Enterprise Rent-A-Car Rant/Good Review

I've been a Hertz Gold Member for over 10 years. However the Hertz service has gone downhill recently. We've started going with Enterprise.

And then yesterday I get a mailing from their claims department, saying that I was responsible for damage to a vehicle I rented from them 2 months ago. I was not, the body shop bill was from January (3+ weeks after I rented it) and the (bad) pictures they provided are an area that I would have noticed. This is the first notice I've gotten, but the letter implies that they've already told me about it.

So I guess it's back to Hertz.
 
I've avoided Enterprise after the last stunt they pulled with me. I rented a car from a remote-ish airfield in TX (still they had an Enterprise stand, just not normally attended). They delivered the car as agreed but when I dropped it off, they forgot to pick it up. For 2 weeks. So they sent me the bill for something ridiculous, close to 1000 dollars, which in the end I had to dispute through my CC company (and won that dispute).
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've been a Hertz Gold Member for over 10 years. However the Hertz service has gone downhill recently. We've started going with Enterprise.

And then yesterday I get a mailing from their claims department, saying that I was responsible for damage to a vehicle I rented from them 2 months ago. I was not, the body shop bill was from January (3+ weeks after I rented it) and the (bad) pictures they provided are an area that I would have noticed. This is the first notice I've gotten, but the letter implies that they've already told me about it.

So I guess it's back to Hertz.
Click to expand...

They tried to hit me with that too a bunch of years ago, in North Carolina. I disputed it and they let it drop. This is probably a fishing expedition on their part.
 
I've had no problems with Enterprise. I was flying to KBIH (way out in the desert east of the Sierras) for a while, and I'd land, pick up the keys at the FBO counter, make my meeting, drop the keys off with the FBO, then fly home. Never a problem.
 
Lowflynjack said:
It's banned in Austin, so is Lyft. There are other, similar services out there though.
Click to expand...

That's quite funny, given Austin is so closely associated with the tech industry. Seems like trying to hold back the tide...
 
NIL

I've been flying myself to work sites for about 10 years. I always call the FBO and ask about rental cars. Sometimes it's easier/better to arrange it through them, other times they suggest calling the local office. I've never had success calling the main number to arrange a drop off at the GA airport.

For the most part, it's worked very well. Occasionally, I will run into what you did; People at the local rental car office not knowing or not understanding what I want.

I always make the arrangements a few days in advance. Then call and verify the day before or morning of the pickup date. I also check with the FBO to make sure they know what's going on.
 
Anymouse said:
They tried to hit me with that too a bunch of years ago, in North Carolina. I disputed it and they let it drop. This is probably a fishing expedition on their part.
Click to expand...

What sort of path did you use for the dispute? Call them up on the phone, take it to court, etc.?
 
Lowflynjack said:
Since Enterprise owns National, the lady actually told me I had to become an EnterprisePlus or the equivalent with National and with either of those I could get the Enterprise car dropped off.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it's referred to as "Emerald Club" with National. Just to clarify my comment, I've never had a "bad" experience with Enterprise, Hertz, or National. I've been renting cars for 4-5 days per month, in various cities/states, for the past 6 years through my employer, and never had a particularly bad experience. I just really don't want to be hassled while doing it, and Enterprise is the worst about making the experience tedious. With Hertz Gold/National Emerald Club, I walk out to any car I want to drive, get in, start it up, and drive to the check-out booth. Takes less than 5-minutes in most places depending on the line of cars at the booth. With Enterprise, I have to be chauffeured around by some goofball in a white button-up shirt/tie to a car I may not even like. It's not bad, just really annoying when they have another internal brand (National) and competitors (Hertz) that have a much more fluid process.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Yeah, it's referred to as "Emerald Club" with National. Just to clarify my comment, I've never had a "bad" experience with Enterprise, Hertz, or National. I've been renting cars for 4-5 days per month, in various cities/states, for the past 6 years through my employer, and never had a particularly bad experience. I just really don't want to be hassled while doing it, and Enterprise is the worst about making the experience tedious. With Hertz Gold/National Emerald Club, I walk out to any car I want to drive, get in, start it up, and drive to the check-out booth. Takes less than 5-minutes in most places depending on the line of cars at the booth. With Enterprise, I have to be chauffeured around by some goofball in a white button-up shirt/tie to a car I may not even like. It's not bad, just really annoying when they have another internal brand (National) and competitors (Hertz) that have a much more fluid process.
Click to expand...
I don't use them enough to have a preference, but I am reading all of these comments and will probably move to Hertz going forward. I'm the guy that gets frustrated when someone tries to up-sell me something. "Do you want fries with that?" "Did I order fries with that?" You can imagine my anger when two different numbers they gave me tried to "give" me a cruise and wouldn't let me get out of the call.
 
Lowflynjack said:
So I'm posting a rant and a good review at the same time! I'm hoping this helps any of you who plan to travel.

I realized in all of my travels by private plane, I've never picked up a rental car at an airport. I've used the courtesy cars, had someone pick me up, took a cab, and even got a ride into town by the police... but never rented a car.

I called Enterprise in their local office at my destination, thinking this would be easier to explain than talking to someone in a corporate office. Surely they do it occasionally. The lady told me they couldn’t leave a car at the airport for me and hung up on me!

I called the airport to see if any of the local car rental places would do this and the guy says yes, Hertz or Enterprise will! They even have a car there now. I laughed and told him they had just told me they wouldn’t do it. He said sometimes the local office screws it up.

I called the local Enterprise office back and another lady answers and says they do provide that service, but I have to call an 800 number. She gives me the number and I thank her.

I call the 800 number she gave me and it says its Enterprise and if I answer 6 questions I can possibly win a Caribbean Cruise. It doesn’t give me the option to opt out. I press zero, but it doesn’t do anything. So, six questions later it tells me I won a cruise and only have to pay fees of $65 per person and to hit 1 to collect… again, no other options. I finally hit 1 and a cruise-line company answers. I hang up, this time I’m ****ed off.

I call an 800 number I find online and the lady starts asking me questions and I stop her. Before we go on, I’m flying into a General Aviation Airport and want to find out how to pickup the car there. Finally I found someone who can help. She says because they don’t have an office at the airport, I need to join EnterprisePlus. This is because the airport will hold the keys for me, but they won’t take down my driver’s license or credit card info, etc. She gives me a new 800 number to use when booking a car for GA. I register for EnterprisePlus, book my car, and hopefully all goes well!

I've now learned that if you're traveling in GA and want a rental car with them, once your an EnterprisePlus member, you can go to their website and scroll down to the bottom, under the title "Business" you'll see "General Aviation". Click it and you'll be able to enter the airport identifier and your info. If you prefer to call, you can call 800-777-5050.
Click to expand...


I had similar situations to this going into Tucson.
The city has (maybe) a dozen different Enterprise offices. Called a few. Some would drop a car at the FBO, others would not {some have FBO agreements?}
The cruise ruse didn't come from Enterprise, but from Hilton when reserving a hotel room.
scammers!!!
 
Has anyone tried using Turo at GA airports instead of a traditional rental car? I recently heard of this thought it could be an interesting use for it.
For those who don't know it, think AirBnB but for automobiles. I'm not sure about the insurance front either though.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've been a Hertz Gold Member for over 10 years. However the Hertz service has gone downhill recently. We've started going with Enterprise.

And then yesterday I get a mailing from their claims department, saying that I was responsible for damage to a vehicle I rented from them 2 months ago. I was not, the body shop bill was from January (3+ weeks after I rented it) and the (bad) pictures they provided are an area that I would have noticed. This is the first notice I've gotten, but the letter implies that they've already told me about it.

So I guess it's back to Hertz.
Click to expand...

Huh! I had a similar situation with Hurtz (pun intended). I got popped with a $250 repair bill for a cracked windshield that should no way in hell been my responsibility. It wasn't fair. The rock chip was there the day I rented the car, and the crack was there the next morning. I didn't cause either one. But, it wound up coming out of my pocket; since State Farm considers windshield replacement a comprehensive claim and it was less than my deductible.

I think a lot of it has to do with the individual people you deal with and their interpretations of company policy at the time.
 
rk911 said:
is there a local Enterprise office in the town you're flying into? if yes, why not just call them when you land and have them pick you up at the airport? we travel via motorhome and before we started towing a jeep we used Enterprise a lot to rent cars for our stay at the RV park. we would call the local Enterprise office, they'd come pick us up, we'd drive back to the office, complete the paperwork and off we'd go. it was just the reverse when turning the car back in. would that work for you?
Click to expand...

I tried this going to you family reunion in a small town outside of Atlanta. It's on Sunday, always has been. The nice Enterprise folks would gladly rent me a car, and leave the keys at the FBO, and only charge me from Saturday morning until Monday morning . . . So I flew 2-1/2 hours to get there and had my uncle pick me up and take me back to the airport afterwards. Not the best option, but it worked. Since I've moved closer, I just drive 2-1/2 hours instead of flying 45 minutes. Enterprise is the only game in town.

When traveling, if I don't have someone to pick me up, I always try to arrange a car through the FBO first (if there is an FBO where I'm going . . . ). Those nice people have saved me major bucks with hotel reservations, too. It's really fun to land at a big city airport, walk into the FBO with pax new to GA, tell the person behind the counter that I need my rental and watch my friend's eyes bug out as they hand me the keys without paperwork, ID or anything! :p
 
StevieTimes said:
I looked at my USAA discount, and thought that Costco had slightly better discounts...? Let me know if I'm way off here, but check Costco Travel if you're a member.
Click to expand...

One nice thing about using USAA is you are covered on insurance by booking with their code. So I am covered 3 ways by USAA: (1) Platinum Visa gives $3000 rental coverage (2) entire rental is covered for liability & collision using USAA and (3) the regular insurance I have with USAA conveys to a rental car.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I've been a Hertz Gold Member for over 10 years. However the Hertz service has gone downhill recently. We've started going with Enterprise.

And then yesterday I get a mailing from their claims department, saying that I was responsible for damage to a vehicle I rented from them 2 months ago. I was not, the body shop bill was from January (3+ weeks after I rented it) and the (bad) pictures they provided are an area that I would have noticed. This is the first notice I've gotten, but the letter implies that they've already told me about it.

So I guess it's back to Hertz.
Click to expand...

Anymouse said:
They tried to hit me with that too a bunch of years ago, in North Carolina. I disputed it and they let it drop. This is probably a fishing expedition on their part.
Click to expand...

Following up on this from back in February.

I called up Enterprise (back in February), told them it wasn't my fault, they said they'd get back to me. Hear nothing from them until last week when I received a letter in the mail saying that if I didn't respond to them within 10 days of the date the letter was dated (it was dated 9 days prior to me receiving it...) that they would give this matter to a debt collection agency or attorney. So I call them up with a major "WTF?"

The woman at the Enterprise collections headquarters says she could settle this for a bit under $200 less than what they wanted me to pay ($650 down to $470), or I could talk with the branch manager who would have the authority to do more. I said I'd talk to the branch manager.

He called me up today, we talked, and he agreed to drop it. I pointed out that I hadn't received any contact other than these letters, which were unprofessionally written and the "evidence" was just poor pictures that I couldn't tell what was trying to be shown. He was actually good to deal with and it was easy to get it dropped. He said I won't hear anything further from them regarding the issue, although I'll admit to being a bit skeptical about that. We'll see what happens. In the mean time, I'll rent from them again, but Hertz probably remains my preference.

I had picked up and dropped off the car at the FBO. Best guess I have is that the car got damaged in the FBO parking lot. Enterprise's policy says that if you pick up/drop off at a remote location then you are responsible for the vehicle until Enterprise takes it back. Regardless, it seems that I got it dropped. It's annoying that I had to fight it in the first place. In around 11 years of renting cars (and probably renting on the order of 50-100 cars in that time frame), this was the only time I had a problem/dispute.
 
Amusingly, Hertz lost the last car I returned to an FBO. I had called the local office and they said it was no problem, the FBO said no problem. I picked it up at the big airport nearby and dropped it and the keys and paperwork at the FBO desk. About a week later I get a call from an automated system at Hertz asking where the car is. I call them and tell them. Their automated system calls me for the rest of the week, so after 3 or 4 days I call them again and the promise to escalate it. The next week the calls stop and a few days later I finally get my emailed receipt, but with the correct return date, so at least they didn't try and charge me for misplacing the car.
 
My experience with both Enterprise and Hertz is that websites and local offices (off airport) seem to refuse the possibility that pickup/dropoffs can be accomplished at FBOs. The FBOs however view it as routine part of their business - therefore always start contact there first.
 
I've heard that Uber is now active in Austin.
 
Consider Lyft too, I generally have a better experience with them and it's usually cheaper too.
 
paflyer said:
I've heard that Uber is now active in Austin.
Click to expand...
They are, but we have a better choice in Austin. Ride Austin is a non-profit and donates a lot of money to charities.
 
I've had only good experiences renting from Enterprise, including 4 separate rentals at 4 different airports in 3 different states in the last month. It is always best to try to go through the FBO, as they know the local procedure for the rental cars available at the field.
 
Jeff Oslick said:
I've had only good experiences renting from Enterprise, including 4 separate rentals at 4 different airports in 3 different states in the last month. It is always best to try to go through the FBO, as they know the local procedure for the rental cars available at the field.
Click to expand...

Had some good ones as well, but the Enterprise good/shady quotient seems to be very dependent on local management culture -- often like the off-airport local no-name brand rental companies that are looking to stick you with various upcharges and wear & tear penalties.

Torques me off to have to stand in front of someone with a clipboard who argues with me over every scratch on an already ratty car at return time stating it was "new damage", or have to debate what time the vehicle was actually returned to an FBO and if fuel was added or not.

Some locations seem to be more Avis/National business professional oriented. It's a grab-bag.
 
Lowflynjack said:
They are, but we have a better choice in Austin. Ride Austin is a non-profit and donates a lot of money to charities.
Click to expand...

Ride Austin also pays their drivers much more than Uber or Lyft, and does better background checks. So you get a better class of driver.
 
The last time I used enterprise (Redlands, Ca) it took over an hour to rent the car and a half hour to return it. They did not know where the Redlands Municipal Airport was even though it was less than ten miles away.

The time before that (Phoenix, Arizona) they would not pick me up at the Buckeye airport and were very slow.

Enterprise expects payment for windshield damage.

Hertz and Avis have been much better when available and don’t expect me to pay for windshield damage.
 
mtuomi said:
I've avoided Enterprise after the last stunt they pulled with me. I rented a car from a remote-ish airfield in TX (still they had an Enterprise stand, just not normally attended). They delivered the car as agreed but when I dropped it off, they forgot to pick it up. For 2 weeks. So they sent me the bill for something ridiculous, close to 1000 dollars, which in the end I had to dispute through my CC company (and won that dispute).
Click to expand...

That happened to me with Enterprise. Had a car for one day in Ft. Lauderdale and 3 weeks later when I was in Minnesota they asked me if I had ever returned the car. They still had not picked it up. I had fuel receipts for the plane to prove when I left Florida. Another Enterprise tried to charge me for damage several months after the rental and Amex had to deal with it (and I didn't have to pay).

I am Hertz Gold so always try to rent from them and the paperwork is a breeze. I just get handed the keys and go.
 
When I don't get the CDW insurance (which seems to be outrageously priced everywhere but in Calif), I take several before and after photos of the car from various angles with my phone. Takes a couple minutes, but I'm pretty sure in the event of an attempted bogus claim, emailing them the "before" and "after" photos along with a screen shot showing the "photo taken" data in the image meta-info would cause them to drop the issue quickly. Maybe I'm lucky, but in the many, many times I've rented cars, I've never had them try to bogus-claim me.
 
My experience with Enterprise has been so-so, but Hertz was bad when a woman hit me in a rental. They wanted loss-of-use at some obscene daily rate for something like 6 weeks. I turned it over to my insurance company & they dealt with it and got it reduced to less than a week at a discounted daily rate (and subrogated any/all costs to the woman that hit me). Tough experience with Hertz, great experience with my insurance.

hankrausch said:
One nice thing about using USAA is you are covered on insurance by booking with their code. So I am covered 3 ways by USAA: (1) Platinum Visa gives $3000 rental coverage (2) entire rental is covered for liability & collision using USAA and (3) the regular insurance I have with USAA conveys to a rental car.
Click to expand...

Make sure the coverage is primary. Credit cards are usually secondary. As I recall, if you don't have USAA insurance you're on the hook for up to $5,000 if using their rental code. Oh, and check the credit card (and insurance policy) - many will NOT cover loss of use. The rental companies have figured that out and now jack those charges sky-high with little regulation (e.g. longer than needed to repair, daily loss-of-use charges that are "rack rate" rather than the average discounted rates they get, etc).

The only real problem I've had is with a Budget car rental overseas. Got that resolved, too, with the help of the rental agency (Auto Europe).
 
Enterprise seems to be slipping - they've been a no-show for me twice, on Saturday morning pick-ups. Last last time it occurred, I drove over, asked what was up? The huddled in the back room for a while, I guess hoping I'd go away. They were right.

Regarding Uber, Lyft, and taxi service, and whatever the Austin thing is; the "check" on drivers is gonna be a pretty crude tool. Not much of a filter to count on, and self-deception if you think a local gov't is doing a better (or worse) job of background checks.
 
I have several times had Enterprise surreptitiously tack on two extra days onto my rental. They refunded it when I pointed it out, but as it happened more than once I suspect it isn't an accident. Enterprise does a lot of deals where the consumer doesn't tend to see the bill as they are insurance (or similar) reimbursements and this fraud goes unnoticed.
 
DesertNomad said:
Another Enterprise tried to charge me for damage several months after the rental and Amex had to deal with it (and I didn't have to pay).

I am Hertz Gold so always try to rent from them and the paperwork is a breeze. I just get handed the keys and go.
Click to expand...

That was basically what I ended up getting (the charge for damage several months after renting). I didn't consider calling AmEx to let them deal with it, that would've been a good idea. Although in my case they didn't charge my credit card, they sent me a bill in the mail and tried to get me to pay it. After 6 months they told me the other day that they're dropping it entirely and I won't hear from them again. Hopefully they stick to their word.

Honestly I had some really good experiences with Enterprise and we'd had some issues with Hertz not providing the vehicle that we'd asked for (like, not even close) but in 11 years of being a Hertz Gold member I've never once had an issue that didn't get resolved immediately, and exactly as I asked them to resolve it. I never take the optional insurance and they never tried to get me to pay for repairs. I've probably rented under 10 cars from Enterprise, and so this one experience makes me question whether I'll use them again.

One thing I like with Enterprise is they rent full size vans. We did that in Florida and it worked quite well for us.
 
I have Hertz Gold, Avis Preferred, and National's Emerald Club status. I usually shotgun a quote at all of them. One thing I can say for National is that they are the only one who actually quotes the ENTIRE PRICE at the get go. Hertz gives you a total rate but then afterwards adds on the taxes and fees. Avis leaves you figuring out how to multiply the daily rate out (and then add on the fees).

(Yes I know Enterprise is National now).
 
Enterprise is NOT National, they are owned by the same parent company (as is Alamo). I'd say National = Hertz in my experience, being a Hertz Gold member and a National Executive Elite member. I only use Enterprise when I have to rent at a location without a major airport, which is rare. Enterprise's vehicles, in my experience, are generally of a lower grade than what I rent from Hertz/National. More Nissan Altimas versus Maximas, or Chevy Malibu vs Impala, etc. I have only had Enterprise mess up my rental charge once, but it was due to me altering the trip mid-way through the reservation, and they got it corrected quickly without too much fuss.
 
Enterprise always seemed to be all about nickle and diming every customer. They always seemed pretty mickey mouse.

It's been a few years, but they really PO'd me the last time I used them.

I was working for a Fortune 100 company that had a travel department that always gave us the cheapest rental cars. We were NOT allowed to get rental comprehensive insurance. They had a kid literally follow me out to the car telling me all the disasters that were certain to happen, and how they'd demand thousands of dollars on the spot if the car was so much as scratched if I didn't sign up for all their insurance.

That's the last time I used Enterprise.
 
Join Emerald Club and you have the option to use Enterprise or National. I call the executive travel desk and they always have a car car waiting for me at the FBO. This is one of the best deals going for pilots renting cars. Look at the bottom of the page and there is a number to call if there is not service provided by the FBO.
 
FBO all the way. If the FBO doesn't do the rental car, I'm not flying there.
 
Rykymus said:
FBO all the way. If the FBO doesn't do the rental car, I'm not flying there.
Click to expand...
Shuts you out of a lot of destinations.

Unless I'm going into an airport that I know has a rental car counter, I check the FBO first. Then I check Enterprise.
 
flyingron said:
Shuts you out of a lot of destinations.

Unless I'm going into an airport that I know has a rental car counter, I check the FBO first. Then I check Enterprise.
Click to expand...

I'm okay with that. I should point out that I'll use both Uber and Lyft, in lieu of a rental car, and sometimes instead of, if I'm only stopping for lunch. But if I'm staying the night, and the airport doesn't have an FBO that can handle the rental car arrangements, then they probably don't have the accommodations I want either.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top