Enterprise got my blood pressure up this morning

Jim K

Jim K

Final Approach
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Richard Digits
So we're leaving for pigeon forge (gkt) in the morning. Got a call from the Enterprise office this morning. Apparently wanting to let me know the car was ready and I could pick it up early if I wanted. I replied, "well we won't be there until tomorrow, but if you're trying to not open the office on Saturday you could drop it at the fbo". Well that opened a whole can of worms.

We argued back & forth for 20 minutes, him claiming they had to charge the fbo price (which was $200 higher) if we're flying in, and me protesting that they didn't know if I was flying in or beaming down from the NCC-1701D until I said something. Eventually it came to pay the higher price or cancel, so I relented, thanked him for f***ing me and hung up.

I was busy searching turo, looking at Knoxville airport ($ignature), and contemplating an 8.5 hour drive when he called back. He apologized, and explained that he was able to adjust the price and they would drop it at the fbo for $35 more then my original quote. I agreed that was more reasonable, but the thing that got my attention was this:

He explained that the airport wants to collect their rental concession fee, and checks to see if pilots rent cars through the local office rather than through them.

I'm not sure if I believe this or not. If it's true, that's one of the shadier practices I've yet run into, especially considering the "fbo" won't make the reservation for you, but rather makes you call the local Enterprise office. This whole thing stinks and I can't decide who's to blame.
 
Maybe the guy didn't know what he was doing, and when he figured out that he was wrong, he didn't want to admit it, so he made up some slightly plausible story? Or maybe the FBO is shady and sucks, who knows. :dunno:
 
Tell me about it, my experience with the Enterprise office in Sevierville hasn’t been great either. It really boils down to a numbers game. They’re wanting to see whether or not it makes sense having a little satellite office at the airport or not. Unsurprisingly, the representative that I spoke with at the Enterprise office said they couldn’t deliver to the airport. I said it’s literally a couple miles down the road, why not? They acted like they didn’t even know there was an airport in Gatlinburg. In the end, they were unhelpful and unwilling to make an simple accommodation without an astronomical fee. I hung up and made other plans.
 
Those rich guys flying spam cans won't mind. Is this a government owned airport thing trying to tax everything or is this a rental car company thing being a rental car company?
 
Jim K said:
thanked him for f***ing me and hung up
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quoted for awesomeness.

I had an interesting time renting at that podunk airport in Iowa as well, but not as egregious as that. First they told me “no one way rentals” we can’t help you. After I tried a few other options to no avail, I went back and asked if she could find the closest city that would allow a one way. When she plugged in my destination it immediately allowed her to rent me one of her cars.

An even worse story, as I was waiting in line to drop off the hunk of junk my lady smartly pawned off on another location, the guy in front was whining “I’ve been waiting a week for this car, I called this morning and they said it was here, so I got someone to drive me an hour to come pick it up, and now you tell me I have no car?”
 
Made the mistake of renting a Tesla from them once. I was expecting a white glove experience since it was considered an "exotic", but it ended up being more of a rubber glove experience. The first car they gave us was dead, and the second car they gave us barely enough juice to get us to our hotel. Then they charged us more than the rate that was in their own rental agreement, and wouldn't respond to emails or calls. Ended up having to claw things back through the credit card company. I'll stick to renting econoboxes in the future.
 
Salty said:
First they told me “no one way rentals” we can’t help you.
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With the car shortages they are dealing with, many franchise locations are not letting cars leave their location if they can help it. They never have enough to meet the demand, and are reluctant to let one leave not knowing if or when they will receive a replacement.
 
I’ve rented through Enterprise at Pigeon Forge airport without using the FBO twice. No problems.
 
midwestpa24 said:
With the car shortages they are dealing with, many franchise locations are not letting cars leave their location if they can help it. They never have enough to meet the demand, and are reluctant to let one leave not knowing if or when they will receive a replacement.
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And yet they did. They need them more down here than they do in Iowa.
 
GeorgeC said:
Made the mistake of renting a Tesla from them once. I was expecting a white glove experience since it was considered an "exotic", but it ended up being more of a rubber glove experience. The first car they gave us was dead, and the second car they gave us barely enough juice to get us to our hotel. Then they charged us more than the rate that was in their own rental agreement, and wouldn't respond to emails or calls. Ended up having to claw things back through the credit card company. I'll stick to renting econoboxes in the future.
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Who is them?

Paul
 
Car rental places universally suck. Have you guys tried Turo?

I started using Turo this past summer and it's been easy and painless. Far better than dealing with the legacy car rental market. Flew into IZA and had a Tesla already parked there waiting for us, through the app we were able to unlock and get in the car. Drop off was just as easy, we parked it, locked it with the app, and left.

Far better than sitting in line and spending 15 minutes going through paperwork and a who's who menagerie of fees. What a shoulder sagging bag of disappointment Hertz/Enterprize/Alamo/ etc are
 
Salty said:
And yet they did. They need them more down here than they do in Iowa.
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The other thing that burns me up about rental cars...
When we had to rent one to get home in February, we had the car a week and a half. The price was supposed to be something like $1200. When I go to turn it in at CMI, I just happened to have my airport badge on, and the guy at the counter saw it and asked if I was a U of I employee (U of I owns the airport). Being pathologically honest, I said, "no, just a hangar tenant". He said, "well, we'll give you the University price anyway". Turned out to be under $600. I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was almost exactly half. I understand giving discounts for large accounts, but I didn't know how badly they were screwing retail customers.

Tantalum said:
Have you guys tried Turo?
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We used Turo to great effect in Rapid City. Saved us a bunch of money and got some really nice cars from some really nice people. Unfortunately the pickings in Sevierville, TN are a bit slimmer. There was a couple listed, but no reviews of either the renter or the car, and they looked.....sketchy. Not willing to risk it this time, but the big 3 companies have gotten so bad that I check Turo first, local companies second, and then the typical sources last.
 
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Jim K said:
So we're leaving for pigeon forge (gkt) in the morning. Got a call from the Enterprise office this morning. Apparently wanting to let me know the car was ready and I could pick it up early if I wanted. I replied, "well we won't be there until tomorrow, but if you're trying to not open the office on Saturday you could drop it at the fbo". Well that opened a whole can of worms..
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Did you book through their FBO line? ‭(877) 421-3722‬ - I've nothing but good experiences with them while traveling GA.
 
Pugs said:
Did you book through their FBO line? ‭(877) 421-3722‬ - I've nothing but good experiences with them while traveling GA.
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I attempted to, but it was going to be several hundred dollars more than booking online at the local office. I complained about the difference, but she basically told me to take it or leave it. I've tried the the FBO line the last three times I've rented a car, and it has been substantially more expensive each time. I agree that pre-covid the service and prices were great, but it seems like E isn't interested in servicing GA anymore.
 
Renting cars, I've had the widest variety of customer service with Enterprise. They obviously don't control consistent culture at their field locations.

Enterprise is also the only company I deal with that has padded rental days post return onto my bill.

Too often to be a coincidence.
 
i hear ya. GA ground transpo logisitcs blow outside of 121 servicing airports, has been my experience, especially post 2020. Ive also got burned multiple times dealing with the lack of attention to detail from most non121-colocated branches. The hours are not convenient to weekend travel, and again the frequency with which the drop off times and rates have not been honored has been too high for my tolerance going forward anymore. AOG logistics as a non-retiree has also added further incentive to limit my landing destinations to 121-colocated. Ive yet had to rent a uhaul to get home, but ive come close to it. Our insistence on right on time/right sizing national logistics have failed us.

Reading this thread, i may need to get smart on Turo, admittedly have dismissed that out of hand in the past as a primary. But that was pre 2020, when things like automobiles weren't unobtanium for logistics potato reasons.
 
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Rental cars seem to be getting much more challenging of late. Next month I will be renting through Turo for the first time.
Rental cars in Gatlinburg has always been more expensive than I personally found worthwhile (given my reasonably close locale).
I'll be going to Gatlinburg tomorrow, and driving in from home...
 
Tantalum said:
Car rental places universally suck. Have you guys tried Turo?

I started using Turo this past summer and it's been easy and painless. Far better than dealing with the legacy car rental market. Flew into IZA and had a Tesla already parked there waiting for us, through the app we were able to unlock and get in the car. Drop off was just as easy, we parked it, locked it with the app, and left.

Far better than sitting in line and spending 15 minutes going through paperwork and a who's who menagerie of fees. What a shoulder sagging bag of disappointment Hertz/Enterprize/Alamo/ etc are
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Used Turo when we flew into KFIN for the Daytona races. Got screwed by the rental car company. The Turo guy delivered to the airport and picked it up. Cheaper and way a far better overall experience. Will Turo again.
 
It's been several years, but there used to be a trick at Oakland (KOAK) where you'd make a rental car reservation at the off-site Enterprise a couple blocks from the airport, and spend a few bucks on a taxi to take you there. This eliminated the exorbitant rental charges and fees at the airport, an usually ended up about half the price of renting on-airport. The folks who worked there made it clear to just not indicate you flew in. It was usually a lot faster to get to the off-airport place as well.

Something I do religiously with car rentals now is to photograph the car, inside and outside, and including the odometer and gas gauges, both at pickup and drop off. I try to make it obvious that I'm doing it too, so that the employees know not to try to f- with my bill.
 
Bah, life's too short, you got what you wanted, mostly, chalk it up as a victory and move on.
 
Tantalum said:
Car rental places universally suck. Have you guys tried Turo?

I started using Turo this past summer and it's been easy and painless. Far better than dealing with the legacy car rental market. Flew into IZA and had a Tesla already parked there waiting for us, through the app we were able to unlock and get in the car. Drop off was just as easy, we parked it, locked it with the app, and left.

Far better than sitting in line and spending 15 minutes going through paperwork and a who's who menagerie of fees. What a shoulder sagging bag of disappointment Hertz/Enterprize/Alamo/ etc are
Click to expand...

I would use Turo a ton more, just for the variety and ability to choose which sheiBebox I end up with -- if the Chase Sapphire rental car insurance covered them, but it does not.
 
Tantalum said:
Car rental places universally suck.

Far better than sitting in line and spending 15 minutes going through paperwork and a who's who menagerie of fees. What a shoulder sagging bag of disappointment Hertz/Enterprize/Alamo/ etc are
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Basically yes.

But I mainly rent through Hertz. My airline status gets me status with them. I arrive, walk to the lot, look for my name on the board, go to that numbered space, hop in and drive off. No lines, no waiting, no signing, no paperwork
 
schmookeeg said:
I would use Turo a ton more, just for the variety and ability to choose which sheiBebox I end up with -- if the Chase Sapphire rental car insurance covered them, but it does not.
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To make it even worse, my personal car insurance won't cover me in a turo either. By the time I add insurance options to turo it's just as expensive (if not more) than the traditional car rental companies
 
Pinecone said:
Basically yes.

But I mainly rent through Hertz. My airline status gets me status with them. I arrive, walk to the lot, look for my name on the board, go to that numbered space, hop in and drive off. No lines, no waiting, no signing, no paperwork
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Hertz has been getting a lot of bad press.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-06/column-hertz-cleaning-fee

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/40...cuted-driving-rental-cars-stephen-scherr.html

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/hertz-530-million-lawsuit-customers-arrested-bankruptcy-court.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-customers-allege-false-arrests-lawsuit/

https://worldnewsera.com/news/entre...-every-year-on-customers-who-rented-its-cars/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2022/03/04/rental-car-consumer-rights/9365841002/
 
Curious if a Turo car was parked at GKT if the FBO would want a piece of that revenue too? The line service there is very good. Too bad this rental car situation stinks.
 
“There’s a tear at the bar,
‘cause there ain’t no rental car”
 
Palmpilot said:
Hertz has been getting a lot of bad press.

https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-07-06/column-hertz-cleaning-fee

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/40...cuted-driving-rental-cars-stephen-scherr.html

https://www.inc.com/minda-zetlin/hertz-530-million-lawsuit-customers-arrested-bankruptcy-court.html

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hertz-customers-allege-false-arrests-lawsuit/

https://worldnewsera.com/news/entre...-every-year-on-customers-who-rented-its-cars/

https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/cars/2022/03/04/rental-car-consumer-rights/9365841002/
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No doubt they do. Just like @Pinecone I only rent through Hertz due to my status with them. I had issues with them more than on one occasion BUT the difference has always been, when I get in touch with customer service, they fix the issue pretty quickly. On the other hand, my last bad experience with National took a week to resolve, countless emails and phone calls with idiots who just pass on a file to the next person, and as a consequence, I now have at least three more grey hair on my head. To give them some credit though, they did resolve the issue at the end of the day which isn't a given based on what I'm reading on the forum and online.
 
Palmpilot said:
Hertz has been getting a lot of bad press.
Click to expand...

The only issue I have ever had with them was last April. We decided to go to SAT for a week, and Hertz had NO cars to rent. Yeah, first world problem. :D

Rented from Alamo. Had to wait a bit as there were NO CARS in the lot. We waited about 10 minutes for them to wash and clean on that just came in. As we waited, a couple more groups came up to wait. They were literally checking them in, washing, sending them out.
 
One way rentals are always weird. If they need the cars where you are going you can get some great deals. When I was ferrying the Navion up to CJR one time I was able to book a Avis car from IAD back down to my local (nowhere near an airport) Avis/Budget place for $22 or something like that. I've never been able to do that again, but I guess CLT needed cars.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
No doubt they do. Just like @Pinecone I only rent through Hertz due to my status with them. I had issues with them more than on one occasion BUT the difference has always been, when I get in touch with customer service, they fix the issue pretty quickly. On the other hand, my last bad experience with National took a week to resolve, countless emails and phone calls with idiots who just pass on a file to the next person, and as a consequence, I now have at least three more grey hair on my head. To give them some credit though, they did resolve the issue at the end of the day which isn't a given based on what I'm reading on the forum and online.
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Pinecone said:
The only issue I have ever had with them was last April. We decided to go to SAT for a week, and Hertz had NO cars to rent. Yeah, first world problem. :D

Rented from Alamo. Had to wait a bit as there were NO CARS in the lot. We waited about 10 minutes for them to wash and clean on that just came in. As we waited, a couple more groups came up to wait. They were literally checking them in, washing, sending them out.
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At least they didn't accuse you of stealing cars that you returned, as reported in some of those news stories. :eek2:
 
A while back Margy got an incredible deal on Priceline for a Hertz car at LAX for $14/day. Since we were going to driving around Paso Robles for 11 days, we figured it was worth it. I usually use my premier (#1 Gold Plus) status. Well apparently Priceline slipped a cog and sold a bazillion of these deals. The Hertz LAX depot was swamped with Priceline customers. They couldn't turn the cars fast enough. It took me close to two hours to get out of there.
 
2 hours on an 11 day trip is a small price to pay for a rental that cheap.
 
Several years ago, Enterprise at LAX gave me a $8/day price for a generic car. Turns out they car they had for me was a nearly new Mustang convertible.

After returning the car, it hit me that $8/day was cheaper than the monthly car payment on that car.
 
Nicest car renting surprise I have had was at LAX.
bus dropped me at the lot, I showed my ereservation, the clerk said it would be ready in a short time.
15 minutes later, questioned where the car was?
They are cleaning it.
I got my camera ready to document the dings and dirt.

The car was spotless and unblemished. When I started it, I found the reason, less than a mile on the odometer, brand new off the truck. All the manuals and instruction books were still in plastic envelopes.

I thanked my girl, and she told me they tried to rent new cars to mature drivers, as they tended to take better care of them, and I had reserved a non smoking car.
 
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