"Supposed" Damage

[slave no more]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi All,

Yesterday I received a letter from Enterprise regarding damage to a vehicle I rented over a month ago. Needless to say I was completely shocked because I definitely know that I did not cause the damage to the vehicle that ERAC claims I did. I am a pretty good customer there (I rent from them roughly twice a month) and I have even been back to rent other vehicles since the one they say I damaged. I have already cancelled my credit card so that they cannot automatically charge the damage to ($428 CAD) it. I plan on fighting this to the death if I have to, do they have a case against me? Wouldn't they notice the damage right after I dropped the car off? The agent never did a walk around with me when I dropped it off, but they never have before either. I simply drop the keys off and I'm on my way. How can they be sure nobody else damaged the car since I last rented it? Like I said, I rented the vehicle around a month ago!

PS: I was also "accused" several times about another car that I rented there and returned. They thought I never returned it when in fact they lost it and another customer had it for a few weeks. I received several calls regarding it and I had to keep telling them I returned it.

Sorry for the long winded message, I am really pissed right now and it's all I can do to not go down there and smack someone upside the head.

Call the Loss COntrol Manager back and tell him that once they let you leave the office without holding you accountable for the damage they "released you of all liability". I used to have reps fuckup and not tell customers about damage and I would find it an hour later and call the customer and my Loss Control would tell me tought shit. The only way they can get you is if you dropped it at a shop but even then they would have to call you. Ask for the estimate and see when it was written. If the damage is that noticable then they probably would not have rented it again. If the estimate was done weeks later then tell them to piss off.

Originally Posted by slave no more

Call the Loss COntrol Manager back and tell him that once they let you leave the office without holding you accountable for the damage they "released you of all liability". I used to have reps fuckup and not tell customers about damage and I would find it an hour later and call the customer and my Loss Control would tell me tought shit. The only way they can get you is if you dropped it at a shop but even then they would have to call you. Ask for the estimate and see when it was written. If the damage is that noticable then they probably would not have rented it again. If the estimate was done weeks later then tell them to piss off.

This was my experience as well. If you dropped at a shop, you're on the hook for any damage, even if it happened at the shop after you left it. It's your responsibility until the ERAC rep gets in it to drive it back to the branch.

If you returned it and they didn't have you fill out a DX (damage report) right then, they're screwed and you're in the clear. Tell them you want to know why this wasn't brought up when you turned the car in. Loss control will have to pull like 10 tickets before yours and after yours (if the car was rented after you instead of shopped) and check for markings etc.

Disregard the poster that said to yell and scream. All that does is make someone get you off of the phone and not want to help. I always help the rational people who are trying to sort it out logically...if you're yelling and irate, I'm not going to do my best because I think you're irrational and a jerk.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

I created this forum (and moved some appropriate threads into it) literally just early yesterday morning, and it's already gotten quite a few new postings in it. I didn't realize how common an issue this is with Enterprise.

Do we need to prepare an online guide for what to do when confronted with "damage" claims, to help people deal with this?

[Don Stevenson]

Originally Posted by bleedgreen

This was my experience as well. If you dropped at a shop, you're on the hook for any damage, even if it happened at the shop after you left it. It's your responsibility until the ERAC rep gets in it to drive it back to the branch.

If you returned it and they didn't have you fill out a DX (damage report) right then, they're screwed and you're in the clear. Tell them you want to know why this wasn't brought up when you turned the car in. Loss control will have to pull like 10 tickets before yours and after yours (if the car was rented after you instead of shopped) and check for markings etc.

Disregard the poster that said to yell and scream. All that does is make someone get you off of the phone and not want to help. I always help the rational people who are trying to sort it out logically...if you're yelling and irate, I'm not going to do my best because I think you're irrational and a jerk.

Best point yet. Very calmly call the area manager and talk about the fact that you enjoy renting from the people at that particular branch and act like you are the type of person that could positively influence that branch's business. Then act like you can't possibly understand why they would try to pull this stunt (calmly). Tell him that no one mentioned it to you and you were blind sided by the whole thing. Throw in a couple of names so he or she will know that you frequent the branch and you will be fine. He or she will say, " if you promise you will come back and see me next time you need something then we'll take care of it." The whole thing will be cheesy, but relatively painless. Forget all the legal leg to stand on crap and just go above whomever it is you have dealt with. You won't pay a dime, and you'll probably get free stuff.

Originally Posted by Don Stevenson

Best point yet. Very calmly call the area manager and talk about the fact that you enjoy renting from the people at that particular branch and act like you are the type of person that could positively influence that branch's business. Then act like you can't possibly understand why they would try to pull this stunt (calmly). Tell him that no one mentioned it to you and you were blind sided by the whole thing. Throw in a couple of names so he or she will know that you frequent the branch and you will be fine. He or she will say, " if you promise you will come back and see me next time you need something then we'll take care of it." The whole thing will be cheesy, but relatively painless. Forget all the legal leg to stand on crap and just go above whomever it is you have dealt with. You won't pay a dime, and you'll probably get free stuff.

exactly. These are the customers that get what they want.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by bleedgreen

exactly. These are the customers that get what they want.

Wait a minute! This was exactly the kind of customer I was and all I got was lies and spin. I did everything right!

Arrrrgh.

[Don Stevenson]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Wait a minute! This was exactly the kind of customer I was and all I got was lies and spin. I did everything right!

Arrrrgh.

You got unlucky. If you had talked to someone different though, and they had helped, we wouldn't have a place to talk about the good times we had at ERAC!

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Wait a minute! This was exactly the kind of customer I was and all I got was lies and spin. I did everything right!

Arrrrgh.

there is always an exception. jeez. you and your "protected status" are getting all out of shape again about special treatment.

DISCLAIMER: if you speak calmly and logically and don't condescend to the person you're trying to get help from... 9 times out of 10 they will try and make you happy. If you yell and get irate, they're going to shut you down and not want to help because you're being a jerk. 9 times out of 10...some will just bend over and give you something to shut you up.

It's not a perfect world Admin. I'm just trying to state what I think is the obvious.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by bleedgreen

DISCLAIMER: if you speak calmly and logically and don't condescend to the person you're trying to get help from... 9 times out of 10 they will try and make you happy. If you yell and get irate, they're going to shut you down and not want to help because you're being a jerk. 9 times out of 10...some will just bend over and give you something to shut you up.

It's not a perfect world Admin. I'm just trying to state what I think is the obvious.

I completely agree. With every problem, they had an excuse at the ready, and since I wanted it to work out, I just kept rolling with the punches. I was friendly, got to know some of the employees, and we even talked about their vacations and families. The branch is right around the corner from my building and since I'm an urbanist and know the value of a local neighborhood (yes, I'm a big Jane Jacobs fan), I really, really wanted it to work out.

I was never demanding or rude, or anything. Right up until the end, I believed these problems were out of their hands, probably because that's the spin they kept putting on everything.

I have never, never been one of those people who shout or get rude and demanding. It just doesn't work and it's really bad manners. I always figured I could get what I wanted by just being a good customer and a helpful, friendly guy.

I'm also not the kind of guy who sues someone over an issue like this. I'm a scientist/engineer/geek in many ways, and the way we solve problems is to figure out what's really going on and what's the root cause, and we work together and share information and we make the world a better place. It's guys like us who put a man on the moon.

I'm still amazed that now that Enterprise is having these problems pointed out to them so clearly on the Internet they're not doing something about them. Well, they've got political and financial goals that are more important than solving problems.

Like I've said before; it's a clash of cultures. I want to get the facts out and solve problems and they want to keep the commission check gravy train going for as long as possible. The Internet and free speech are going to last a lot longer than these idiots.