mark@sickkids.UUCP (Mark Bartelt) (04/06/89)
I note, with a combination of dismay and amusement, that DECUS has, for what presumably seemed like good reasons to whoever made the decision, selected Alamo Rent A Car as the designated car rental agency for the Atlanta symposium. If you read rec.travel, you undoubtedly recall the discussion a couple months ago about car rental companies in general, and Alamo in particular. A followup posting by someone who started the whole discussion pretty much says it all: > Thank you all of you who posted your experiences with Alamo; > there were a few other car rental agencies who got mildly > blasted, but Alamo was considered, by far, the most underhanded > dirty-dealing outfit. There were even a few people who, when > I mentioned that I had had a bad experience with a car rental > agency, said: "Alamo, right?" Some of the sleazy practices that people complained about included: -- Unavailability of the class of automobile that the customer had reserved, coupled with substitution of more expensive cars, requiring that the driver pay the higher cost. (Most other car rental companies, when making such a substitution, provide the larger car but honor the lower price that the customer was promised at reservation time.) -- High-pressure badgering to buy the "optional" CDW, even when the drivers *knew* that they were covered by their personal insurance. -- Attempts to charge customers for small dents and other sorts of minor damage that had been there before the car left the lot. Plus the remarkable (and, in many people's views, rather suspicious) ability of their employees to zero in on these trivial pre-existing damages, as if they might be collecting on the same dent from customer after customer after customer. -- A one-time, non-refundable fuel fee, where the customer gets charged approximately $2/gallon * gas_tank_capacity, but with the tank generally only half full. So those of you who plan to rent a car in Atlanta might be well advised to watch out. I'd be curious to hear of any horrendous experiences after the symposium. As for me, I'll be taking MARTA. By the way, it seems that Alamo is interested in renting only to residents of the US: Their 800 number doesn't work from Canada (not unusual), but their advertisement in the DECUS registration packet doesn't include any other telephone number which people outside the range of their toll-free number might be able to use. ----- Mark Bartelt UUCP: {utzoo,decvax}!sickkids!mark Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto BITNET: mark@sickkids.utoronto 416/598-6442 INTERNET: mark@sickkids.toronto.edu
todd@stiatl.UUCP (Todd Merriman) (04/07/89)
In article <147@sickkids.UUCP> mark@sickkids.UUCP (Mark Bartelt) writes: >I note, with a combination of dismay and amusement, that DECUS has, >for what presumably seemed like good reasons to whoever made the >decision, selected Alamo Rent A Car as the designated car rental >agency for the Atlanta symposium. The MARTA subway train station at the Atlanta airport is about 50 ft. from the baggage claim. There are train stations within walking distance of the Symposium hotels (but a portable baggage cart is advisable). If you must have a car, there are a multitude of rental agencies and many "rent-a-heap" agencies, also. ...!gatech!stiatl!todd Todd Merriman * 404-377-TOFU * Atlanta, GA Note: I have no idea what my employer's views on the subject are.
avolio@decuac.dec.com (Frederick M. Avolio) (04/08/89)
How's the bus and/or taxi situation between the airport and the hotels? If I need a car I'll tag along with Mark :-).
norman@alice.UUCP (What is your full name (for news article signatures)) (04/09/89)
Here are some words that will appear in the UNISIG session notes at the Atlanta symposium. They will be accompanied there by a schematic map of the MARTA rail system and a somewhat fuzzy downtown transit map showing bus routes. The housing map in the symposium registration packet shows the downtown rail stations. If you have leftover MARTA tokens from the Summer 1986 USENIX conference, they're still good. I called and asked, as I have three. I don't understand why anyone would bother to rent a car in Atlanta; then again, I don't understand why anyone drives a car in downtown New York or Toronto. MARTA, Atlanta's public transit system, is a connected network of buses and trains. Most routes run at least from 6am to midnight. Bus routes vary in frequency, but most run every 15-30 minutes, more often in the rush hour. Trains run every 6-10 minutes on weekdays, 10-15 minutes on weekends. On weekdays, some trains don't go all the way to the ends of the north-south rail line, for example to the airport; read the destination signs before boarding. The fare is $.85 exact change for bus or train. If you're likely to ride a lot, or don't like to carry change around, tokens are 10 for $8, and weekly passes (good from one Sunday to the following Saturday) are $8. Transfers for a continuous one-way ride (no round trips) are free; ask for one when you board the first bus, or press the button for one when you go through the train fare gate. Some train stations allow bus-train transfers behind the fare gates, so you don't need a transfer. Peachtree Center rail station (N1) is a couple of blocks from the headquarters hotels; see the housing map. Omni station (W1) is near the World Congress Center and the symposium proper. Airport station (S7) is the airport. The Amtrak station is a ten-minute bus ride from the Arts Center station (N5); take the #23-Lenox bus. This is one of the stations where transfers aren't needed. Timetables and maps are available in the Five Points station (where the two rail lines intersect). Or ring MARTA at 404/848-4711 6am to 10pm weekdays, 8am-4pm weekends.