Rob Parriott only wanted to be with his mother on Christmas.

His flight from Denver to Minneapolis was canceled twice in the snowstorm. He couldn't find another flight. His only car, a Porsche Boxster, was parked downtown and wasn't snow-worthy. So he decided to rent a car and drive.

Alamo - the only company Parriott found with a car that could be returned in Minneapolis - wanted $950 a day.

"It was 'Take it or leave it,' three days before Christmas, in a snowstorm," Parriott said.

Parriott, 46, took it. He had no choice. One of his two brothers recently passed away. His other brother was laid up in bed after having a hip replacement. His elderly mother was facing the worst Christmas of her life.

"She was saying, 'I lost one son, my other son just had surgery, and my other son can't get here.' She was just a mess," Parriott said. "I had to get there."

He paid the $950 for a Chevy Impala and drove through the day and much of the night. He returned the car at the Minneapolis airport in less than 24 hours.

He said he was glad to be with his mom for Christmas but couldn't help feeling gouged. So when he got back from his trip, he dropped an e-mail to 9News, The Post's television partner.

Parriott told me he could afford the $950. He was more upset about other customers he saw in line, who had been stranded at the airport for days and could not come up with about $1,000 a day for a way out before Christmas.

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"It was declared a state emergency," Parriott said. "They can't just take advantage of the situation. That's like no moral conscience as a corporation."

Actually, it's more like supply and demand, said Charles Pulley, a spokesman for the Tulsa, Okla.-based company that owns Alamo.

"Alamo Rental Car would never gouge and does not take advantage of anyone in a situation as drastic and critical as he (Parriott) and other people were faced with," Pulley said.

Parriott walked up to the counter without a reservation, three days before Christmas. Snowstorm aside, this is perhaps the highest-demand moment of the year as people flock to Colorado for their ski vacations, Pulley said.

The rate Parriott paid was $720 a day. Taxes, fees and insurance brought it to $950. Perhaps Parriott was lucky he could get a ride to Minneapolis at any rate.

I had Marcie Lauritsen-Mann, owner of Highlands Ranch Travel, review Parriott's rental agreement. I also had her get a quote for the same car and trip, and it came to less than $180 a day. That was for this week, though, not the week before Christmas. But Parriott's bill still seemed steep to Lauritsen-Mann, who has been making travel arrangements for 25 years.

"This is ridiculous," she said. "I feel he was gouged."

The Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau has received only a handful of complaints from people who felt they were overcharged for rental cars during the snowstorm, spokeswoman Susan Liehe said. Same with the state attorney general's office.

"There is no law that prevents retailers from charging whatever they want," said Kristen Holtzman, spokeswoman for the AG's office. "We don't have a price-gouging statute in Colorado."

And even if there were such a law, what, exactly, is gouging? How much is too much? Where should regulation begin and market forces end?

Other companies - perhaps not as strapped for resources as the car-rental agencies - decided to help people stranded in the storm. Downtown Denver's Magnolia Hotel, for one, cut its rate from $159 to $99 for anyone stuck in the storm, said spokeswoman Dana Berry. The Hyatt Regency Denver cut its rate to $69 and handed out free toiletry kits.

How one is treated while stranded is likely to be remembered. And as it turns out, Parriott is in the travel business, having spent his career with a company that manages resort properties.

"I can assure you that I will tell all the corporate meeting planners and everybody we do business with about (Alamo)," Parriott said. "I'll make sure everybody knows what they did. That's the kind of stuff you have to tell friends."

Al Lewis' column appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Respond to him at denverpostbloghouse.com/lewis, 303-954-1967 or alewis@denverpost.com.