Enterprise is great

you guys can cry me a river, only the strong survive, thats what makes our country great, and enterprise great.

Brewster you're so cool!!!

Does the guy that created this website even have a job? What kind of loser has nothing better to do than sit around and bad mouth a company? If he is so upset then simply rent from another company. What a crybaby.

"Does the guy that created this website even have a job? What kind of loser has nothing better to do than sit around and bad mouth a company? If he is so upset then simply rent from another company. What a crybaby."

I'm the guy that created this site.

Are you suggesting that if Enterprise customers don't like the fact that 10 out of 15 reservations were torn up, and the cars rented out to someone else, that the best way to take care of customers is to tell them to go to your competitors?

If you can read this site and think that anyone who objects to Enterprise's policies should simply go to a competitor, your short-sighted, employee-centric viewpoint will severely limit your career potential.

Obviously you're not management or owner material.

Admin

Crybabies reply is typical of the e mentality that manifests itself in @25% of its employees. unfortunately, the 25% who share the attitude are usually the ones who move into upper management! It's the callous indifference to peoples' concerns that helps them to move through the ranks. as one RVP said to me "you've gotta be a prick to make the short list."

i don't know him at all, but the guy that created this site is doing you a favor in furthering your "career". he is opening your eyes for you, just get rid of the blinders. your job will be much easier if you just see what is going on in front of you. i'm sure you like your job, which is great. but wouldn't it be easier to deal with situations by being prepared for them. you can read many different situations on this site and learn from them. or you can continue to have blinders and think the way you do now.

Admin,

I'm not going to say you shouldn't do a website like this, because I do think it takes an admirable level of conviction to work to better something you are unhappy with, and a significant level of pride to make it look as nice as this site looks. What I would like to know though is, what do you hope to accomplish?

I read on your site that you told Enterprise what they need to do to fix their business, and they refused. What is it they refused to do, and not being in the business yourself, do you really think you are educated enough about the business to make suggestions on how their business should be run?

You said your run a business of your own. What type of business is it? And if I were able to tell you 10 things that I think you should do to make your business run better, would you do them knowing I am an outsider looking in and am unaware of the fine points of the business itself? It would better help to illustrate my point if I knew the type of business you are in, but let's just say for the sake of argument that you are a mechanic.

As a mechanic you might feel it your duty to point out every possible problem a car might have when a little old lady simply came into your repair shop to have an oil change and tire rotation. You may see it as your duty to provide her with the best possible service and the best maintained car. The customer though may feel pressured into doing what you say and have repairs completed on her car regardless of her desire to actually have the repairs done, and not taking into account her financial ability to pay for the repairs. Her perception may then be that you ripped her off, while your perception is that you helped the customer. She may then start a website and if you are part of a chain, even if it is independently run business, she would have plenty of people willing to express similar concerns, because that is the nature of the car repair business.

I am sure I could come up with a ton of examples like this from various businesses. What exactly do you want Enterprise to do?

Here is a solution to one of your complaints by the way. You complain that Enterprise should make better efforts to honor reservations. I agree. To take it to a level though where no one ever showed up and was short a car, Enterprise would have to charge you for the rental regardless of whether you showed up or not. Your mom is sick? Sorry, thats a day of rental. You were planning to go to the beach but now it's raining? Sorry about that, that is still a day of rental charges. My point, they are not going to hold a car for every customer without the assurance the customer is going to pay for the car.

The reality for Enterprise is, approximately 25% of the people that make reservations don't show up to pick up their car. Of the 75% that are left, on the high end there are probably 5% that show up and don't get exactly the car they reserved. Of the 5% that don't get what they reserved, the majority are happy with an upgrade. Some of that 5% are happy with simple transportation, regardless of the type of vehicle they are given. A very very few people are actually completely upset, with Enterprise, when they leave the rental location (due to inability to fill the reservation).

On the flip side, if they guaranteed every single reservation and charged people who didn't show up, they would be charging 25% of the people who made reservations and didn't even get the car, for whatever the reason. It would also make it impossible to make a reservation without a credit card, unless the person came into the location and made a cash deposit ahead of time. The people who were charged for the car and didn't pick it up probably wouldn't ever make another reservation. They would also be extremely pissed. You would also have a large number of people scared to make the reservation in the first place, for fear they would have an unexpected situation arise and be charged for the rental anyway. In the numbers game, the way they do it satisfies the most customers.

When you call their corporate offices they are probably scared to tell you all this because they don't want to offend you. I have no such fear. Take what I am saying as the word from someone who ran some of those branches to varying degrees of success for a long time.

In a world without the burden of economic conditions, there will always be a car waiting for you when you show up. But, who will be there to rent it to you? If I'm not ultimately running the business to make a profit, then I'm not coming to work.

I love how you come at admin in such a snide little way. Yesterday you more or less called him a dumbass, and now you give him a 101 on retail. Personally, I think this site is not going to change erac because erac doesn't want to change. Admin's original intentions seem very genuine, but I would assume that he may not be as optimistic now. You said it, if you're not running a business to make profit, then what's the point? Erac cares ONLY of profit. Numerous companies care only about profit. But the customers and employees are often times forgotten. Erac is retail and that means that sh.it will happen. That doesn't make it right to the customer, but that is the nature of retail. Admin takes a lot of flak from tards that float in and out of this site (not you JeahHo, so don't get all pissy) saying that he is a loser and was stupid for continuing to go back to that branch. He has said to be 'that guy', the jerk customer who complains about everything. I don't think he is. I think he was an open minded guy who setup an account with a company and that company which is represented by its branches, dropped the ball many many times with little effort to correct it. Now, that branch's incompentcy doesn't reflect all branches, but can you be shocked as to his annoyance with that? I'm sure this site serves many purposes: A place to vent, complain, joke, have fun, debate, argue, mention the problems that erac has. I'm sure admin has learned some interesting things from starting this website that can actually help him (web design, domains, etc...)
You can hit or miss with any rental car company due to the nature of that business. This site has propelled into what it is now: A pain in the @ss to Enterprise Car rental. I would assume they want this site gone because it paints them in a bad light, and public image is what they thrive on.
And your stats are nice. I would like a detailed analysis report of the numbers breakdown on my desk by tomorrow morning...
Do your stats include the 'book everything' mentality? Does it include that mentality is not accompanied by much assistance from upper management on many occasions? Your post is more or less accurate, but that still doesn't make the customer feel any better. To them it's just an excuse. Bottom line a comapny needs to take care of business or it will lose business.

You worked in rental reality. Do you see any way you could guarantee reservations 100% of the time without charging someone if they don't show up? Answer the questions I asked or offer a better solution. If the Admins purpose is to allow us a place to vent, mission is being accomplished. If his purpose is to fix something, we need to examine the problem and offer solutions, or say why something won't work.

I have offered a solution to the problem that would definitely work from the reservation filling standpoint. The problem is more people would be pissed off with that solution than already are when there isn't a car available they reserved.

I have implemented systems where reservations on specialty vehicles were filled 100% of the time. 15 passenger vans and minivans in the summer time. I also told people if they reserved the vehicle and didn't show up without calling 48 hours in advance I would charge them two days of rental as a cancellation fee. It was a lot of work for a small amount of my fleet, but it guaranteed that a family/church wouldn't be planning a summer trip and end up without the van they needed. There were problems though. Many many problems.

Can you offer solutions Reality, or only continue to give us your lame attempts at humor that deserve a pity chuckle from time to time, at best.

Hello JeahHo,

I'll respond to a few of your points here.

"What I would like to know though is, what do you hope to accomplish?"

I want them to correct the problems that are so glaringly obvious. On the main site, I list five very specific issues. Every one involves an explicit promise by Enterprise, or a reasonable expectation by the customer. In all cases, Enterprise doesn't deliver and it's now obvious that they never really had any intention to deliver. I personally suffer a loss of time and/or money when a company makes a promise in order to get my business, fails to deliver because delivering would decrease their profits, and then starts telling lies, hoping one will stick. It's reasonably called "Bait and Switch" and everyone agrees it's wrong. "Don't make promises you can't keep" seems like a reasonable way to go through life. They could start now.


"...do you really think you are educated enough about the business to make suggestions on how their business should be run?"

I make no claims about how Enterprise should internally run their business. That's none of my business. I only make claims about how they should interface with their customers. There's a difference, and I'm clear to make it on my site.

And, yes, I am educated enough to form and express an opinion here. I have an MBA, I've worked in retail, I have 20 years' experience in business and I helped to successfully take a firm through its IPO. I've earned my credentials fair and square and I'm not afraid to use them.


"Here is a solution to one of your complaints by the way. You complain that Enterprise should make better efforts to honor reservations. I agree. To take it to a level though where no one ever showed up and was short a car, Enterprise would have to charge you for the rental regardless of whether you showed up or not."

I agree it's a tough problem, but with a little more thought we can anlyze it effectively. Any company who rents out resources like this, be it rental cars, airplane seats, or whatever, faces similar issues. Basically, each Enterprise Branch Manager has a giant knob they can turn, adjusting how "tight" they run their inventory. If they turn it to the right, they take more reservations, have a higher "fleet utilization", generate increased revenues for the same-sized fleet, and have a higher percentage of dishonored reservations. Turn it to the left, and all those metrics decrease.

I completely understand that if you turn it to the left too much, you gain the benefit of having no dishonored reservations, but at the cost of too many unrented cars in your lot.

The only reasonable way to make the "right" adjustment is to be aware of the consequences, know your operations intimately, and be constantly willing to make adjustments to get it "right". A Branch Manager sets the dial to get precisely as many dishonored reservations as he can stand. With this web site, maybe the branch at 727 Folsom Street in San Francisco can now stand fewer.

As a business owner, I completely understand the desire not to have unrented cars on the lot at closing time. Therefore, I'm willing to accept a dishonored reservations rate of maybe 10% or 15%. This seems fair. However, ten of my fifteen reservations (67%) were blown. That's not "an accident", or "bad luck", or "a bad day". That's planning and aggressive fleet utilization.

Also, yes, many customers don't show for their reservations. But I think many apologists for Enterprise use this as a straw man to knock down, arguing that since some customers don't show, other customers lose their right to expect to have their reservations honored. That's just lazy thinking.

Also, I was never a no-show. They all knew me at that branch, and hopefully figured out that I don't no-show. I even called once to cancel a reservation to ensure they didn't suffer because of my change in plans. Part of being a small business manager is recognizing your steady, good customers and being sure to take care of them. At my local branch, they knew me by name, and then did it all anyway.

I think the problem here is that 85% of Enterprises' business comes from people with cars in the shop. Most are probably suprised and delighted to get a "free" replacement rental and have low expectations. This is a completely different market than business renters like me. Enterprise appears to optimize heavily for the 85% and lets the 15% suffer for it.

They need to either commit to the business traveller, or get out of that business. They're trying to have it both ways and hope no one notices. I noticed.


"...I do think it takes an admirable level of conviction to work to better something you are unhappy with, and a significant level of pride to make it look as nice as this site looks."

Thanks! I've worked hard to make it right. I think I've got it to a place where it works fairly well now.

I do hope to go back to being a regular Enterprise customer again, and soon. They have low rates and the branch is very convenient. I'm renting probably 25 times a year now, but I have to walk a few blocks further to a competitor. I'd like to go back to Enterprise.

While we're at it: JeahHo, thanks for your continued intelligent participation on the board. I see you've posted 275 times! Your posts are almost always a useful contribution to the board and I appreciate it. At times, you come across as a little holier-than-thou, and you get hammered for it, but that's part of the game (and part of RealityCheck's style). Yours is generally a voice of maturity and reason.

It would be great if you could explain your choice of "JeahHo" for your username. Many posters mistakenly think you're female, or deliberately bait you as if you were. I believe I read you're married, have kids, have a military background? I'd be curious to hear more.

RealityCheck: Like I said in the posting guidelines, let's take it easy on the deliberately misspelled swear words; they greatly reduce readability. And be a little slower to visciously criticize, please. And why won't you register? It's free, and you can send and receive e-mail on this board? You're also a long-time worthy contributor. And yes, you often do give us a "reality check".

You both are good, strong members of our community and I appreciate it.

Admin