Los Angeles - San Diego - Highway 1 - San Francisco

The whole trip was quite good, but the experience of changing the car at the end was extremely frustrating. The manager at Alamo's Los Angeles station and a female African American clerk deceived and extorted us when we went to replace the key out of goodwill and honesty, charging us $223 for a lost or damaged key. Our car window was broken in San Francisco, and we were worried the car change process would be cumbersome, so we arrived at the return point more than an hour early. A young Chinese man received us, issued an incident report, printed a receipt, and told us not to worry, the insurance company would handle it, and we could leave after collecting our belongings. As we were heading to the airport, we realized after passing through security that we had forgotten to return the car key. We were about to board the plane, so it was too late to go back. Although we could have pretended we didn't know since the car was successfully returned and we had a receipt indicating everything was normal, we decided to be honest. We couldn't bear the thought of the young man taking the blame for the missing key. I called a relative in the US to help contact the car rental company, stating we could return the key to the Los Angeles Alamo after we landed. The Alamo customer service said we could return it by mail to San Francisco or bring it to their Los Angeles station, though we might have to pay for postage. Although I was a bit frustrated about the postage, we went to Los Angeles International Airport's Alamo the next morning to return the key. A female African American employee in the after-sales department received me, and after explaining the situation, she brought her manager, a Middle Eastern man. These two staff members made this rental experience a disaster! They showed the small tag on the key, which stated a $223 fee for a lost or damaged key. Honestly, we hadn't noticed the tag after using the car for days. I told her I didn't lose or damage it; I accidentally took it and came here to return it out of goodwill. If it was just a matter of a few dozen dollars for postage, we could negotiate, but I would not accept the $223 fee. Their staff did not remind us to hand over the key, and we had completed the return process. If I didn't return the key, it would be more trouble to make a new one. The woman smugly said I could take the key back, and they would deduct it from the pre-authorization. I said we returned the car just last evening, explained the situation to customer service, and came to return the key first thing in the morning; they shouldn't have made a new key yet, and there was no real loss. She then told me to wait. The manager was on the phone, seemingly confirming with San Francisco. After the call, he sternly told me that they had already made a new key, so I must pay for it. I had to wait there while my relative directly called Alamo's San Francisco station, who confirmed they had not made a new key and appreciated our effort to return the key but hoped we could mail it back by Tuesday. It was a weekend, so the courier service was closed, meaning I had to use overnight delivery on Monday. Though postage would be costly, it was reasonable compared to $223. Before leaving, I asked to take a picture of the Middle Eastern manager's name tag, but he gave me a business card instead. His name is Sameer Saddiqi, Station Manager, and I will file a complaint to Alamo about his and his employee's despicable behavior. UPS delivery cost $39.85, a lesson for my kindness! It wasted most of my day arguing with those scumbags and finding a courier to mail the key! I hope Zuzuche will hold such car rental companies accountable and give them a poor service rating!