Need Advice - Feel like I've been robbed!

Collecting the deductible up front is a preference of the branch or group that many Erac managers have been trained on as if it's policy. Many Erac employees are trained to collect the $ up front, but it is not a requirement. Erac has the right to collect if they don't get paid after 90 days of close of rental contract. After 90 days, it turns into bad debt and hits the branch with a negative number that takes away from the branch's profit (translation = takes away from the size of commision check for the management team). So, they PREFER to collect it at soon as possible to avoid trying to collect it closer to the 90 day mark. Even if the insurance company handles it directly with Erac's loss control, it could take over the 90 days. In all reality, if Erac's loss control and your insurance agree that you owe, then you'll have to pay, but you could just pay it to your insurance and they pay it out to Erac. Or you may have to pay the branch directly. If you pay after 90 days, this would offset the bad debt and the branch would be issued a credit to their bad debt. But, the internal branch profitability system that Erac has created for their branches puts pressure on the mangement team of the branch to collect it ASAP to save their commision check and a bitch fest from their upper management as to why their bad debt number is high.
In the normal world, the branch should gather as much information from you as possible, do a damage report, have you sign it, and send it to their loss control department. If you don't feel that you are responsible, then they can simply write that the customer does not feel they are responsible in the body of the damage report and then have you sign it. Loss control will in turn eventually contact your insurance company. If it is decided that you owe, then you owe. If not, then you don't. That is how claims should be handled. However, Erac is a master at complicating uncomplicated situations and processes.
Many branch employees simply regurgitate what they've been taught without too much thought. In reality, Erac's internal branch profit accountaibilty system (monthy numbers) and lack of accurate and sensible training are why you are dealing with this bullshit.

[jsimone]

At least that's an educated response to their idiotic processes. At least you make sense. It's too bad they can't train educated employees.

[jsimone]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

When you are RE-WRITING that 500.00 check, think of us! Man, I bet you would much rather be spending that $500 on other things....but your not going to be! And by the way....that $500 is NOTHING to us....peanuts! We piss that away in 1 happy hour!

We'll see, I'll keep you posted.

By the way, I'm on this board looking for advice for a problem that I'm having, what are you doing?

My advice to your problem... Get a life. Maybe do some volunteer work. Get a girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever. Maybe if you had someone or something else in your life, you could stop harassing people and get a real job. Good luck.

Originally Posted by jsimone

We'll see, I'll keep you posted.

By the way, I'm on this board looking for advice for a problem that I'm having, what are you doing?

My advice to your problem... Get a life. Maybe do some volunteer work. Get a girlfriend or boyfriend, whatever. Maybe if you had someone or something else in your life, you could stop harassing people and get a real job. Good luck.

whatever sweetie.....pay your damage and buy cdw next time. :)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

whatever sweetie.....pay your damage and buy cdw next time. :)

To Jsimone:

Please keep a couple of things in mind. Enterprise employees monitor this site and respond to items of interest. However, I would doubt that the unredgistered responses are ERAC employees. It looks as if they are baiting just to see how people will respond.

I think you have taken the correct steps. I like the sugestion of gettig previous rental agreements to check for damage. They should be on file. It would not suprise me if some have been misplaced, or replaced.

I disagree with the $200 estimate. If it is asmall dent or door ding a paintless dent removal can be used. I have used this service on my company car with very good results. Price under $100.00. I used Dent Wizard which is a francise operation. They do a good deal of business with the local car dealerships and negotiate special rates with them. I wold bet ERAC uses a service like this for small repairs, if they repair them at all.

Near the ERAC headquaters in Clayton, MO they have a car lot for sale of retired rentals. I go by it everyday on the way to my office. I always wondered what the proces were like so on a nice day last summer, I took a walk to the car lot during lunch time. I understand why an exrental might be attractive to a buyer who has limited funds - I have no problem with selling these cars or the price they command. What I was struck by was the number of sratches and dings on most of the cars. The glass was good on the cars I looked at, but bumper covers, door panels and hoods bore damage on a lot of the cars. I was wondering how many deductibles they collected without performing the work.

Originally Posted by jsimone

Actually, lesson learned is don't rent from a loser company like Enterprise. I don't want their crappy insurance, I have my own. I don't need to be threatened by you to buy yours!

It's so sad that I have to find a customer service number from a site like this instead of from the actual company, don't you think?

Why don't you get a job at a real company? Don't you think there's a reason that the only people working there is 22 year old kids who are too naive to know any better? I work for one of the largest companies in the WORLD, and guess what, WE POST OUR CUSTOMER SERVICE NUMBER! Our customers are welcome to call and complain and have their issues resolved at any time.

Don't worry, I'll get this resolved, and If I do have to pay out $500 at least it will be on my own terms, not yours.

hhahhahahahaha. you are making a fool out of yourself, you dumb bitch

Basically, here is my advice for the disgruntled customer (pay attention, it could help you out later in life): don't sign financially binding contracts without first reading and completely understanding the terms and conditions of the contract. Look sweetie, ERAC is not doing anything illegal by taking your deductible up-front. If you want to waste you hard earned money on legal fees, go ahead. But you are just making things worse for yourself. You are not going to win this case, and you will have to pay for the damages AND legal fees. It is quite obvious that you and your husband have gotten yourselves quite worked up about this matter, but the bottome line is this: don't rent vehicles if you can't return them in the same condition. If you are unsure about returning it in the same condition, then buy the zero deductible coverage. As for you not needing CDW and having perfectly good insurance, keep telling yourself that sweetcakes. If your insurance is so good, then you wouldn't have a $500 deducible, would you? ERAC's insurance policy is far superior than yours as it has no-fault coverage and a zero deductible. It is simple math (if you are as smart as you claim then you would realise that). I love it when customers are so high and mighty about theur insurance coverage until they wreck a rental vehicle and realise that they have to pay for the damages (who would have thought??) I would love to hear your snippy reply, it just further proves your ignorance on any matters pertaining to insurance, the rental business, and you legal rights. I hope ERAC fucks you over on this one.

nice thread. from my past experience, a standard problem with a standardized ERAC solution. nothing will change that. Not the BBB and not the General Attorney.

My advice: get a credit card with full coverage for rental vehicles. I believe Diners has it. then you don't need to use your regular insurance and CDW either. (check it for deductibles though... :)

[jsimone]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To Jsimone:

Please keep a couple of things in mind. Enterprise employees monitor this site and respond to items of interest. However, I would doubt that the unredgistered responses are ERAC employees. It looks as if they are baiting just to see how people will respond.

I think you have taken the correct steps. I like the sugestion of gettig previous rental agreements to check for damage. They should be on file. It would not suprise me if some have been misplaced, or replaced.

I disagree with the $200 estimate. If it is asmall dent or door ding a paintless dent removal can be used. I have used this service on my company car with very good results. Price under $100.00. I used Dent Wizard which is a francise operation. They do a good deal of business with the local car dealerships and negotiate special rates with them. I wold bet ERAC uses a service like this for small repairs, if they repair them at all.

Near the ERAC headquaters in Clayton, MO they have a car lot for sale of retired rentals. I go by it everyday on the way to my office. I always wondered what the proces were like so on a nice day last summer, I took a walk to the car lot during lunch time. I understand why an exrental might be attractive to a buyer who has limited funds - I have no problem with selling these cars or the price they command. What I was struck by was the number of sratches and dings on most of the cars. The glass was good on the cars I looked at, but bumper covers, door panels and hoods bore damage on a lot of the cars. I was wondering how many deductibles they collected without performing the work.

Yes, I've finally started to realize that even if the people on this site are ERAC employees, they're just baiting people because they have no life.

Thanks for the feedback. I know that it would cost less than $100 to have the ding fixed, even the guy at the collision center next to Enterprise told me that before I left when I caught him outside. I'm also wondering if they will actually have the car repaired. That's something that I'm discussing w/ the attorney general.

Thanks again!

If that door ding was minor, they probably had that car clean and ready to roll as soon as you left. By the time the damage report finds its way to the loss control rep, the car will probably have been rented out a couple of times. Did the branch take a polaroid picture of the damage to that car when you returned it? They're supposed to. I'm sure loss control will love that DX. I bet what will happen is that the DX will get turned into an OX and hit the branch anyways. And all the branch accomplished was pissing off a customer who will tell everyone that Enterprise sucks.