Enterprise got my blood pressure up this morning

I guess LAX is where the deals are! Haven’t looked at Priceline in a long time. Will have to revisit. Hertz used to be a good company, long ago. Then the cars become dirtier and dirtier and the service level dropped. Last corporation I worked for dumped them as their preferred agency.
 
Right now I'm sitting in the BOS Admirals Club having just returned my Hertz rental. Nice car and everything went smoothly. I maintain premium status at the big 3 (Hertz, Avis, National) and generally shotgun out a reservation inquiry to all three to see who has the best deal.
 
My last rental car experience was with Budget at Honolulu and despite there being like ten thousand people in a line that looked like Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland it went pretty smooth. Got my ticket then up the long escalator to the third level where there were about 40 acres of rental cars waiting and off we went. Rental price was less than what I had to pay for parking over the weekend and when I returned there was no hassle, just park and walk away, down the escalator, across the street and into the terminal.
 
Company I work for has a crazy good contract with National. That's what I usually use and have never had a hiccup. The one time I used Hertz they overcharged me but fixed it after I complained.
 
NealRomeoGolf said:
Company I work for has a crazy good contract with National. That's what I usually use and have never had a hiccup. The one time I used Hertz they overcharged me but fixed it after I complained.
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my wife's company does as well. Same with Marriott.
She hyphenates her last name so it's always funny when they call me Mr. Watts-Miller
 
PPC1052 said:
Without a doubt, ground transportation at my destination is the biggest obstacle to my flying GA more.
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Completely the case for me these days as well. I flew into Tampa last week to take my kid to Busch Gardens. After seeing the rates that enterprise/national wanted, we literally used Uber/lift to get everywhere. It was ridiculously expensive to rent.
 
If I'm in a reasonable sized city I'll just uber to the closest rental car place rather than use on airport rentals.
That being said last time I tried that there were literally no cars for rent at any of the available spots. 2 days before.
Blew my mind, different world in the rental business these days it seems.
 
We rented from Hertz in St Thomas USVI in June. It was the worst pile of junk I had ever rented from anyone. I expected to have a "discussion" with the attendant when I returned it due to an awful noise it was making in reverse, but he didn't say anything so I didn't either.
 
Palmpilot said:
At least they didn't accuse you of stealing cars that you returned, as reported in some of those news stories. :eek2:
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I always wait for the person to check the car in, and give me the printed receipt.
 
My employer is large enough to have some sort of deal with National. We get insurance covered as well as good rates. It works well enough that I use it for my personal rentals (allowed by my employer). Someone once smashed a window and I returned the car with no questions asked.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
My employer is large enough to have some sort of deal with National. We get insurance covered as well as good rates. It works well enough that I use it for my personal rentals (allowed by my employer). Someone once smashed a window and I returned the car with no questions asked.
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When I was working for a living my employer had a similar plan with Hertz, and we could use it for personal travel, as well. Saved me about 50% from their regular rates. One of the very few things I miss about working. Very few!
 
Pinecone said:
I always wait for the person to check the car in, and give me the printed receipt.
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Except that doesn't work at many FBO locations.

You drop the keys off with the front desk attendant and let them know you're turning it back in and the tank is full. No receipt printer there, like at the big airport return.

The receipt from Enterprise shows up days later. With more rental days added on.

Enterprise blames the FBO guy/gal for not submitting it properly. FBO guy/gal says they did what they were supposed to and Enterprise messed it up.
 
I have several times had Enterprise tack on extra days (usually when returning to a dealership, but once at an airport). They have always removed them promptly when I noted, but I figure a lot of this goes unnoticed on insurance reimbursements where the guy returning the car never sees the bill.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
Except that doesn't work at many FBO locations.

You drop the keys off with the front desk attendant and let them know you're turning it back in and the tank is full. No receipt printer there, like at the big airport return.

The receipt from Enterprise shows up days later. With more rental days added on.

Enterprise blames the FBO guy/gal for not submitting it properly. FBO guy/gal says they did what they were supposed to and Enterprise messed it up.
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Yup, this exact scenario, but hertz in my case. Over and over. One time since they said the car was returned on Monday (it was returned to the FBO on saturday), the weekday rate was applied to the entire reservation, and not merely the bogus extra day. They happily charged me 800 dollars for 2 days. Took forever and a day to get it squared away. It was the hassle that made me not want to deal with local branches anymore. So these days I just deal directly with 121 arrival centric branches, or I just uber, or just don't go.
 
I used to do a bunch of work in El Dorado, AR and would sometimes take the subsidized C208 and sometimes fly myself. The first few times reserving with Enterprise and it being an absolute nightmare. They would forget to drop the car at the airport or forget to pick me up. Then not have my car. I finally started using U-save Rental Car. Night and day difference. I’d call Mark on his cell the day before and he would leave me a car at the airport. I’d walk out and be right on my way.

So if you’re ever in Eldo, call Mark for a car.
 
I'm going to check with some different vendors for our vacation in Hawaii after the first of the year. I've always used Hertz, but they are acting like I'm buying the car, rather than renting it. They want roughly twice what they did earlier this year - over $4000 for 4 weeks. Ouch!!!
 
Ghery said:
I'm going to check with some different vendors for our vacation in Hawaii after the first of the year. I've always used Hertz, but they are acting like I'm buying the car, rather than renting it. They want roughly twice what they did earlier this year - over $4000 for 4 weeks. Ouch!!!
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Check them when you get closer also.

I booked a car for our trip last November in the early summer. Strangely, it was cheaper to rent a Range Rover or a Mustang/Camaro than a Fiesta. And it was STUPID price.

In early Sept, I happened to check again, and was able to book at well under half the original price.

But right now, rental are expensive. As stated, I am renting a minivan for 4 days for a group thing. $1000 for 4 days
 
Very unhappy with the rental car situation. I was trying to get a car at Waukegan IL. Initially got one from Hertz with Gold membership but pricing is very high $566) for 4 days. FBOs are either not helpful, or maybe depending on location and whether you have a Emerald membership (National) or not. Enterprise is not helpful for FBO transactions deferring to National which is collocated. The Enterprise FBO telephone line doubles as National’s. They in fact were able to deliver at FBO under the National name but then reneged because my date of departure was Sunday, when the local location is closed. BTW, Enterprise without FBO would have been $360 for 4 days but they are not an option for Sunday drop off as discussed. Part of the problem may stem from the fact that the following Monday is Labor Day when Enterprise is also closed.

My wife did the phone work regarding Uber. With all the trips needed for my event, the total came to $220.

It is sad to see the business model for car rentals at FBOs become uncompetitive or nonexistent in many cases.
 
Pinecone said:
Check them when you get closer also.

I booked a car for our trip last November in the early summer. Strangely, it was cheaper to rent a Range Rover or a Mustang/Camaro than a Fiesta. And it was STUPID price.

In early Sept, I happened to check again, and was able to book at well under half the original price.

But right now, rental are expensive. As stated, I am renting a minivan for 4 days for a group thing. $1000 for 4 days
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I will look again later. And I know what you mean about being cheaper to rent a fancy car. The last time we were in Hawaii (earlier this year) I rented a Jeep Wrangler from Hertz as it was the least expensive car to rent (and my preferred car on that island). It makes no sense at all.
 
It's been a year now, but the last few times I rented in the bay area it was cheaper to rent a cargo van than a subcompact from any vendor. I did.

Nauga,
gone daddy gone
 
I got a pretty nice crossover SUV (GMC something or other) cheaper than anything else at Hertz on recent rentals.
 
I had trouble with Enterprise at KVBT. The car was supposed to dropped at the FBO. It wasn't. The FBO guys gave me a ride to Enterprise down the road. I got there and picked up the car. I dropped it off at the FBO, told Enterprise they'll need to come and collect it, and took off.
 
Hmm, just rented from Enterprise in TX picking up my plane and doing transition training.

No problem renting with Sunday drop off (even though they were closed). And even changed (using Enterprise FBO line) to leaving the car at the FBO when I left. Overall, a very easy transaction.

Of course with Enterprise, YMMV, as each location is a separate entity.
 
So I figured out why the GA line quoted me ~25% more....they included all the BS insurance, which the website does not. Had I known to tell them to knock that off, it would've been fairly close to the web rate from the local office. I didn't argue it because they gave me nearly the same out the door price as I had originally been quoted. Service at GKT was very good; they greeted me on ctaf and drove the car out to us on the ramp. Since I had the ridiculous insurance, I felt free to treat it like a rental...
 
Getting the actual charges is dicey with any rental company. Hertz does a better job of quoting you the bottom line. But I pretty much have to fire off actual reservations to all of the majors to get the actual price and then I cancel the ones I don't want.
 
David Loftus said:
Enterprise FBO group will take your Costco discount number. Best deal going. Just look up the cheapest Enterprise rate on Costco.com, then call Enterprise FBO team to match it.
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I did not know that. Thanks.
 
Had an issue this past weekend.

I was in Houston (T41) to pick up my, new to me, plane and get some transition time (insurance wanted5 hours dual). So I rented a car from nearby Enterprise on Friday for return on Sunday.

On Sunday morning, I was talking with my instructor about returning the car back to the office. He called the Enterprise FBO line and arranged for it to be dropped off at the FBO. No problem.

Yesterday, I get a call from Enterprise office. First, they said I dropped the car off on Tuesday at some strange place. I got that fixed, then I was told since the car was dropped off at the airport (about 8 miles away), there would be a One Way Rental Charge of $250, but they would reduce that to $100. I pointed out that I had not been informed of this charge when I changed the drop off, and that it was ridiculous to charge that much for 8 miles away. And that if they charged me that much, I would NEVER rent from Enterprise again. I would be willing to pay a reasonable charge, like $25 or so.

They offered to remove the charge. And only asked that I give them high ratings for customer service on the survey.

Oh, they did point out that since no one was available to take me back to the airport on Sunday, they would have paid the cost for me to Uber back to the airport.
 
Enterprise got my blood boiling too. Every year, we fly up to OTM for the antique fly-in. We hangar our airplane at the Ottumwa airport, get the rental delivered to the airport and drive to antique airfield for the weekend. We’ve always booked online, called the local Enterprise office and asked that our car be delivered to the airport and it’s never been an issue.

I booked the car online earlier this month and someone called me about a week ago to confirm the reservation and I asked if the car could be delivered to the airport. The person said that wasn’t a problem and to just call the local office with our emerald number and they would take care of it which I did.

When I picked up the car today, I looked at the paper work and it’s almost $200 more expensive. I try to get through to the local office but can’t so we stop by the office on the way to the airfield. I’m told that because I got the car dropped off at the airport, I booked it through the FBO. I explain to the lady that I didn’t book through the FBO and I’ve been booking online as a customer and having the car delivered to the airport for several years now. She proceeded to tell me that’s not how they’ve ever done business. I even called the FBO and the guy there said they don’t get involved in booking rental cars. So frustrated. Not a great start to our vacation that we normally look forward to every year. So I can relate to this thread about my blood boiling. Will probably ask to speak with manager and if I don’t get traction there, keep moving up the ladder.
 
Make sure you understand what insurance coverage you will have with a Turo rental. It’s likely your personal auto insurance and any insurance associated with a credit card will not be valid.
 
Had a nice experience with the local Enterprise last weekend. I think maybe part of it was that I was the older renter in the crowd. They only had a couple of cars left, and asked if I minded if they upgraded me to a BMW for the same rate. Really didn't care, but took the offer, and it was actually a nice ride. It's the only modern car I've driven where the cruise control and lane warning systems weren't annoying.
 
I used the Enterprise name recently to get a Hertz location to give in to a mixed up rental where they claim they didn’t know my rental was a one way. After telling them “Enterprise will do it for me tomorrow, they just didn’t have a car available today”, they gave in.

Strange thing is the local Hertz guy says they are down cars because Hertz is downsizing their fleet for the upcoming recession. Say what? Last I heard they were struggling to restock their fleet after the Covid dump.


Jeff767 said:
Make sure you understand what insurance coverage you will have with a Turo rental. It’s likely your personal auto insurance and any insurance associated with a credit card will not be valid.
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So, the insurance they offer is only for the owner and none is offered for the renter? That seems like a missed opportunity for Turo.
 
TrueCourse said:
Strange thing is the local Hertz guy says they are down cars because Hertz is downsizing their fleet for the upcoming recession. Say what? Last I heard they were struggling to restock their fleet after the Covid dump.
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The business equivalent of the PIO :rolleyes:
 
Palmpilot said:
At least they didn't accuse you of stealing cars that you returned, as reported in some of those news stories. :eek2:
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I do wait until the person logs the car in and get the receipt.

But no problems.
 
ElPaso Pilot said:
Except that doesn't work at many FBO locations.

You drop the keys off with the front desk attendant and let them know you're turning it back in and the tank is full. No receipt printer there, like at the big airport return.

The receipt from Enterprise shows up days later. With more rental days added on.

Enterprise blames the FBO guy/gal for not submitting it properly. FBO guy/gal says they did what they were supposed to and Enterprise messed it up.
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I would have the FBO give a receipt.

The issue with Enterprise is that every location is a separate business. So wide variations in service.

I rented from Enterprise when I went to pick up my plane and get transition training. I was talking about how to return the car. My instructor told me about the FBO number, so we called and changed the drop off to the FBO. Dropped it off on Sunday. About Wednesday, I get a call from Enterprise to tell me the charges for picking up the car from the airport (maybe 5 miles away). They wanted $200. WTF?! But would courtesy reduce it to $100. I pointed out that I had called the FBO number and arranged the drop off, and that no charge was mentioned. She tells me I should have dropped it off at their location and they would have driven me back to the airport. I said, it was Sunday, you were closed. She said, Oh, we would have reimbursed you for an Uber. Hmm, nobody mentioned that.

But then I told her fine, charge me the $100 and I will never rent from them again. After a moment, she decided to waive the charges
 
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