(Of course, with some companies, you can be handed a contract but still wait and wait and wait for t

I rented a car with Alamo last week. My scheduled pickup time was 2:00pm. My flight didn t get in until 3:30, and I picked up the car around 4:00. When I returned the car three days later (at 3:00pm) they charged me for an extra hour s rental. And that one hour cost more than the daily rate.
I complained that I hadn t actually picked up the car until 4pm, so it was less than 3x 24-hours, so why were they charging me for 3 days plus one hour? They insisted that the reservation started at 2:00 pm. What gives?
This issue has come up before, in a discussion of the decline of grace periods from a few years back. There was one comment in particular , from a reader named Jason, which is particularly prescient, and bears repeating:
A little tip for renters from someone who's been on both sides of the rental counter. Make sure the rental agent updates car rental key west florida your pickup time if you arrive after your scheduled pick up time (i.e. scheduled to pick up at 2pm and you don't arrive until 3pm). If you arrive early, the computers will likely set your pickup car rental key west florida time to the actual time you pickup the car, but if you arrive car rental key west florida late it's up to you and/or the agent to update your pickup time. This little trick has caught a lot of renters who return at the same time they picked up the car, but still get the late fees.
(Of course, with some companies, you can be handed a contract but still wait and wait and wait for the car If that happens, car rental key west florida let the exit gate agent to mark and initial the contract with the accurate time, as a last resort, if you can t get it updated in the computer.)
One other nasty suprise of Alamo, if you return the car more than 24 hours early you may be subject to a $15 early return fee. It's stupid, but it's on the contract the renter has to initial. Don't try to argue with the agent, we couldn't take it off and we never could figure out why it only appeared on some rentals and not others.
I had an occasion with Avis where I returned the car about a day and a half early due to a major change in travel plans. The computer recalculated my rate at the current daily rate, instead of the much cheaper advanced reservation weekly rate about a difference of $300 that I would owe. I would have been happy paying the full weekly plus a small charge over that, but 300 was a little ridiculous. I went in to the counter, and they pro-rated my original rate something that I still feel was over and above what they needed to do.
We hope all customers read over their rental agreement before signing so they are aware of the terms and conditions. If there is any misinformation on the rental agreement regarding pick up time, etc we would be glad to correct it at the time of pick up.
As for your reader Thomas case, we d be glad to resolve this issue with him. He can email us at care[at]alamo.com with the details of his reservation, car rental key west florida listing reference car rental key west florida number car rental key west florida 100413-001299 in the subject of his email.
car rental key west florida You are correct that customers should read their contracts. Of course, I hope that Alamo works hard to make those contracts clear, transparent, and easily understood by those without a legal background