Anybody else have trouble with Enterprise Car Rental?

JoseCuervo said:
Find the manager of the outlet you are dealing with, and bring your concerns up with them. Each manager (and many are 23-26 year old go-getters) has Profit and Loss responsibility for the outlet. They have authority to discount, make good, etc as needed to run their outlet profitably.
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Did that. Still got the middle finger.
 
Haven't used Enterprise since Leonard Nemoy died.

Never will again. They are a wart on the butt of the car rental business.
 
Enterprise has not been a problem for me, other than waiting for pickup. The troubles people cite are especially disappointing, given the aviation connection. Jack Taylor, founder of Enterprise, was a WWII Naval Aviator (flew F6Fs off the Essex and Enterprise, hence the name of the company).
 
I only use Enterprise out of Mansfield PA, but I use them probably once every two weeks. They drop a car off for me at the airport and leave the keys in a safe place; I turn up whenever I like, use the car, and park it back at the unattended field and leave the keys where I found them.

In the three years I've been using them, I have never had a single problem. So, to that office only, I can give the highest recommendation!
 
It sounds like it depends how good the local manager is.
 
Palmpilot said:
It sounds like it depends how good the local manager is.
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Possibly, although I still have yet to receive a call back from Enterprise corporate as they stated they would. I would think when someone has an unhappy customer, the best approach would be to call sooner rather than later or not at all. Seems corporate is not customer focused either.

Lesson learned appears to be to only deal directly with the FBO or the local office directly. The way the phones are transferred, it is not always clear who you may be dealing with. Of course using some alternate means of transportation may be a better solution.
 
If some local managers are doing a good job, and some are doing a crappy job, that is a failure of corporate management, IMO.
 
FORANE said:
Lesson learned appears to be to only deal directly with the FBO or the local office directly. The way the phones are transferred, it is not always clear who you may be dealing with. Of course using some alternate means of transportation may be a better solution.
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The local car rental numbers are posted on the KRUE website as an FAQ answer on the "Pilot's Page". ( KRUE.US ). The local Enterprise manager has done a good job in supporting airport patrons. The local Ford dealer will bring cars but insists on a direct transfer of keys for dealer rep to renter. That has led to some frustration when the arriving plane is late and the guy with the car is late.
 
flyingron said:
Yes, I've had countless problems with Enterprise and only tend to use them if I have no other choice. I had a similar problem to yours. I even called them the morning of the flight to confirm when I'd be there and they promised they'd drop the car at the FBO.

Get there, no car. FBO calls them...umm...sorry about that um... it will be a while. Fortunately, the FBO had a cancellation on one of their cars (not enterprise) they offer for rent (which is what I wanted to do initially).

The other problem I've had with Enterprise is finding EXTRA days tacked on to the end of the rental. They've always been good about removing these when I pointed it out, but I suspect they scam the insurers/car dealerships who pay for these things without looking too carefully at the return dates.
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The extra days issue is a real problem. At KHOU, the FBO call them - in my presence - to let them know the car was returned & in the FBO lot. Fine. 3 days later I get a call from Enterprise asking where the car is. Told 'em. They called the FBO. Sure enough, Enterprise had not picked up the car. They did remove the extra charges.

Now I make a point to call the local office next business day to make sure they got the car.

docmirror said:
Hit and miss with Enterprise. If you are calling the central reservation office, ask them to transfer you to the office that serves the place you want service. Talk to a person, get their name at the local outlet. Enterprise is franchised. They do tend to hire vets so I try to use them when I can. It's important to talk to the local shop. Most times when the local place is closed on Sun, I'm allowed to drop the car on Sunday, and not get charged an extra day. However, then I need to get to the airport from the rental place.

There's no way to win if you like flying to rural or remote airports. I'm thinking of getting a folding bike for this reason, but that's a fair amount of hassle as well. Go to a bigger regional airport, or take your chances.
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Yep. Local office is the only way to go. Even better...

Paul Hamilton said:
I always go through the FBO. The one time I booked directly with Enterprise, the car went to the wrong airport.
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use the FBO. They may have a better deal.

I used a corporate rate booked through National (National is owned by Enterprise or vice-versa). The local FBO was able to beat it. It was a National contract but an Enterprise car....
 
rolivi said:
Haven't used Enterprise since Leonard Nemoy died.

Never will again. They are a wart on the butt of the car rental business.
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I've had more trouble with HLE (Hurts Local Edition).

Palmpilot said:
It sounds like it depends how good the local manager is.
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This.

Palmpilot said:
If some local managers are doing a good job, and some are doing a crappy job, that is a failure of corporate management, IMO.
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Many Enterprise locations are franchise. It's a failure of franchise management, not corporate. But it takes pretty gross levels of failure for corporate to be able to pull a franchise agreement.
 
Try Relayrides, I've used them twice now and find them to be a good care rental alternative. They seem to be all over!
 
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Luigi said:
Try Relayrides, I've used them twice now and find them to be a good care rental alternative. They seem to be all over!
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Didn't know about them. Thanks for the post Luigi.
 
FORANE said:
..........Has service just gone to **** with most all companies these days?
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I would say they have not changed. A similar thing happened to me when I went to Vermont (on a saturday) for my sister's funeral. No car, no one answered the phone, no one at the facility (line guy took me back and forth, nice guy). I got to the funeral reception (missed the service) thanks to my brother who was also taken away from the service.

What put the icing on the cake was get a call from the rather snotty manager wondering why I never showed up to pick up the car stating a charge will be assessed. After explaining to her that enterprise caused me to miss my sister's funeral and if any assessment was made or any other contact from her, there would be hell to pay I felt a little bad I made her feel bad.....NOT.
 
I rent from Enterprise pretty regularly when we are in Puerto Rico, as I don't own a car down there. I get along fine with them, but I've been using the same location for years, and that could have something to do with it.
 
pbramlett said:
I reserved a car with Enterprise for pickup at KAUS, austin executive. Got a confirmation, and a "no problem, enterprise is on the field"

I arrive and they don't have a car for me. So, i just pointed at the Bentley, Rolls, and Jag, and said "well, any one of those will do"

The FBO hottie found me a car shortly.

Everytime I use Enterprise there is an issue. I thought, this time i'll get an emerald club number. NOPE, same screwage. AVIS seems to do better for me but they aren't in a lot of areas that I fly to.

Oh well. just adds to the excitement of flying GA.
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Emerald Club is for National - I cant remember what Enterprise's frequent traveler club is. I generally use National when I travel for work. It has been pretty seamless at large airports. Never tried it out of a small FBO.
 
N53KL said:
I would say they have not changed. A similar thing happened to me when I went to Vermont (on a saturday) for my sister's funeral. No car, no one answered the phone, no one at the facility (line guy took me back and forth, nice guy). I got to the funeral reception (missed the service) thanks to my brother who was also taken away from the service.

What put the icing on the cake was get a call from the rather snotty manager wondering why I never showed up to pick up the car stating a charge will be assessed. After explaining to her that enterprise caused me to miss my sister's funeral and if any assessment was made or any other contact from her, there would be hell to pay I felt a little bad I made her feel bad.....NOT.
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Wow, just wow.
Sorry for your experience.
 
FORANE said:
I planned ahead and called Enterprise to assure a car would be available at the rural podunk county airport I was flying to Sunday. Enterprise assured me they would deliver there and meet me at the airport at 4pm. I asked to confirm the delivery location would not be a problem before getting off the phone and was again assured it would be no problem.

I called Sunday morning to confirm prior to departure and was advised that despite the fact that I had a confirmed reservation that they would not deliver a car to me. They said they didn't have anyone to go that far.

I called enterprise corporate this week to file a complaint. They took my number and said they would call back. Still have not received a call from them.

What do you guys do for transportation at rural county airports when they don't have a courtesy car and the car rental company gives you the middle finger?

Has service just gone to **** with most all companies these days?
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I had the exact experience with enterprise at a rural airport. I called, I verified, but when I got there... No car. I called to try to escalate because I was stuck. The local office was closed. They took my number. I called again an hour later and they took my number and assured me someone would call back. 3 months later and still no call back. I ended up cancelling the hotel I had so I could walk to a local motel.
 
I usually call the FBO and ask who they recommend. They tend to know whether the local Enterprise office is a dud or not. Often they'll recommend someone local. The bigger FBOs will often handle the rental reservation themselves, and I've found their rates to be quite competitive. It also means they'll handle the dreaded call to the company if the car is not delivered as promised, usually before I've even gotten there.

I just don't trust cold calling Enterprise to drop off a car. It always gets screwed up somehow.
 
I have good luck with Enterprise.

When I need a reservation requiring that their branch deliver a car to a small FBO, I call (877) 421-3722, their corporate reservations number, which is better than the usual toll free number for anything slightly difficult.
 
Well I feel really lucky reading this thread.

Years ago I tended to go to smaller airports and since Enterprise "will pick you up", I tried them. It generally worked but my weekend rentals weren't well synched with their business day focus. Car availability was hit or miss at times.

One of my favorites was having the only vehicle available being a full size (Ram?) pickup. It was out of gas so he stopped by a station to almost fill it up (short on cash). He offered me the standard rental rate with a $20 rebate to make for the extra fuel consumption of the truck. I was going fly fishing in the mountains so the truck was perfect but the gas bill was an eye opener for this small-car-lean-of-peak operator. In the end I thanked him for the truck, told him to keep the rebate and vowed never to own such a beast (sorry big truck fans).

I'm blessed with a real good Hertz contract rate and Hertz performs. I often pick airports based on Hertz availability. Generally I've learned to enjoy bigger, service rich, close to the action airports. YMMV
 
The Enterprise in Amarillo majorly failed me about a month ago. Called ahead, gave them our business information, the FBO said everything was good, showed up and no car and the manager acted like it was our fault and didn't even sound sorry. The FBO lady - decent gal at Tradewinds assured me she had indeed made the reservation and was surprised that the car had not arrived. I understand mistakes happen, but that manager blaming us for the error was over the top.
 
In one my cases I returned the car to the actual Enterprise desk and HUMAN than I rented it and they still tacked on days. I could sort of understand the "leave it at the FBO" and they didn't bother to enter it in until they picked it up, but when you you return it directly to their agent it's either corruption of abject stupidity.
 
linuxjim said:
I had the exact experience with enterprise at a rural airport. I called, I verified, but when I got there... No car. I called to try to escalate because I was stuck. The local office was closed. They took my number. I called again an hour later and they took my number and assured me someone would call back. 3 months later and still no call back. I ended up cancelling the hotel I had so I could walk to a local motel.
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Yup, still no call back for me either.
Either the top management doesn't know this is happening or they just don't care; I don't know which. It certainly appears middle management doesn't care.
 
I too have quit using Enterprise because of their adding days to the rental.
The last one was the last straw. Confirmed I would pick up the car at a specific time (late in day) and return it x days later at a specific time (early in day) to match the airline schedule. Confirmed it would be an X days rental and not X+2. Even had the agent put in the comments section that this was a confirmed rental for those days and time amounting to X days of rental.
Of course when I turned the car in there was an extra 2 days on the price. Argued with the agent pointing out the note in the comments written by their employee. Was told that did not matter as the agents do not have the authority to decide the rental amount (in spite of a written contract in my hand).
So shrugged, signed the return receipt and before I was out of sight of their office had contested the charge with my credit card company - the lady who took my complaint laughed and said it wasn't the first time and that she would personally see that the payment was blocked as her husband had been hammered by them in the past)
In the end after a few threatening letters they accepted the original amount.
Fool me once, shame on you.
With me there is no twice.
 
The Seinfeld episode is funny because anyone who regularly rents cars has had the same experience. It happens with all of them.

I usually use Enterprise for personal travel because they always the cheapest one that has decent newer cars. But I've found them to be inflexible despite flexibility being their calling card. They also have the hardest upsell push. They're a second tier company that's done a good job convincing the market they're first tier.

The only really "great" experience I've had was with Avis. The lady hung around until 2 am, an hour after the desk and airport were technically closed because my flight was delayed (when renting at the airport, always give your flight number). And then when I got the car stuck in another company's return lot trying to navigate in the dark and rain, she just tossed me the keys to another one.
 
Palmpilot said:
There seems to be a difference of opinion about that in the thread. :dunno:
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As pointed out National and Enterprise doesn't have "franchises." What they do have is a bunch of "agents" that handle the paperwork for them while being employed elsewhere (car dealerships/repair shops, fbos etc...).

My strangest car rental story was when we got stopped by weather in Connelsville PA. Two of the Red Baron Pizza Stearman (who we had met at our previous stop) were also there giving rides to local grocery guys. So we hung out eating pizza and the Red Baron guys would give me a read on the weather each time they went up for a brief hop.

Figuring I had enough of this I asked the FBO where I could get a rental car and called them and they took my info and said they'd bring a car out. About 45 minutes later when the Pizza guys were between rides two cars come out on the ramp. The girl in the first car asks if anybody rented a car and I said it was me and she tossed me the keys and got into the second car and drove off.

The Pizza guy asked if I had rented that car. I said I guess I did. He said he had called earlier and they told him he had to come down to their office (which he couldn't do while giving rides).

Eventually they told me it looked like the weather was breaking and the FSS confirmed "you could make a run for it." I told the Pizza guys that the keys were under the front seat and if I wasn't back in an hour, the car was thiers.
I guess they took care of it as I never got charged.
 
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Never had a good small airport car rental experience that wasn't handled by the FBO.
 
denverpilot said:
Never had a good small airport car rental experience that wasn't handled by the FBO.
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I guess you'll have to define small. I have had great experience at the dedicated rental counters at OWD (Avis) and SUT (Hertz).
 
Well..... Just had a very good experience with Enterprise. Was going to rent a car for Sat/Sun out of Northampton MA (7B2). However, weather looks iffy for tomorrow morning. Called them up at 10AM and requested that they have a car at 7B2 by 4PM. They said they could and lo and behold, a nice new Tahoe was waiting when we arrived. We do have a corporate account with them, so maybe that helps?

Gary
 
In general, customer service is logically going to sh*t these days. It is perfectly understandable. The paradigm has shifted from us being valued customers that the companies served to now us being cash cows to be fed gobs of ads and milked for anything we got. Greed is the new orange. Get used to it, it can only get worse.

I was in a slightly different boat but also got scammed by Enterprise. Thank Jebus for a good credit card company who fought for us (well, it is THEIR money so at least they are bound to care) and got our money back. Whew.

But whether it is Enterprise or another company, expect to be taken advantage of and promises broken on regular basis. Especially if you call an airport and ask about a crew car and are practically told that you are not rich enough for them to lend you an old beater. Madness. Pure madness. *sigh*
 
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