Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where the rental place has no cars even though Jerry reserved one? The punch line was basically this "you do a good job taking a reservation, but you don't hold the reservation". My situation exactly.

We had a reservation for almost two weeks for a vehicle. Having had spotty service with them in the past I drove by the night before to see if they had cars on the lot. They didn't. So I called the morning of the reservation at 8. I spoke with Paul (who I later found out was the manager) and told him I was confirming the reservation for 9. The first thing he said was "well it's 8 now". He was immediately sarcastic and sounded annoyed that I was calling that early. He confirmed they had no cars but he was doing his best to find one and asked if I could delay picking up until 10. I said no, we needed the vehicle for business reasons and needed it at 9. He said he would make a call, then call me back in 15 minutes. He failed to keep that commitment as well. At 8:45 I called and got through to him again and asked why he didn't call me back. He said he was busy. But he had some great news for me. He had found a car! The not so great news was that they were busy putting a door handle on the car and it would be ready by 10. Needless to say I canceled the reservation and went right down the street to Avis to get a rental.

But wait, there's more... I contacted their national customer service department to complain and asked for the names of the local branch manager, his boss, and then his boss. The only name they would give me was Paul as the branch manager, no other names would be given for "security" reasons. What? I asked how is that dangerous to know who the managers were, but they would not give the information out. Oh well, I did my own digging and found out who the national management team is (thanks Consumerist) and they will be getting my complaint. Now it will go from the top down. I've used this branch for both business (my wife and I are in the insurance industry) and for personal reasons. Needless to say, that won't happen again. I"m not surprised that there could be a problem with a rental, but the response from the manager is what is shocking.

Oh and for the record, they do LOVE to find cracks in windshields and scratches or dings on the door. This revenue rainmaker and the up-selling of needless insurance is what keeps the profits up at this company. ALWAYS give the car a very close inspected and note ANY issues, then make them sign to acknowledge it.

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5 Updates & Rebuttals

Brian

Newington,
Connecticut,
United States of America

Newington Enterprise

#2REBUTTAL Individual responds

Mon, April 18, 2011

Tim, I feel your pain. while I haven't had the same story I have found Paul to be point blank rude. I find this amazing as Enterprise always prides themselves on good service. I used this location 5 or 6 times a year and have now stopped as the service has just been poor at best.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car

St. Louis,
Missouri,
USA

Damage Recovery Unit

#3UPDATE Employee

Fri, March 04, 2011

Tim, you've posted this same complaint on My3cents.com and ComplaintsBoard.com as well, where we've left you our contact information. We've never heard back from you.

Please email care[at]enterprise.com with your full name, the reservation number and any other details. When emailing please list reference #110304-000932 in the subject line.

For anyone else with damage issues, please contact our Damage Recovery Unit at the phone number on the letter sent to you.

- Elizabeth with Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Karl

Clovis,
New Mexico,
U.S.A.

Take the Damage Waiver

#4Consumer Suggestion

Thu, March 03, 2011

I don't deal with Enterprise anymore after the experience I had last May at Philadelphia Airport. During my one week rental someone obviously opened a door into the area just above the left rear wheel and caused a 1" long dent. If I had had a C Clamp and two pieces of wood it would have taken a minute or two to fix it. I hadn't purchased the damage insurance because my insurance company (USAA) told me that my insurance coverage was just fine.

The bill was about $800 for the damage and after I paid the deductible there was a charge for the time that the car was out of service and a $100 "administrative charge". Neither was covered by USAA. My letters and photographs to Enterpise went unanswered. I had to fight like hell to get Enterprise to acknowledge that I paid a $200 deductible at the Airport rental car office.

I tore up my Frequent Renters card and will not ever use Enterprise/Alamo/National again. This was a complete ripoff.

I will obviously pay the insurance from now on.

rivirobo

Houston,
Texas,
United States of America

You are correct

#5UPDATE EX-employee responds

Thu, February 10, 2011

I have managed 8 different car rental companies overs the years: Altra, Charter, Agency, Superstar, Automate, Spirit, Alamo, and Action. Count on this practice to be the norm in this business. I got out of this business because I was tired of being cussed out every every day by customers for this very reason and the damage waiver. The upper management calls you every few hours and asked for your numbers and availability. Their best business model is having 100 reservations and 20 cars...that is how each office grows their fleet. So the manager will tell the VP he needs 80 cars in the morning if nobody brings one back that evening. The VP will call other slow offices and try to move some cars to accommodate. Problem is, when one office busy so are the others: no cars unless folks return that night and hope they are rentible. So you ask why take so many reservations? And why don't they start holding back cars to accommodate for the next day? The answer is greed. They want to do doubles or triples each day, e.g., have one returned that morning paid for the day (1), rent it out and if it comes back the same day (2) it can be rented out that evening (3)...that is 3 incomes for that car in one day. They worry about tomorrow tomorrow and take the heat when a customer is mad. And the damage waiver is nothing but a source of income pure profit for the company...don't take it! Your liability covers that car from head to toe better than your care, because it is a replacement for yours. And there is no deduct. Some managers just won't rent to you if you decline the waiver...talk about a scam! All they do is high five each other on how they "slammed that one or got a triple revenue on that one! Don't go to the small offices if possible...they are the worst at this practice. The airports have more cars and don't take the waiver if you already have liability.