no look book victim

[nolookbook]

Hi all,

I'm a recent victim of overbooking at Enterprise. The excuse I was given was that car accident walk-in customers rented the car that was reserved for me. Hence, I've suffered extra costs of over $200 because of this. I'm trying to negotiate some kind of settlement, but am not optimistic of a good result (mainly because of the information on this site... Great Site!)

How about a class action lawsuit to benefit all victims of the no look book? There must be thousands of us!

Current or ex-employees of ERAC. Do you have any documents which encourage the no look book policy of overbooking or is this something that is simply passed down verbally? Please upload documents here, or at the wikileaks.org site located here:

Wikileaks - Wikileaks

[gearboy]

i have had a similar experience today, my insurance holder claimed i was direct pay with enterprise, & needed only to show my policy & claim #, after 2 ERAC locations i simply starting walking home until my roomie picked me up. i pay for full coverage & car rental in my coverage, so either state farm is nuts, or ERAC. if only i had $ in the bank & they would have been happy to rent one to me.

[Green'dOut]

I am as big a customer advocate as there is out there. As a former ERACer, I am happy to offer advise on how to get the most for your $$ and resolve issues in your favor. However, the "book, don't look" policy is not unique to ERAC. All rental car companies, hotels, airlines, and restaurants use it. Because of the tremoundous no show rate, it in necessary in order to maximize occupancy and profits. Its nothing new and probablly won't change. Sometimes, it backfires and nearly everyone shows up. Sorry, but this practice is here to stay and is a necessary evil.

[nolookbook]

Originally Posted by Green'dOut

I am as big a customer advocate as there is out there. As a former ERACer, I am happy to offer advise on how to get the most for your $$ and resolve issues in your favor. However, the "book, don't look" policy is not unique to ERAC. All rental car companies, hotels, airlines, and restaurants use it. Because of the tremoundous no show rate, it in necessary in order to maximize occupancy and profits. Its nothing new and probablly won't change. Sometimes, it backfires and nearly everyone shows up. Sorry, but this practice is here to stay and is a necessary evil.

Granted, Airlines, Hotels and other RAC companies do it as well, however, the federal government has laws that protect the airline customers who get bumped and they are highly compensated. State law covers the hotel business. Hotel customers who get walked are taken to an alternative hotel. Other rental car companies will rent a car from another company and/or cover the cost difference. What does ERAC do? Nothing. Their attitude is this is your problem, not mine. Why doesn't ERAC try to confirm their reservations by calling the customers and better track their inventory?

[nolookbook]

Follow-up

I posted a complaint on the ERAC website, the local AM received the complaint and called me to settle the issue. He agreed to pay the difference of the cost of rentals and the extra fuel consumption. Plus, next time I rent at ERAC, he agreed to some discounts. (I'll be sure to call the branch up well in advance to doubly confirm the reservation)

I'm happy with the settlement, but, it shouldn't be this difficult. The BM should immediately agree to cover cost differences and help to make alternative arrangements.

The cost of the No Look Book policy is higher than they think it is.

[Green'dOut]

Originally Posted by nolookbook

Granted, Airlines, Hotels and other RAC companies do it as well, however, the federal government has laws that protect the airline customers who get bumped and they are highly compensated. State law covers the hotel business. Hotel customers who get walked are taken to an alternative hotel. Other rental car companies will rent a car from another company and/or cover the cost difference. What does ERAC do? Nothing. Their attitude is this is your problem, not mine. Why doesn't ERAC try to confirm their reservations by calling the customers and better track their inventory?

ERAC will do the same if you throw a fit. They will not offer it in order to save money. In my territory, I have seen many customers "walked" to another rental counter. Many times the different companies will honor the quoted rate. They may need the same favor in return. This is priamarily at the airport locations. In the home city market, this is not always the case. I agree with you, in that ERAC does not do enough to ensure proper booking. One reason they don't call, is fear that the customer will go crazy if they learn there is a shortage of cars.

I can tell you that every Monday morning in every branch, employees are praying for delays and no shows. It is not unusual to have 40 reservations before 9am and 10 cars on the lot.

The "book, don't look" practice is used to generate fleet growth. If you have 10 cars and ten reservations, what's the incentive to add more cars? If you have 40 reservations and 10 cars, you cam bet that everyone in the branch in busting their hump to find extra cars. Not because, they are excited to grow, but because they do not wnat to have a customer blow up at them.

What were your extra costs?

[Intern]

Originally Posted by Green'dOut

I am as big a customer advocate as there is out there. As a former ERACer, I am happy to offer advise on how to get the most for your $$ and resolve issues in your favor. However, the "book, don't look" policy is not unique to ERAC. All rental car companies, hotels, airlines, and restaurants use it. Because of the tremoundous no show rate, it in necessary in order to maximize occupancy and profits. Its nothing new and probablly won't change. Sometimes, it backfires and nearly everyone shows up. Sorry, but this practice is here to stay and is a necessary evil.

The "no-look, book" policy is realtivly unique to renting cars, its more of a problem with Enterprise due to the way they run their fleet.

Hotels, and many other establishments, require a credit card on deposit that a cancellation penalty will be assessed if there is a no show or a cancellation in less than 24 hours, etc. Although charging a no-show/cancellation penalty would help smooth out the operation side, it would probably deter more clients into using the competition. In the end ERAC figures that the receive a bigger profit by doing this approach than the other.

[Intern]

Originally Posted by gearboy

i have had a similar experience today, my insurance holder claimed i was direct pay with enterprise, & needed only to show my policy & claim #, after 2 ERAC locations i simply starting walking home until my roomie picked me up. i pay for full coverage & car rental in my coverage, so either state farm is nuts, or ERAC. if only i had $ in the bank & they would have been happy to rent one to me.

Although I don't work for your insurance company would it seem resonable for me to tell you how the company operates? Of course not, same thing with a claims adjustor telling you how Enterprise works. They don't work for Enterprise so how can they tell you about Enterprises policies and procedures?

Your problem is that you don't have a Credit Card to put a small authorization on, right? Enterprise is just covering their ass in case you bring the car back damaged.

Let me give you a scenario, lets say someone in a similar position rents a car (just shows id and claim number). The car is returned damaged (cracked windshield). The insurance company is only going to pay for the days the vehicle was rented, they will not pay for any damages. The person who rented the car is broke and has no money, now Enterprise has to eat the damages (which comes out of the branch manager's pocket). So since you mentioned that you are broke, how would you expect to pay for any damages that may occur while the car is in your possession?

Enterprise is worried about getting the deductible portion of your insurance coverage. In my experience it has always typically been that someone who does not have a credit card, or at least a debit card, really doesn't have much in the way of money. You are pretty much proving my point.

[guestC3]

First, regarding the no look book - as someone else said, every hotel, airline etc uses this policy. And at the branch I work at, we don't hesitate to send someone to the competition, and we cover the difference. No customer has to fight us on this, we offer it up.

2nd, regarding the insurance customer - if the insurance company hasn't pre-approved your rental, we can't just hand you the keys to a new vehicle and say, "hope you bring it back!" Someone has to take responsibility, and if the insurance company hasn't had time to send us a reservation, sorry, you're going to have to pony up a deposit. Also in case of damages and if you take our coverage we need a deposit. Suck it up! It's a business.

[Intern]

Originally Posted by guestC3

First, regarding the no look book - as someone else said, every hotel, airline etc uses this policy. And at the branch I work at, we don't hesitate to send someone to the competition, and we cover the difference. No customer has to fight us on this, we offer it up.

This must be a new policy. We would always have those people standing around in the office. The longest I can remember someone waiting for a car was about 3 hours. We would never, never, never send someone across the street to the "other guys." We were encouraged to say whatever it took to keep the customer waiting their for their car. Im sure this policy wasn't exclusive to my branch/region/group.