Beware of poor lighting and wet cars

Just returned a car to my local branch after a oneway overnight rental from Heathrow Airport (UK).

The car was checked-out at about 9.30pm and had just been washed. The lighting at ERAC's Heathrow Airport branch is extremely poor which, coupled with a wet car, made it pretty tricky to perform a thorough inspection. I even pointed this out to the rep who, in reply, claimed that they're not allowed better lighting due to their proximity to the airport runway. Can't have those pesky 747s trying to land in their carpark!

Anyway, I inspected the car all over as best I could, as did the rep. She did not use a torch/flashlight.

On check-in at the local branch, a small dent was noticed on the bonnet/hood. I say small, but it was large enough that had it happened on the drive home the previous night I would have heard the object strike the car. I heard no such thing.

To cut a long story short, ERAC Heathrow claim their "highly-trained reps" always use a torch/flashlight to check-in/check-out cars in the dark, and a check of the records show that no damage was noted after the previous customer's rental. I was also told that the previous customer returned the car "just an hour before you picked it up". So that would be in the dark, then?!?!

So right now I'm £150 quid down and not very impressed by Enterprise. Needless to say I will be persuing this claim.

To summarise - always try to check-out in the daylight, and INSIST on a dry car.

Cheers, Steve

[jaded1234]

When I checked out my rental, it was an overcast day. When returned thay had it under lights in a "tent" to catch the fine dimples that could not be seen under normal conditions. Sounds like standard fare. They only inspect it if you don't get the extra $50/day insurance.

If the person before you had the insurance, no reason to inspect. Gotta get the damage paid for twice.

[iluvEcars]

i just posted this in another thread as well. but here we go.

customers like you guys are amusing to me. If we used your rational that its bad to check a customer in to a vehicle in the dark or into a wet car, then we should close a few hours earlier. Also on a rainy day, i dont say "no ma'am, you cant return this vehicle today, its raining. please come back when its dry outside."

No we do our EXACT SAME trunk to trunk that we do when it is sunny, raining or dark. Does every employee do it perfectly? no but we live in an imperfect word. Take some PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY and check your own damn car out and sign for it only when you are sure of its condition!

[jaded1234]

Please tell me you have a record of 100.00% of catching all damage on the checkout.

Think about it - If you mised even 1 in a year, and you are trained to do this, do it everyday with the same vehicles, and know what/where to look for damage on a particular model - how do you expect someone untrained, unfamiliar with a particular model, does it maybe a few times a year at most, trusting the employee to mark any significant damage (as that would be the assumed level of inspection on check-in).

And that gives Enterprise the benefit of the doubt!

Now you probably do deal with unreasonable people who do not admit when they do damage. It will be a cross segment of the general population. But you also had customers that are reasonable and do see issues with the way things are done.

I can guarantee you that the "damage" charged to me could not be seen on a wet car in the dark. Minor imperfections on the roof that you could only see with proper lighting at the right angle. The agent found it too fast - quite literally 30 seconds, including finding the car in the lot and driving it up front. He found it faster than it took him to show me the "damage". He also did not look at any other part of the vehicle. Too fast and too specific.

It may be certain offices with this problem. Bad apples are everywhere.

[iluvEcars]

Originally Posted by jaded1234

Please tell me you have a record of 100.00% of catching all damage on the checkout.

Think about it - If you mised even 1 in a year, and you are trained to do this, do it everyday with the same vehicles, and know what/where to look for damage on a particular model - how do you expect someone untrained, unfamiliar with a particular model, does it maybe a few times a year at most, trusting the employee to mark any significant damage (as that would be the assumed level of inspection on check-in).

And that gives Enterprise the benefit of the doubt!

Now you probably do deal with unreasonable people who do not admit when they do damage. It will be a cross segment of the general population. But you also had customers that are reasonable and do see issues with the way things are done.

I can guarantee you that the "damage" charged to me could not be seen on a wet car in the dark. Minor imperfections on the roof that you could only see with proper lighting at the right angle. The agent found it too fast - quite literally 30 seconds, including finding the car in the lot and driving it up front. He found it faster than it took him to show me the "damage". He also did not look at any other part of the vehicle. Too fast and too specific.

It may be certain offices with this problem. Bad apples are everywhere.

no, i wont tell you im perfect and you may be right in your situation but it gets annoying.... buy CDW and be done with it...

often times we see damage as you pull in. we catch it from different angles. most people are not out to get you. perhaps you pissed off the employee, you never know.....

good luck if you are in the right

Originally Posted by jaded1234

The agent found it too fast - quite literally 30 seconds, including finding the car in the lot and driving it up front. He found it faster than it took him to show me the "damage". He also did not look at any other part of the vehicle. Too fast and too specific.

You stated at the start that this was a "oneway overnight rental from Heathrow Airport".

So you think that someone from Heathrow emailed ahead to your local branch to say "there's a dent on the roof but it's not documented, please get the customer to sign for it"??

Seriously, that is never going to happen. Ever. Heathrow will have received an email to say X vehicle dropped with X,Y damage. They'll have looked at your outgoing contract and DX'd you for additional damage. Plain and simple. No branch can ever be assed having to deal with a customer that has an XS and has caused damage to the car - and it would need to be a particularly twisted and bitter individual to actually want to "sting" you with damage.

How would you suggest the damage happened? Whether it was your own fault or not i mean..

[jaded1234]

I guess most of the employees are idiots. I chimed in with the guy in England on having the same problem. Never said it happened at the same location. Try to read before replying.

Originally Posted by jaded1234

I guess most of the employees are idiots. I chimed in with the guy in England on having the same problem. Never said it happened at the same location. Try to read before replying.

I get you point Mr. Nosey? Thanks

[iluvEcars]

Originally Posted by jaded1234

When I checked out my rental, it was an overcast day. When returned thay had it under lights in a "tent" to catch the fine dimples that could not be seen under normal conditions. Sounds like standard fare. They only inspect it if you don't get the extra $50/day insurance.

If the person before you had the insurance, no reason to inspect. Gotta get the damage paid for twice.

First off it's $15 to $20 a day. Most other companies chArge $26-$30 a day and may not cover the full value of the vehicle. Also it's called damage waiver, not insurance. When cars are damaged ERAC pays for it, we don't collect insurance money

yeah, its your responsibility to check over the cars when you sign the contract. I take pictures with my camera phone of the body panels when I rent a car, the rental clerk remembers that.