Sapphyre
Est. Contributor
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- 824
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- Diaper Lover
- Diaperfur
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Following a collision a month or so ago, I am having my car repaired, and have obtained a rental for the interim. The insurance company chose Enterprise for the rental; I would have chosen differently based on past experience.
You see, once upon a time, with an older car in a faraway state, I had to rent a car for a few days while mine was in the shop, and I chose Enterprise. The Enterprise representative told me that when my car was ready, I could drop off the rental right at the repair facility (a dealership) because Enterprise had an arrangement with them. This information was echoed by said dealership. All seemed well until I received a call from Enterprise more than a week after returning their car: they wanted to know how my rental was going. They were still billing me as renting the car. They refused to accept that I had dropped it at the dealership as instructed… two employees, a local manager, and a regional manager unanimously insisted that it was Enterprise policy that cars must be returned to the Enterprise location, no exceptions. Therefore, no employee would have told me to leave the car anywhere else, and so technically I have not returned the vehicle and am liable for the rental charges. Luckily for me, I had a witness who was prepared to give sworn testimony to the instructions I had received, so when I threatened police involvement, Enterprise backed down from their attempt to scam me out of almost $500.
Until now, I considered the issue to be with the particular Enterprise location I had visited then, and perhaps limited to a few employees. But now I find myself renting from them again, in another state, years later… and the representative told me I could leave my rental with the repair facility when I picked up my car. Seriously. All I said was "No", but while giving him a look that would stop a clock. I'm not going to fall for that again, especially without having a witness this time. And I'm honestly a bit shocked that this wasn't a localized problem, but appears instead to be a company-wide business practice.
And now you've been warned not to fall for it either. Bring rental cars back to the location from which you rented them and get receipts, no matter what the employees tell you.
You see, once upon a time, with an older car in a faraway state, I had to rent a car for a few days while mine was in the shop, and I chose Enterprise. The Enterprise representative told me that when my car was ready, I could drop off the rental right at the repair facility (a dealership) because Enterprise had an arrangement with them. This information was echoed by said dealership. All seemed well until I received a call from Enterprise more than a week after returning their car: they wanted to know how my rental was going. They were still billing me as renting the car. They refused to accept that I had dropped it at the dealership as instructed… two employees, a local manager, and a regional manager unanimously insisted that it was Enterprise policy that cars must be returned to the Enterprise location, no exceptions. Therefore, no employee would have told me to leave the car anywhere else, and so technically I have not returned the vehicle and am liable for the rental charges. Luckily for me, I had a witness who was prepared to give sworn testimony to the instructions I had received, so when I threatened police involvement, Enterprise backed down from their attempt to scam me out of almost $500.
Until now, I considered the issue to be with the particular Enterprise location I had visited then, and perhaps limited to a few employees. But now I find myself renting from them again, in another state, years later… and the representative told me I could leave my rental with the repair facility when I picked up my car. Seriously. All I said was "No", but while giving him a look that would stop a clock. I'm not going to fall for that again, especially without having a witness this time. And I'm honestly a bit shocked that this wasn't a localized problem, but appears instead to be a company-wide business practice.
And now you've been warned not to fall for it either. Bring rental cars back to the location from which you rented them and get receipts, no matter what the employees tell you.
