My car had to go into the dealership for some warranty work. After the 3rd day of having my car I finally called the dealership and asked that they give me a loaner for the inconvenience. They referred me to Enterprise and said that they would cover the rental bill. When I went to Enterprise to pick up, the agent at the counter was stuck on trying to get sell me their bumper to bumper insurance. I told him I didn't need it and my insurance would cover any damages. He said why go thru that and for only $20 a day.....blah, blah blah. He then stated since the dealership was picking up the price of the rental it was a no brainer for me to just pay the $20 a day. Considering I had no idea how long the dealership would have my car, I politely declined. They asked for a credit card that they would only charge $1 just for any incidentals. Ok fair enough I thought. They then proceeded to bring a just washed dripping wet Chrysler 300 for an walk around inspection. During the walk around I pointed out several scratches to the agent and he told me not to worry about the little scratches as those were expected. In his word "as long as nothing is bigger than a dime then it's no big deal." Still I looked over the car at what I thought was a pretty thorough inspection. Nothing seem to stand out substantially.
So .....I go to return the car after the dealership informed me my car was ready. I run into problems. Let me say that I babied this car the whole time I had it. I baby my own cars, and this car even more so as I know how rent-a-car companies can be. Most of the time I opted to not even drive the rental , I left it sitting in the garage while I drove my other car. When the agent does his walk around inspection it seems like he immediately goes to the front bumper(almost like on cue). I sit looking out the window confused. He then comes in and ask me to go out with him. He points out a small crack in the lower part of the front bumper right under the driver's side fog light. I told him there was no way possible I could have done that. The 300 has a very low sitting bumper and there is no way most people would have noticed a crack under the fog light; almost completely under the freaking bumper! He then said he would go check to see if the vehicle had any prior damages reported. Let's be real here......even if there was prior damage, would he tell me that? I have no problem paying for something I know I'm responsible for, but I feel they are just trying to rip people off! I reluctantly turned over my credit card and paid my $250 deductible as I had no way of proving the damage was already there. I also had my 11 year old daughter with me and didn't want to cause a scene in front of her.
When I talked to my dealership about what had happen with Enterprise they told me not to worry about it....they would deal with them. Enterprise is claiming over $1100 worth of damages for a small freaking crack the size of a paper clip! They are claiming the whole front bumper had to be replaced. They also sent me some pictures with scratches completely under the bumper that they are claiming I'm responsible for. So when I do a walk around inspection with someone, I am expected to look under the bumper for damages? This is crazy!!!The dealership offered to repair the car themselves, but Enterprise refused and apparently they can only fix their own cars. I find it to be completely in the best interest of Enterprise to use their own inside repair facility and make up any price they want without any subjective proof or scrutiny of a repair bill . Now it looks like the Insurance company may not cover it and I may be on the hook for the full amount.
Be aware people......stay away from this company!!! I rent cars more than 10 times a year with A different company and I never have had any problems to date. I never accept the damage insurance with them either. It's Funny how you can go to Google and type in "Enterprise Insurance rip off" and you will see this exact same story repeated time and time again by enterprise. It's almost like they train their employees to bring out cars wet to conceal the damage and then try to charge the customer for it later.
I made a youtube video regarding this whole incident. Check it out at :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu1axA-dqhc
Enterprise Rent-A-Car
St. Louis,#2UPDATE Employee
Fri, October 04, 2013
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would like to look into this further. Please email [email protected] with your full name, the exact rental location and any other details. -Tatiana
When emailing, please list reference # (131004-000818) the subject line.