Alamo Car Rental Tucson International Airport Is attempting to file a damage claim against me stating the 2015 Dodge Charger has under carriage damage Tucson Arizona

Rental from 4-11-2015 - 4-17-2015

2015 Dodge Charger White Rate $15.57 Per Day

I rented this vehicle from Alamo at The Tucson International Airport. This was my second rental this month. I had to rent a vehicle, because my family SUV had a hose break and it shorted out some of my spark plugs. My vehicle is difficult to repair and will be out of comission for a while so my family and I needed a vehicle.

1st rental was a Full Size and was not available so they upgraded me at no cost to a Premium Rental 2014 Chrysler 300 at a rate of $15.57. There were no issues at all here, I cleaned the vehicle before returning. I returned the vehicle and the attendant scanned the vehicle in and asked how it drove, I told him wonderful and he told me my price, $123.89 for 7 days, Saturday to Saturday. 

I was offered 1 of 2 vehicles. a Kia Sorento or a Dodge Charger.  I am 6'5'', 320 lbs, I need a vehicle I can sit in comfortably and with enough room for my 2 year old son and 5 year old daughter. I inspected the Dodge Charger and there was no damage von the vehicle. I did not; however, inspect the under carriage. The vehicle was used to transport my fiance and I to work at Sierra Middle School, and to sports competitions with the Middle School Track Team we both coach. Some of these meets were as far as 60 miles away. There was no addiotional mile charges, the vehicle came with unlimited miles.

I never drove the behicle without at least my son with me. All of my driving was very cautious as to my children being in the car and the kind of person I am. I dont have an accident at all on my record and only 2 speeding tickets in my 12+ year driving record.Here is where things take a left turn.

I had the car reserved for 3 days, but due to repairs I needed it longer, I called Alamo on the day my car was to be returned and informed them I would need the car longer. They said that wouldnt be a problem at all. I return the car Friday, April 17th around 5:30pm. I pull up and the attendant comes over and scans the car and informs me the charges are 240 something dollars. I immeadiately ask why the high cost, because my previous rental was half that for only 6 days. I tell him I just rented from them and that my rate was much lower, I was blown away at this price. The attendant asks how my drive was and I told him, "It was wonderful, very nice drive, excellent gas mileage and I vacummed and gassed it up for them." I didnt have a problem with anything at all with the car. He inspecte dthe vehicle and saw no damage and said the vehicle looked great, and thanked me for cleaning it. Even made a little joke about not having to clean it himself now and thanks.

He said he was sorry for the cost confusion and that he was "new" and couldnt explain it to me, so he said I could go inside and speak to Lance Keri (Manager) he would call Lance from the lot and let him know I was on the way in. I meet Lance and begin telling him that the cost was way off from the previous rental I had. He informs me that because I used the car longer than expected the price had gone up. I was upset with this because no one informed me. He did point to the fine print stating that the cost would change for extra days, even though a week earlier that had not been the case at all. He was kind and understood my conncern and discounted the price to $148.18. That was good and I was happy.

You can imagine my surprise when I get a phone call from Lance while at our Middle School Track event in Sahuarita, AZ this afternoon 4-23-2015. He left a message saying he wanted to follow up with me and if I could call him back. I immeadiately called him back thinking maybe he wanted me to take a survey or a review of the company on the service. He informs me that after I dropped off the car and spoke to him the lot attendants found severe under carriage damage to the vehicle and that I was responsible. I was surprised to hear that, he said that the lot attendant told him I said that the gas pedal wasnt working correctly, which is a lie because the pedal worked perfectly and I had ZERO complaints about the car when I returned the vehicle. I told him immeadiately that I had not driven anywhere that could have caused under carriage damage and that I was very upset hearing this. He said that they would be filing a damage claim and that I would receive correspondance from their claims department. I again said that there were NO malfuctions at all when I rented the vehicle and when I returned it.

I Immeadiately call my lawyer and ask him about this, he said that it sounds odd. I look up damage claims concerneing the under carriage and that Enterprise seems to file these damage claims A Lot! I call Lance back and tell him I spoke to my lawyer and my lawyer advised me to get contact information and we will look at all options when I receive the correspondance. Lance seemed surprised and quick to say that he doesnt handle these things and that claims dept will handle it all. He also said that it may take a few days for the claim to be filed by him and he had not done it yet. I told him my lawyer will be in touch with him after getting all his information.

Sidenote: The attendant when I rented the vehicle make a remark to me when I told him I'd take the charger, he said, "Ah man I wanted to rent that one this weekend, you took my car buddy," and laughed it off.

I am very upset because my family and I are on a tighter budget, we are trying to get finances in order to purchase a home, we coach middle school sports and teach and our money is very tight. We cannot afford a bogus bill for damage that I know I didnt do. This sounds like a scam to me, especially since he may have been inconveinced by me complaining about the rate change fine print. This to me sounds like an attempt to get money from me. Any help or advice would be great and I will also be filing a complaint to the Better Business Bureau here in Town.