while they called around and it was lucky we did as they did not have anything. Apparently Luton were 90 cars short and were looking themselves!!

I will drop them a letter, I feel they should change their website, I looked at so many websites and wanted to be sure we got the car we needed and so this is why i called them to double check, I cannot see why they have all these cars on their pages if they actually do not offer them, it seems ridiculous if you need a car to suit your needs. Thanks for your help.

OlliesDad

Not sure that there is much you can do as they do advise in their policies that "Vehicles are reserved by rate code and vehicle category" which means that you cant reserve specific cars only their group i.e. Intermediate.

It is different if they guaranteed the car to you when you called, but i suspect they would have only "requested" it for you.

deanos

I would have thought a Insignia's boot is bigger than a Picasso ?

OlliesDad

deanos wrote: »

I would have thought a Insignia's boot is bigger than a Picasso ?

Won't be as tall though!

deanos

No i guess it wouldnt

blue_monkey_2

Although the Insignia boot looks bigger it is kind of deceptive because it does not have the height the Picasso does and even if you took the parcel shelf out there is not room for an additional case or something like that, just coats really. I could not drive the Insignia (and I had paid for an additional driver) because I did not have clear vision around me. I had to leave the bed linen and some of the beach stuff behind. We had planned to go shopping before arriving but could not do that either as we did not have room for shopping, we probably spent 50 hours driving with the kids having stuff crammed in around them and in my footwell, also you can put the seat down in the MPV which you could not do in the Insignia so we lost space there as well (space we had planned on using).

The reason for booking with them is because of the class of car they had and the fact we could fit everything in (we checked out the cars before we ordered them so the kids would have plenty of room and stuff like that) in fact the kids could not see out of the windows as the seats were too deep as well.

It also had vomit on the car seat, down the door and stuck in the speakers and in the creases - they had used a quick perfume when we got the car to mask the smell as I said to my husband that the car smelt like something had died in it after a day or so of having it and then later on in the break I found out why. I think it had just been rubbed over and it was damp because I did not see it when we put the car seat in - but when it came out you could see the vomit over the seat.

I just do not think they should be offering classes of car on their website that they do not offer and I think I just want to tell them that. I accept that there is nothing more they can do now but they should be changing their website, the Alamo site can easily be redirected to the National Car hire website. Had we ordered a standard we would have not got that car either as the engine was a smaller size. National have a list of their cars in their office and there is certainly no MPV on there and the lady said they did not have any.

'Luckily' my son was light enough to be carried between us but if it had been my DD we cannot physically carry her as she is too heavy, it is only because he is underweight we did not have a problem!!

I suppose I am here having a rant, I know it is not 'life or death' but I am just annoyed you can hire a car of a certain size when you need it for a specific reason and get given something completely different so that you cannot take the essentials you need. If I had the buggy he used as a younger child that did not fold up small I'd have to leave 2 cases behind to take the buggy - that is just crazy. Had they told me on 'reserving' the car (and either the picasso would have been acceptable which is what they offered - I called them to check before doing so, this was the point in doing so) that they did not have this size of car then why did they not tell me then?

I think I will write asking that they change their website and I think I might drop a note over to Trading Standards to explain the problems we encountered too. I wish I had spent the money on fixing up our own car instead - we are getting a new one and so it is going in for P/x so we thought a hire car would be easier. Obviously not!!