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Apparently, I am only one of many who have been targeted by this scam, and something needs to be done about it. Here are the details:

On June 14, 2011, I had an appointment for my car to be serviced at Metro Volkswagen in Irving, Texas. They had promised a loaner vehicle, but due to a shortage of cars because of recent hailstorms, they arranged instead a rental vehicle from Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

At the Enterprise office (3910 W. Airport Freeway, Irving, Texas), the Enterprise counter agent, Joe, told me the only vehicle they had available for me was a pickup truck. They brought the truck around and Joe apologized for not having anything better but they were also short on inventory because of the recent hail activity in the area. In fact, this particular truck was from Houston, he said, and had quite a few hail dings, too.

We inspected the vehicle together and I noticed several hail dings all over the truck; Joe said"”at least twice"”that they weren't concerned about any dents that were smaller than the end of your thumb, and not to worry about the hail dings. He had been writing on a clipboard all this time, so I assumed he was noting the prior damage (but now looking at the contract, I suppose I assumed wrong as nothing is noted).

Around 5:00 p.m., I called Metro Volkswagen to check the status of my own vehicle and was told they would have to keep it overnight as they had not had a chance to look at it yet. Metro VW was sure I would be okay with that since they had arranged for me to have a vehicle to drive while mine was in the shop.

Since I was going out of town the next day with plans to be gone a week, I suggested that it was wasteful for me to keep a rental car parked in my garage for a week (since Metro VW was paying the bill), and asked if I could drive it to the airport the next morning and turn it in. My service writer agreed with the plan.

I dutifully turned the truck in at the DFW Airport early in the morning on June 15th. The woman who checked in the truck remarked on the hail ding on the hood; I said the guy who rented me the truck the day before said not to worry about that. She did a quick walk-around, and handed me back the contract, having made no notations of any damages.

When I returned from vacation, there was a letter from Enterprise which stated "our Damage Recovery Unit has received notification of damage or loss to the vehicle you rented." I called the phone number listed on the morning of June 23rd and spoke to Jenna. I asked what sort of damage was done, and she told me the front bumper was loose.

I told Jenna that I had only driven the truck approximately 100 miles in the 22 hours it was in my care, and that for the most part, it was parked in my garage. There was no way I had damaged the front bumper of the truck, I told her, and she said she would refer it to the Damage Recovery Unit for investigation.

I contacted my insurance company to alert them to this potential bogus claim by Enterprise Rent-a-Car, and asked them to contact me if Enterprise tried to file a claim against my policy.

On Friday, August 12th, I received a second letter from Enterprise stating that "Our review indicates that you are responsible for the damages to our vehicle. Enclosed please find documentation to support our claim." Included with the letter was an invoice in the amount of $1,012.28 for damages, administrative fees, loss of use and diminishment of value. They sent a form requesting either my insurance information or my credit card information for payment.

Also included with the letter was a copy of the estimate which I have carefully reviewed. I found it curious that on June 23rd, Jenna had told me the front bumper was loose, but the estimate is for replacing the hood and repairing the grille.

I also noticed another serious discrepancy . . . the VIN on my contract for the truck I drove is KMHCN4AC0BU615718 but the VIN listed on the estimate for the damaged truck is 1D7CE3GK2AS179421.

Contemplating what my next step should be, I went to the Internet and Googled "Enterprise rental car damage scam." I was not surprised to find pages and pages of complaints from people from all over the United States with stories similar to mine.

In fact, my husband has been victimized by this same scam in the past. In 2004 or thereabouts, another driver hit his company vehicle so their insurance company was responsible for paying for a rental vehicle for him while his SUV was being repaired. He requires a vehicle the size of a SUV for his work but the other driver's insurance company (Progressive) reneged on paying the cost for an SUV and only paid Enterprise Rent-a-Car for the cost of a smaller vehicle. Enterprise was persistent in billing us for the difference (which we never paid), and has subsequently has placed my husband's name on a "Do Not Rent" list.

As I stated in my opening paragraph, this scandalous practice by Enterprise Rent-a-Car is a shakedown of innocent people that comes very close, in my opinion, to insurance fraud. I'm sure Enterprise collects on several of these bogus claims because it is less expensive and certainly less time consuming to simply pay (or turn it over to the insurance company and let them pay) and move on. In the business, it's called a "nuisance claim." But it's fraudulent practices like this that drive up the cost of insurance for all of us and I think it is our duty as consumers to take a stand and do what we can to stop questionable practices such as this.

I am willing to become part of a class action suit and/or do whatever is needed to fix this problem.

I have no intention of paying for damages ($1,012) that I did not cause. I have sent a copy of the above letter to the Texas State Attorney General, the Texas Department of Insurance Consumer Protection Division, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureaus in Fort Worth and Dallas, my insurance company (AMICA), my three major credit card companies (Capital One, CitiCard and American Express), the consumer advocates at all four major network television stations in my metro area (CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox) plus the two major newspapers (Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram) and the service manager at Metro Volkswagen since they were responsible for paying for the rental car.

This fraudulent activity on the part of businesses has GOT to stop. PLEASE contact me if there is some chance I can help end this practice. We as consumers must learn to stand up on our hind legs and FIGHT BACK. In the infamous words of Howard Beale ("Network") . . . "I'm as mad as *** and I'm not going to take this anymore!"

Location: Fort Worth, Texas

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Guest

I had a similar situation with my rental from enterprise, my insurance co arranged for the rental. The morning I picked up the rental it had snowed, and rental car was covered in ice and snow.

The guy checking the car out noted some damage, but not all of it. Damage to grill and bumper could not be seen due to ice and snow. On my return of the rental, the damage was noted, and charged to my insurance company. I requested my insurance co check previous check out and in forms to see if the damage had been previously noted.

My insurance advised me that Enterprise would not forward this information to them, or allow the paperwork to be inspected by my insurance. It is a scam with out a doubt.

Lewin Xpr

Enterprise is a horrible place to rent from! They are liars and wrongly continued to collect money from me even though the person at fault insurance company admitted in arbitration their client was 100% at fault and I was 0% fault! I spoke to attorneys that said they were wrong to do that as well but I got stuck with the bill from a car accident that was clearly not my fault because I was trying to clear it and get rid of it ugh

Meggin Cgc

This Eric Guidry claim#1536**** please give me call at 337658-**** rental agreement 77B5QJ. Enterprise is claiming that Hub City Ford in Lafayette La.

said we put diesel in DEF tank which is a lie we have 2013 Dodge Ram Diesel truck we are familiar with this and would not done something stupid like that. Somebody trying to lay blame on us I will hire a lawyer and go all the way with this.

P S ya`ll better investigate this more. Eric Guidry.

Guest

I was just victimized by the Enterprise folks at DTW; I am certain they are running some sort of insurance scam there as well. I put

Guest

I am from Atlanta and this scam is still alive and well! My car was being repaird and I was sent to Enterprise for a rental.

I returned it only a couple hours later and I was not allowed to inspect it with them... because it was 'raining'. Well, it was taking awhile so I went out anyway, and much to my surpise, the lady inspecting was doing something in the trunk. When she saw me she yelled at me to go back inside!

WHAT? Once completed, I was told I had broken the 'passenger' mirror. Was that all she had time to damage? It wasn't damaged when I brought it in.

They insisted that I put the claim through my insurance company but I refused!

My vehicle was not repaired so they tried to send me back to Enterprise. I told him 'not this time, give me a loaner.' He didn't know about my experience but laughed and said 'we've been getting a lot of complaints about Enterprise.'

Guest

They are doing that to us we had a accident in North Carolina and had to come home and now they said we damaged the bottom of the bumper so close to the ground and waited 20 days to send us something enterprise is not a great company to rent a car from

Guest

Dealing with wrongful claims of $600 in damages for a rental I had.. only needed the stupid rental because a girl smashed into my car while it was parked in the parking lot of my job (where I only make $8 per hour!) & Now I've got this to deal with... Incredible

Guest

I rented car from Enterprise and they said I wrecked the car as while and I did not and now I am on the do not rent list. I am willing to share my experience and be apart of a lawsuit for this scam needs to stop!

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1573833

Enterprise in Bossier City Louisiana on Benton Road accused me of damaging a rental and clearly it was two screw holes where a front license plate had been removed. The manager would not even go back out and look at the so called damage I had done.

Guest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrWuIezg5Ds Heres them trying to accuse me of replacing their door.

Guest

I am also a victim of this kind of scam with this company. I would gladly join any class action suit and any advice on how I can fight would be greatly helpful.

Guest

Customer of Enterprise car rental for a long time but that's stopping today. Don't like their counter personnel and their way of doing business.

Guest

I also meet the same problem.

Guest

I’m going thru this right now! I’m a college student and the damages that were claimed is $916, i don’t have that and they also reported it to my insurance.. now my insurance is saying i need to pay the deductible because there’s no proof!

Guest

This guy I know told me he rented a car through his company like he had done a ton of times. He had an enterprise plus account gold or silver member(I can't remember).

He had a 48 hour rental and drove about 400 miles for a business trip. He used the drop box like he had done several times in the past. People were there, but it was before business hours. There was no damage on the vehicle.

He got a phone call after their COB about damage to the vehicle. He went the very next day and talked with the associate who was making this claim. His description over the phone was minor, but when he got there it was anything but. He got there and observed some major damage to the lower curbside panel between the front and rear tire, also had a scrape on the curbside tire.

It looked like someone had went up on a curb and then backed off of it. It would have been noticed if it happened when he drove it. He had many questions like when was it turned in and the guy said right after you put the key in the drop box, so he asked why he wasn't contacted until after they were closed that day. The guy had no answers for that.

He also told me that this fellow was obese and they have a hard time moving around, like not being able to look for a curb... Anyways, if it was up to me I would have disputed it, but he said it was through his company under his name and they caved and paid it. Don't let this be you. Even though he used the drop box about 20 times before, it was this one time that they got him.

They lied and he had no proof. Take a picture of the vehicle at every angle, or a video slowly, and take a picture of the odometer. Also, don't use the drop box ever. It happens that he knew how they ran things at this place having rented so many times and they have workers taking vehicles left and right to pick up and drop off that there is no accountability.

They try this stuff all the time. It is a common practice.

Guest

This is worse.....I was hit while in their rental car....a hit and run. I have a police report and the driver of the other car, which I caught , had current insurance.

Why they are sending me a bill for $7,000 is unbelievable.

They must be trying to scam me and collect twice.

I was hit while in their car and I am sure the at fault person's insurance paid them. If they try to collect from my insurance or charge my credit card, I do not know what I will do.

Guest

same thing happened to me. not only that they charged me to towing to get it "inspected" when

there wasnt anything to inspect!!

to top it off the bill went from 2200 to 2600 by the time it went to the

collection agency! wow! how did a car that is considered a "total lost" all of a sudden go up $400??!!! in

damages.

when i asked why i cant be there for the inspection they said it nots proctocol? really ...

then you can slap me with 2200 in damages. how about taking it to my own mechanic? nope cant do that either

how about searching the VIN number to see if any autobody ever fixed it...

nope cant do that either. total scammers. i will never ever rent from them. woulndt take it even if it was FREE!!

this is called injustice..

however, a lesson learned ... take pictures before you leave the place and do not feel rushed by them!

Guest

I can't believe how prevalent this is. Same thing happened to me.

Somebody hit my car, so the insurance company put me up with Enterprise. I used the car for a week while the repair was being done to mine, and when I dropped it off, the claimed there was some damage to the rocker panel. Some dents that weren't there before. I was surprised, as I had never abused the car in any way.

He said he had notes and pictures, but wasn't able to produce them, saying they were sent to another office (didn't make sense). Then they hit me with a $450 charge.

I am more than upset.

This is such sleezy scam, I can't believe they are still getting away with it. They don't need to bother putting me on the "Do Not Rent" list, because I'll never set foot in their place again.

Guest

Hi All,

I rented a car in enterprise (hyundai accent 2016) and when car was parked some one hit my car and my front bumper is broken so can i know what will be the amount which enterprise charge me. As when asked hyundai dealer he said that it will cost around 700$. Can any one let me know the amount they charge.

Guest

Just buy the insurance and you won't have to worry about it

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