From today's Washington Post

Ding! The Sound Of Many Griping About Enterprise

By Don Oldenburg
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 23, 2004; Page C09

"The same thing happened to me!" came a loud chorus of feedback from more than a dozen readers after the Oct. 5 column about Antonia Balazs's ding-or-damage dispute with Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

From Harrisonburg to Chevy Chase, their point was nearly unanimous: Balazs's problem -- that Enterprise tried to charge her $300 after finding "three small scuffs" on her rental car's rear bumper when she returned the vehicle -- was not an isolated incident.

Copycat reader feedback to a column isn't unusual, but rarely are almost all the follow-up complaints about the same company doing the same thing, as in this case.

"When we returned the car, the employee from Enterprise found a microscopic scratch," recalls D.C. resident Jeff Jacobs, who rented from Enterprise's Georgetown location and was charged $180 for damage. Jacobs was so incensed that he passed out fliers about it outside the Enterprise office. After an hour, he says, a regional manager told him he'd get a $180 refund but also "that we would be put on a nationwide no-rent list. I told them that was fine because we would never rent from them again."

D.C. attorney John Daniel says Enterprise's Wheaton office charged him $100 for two tiny holes in the rear bumper three years ago. "The Enterprise agent, in the return walk-around, went directly to the bumper to spot the two minor holes," hidden by dirt and grime, he says. "The car had not collided or been bumped during the several days we had it under our care."

When asked about the reader feedback, Enterprise spokesman Lee Boughton at corporate headquarters in St. Louis said that much like-minded discontent was "unacceptable on many levels," and he promised an internal investigation.

"We are the largest rental car company in North America," says Boughton. He says that given the number of cars Enterprise rents, the company doesn't get that many complaints -- though he won't say how many. "We've actually conducted 27.5 million transactions in North America," he says. "Literally millions of transactions are made on an annual basis."

Boughton also suggests that Enterprise's localized approach to doing business makes its interaction with customers more hands-on. "Ninety-three percent of our business is basically in the home-city market where renters live in their locality and use us for leisure weekends . . . or their vehicle had an accident and they use us for a replacement car."

That's a "different proposition," he says, from customers who fly somewhere, rent a vehicle at the airport, return it there, then fly home. "We spend quite a bit of time with them," he says. "We do take the care to walk each renter around the vehicle and check its condition and get the customer to initial that contract, and then on its return, we walk around it again and agree on its condition. We go to some hefty lengths to try to minimize these types of situations."

John Daniel isn't placated. "Over the years I have rented from all the major rental companies -- Hertz, Avis, National -- and many of the discount companies, and I have never had an experience like the one with Enterprise," he says, vowing to never rent from Enterprise again.

By the way, those multi-copy car rental contracts you sign before they hand you the keys? They typically make it clear that the renter is personally responsible for any damage to the car.

The prospect is enough to drive some customers to buy the rental-car damage waivers the counter reps push that add $5 to $15 a day. Before doing that, check with your own automobile insurance company and your credit card company to see if you're already covered.

The new Electronic Retailing Self-Regulation Program last week announced its first action involving misleading or unsubstantiated direct-response marketing in television. The ad: Thirty-minute infomercials advertising "Slim in 6" and "6-Day Express Body" weight-loss programs. The marketer voluntarily agreed to add to each testimonial a qualifier that reports when weight loss took longer than the assumed six weeks and exactly how long it took to lose the pounds being reported.

WHERE TO LOOK

For tips on renting a car, see the Federal Trade Commission's Web site:www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/autos/carrent.htm

The Electronic Retailing Association's self-regulatory initiative investigates consumer complaints about false or misleading TV and radio advertising filed through its Web site at www.savvyshopper.org.

Got questions? A consumer complaint? A helpful tip? E-mail details to oldenburgd@washpost.comor write Don Oldenburg, The Washington Post, 1150 15th St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20071

I love the spin the newer ERAC PR guys likes to put on things. By the way I think he was one of the few at ERAC Corporate that were hired from the outside.... I guess there were not enough qualified internal Eracians that were good at putting spin on issues....

too funny

If your so damn sure the damage was not there before...why the hell did you initial for the condition of the car upon check-out??? And is there a chance something could have happened to the car while you were away or were you looking at the car 100% of the time you had it???

Originally Posted by Underegistered

If your so damn sure the damage was not there before...why the hell did you initial for the condition of the car upon check-out??? And is there a chance something could have happened to the car while you were away or were you looking at the car 100% of the time you had it???

Shut your pie-hole, we pulled that same gimmick up here in the northeast... Want those un-insured losses to go down... blame the innocent guy!

He's probably was a serious prick. Somebody comes in who has a little bit of damage and a serious attitude problem, you bet your ass they will be charged. Kindness goes a long way.

Originally Posted by Underegistered

If your so damn sure the damage was not there before...why the hell did you initial for the condition of the car upon check-out??? And is there a chance something could have happened to the car while you were away or were you looking at the car 100% of the time you had it???

agreed, but it depends on what they're looking for on checkout/return. I used to hate it when customers made me mark down a scratch or chip that was less than a 1/4 inch. who cares? We didn't ox/dx anything that was smaller than 1 1/2" unless it was broken/chipped glass (safety).

[slave no more]

Originally Posted by bleedgreen

agreed, but it depends on what they're looking for on checkout/return. I used to hate it when customers made me mark down a scratch or chip that was less than a 1/4 inch. who cares? We didn't ox/dx anything that was smaller than 1 1/2" unless it was broken/chipped glass (safety).

Whenever a customer would try and get me to mark down all of that tiny crap I would just tell them that if they wanted me to document the tiny stuff on the way out we would do the same on the way back and I would put a note on the ticket that says EG in black (Everything Goes). Not too many people would argue with me after that. My biggest beef with ERAC was that when it was dark or snowing or pouring rain that my office had shit lighting, no roofing and most of the time during bad weather we could not see portions of the car. We had flashlights but that does not show enough of the car. During the winter we would have the biggest problems with people arguing over damage or reps missing it that there was a trend of Undoc Damage starting in winter and ending in the spring. Other than that the damage plan worked fine!

[apeboy]

We don't even repair bumper damage if it is as small as the Lawyer says. These people who complain that they didn't do any damage are usually right but what about the idiot in the suv who parks next to the car while your at work and swings his door into the rental or can't pull into a parking spot without hitting the rental next to him. Who's fault is it?

"We don't even repair bumper damage if it is as small as the Lawyer says. These people who complain that they didn't do any damage are usually right but what about the idiot in the suv who parks next to the car while your at work and swings his door into the rental or can't pull into a parking spot without hitting the rental next to him. Who's fault is it?"

We tell the customers all the time, CDW covers you regardless of fault. You are 100% responsible for the condition of the rental. Parking lot damage does happen. If that person that was hit gets the information of the other driver than we collect the deductible as stated while review the contract, than Loss Control does the rest. Usually the insurance companies can see if they can figure it out. Its not our problem. You should have taken the CDW haha! I tell every customer the circumstance and breaking it down to why they would pay so much and for a 5" scratch that we always repair our vehicles and the killer is DOWNTIME! thats why my numbers are sick!

We have reservations with Enterprise but because of this board are seriously thinking of changing plans. We rented with Avis last time and had no problems whatsoever. We are planning on getting the liability and collision waver thru the rental car company. Does this cover any possible problems? With that insurance in mind should I still be worried?