Enterprise Rent A Car - Enterprise Rent-A-Car does NOT "pick you up"!
Enterprise's current TV ads about 'caring' and 'wanting to fix your problems, even if you didn't rent from their particular agency', are certainly NOT what we experienced! On 21 Dec, we (6 of us, 3 were children) rented a family van in Utah, then traveled to Sacramento CA for Christmas.
On Dec. 23, while on I-80 just minutes from San Francisco, we were involved in a 4-car pile-up. We stopped in time but the car behind us couldn't stop and hit us from behind, plowing our rental van into a stopped truck. The van was totaled.
We immediately called the Utah Enterprise office about our plight. "We'll pick you up!" their TV spot claims. Fat chance! We were told we needed to call a CA agency for help, they wouldn't even relay calls for us at first.
With our own GPS unit and our own cell phones, we began to call every agency we could find through the GPS - each said they could help and passed us off. One agent said he could get another van from outside of CA but it would take 18 hours and we'd have to pay for its transport to CA. We stood on the freeway for three hours until the tow truck driver took pity on us and shuttled us to the closest exit. We hung out at a local diner and called the local agent back for the third time.
He was kind enough to drive over to the diner in a nice, big van and offer to drop us off at the tram to the Oakland airport, where he suggested we sit and pray for another van to become available at some future open-ended time. Mind you, this was the afternoon before Christmas eve and we had three children with us! We asked him why we couldn't rent the van he was sitting in. He said it wasn't available.
EVERY Enterprise agent told us they expected us to get back to wherever we came from on our own power through our own devices! So, we waited until our daughter-in-law got off a 12-hour shift in Sacramento and drove down to get us (7 people) in her Explorer. But, we did have a Christmas miracle. Early on Christmas Eve we began our calls again, and finally one great guy at the Sacramento airport agency actually took the time to check out his fleet and found he DID have a van sitting in his lot that would accommodate us (this was after multiple calls to this same office and getting no help).
However, when we got home after Christmas, the nightmare continued. Even though we weren't responsible for the accident, even though we sent required paperwork numerous times to Enterprise's Damage Claim Unit, in March we were still receiving invoices for $5700 saying we were responsible for damages. It seemed obvious to us that no one agency within the Enterprise group ever talked to another. Every time we got a call or a letter, it was from a different person in a different agency in a different state.
What a bizarre way of doing business.
I WILL NEVER RENT FROM ENTERPRISE AGAIN! NEVER NEVER NEVER!
Location: Purchase, New York
Thank You for Your Reply! We are processing your message.
Comments
Please avoid publishing any personal information and promotional content
Well, it's not Christmas. I live in rural Wisconsin a mere 30 miles from Enterprise.
They won't come pick me up either.
You can't be upset because they didn't have any rentals available on Christmas eve and your dumb *** wrecked the one you had. Also, why would you expect them to drive to California from Utah for you on a holiday? You sound like a self centered ***.
Learn how to drive.
Ever think that maybe the Enterprise people celebrate Christmas too?
Don't TAILGATE!
The company rented you a car. You have to think in terms of what you would have done if the accident had happened in your own personal vehicle.
I rent cars on a regular basis and there is nothing in the rental contract that says the company is responsible for any occurrence of misfortune that may happen to you while renting their vehicle.
You contract with them is a car for a price. Not if you find yourself in an accident that certainly was not their fault, they are responsible for everything that happens after that accident
ALL Rental Car Agencies MUST have liability insurance to cover any accidents of the consumer in their rental vehicles. Enterprise, you got ur money from that accident.
Why u would want to charge the consumer extra is beyond me. Cold-heartedness and greed is an understatement in regards this situation. Thats why the US fought so hard for independence from u ppl so long ago. And, now I understand why we want nothing to do with u now.
Enterprise UK, we want nothing to do with u. Take ur cars and get out of the US.
I don't work for Enterprise, but find complaints interesting. I find your situation unfortunate, but the problems lay with the person who hit you, not the rental company.
Enterprise would need to claim damages based on the facts they have from the insurance company following the RTA. If the person in front felt one knock or two would determine fault. If this had been your own car (which in effect it is when rented) You would not immediately have a replacement nor would you get to where you are going with 'on standby personal drivers over the xmas holiday!'. If the insurance held multiple people at fault Enterprise would not be able to recover the cost, which they would prefer to do, so the cost falls on the customer.
It is to my understanding that they offer CDW and waivers to prevent situations like yours, so in effect this was your choice. The crux of this story is that consumers have false expectations that companies can not live up to realistically. This was an 'accident' therefore unexpected. whilst they offer cover against this, this was not taken...not their fault.
Also lack of braking distance of motorists.
I find this a particular problem in the states (and the UK, better in France strangely), for all parties. There is no need for sudden braking if everyone kept safe distance, therefore roads would have few accidents and less congestion.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We would like to look into this further. Please email care[at]enterprise.com with your full name, the exact rental location and the rental agreement number, along with any other details.
When emailing, please list reference #120430-002098 in the subject line.
Gillian
Enterprise Rent-A-Car