Complaint Review: Enterprise Rental Car

For the record, let me say that I am 99% certain that NONE of this damage occurred while we had possession of the rental car. A couple of quick "Google Searches" revealing that this is VERY common with Enterprise. Of course things can and do happen, but can someone explain to me how that a rental car with 22,000+ on the clock, was perfect when picked up (and we know it wasn't) and 18 hrs later has suddenly suffered several parking lot type "dings". Also explain to us why, when questioned the Rental Clerk in Santa Barbara said we couldn't make a mark on the paper where the largest, or most noticeable dent was. (on the hood) He then proceeded to pull out their "Damage Card" which has a 3 or 4 inch clear section in the middle. He said none of the damage was bigger than the "hole" therefore don't mark it on paper. "Or we can't rent it" His process was VERY subjective, and we never saw him using the "Card" when he did his walk-around.

 Having rented many times from Enterprise with no issues, I trusted the agent when he assured me damages were non issues.

  When I walked around, I noticed the scratch near fuel fill door, part of which goes through to primer, I noticed the small dings on RH side aft of passenger door, (there's more than one as I recall, in a cluster) I noticed the LARGE ding/dent on the hood, and to be honest, DID NOT see the small 3" crease on the lower trailing edge of the driver's door. (no one would notice easily without crouching at an angle to get a good reflection). I actually remember the renting agent looking at, and even perhaps touching the “scratch” aft of the fuel door, and the very small dings aft of the passenger door.  Having rented many times from Enterprise with no issues, I trusted the agent when he assured me small dings were non issues.

 The reason I am taking time with this is we feel like we're being scammed, I can guess that when they sell you "walk away" insurance they don't inspect returns closely, and likely never do repairs until they are either major, or they send to resell. I would be curious as to the complete rental and repair history of this unit, including documentation of whether all previous renters purchased their insurance coverage.

  I have rented probably 40 times from Enterprise over the years, NEVER have they done an inspection like this, I suspect there is some internal process that may have something to do with the fact that they didn't rent it at their location, and perhaps the renting agent in Santa Barbara knew there was borderline chargeable damage that he had missed previously..it is just very fishy.

Thanks for reading, any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,