Complaint Review: Enterprise Rent-A-Car

A couple weeks ago, my car was backed into by another driver in a parking garage and I was told it would take a couple days to repair. Since the other driver backed into me, they assumed full responsibility for the damage. The fender bender happened during the week, so I was going to need to use a rental car while mine was being repaired. The other driver recommended using Enterprise, since they were located in close proximity to the auto body shop I was using. Never having rented a car before, I was under the naive assumption all places were the same, and made a reservation with Enterprise.

I rented a Ford Fiesta at $27/day for a total of 3 days. When I went to pick up the rental, the car looked like was in good condition (clean, both inside and outside). It was raining outside when we did the walk-around inspection, but the Enterprise employee did mark down that there was minor damage to the rear bumper. Also, the gas tank was only at half a tank when I was given the car. Before initialing the contract, the employee asked if I was interested in paying for their extended insurance policy or if I would just like to use my insurance, in case of any damages. I declined their insurance, since I would only be driving to and from work over the next couple of days.

After the three days were up and I was notified my car had been repaired, I went to return the rental. Since I had declined to pay for their insurance, I had been meticulously checking the rental each day for any damages, and each day found that nothing new had been acquired. Similar to everyday prior, I thoroughly checked the rental before leaving work, noting there was absolutely no additional damage, and drove straight to Enterprise.

When I got to Enterprise, I parked directly out front and went inside to check out. Upon entering the store, there was absolutely no one in the office, and I waited 20 minutes for an employee. (Check out process already off to a poor start, in my opinion). Once someone finally began to help me, we started the check-out process. About half way through, the manager on duty who was assisting me, Nicole, said she needed to check the gas levels on the rental. Not inviting me to go with her, and under the assumption she had her customer's best interests in mind, she went out unattended to look at the gas level.

The rental was not parked within eyesight of where I was and she was outside for about 5 minutes. When she came back inside, she did not say anything other than that the gas level looked a little low. After explaining it was already at half a tank when I picked it up, she only charged me for 2 gallons and continued to finish the check-out process. At the part where I'm assuming the final inspection occurs, Nicole says, "I just want to go look at something again. I noticed a concerning scratch on the trunk and want to take another look."

Completely surprised, and confused, I told her that I also wanted to take a look at this because I had no clue what she was referring to. Immediately I knew something was up. Outside, lo and behold, there was about a foot long scratch on the lid of the trunk. A scratch that I know definitely WAS NOT THERE when I parked the car. I spent the better half of 45 minutes explaining to her that the scratch was not there and did not happen under my watch. I was greeted with a rude and unprofessional demeanor and was told that she “personally checked the vehicle for existing damages prior to when I picked it up and knew that the scratch was not there before I rented it.” Basically she rebutted everything I was telling her by passively calling me a liar, and since the damage was not written or recorded anywhere, “there was nothing she could do” and it was my responsibility to fix it.

She filed a claim that said "the customer does not know how damage occurred” and told me someone would be in touch with an estimate. Two weeks go by, and I have not heard from anyone. Wanting to resolve this as quickly as possible, I called Enterprise to inquire about the estimate. I was put on hold and ended up speaking with Nicole. She told me that the initial estimate was given for $1100 but was taken to another auto body place that was willing to repair the damage for $921. Either way, that price is completely marked up for the damage incurred, of which, I am not even responsible for causing.

Enterprise is unprofessional and I am under the impression that they are out to scam any of their supposedly “valued” customers who opt out of paying for their extended insurance. I hope that this does not happen to anyone else. I can guarantee that I will never be using Enterprise's services, at any location, ever again.