Enterprise Rent-A-Car ripoff, failure to disclose information, BAD customer service Selinsgrove Pennsylvania
I recently had my Jeep break down and since my girlfriend was going home for a weekend I decided to rent a car from Enterprise. I was uncertain if I could because of my age(23), but I had found on Enterprise's website that all drivers had to be 21 years of age or older. I thought, Great!
I reserved a car for Saturday, the 15th to Monday the 17th. The total given to me was roughly $43-$45. Perfect I thought. I got an email confirmation later that day. I called the local branch to confirm that they could come pick me up. Brian , the guy I spoke to said, "sure no problem... you do have a valid driver's license, correct?" I said I did.
October 15th, I get a phone call about 2 hours before my pick up time. It was Brian again confirming the reservation. THen he said, "I forgot to ask this the last time you called, but you do have a major credit card, correct? Just for verification of your information." Again, I said I did and I thought I would have no problem.
He comes to pick me up. I get out my license and credit card from my wallet. We are almost in the parking lot when he asks me if I also have my $250 deposit. I said, "Excuse me?" "Your $250 deposit." I said I was not aware of this. He said, "Yeah, that is the problem with our website and national 1-80 number, they don't tell you this information."
I was upset... to say the least. I told him that no one told me this. He said that he couldn't give me a car without it. So I told him to drive me back.
I get TWO email confirmations... had TWO phone calls with Brian and at NO time was I told this information. You cannot withhold something like this to a potential customer!
So, I decide to complain on their website. I wrote the whole story and sent it in. I get an email 2 days later saying we are making sure that you have been contacted (I wasn't), if this is not the case, reply here... but at the bottom of the email... it had listed all the information about my submission. when I sent in, my name.. etc.. the last line said "Status: SOLVED" I thought this was an oversite on their part for the situation had not been solved so I replied and told them I had not been contacted. 2 days later I got the same email...
DO NOT RENT FROM ENTERPRISE! They do NOT care about their customers at all!
Chris
Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Railyn
Northumberland,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Similar Problems With Same Store
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, May 09, 2006
I had a host of problems with this same store, and one of them was that they don't give you enough info over the phone. Part of my problem is that I wanted to pay cash up-front, and they said OK if I brought a copy of a pay stub, and a current utility bill. I did that, and they still wanted $250 cash on top of it. When they put a hold on the particular credit card I have, it takes more than what they are asking for, because it goes in as an open-ended transaction. I didn't want my credit card unavailable for emergencies. I finally just gave them my credit card, and took the cash back.
The customer service at that location is terrible.
I spoke to the district manager, and he apologized and said he'd get back to me with a free weekend if I tried them again. I've yet to hear from him since.
And the employee who chastized the complainer because he wasn't aware of the deposit and said that his girlfriend would leave him needs to get a grip on reality. I work in customer service for a living, and that's overstepping your bounds.
Despite what the district manager told me about this being one of their best locations, either he needs to check again, or more people need to speak up.
Railyn
Northumberland,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Similar Problems With Same Store
#5Consumer Comment
Tue, May 09, 2006
I had a host of problems with this same store, and one of them was that they don't give you enough info over the phone. Part of my problem is that I wanted to pay cash up-front, and they said OK if I brought a copy of a pay stub, and a current utility bill. I did that, and they still wanted $250 cash on top of it.
When they put a hold on the particular credit card I have, it takes more than what they are asking for, because it goes in as an open-ended transaction. I didn't want my credit card unavailable for emergencies.
The customer service at that location is terrible.
I spoke to the district manager, and he apologized and said he'd get back to me with a free weekend if I tried them again. I've yet to hear from him since.
And the employee who chastized the complainer because he wasn't aware of the deposit and said that his girlfriend would leave him needs to get a grip on reality. I work in customer service for a living, and that's overstepping your bounds.
Despite what the district manager told me about this being one of their best locations, either he needs to check again, or more people need to speak up.
Mike
Radford,Virginia,
U.S.A.
The problem here is that no one told Chris about the deposit until he was at the store.
#5Consumer Suggestion
Fri, December 16, 2005
So naturally he didn't have it then. They should have said "You need to bring a valid major credit card with $400 available credit. We reserve a deposit and then take it off when you bring the car back." Then no suprises at the store. And it's not going to make him go somewhere else, because every other car rental agency does the same thing.
Unfortunately Enterprise's problems go far deeper than this simple lack of customer service. I consider him lucky that he didn't get the car.
Amy
Langhorne,Pennsylvania,
U.S.A.
Enterprise is a fair and open organization!
#5UPDATE Employee
Fri, December 16, 2005
I have to argue with your complaint against Enterprise as I am an employee of the company for almost 7 months now. As a standard security deposit in my area, we require a FOUR HUNDRED DOLLAR deposit from a credit card in order for you to rent a car. What's the problem here? They only asked you for $250, that's a deal! We are allowing you to drive a CAR, for God's sake. You are driving a car, which you do not own, for as long as you need it, and only ask you to provide us with a credit card so we have some sort of collateral. Didn't you think that MAYBE we would need some kind of information on you before you drive off with an expensive vehicle? What if we asked for a deposit for the full amount of the car, just in case you steal it? There is nothing wrong with leaving an authorization on your credit card for incidentals; ie you return it with less gas and we need to charge you, or if you STEAL it and we need to have important information from you. I agree that we should have informed you of the deposit, but if you really wanted to rent the car, then you would have agreed to it. The part the irks me the most is that you aren't being CHARGED a deposit. We simply freeze a certain amount of your credit limit, and you get it IMMEDIATELY back when you return the vehicle. You will NEVER see it on your credit card statement or anything! The fact that you refused to leave a deposit kind of makes me wonder if you're a suspicious renter in the first place. Most people who refuse to leave a deposit end up being criminals or they were planning to steal the car or mess it up. We need to have a deposit so if you don't come in, we at least have a card to charge for the amount of the rental. Even people who know nothing about car rentals ASSUME that we might need some kind of deposit. So not only do I question your motives for renting, but also your character and intelligence. I hope you choose, in the future, to rent from Enterprise, because now you understand the process and will hopefully not think of us as some crazed organization trying to steal your money and deceive you. Have you ever rented an apartment? You need to leave a security deposit. Even to rent a carpet shampooer you need to leave collateral!! If you don't have $250 to leave, then your girlfriend probably won't stay with you for long anyway. PEACE.