Accused of damage 6 days after returning car

I rented a car at LAX and was given a very heavy-handed sales pitch to take their insurance. I declined and was subjected to another 5 minute lecture but still declined. I had the car in my possession for 25 hours total (and was paranoid the whole time due to the fear tactics they had used on me for not taking their insurance). I returned it to a pre-arranged different location in Anaheim. Since the drop-off location was in a hotel and the Enterprise desk was not staffed all the time, the agent told me to simply park the vehicle in a marked Enterprise slot in the hotel parking garage, lock it up and drop the keys in the Enterprise lockbox in the hotel lobby.

A full six days later I get a call from Enterprise saying that there was a damage claim on the car for a dent in the roof! Practically speaking, how does one get a dent on the roof? Wouldn't I have noticed a tree laying across the vehicle? Of course, I felt that I was in a totally compromised position because I had not officially gotten an "all clear" from the agent (because they weren't there) and had, by this time, left the state to go home. I told them that absolutely there was no dent when I returned the car. Because I was so paranoid about it, I had inspected the car closely before leaving it in their assigned spot. They said that I was still liable for the damage during the whole time that it sat there before their agent got around to checking out the vehicle. I feel like this is a major scam and they saw a great opportunity to take advantage of me when I didn't have the insurance, returned the car to a different location, and had to leave it without having it checked out by an agent in my presence.

Has anyone experienced this kind of thing before?

[Grover]

Originally Posted by kell43

I rented a car at LAX and was given a very heavy-handed sales pitch to take their insurance. I declined and was subjected to another 5 minute lecture but still declined. I had the car in my possession for 25 hours total (and was paranoid the whole time due to the fear tactics they had used on me for not taking their insurance). I returned it to a pre-arranged different location in Anaheim. Since the drop-off location was in a hotel and the Enterprise desk was not staffed all the time, the agent told me to simply park the vehicle in a marked Enterprise slot in the hotel parking garage, lock it up and drop the keys in the Enterprise lockbox in the hotel lobby.

A full six days later I get a call from Enterprise saying that there was a damage claim on the car for a dent in the roof! Practically speaking, how does one get a dent on the roof? Wouldn't I have noticed a tree laying across the vehicle? Of course, I felt that I was in a totally compromised position because I had not officially gotten an "all clear" from the agent (because they weren't there) and had, by this time, left the state to go home. I told them that absolutely there was no dent when I returned the car. Because I was so paranoid about it, I had inspected the car closely before leaving it in their assigned spot. They said that I was still liable for the damage during the whole time that it sat there before their agent got around to checking out the vehicle. I feel like this is a major scam and they saw a great opportunity to take advantage of me when I didn't have the insurance, returned the car to a different location, and had to leave it without having it checked out by an agent in my presence.

Has anyone experienced this kind of thing before?

I often experienced customers being surprised that they were charged for damage that allegedly occured after the car was dropped off but not checked in. Why do you ask?

I'm just shocked. I had followed exactly what they asked me to do and now I realize how bad the system is. I'm also amazed that they can check my car in and wait 6 days to call me about some purported damage. As a customer, how do I prove my case? What recourse do I have? This feels like a huge fraud. It feels like extortion. It's terrible that they can do this to people and leave them totally powerless. It's really scary to rent a car now that I realize how badly you can be taken advantage of. I am still trying to get an answer from management as to why they waited so long to call me.

Did you call them to see if they even got the car? The hotel may have never let Enterprise know until 6 days later that it was in their lot. Most hotel Enterprise locations are not manned and only serve as drop boxes. Why didn't you confirm with ERAC that you dropped the car off? If I had a $15K posession of someone, I'd probably call to make sure they got it.

I called them at the time of drop-off to let them know the car was there. I did not call back later that day to see if they had checked it in. I have learned my lesson and will NEVER drop-off to an unmanned location again. I will sit there and wait, if I have to, for a real person to come out and sign-off. In the end, I am going to be stuck for damages that must have occurred AFTER I dropped off the car and BEFORE they got around to picking it up. It is interesting to me that ERAC is so careful about checking the car when it's their liability (at check-out) but much more casual about the process when it comes to protecting the customer's liability (at check-in). It's clear that rental companies can totally hang you out to dry.

I have to say that I wonder if ERAC puts in false claims for damages especially when you don't take their insurance. Then they use "their" body shop and charge you & your insurance company way more than they had to actually pay. Great source of revenue for them, isn't it?

Some progress was made. They agreed to drop a $200 administrative fee (another great source of revenue) that is tacked onto the body shop bill. I learned a very expensive lesson, will never agree to an unmanned drop-off location, and will NEVER rent from ERAC again.

I call bulshit. Guy who created this site, you really need to stop making stories up. The reason i say this is, because regardless how bad it sucks to work for enterprise, most normal everyday customers do not take the time to hunt out the company (on the internet) that provided them sub par customer service. Normal people just chalk it up as bad service and go somewhere else. I would bet a whole box of donuts that the majority of these "customer" stories are just some garbage created by the creator of this site to draw in attention.

I work for Enterprise.

Since you did not give the key to an Enterprise employee, you remain responsible for anything that happens to the vehicle until we check it in. It could be crushed in the parking lot and you would be responsible.

Search out a helpful Loss Control contact wherever it happened and they may assist you somehow, but they can make you pay for it all if they really want to.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people. We are not out to charge people for damage that doesn't happen while the car is rented, but we can't pay for it all ourselves either when things happen or we would not be able to offer everything we do to our customers so cheaply. I really do wish you reach an acceptable agreement with us.

Pay up sucker!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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