Happy hour video.

80% completely satisfied and all those other fancy statistics my ass. Because all the national agreements with insurance and dealership accounts, customers are forced to use ERAC. I work for the yellow guys and we hear it all day long how mistreated their completely satisfied customers are. Keep your blinders on and keep thinking how great you are. Easy to brag about market share when you are(WERE) the only game in town.

Gotta run, one of your old accounts is calling.

[erac_whore]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

How can a customer make a reservation for an SUV or van for a family vacation, and then the company not have one when you show up to get it? Don't they know that people rely on them to perform their service? It caused me to lose 1 day of a vacation......Just to get a rental that I reserved weeks in advance??? Isn't this a basics of the rental business, to actually have the vehicles to rent? What is the purpose of a reservation otherwise?

I will try to answer your questions in order:

How can a customer make a reservation for an SUV or van for a family vacation, and then the company not have one when you show up to get it?

It's easy. Just as easy as when airlines and/or hotels routinely overbook. In fact, it is far more common to be "bumped" from a flight (or simply delayed for several hours) by an airline than it is to not get your rental car. The difference between Enterprise and the others in the travel industry (non-rental car companies) is that we do not require a credit card to secure your reservation. In a legal sense, by not requiring any form of deposit, we are not bound by contract law to provide you with any service. A reservation with a rental car company is on the same level as a reservation at a restaurant.

Do we like to do it? Well, of course not. No one likes to be the poor schmuck at the counter when you show up who has to try to convince you that this Dodge Neon is a perfect substitute for the Suburban you thought you had reserved.... No, sir, it obviously will not fit all seven of you with your luggage... No, sir, I don't know when or even if another large SUV or minivan will be returned... No, sir, probably not today.... Yes, sir, I am aware that it is Christmas... No, sir, I didn't realize that this will probably be the last time Little Billy will get to see his Grandpa while he's still alive... Don't cry, Little Billy...

Don't they know that people rely on them to perform their service? It caused me to lose 1 day of a vacation......Just to get a rental that I reserved weeks in advance???

Yes. We do know that you rely on us, but, to be perfectly blunt, as a retail customer, your reservation is least in importance when we start running low on cars (almost every day)... The levels of priority go something like this:

Fleet Customers
Insurance replacement
Bodyshop/Dealership referrals
Breakdown/Switchout customers (already in a rental)
Corporate Class customers (the volume of business your company sends can move you up in the rankings if it is significant in comparison to the categories above you for the branch in question, ie. you are one of their top corporate accounts...)
Retail customer (with reservation)
Retail customer (without reservation)

The rationale behind this is perfectly logical; if you have to choose between one class of customer or another as to who gets the car and who gets burned, we will always choose our year-round referral sources. I mean, who would you rather piss off (and lose business from)? Would it be the retail renter that comes in once every 6 months to a year, or the insurance company that sends you millions of dollars every year? Add to that the fact that we experience a 10-20% "no-show" ratio from our retail customers... If I could just charge every no-show customer for the full amount of their reserved rental, I might have more sympathy...

And as a side note to FailingEnterpriseAdmin: I share your frustration every day when I have to put some "pop-fly" insurance customer into the car I just told you we had for you 10 minutes ago... I hate that part of our business.... but it is my reality; they refer multi-millions of dollars of business every year, and our competitors (Hertz LE, etc.) are just waiting to pounce on every slightly dissatisfied adjustor, bodyshop/dealership, etc. You might be worth a few thousand dollars per year; they are worth far more.... That being said, you certainly have gotten your revenge, in Spades!

Isn't this a basics of the rental business, to actually have the vehicles to rent?

As many as possible! But to keep enough of them on rent, at all times, that is the better question. Now, the easy answer is to just buy more cars. Have them just sitting around so that every possible customer will have their car just waiting for them... but, wait a minute, all those cars have to be paid for, and they're not making as much money just sitting on the parking lot... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates.... hmm... we're not getting as many retail reservations, and our corporate/dealership/insurance accounts are deserting us in droves to go to a cheaper competitor... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates some more....

Reality is: say what you will about Enterprise, but we are one of the only major rental car companies that is not in bankruptcy/receivership or being sold off or split off of their parent company; one of the only rental car companies that continues to show increased profits and growth. Is taking it in the face for the team hard on our employees? You bet it is. It's not a perfect world....

What is the purpose of a reservation otherwise?

I (and almost all other "front-line" ERAC employees) hate this question when posed to us by an irate customer in front of us. I would refer you back to the first part of my post. Usually, we are just the poor schmuck unlucky enough to be the one who has to face you with pitiful excuses... We probably weren't the one that actually made your reservation, we are just the one who has to deal with the aftermath when we have failed. But the question deserves to be answered, so here goes... The purpose of a reservation is:

1. To formally express your (the customer) desire, as communicated to us (Enterprise Rent-A-Car), in advance, to rent a specific type of vehicle at a specific time on a specific date. This is the most common definition as understood by the customer.

2. To show an ERAC employee, as communicated by the number of reservations divided by the number of cars actually on the lot and reasonably expected to return, how many times during any given business day he or she will have to "take one in the face for the team"... This is the most common definition as understood by your typical ERAC employee.

And finally,

3. To perform an attempted "end-run" around the same employee, when, after he or she has told you no cars (SUV's, minivans, etc.) would be available when you tried to call and book a rental for today (tomorrow, the day before Christmas, whatever...), you went on the Internet and booked a reservation anyway... Just because you booked it ain't gonna make your car appear, Sparky! No means no, A--hole! Remember, failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part....

Good night!

erac_whore

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by erac_whore

I will try to answer your questions in order:


It's easy. Just as easy as when airlines and/or hotels routinely overbook. In fact, it is far more common to be "bumped" from a flight (or simply delayed for several hours) by an airline than it is to not get your rental car.

This is not true. I'm amazed you would try to claim this. You must think we're really stupid and gullible here.

Originally Posted by erac_whore

The difference between Enterprise and the others in the travel industry (non-rental car companies) is that we do not require a credit card to secure your reservation. In a legal sense, by not requiring any form of deposit, we are not bound by contract law to provide you with any service. A reservation with a rental car company is on the same level as a reservation at a restaurant.

Are you sure of this? I'd sure like to test this in court! It sure feels like bait-and-switch to me. Oh, and if it were true, why don't you warn your customers of this? Because you want it both ways, that's why. You want customers to think it's a reservation, but you want to have the right to redefine it downwards to simply a "request" later if it suits you.

Originally Posted by erac_whore

Do we like to do it? Well, of course not. No one likes to be the poor schmuck at the counter when you show up who has to try to convince you that this Dodge Neon is a perfect substitute for the Suburban you thought you had reserved.... No, sir, it obviously will not fit all seven of you with your luggage... No, sir, I don't know when or even if another large SUV or minivan will be returned... No, sir, probably not today.... Yes, sir, I am aware that it is Christmas... No, sir, I didn't realize that this will probably be the last time Little Billy will get to see his Grandpa while he's still alive... Don't cry, Little Billy...

Yes. We do know that you rely on us, but, to be perfectly blunt, as a retail customer, your reservation is least in importance when we start running low on cars (almost every day)... The levels of priority go something like this:

Fleet Customers
Insurance replacement
Bodyshop/Dealership referrals
Breakdown/Switchout customers (already in a rental)
Corporate Class customers (the volume of business your company sends can move you up in the rankings if it is significant in comparison to the categories above you for the branch in question, ie. you are one of their top corporate accounts...)
Retail customer (with reservation)
Retail customer (without reservation)

The rationale behind this is perfectly logical; if you have to choose between one class of customer or another as to who gets the car and who gets burned, we will always choose our year-round referral sources. I mean, who would you rather piss off (and lose business from)? Would it be the retail renter that comes in once every 6 months to a year, or the insurance company that sends you millions of dollars every year? Add to that the fact that we experience a 10-20% "no-show" ratio from our retail customers... If I could just charge every no-show customer for the full amount of their reserved rental, I might have more sympathy...

And as a side note to FailingEnterpriseAdmin: I share your frustration every day when I have to put some "pop-fly" insurance customer into the car I just told you we had for you 10 minutes ago... I hate that part of our business.... but it is my reality; they refer multi-millions of dollars of business every year, and our competitors (Hertz LE, etc.) are just waiting to pounce on every slightly dissatisfied adjustor, bodyshop/dealership, etc. You might be worth a few thousand dollars per year; they are worth far more.... That being said, you certainly have gotten your revenge, in Spades!


As many as possible!

This is not true. You don't keep as many cars as possible around; you keep as many cars as is profitable around. Again, your statement is completely wrong. Do people really believe you when you say this?

Originally Posted by erac_whore

But to keep enough of them on rent, at all times, that is the better question. Now, the easy answer is to just buy more cars. Have them just sitting around so that every possible customer will have their car just waiting for them... but, wait a minute, all those cars have to be paid for, and they're not making as much money just sitting on the parking lot... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates.... hmm... we're not getting as many retail reservations, and our corporate/dealership/insurance accounts are deserting us in droves to go to a cheaper competitor... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates some more....

Reality is: say what you will about Enterprise, but we are one of the only major rental car companies that is not in bankruptcy/receivership or being sold off or split off of their parent company; one of the only rental car companies that continues to show increased profits and growth. Is taking it in the face for the team hard on our employees? You bet it is. It's not a perfect world....

Except you're asking your customers to "take it in the face" for Enterprise.

Originally Posted by erac_whore

I (and almost all other "front-line" ERAC employees) hate this question when posed to us by an irate customer in front of us. I would refer you back to the first part of my post. Usually, we are just the poor schmuck unlucky enough to be the one who has to face you with pitiful excuses... We probably weren't the one that actually made your reservation, we are just the one who has to deal with the aftermath when we have failed. But the question deserves to be answered, so here goes... The purpose of a reservation is:

1. To formally express your (the customer) desire, as communicated to us (Enterprise Rent-A-Car), in advance, to rent a specific type of vehicle at a specific time on a specific date. This is the most common definition as understood by the customer.

It's also a promise by Enterprise to have that car ready at that time. That's why you call it a "reservation" and not a "request for a vehicle". You're trying to have it both ways.

Originally Posted by erac_whore

2. To show an ERAC employee, as communicated by the number of reservations divided by the number of cars actually on the lot and reasonably expected to return, how many times during any given business day he or she will have to "take one in the face for the team"... This is the most common definition as understood by your typical ERAC employee.

And finally,

3. To perform an attempted "end-run" around the same employee, when, after he or she has told you no cars (SUV's, minivans, etc.) would be available when you tried to call and book a rental for today (tomorrow, the day before Christmas, whatever...), you went on the Internet and booked a reservation anyway... Just because you booked it ain't gonna make your car appear, Sparky! No means no, A--hole! Remember, failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part....

Failure to have your Internet reservation system coordinate with the local branches does not constitute an emergency on your customers' part.

Originally Posted by erac_whore

Good night!

erac_whore

This is an amazing message you've written here. It's a combination of spin, lies, and blaming the customer. It's attitudes like this that show clearly that the public needs to be protected against Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

If Andy Taylor ever asks me why I built Failing Enterprise, I'm going to point to messages like this and explain that I'm going to hound Enterprise until this stuff stops.

I'm going to make New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer the least of Andy Taylor's worries, and he'll have guys like you to thank.

Nicely done.

[erac_whore]

Originally Posted by erac_whore

It's easy. Just as easy as when airlines and/or hotels routinely overbook. In fact, it is far more common to be "bumped" from a flight (or simply delayed for several hours) by an airline than it is to not get your rental car.

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

This is not true. I'm amazed you would try to claim this. You must think we're really stupid and gullible here.

No, I don't think anyone is particularly "stupid and gullible" here... It is a fact in the travel industry that overbooking is routine. Airlines, hotels, rental car companies, it happens everywhere. If you don't believe me, just hang out in any major airport (by the courtesy phones is an especially good location). You might be surprised by the horror stories you hear... When I was working at an airport branch, I can't tell you the number of times we had: a) walk-up customers wanting to one-way a car to the destination the airline was "supposed" to get them to, but now, because of mechanical difficulties, weather, overbooking, etc, the airline couldn't honor the reservation (sound familiar?) b) customers currently renting who wished to keep the car longer because their flight was cancelled or delayed for several hours. c) customers currently renting calling to tell us our car would be dropped off at such-and-such airport because of the same reasons given above in a) and b)... and finally, d) walk-up customers wanting to rent a car because our competitor, XYZ Rent-A-Car didn't have the car they reserved. We are not alone in over-booking. I know that doesn't fit in with the theme of your web-site, I know it doesn't make it right, but it is an industry-wide practice, and I am NOT lying about that...

Originally Posted by erac_whore

The difference between Enterprise and the others in the travel industry (non-rental car companies) is that we do not require a credit card to secure your reservation. In a legal sense, by not requiring any form of deposit, we are not bound by contract law to provide you with any service. A reservation with a rental car company is on the same level as a reservation at a restaurant.

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Are you sure of this? I'd sure like to test this in court! It sure feels like bait-and-switch to me. Oh, and if it were true, why don't you warn your customers of this? Because you want it both ways, that's why. You want customers to think it's a reservation, but you want to have the right to redefine it downwards to simply a "request" later if it suits you.

No, I am not sure of this as I am not qualified to practice law. This is only my opinion based on a reading of an interpretation of general contract law... Personally, I would also like to see this tested in court. I don't know if you can tell or not by the tenor of many of my posts on your site, but I am generally on your side... It is absolutely bait-and-switch! Why don't we warn our customers? You got it on the first guess... We do want it both ways... For an interesting experiment, try to give an ERAC employee your credit card number for a reservation. Tell them you want to explicitly to guarantee that your reservation is valid for the time, date, and car class promised... watch us tap-dance around that... Hell, tell us to go ahead and take whatever deposit is necessary to ensure the car you are trying to reserve will be at the branch in question at the date/time you are trying to reserve it for.... Tell me how it goes for you...

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

As many as possible!

This is not true. You don't keep as many cars as possible around; you keep as many cars as is profitable around. Again, your statement is completely wrong. Do people really believe you when you say this?

Okay, this one is a little unfair. You took a quote out of context here. After I said, "as many as possible," I went on to describe the negative consequences to rental car companies which try to pursue this policy... In fact, after a full reading of what I ACTUALLY said, you will see that I am agreeing with your point. We CANNOT just keep an unlimited amount of cars around, without any consideration for cost. At the risk of making this post longer than necessary, I will quote myself fully:

Originally Posted by erac_whore

As many as possible! But to keep enough of them on rent, at all times, that is the better question. Now, the easy answer is to just buy more cars. Have them just sitting around so that every possible customer will have their car just waiting for them... but, wait a minute, all those cars have to be paid for, and they're not making as much money just sitting on the parking lot... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates.... hmm... we're not getting as many retail reservations, and our corporate/dealership/insurance accounts are deserting us in droves to go to a cheaper competitor... hmm, guess we'll just have to raise the rates some more....

Reality is: say what you will about Enterprise, but we are one of the only major rental car companies that is not in bankruptcy/receivership or being sold off or split off of their parent company; one of the only rental car companies that continues to show increased profits and growth.

Now, your next point has much more validity...

Originally Posted by erac_whore

Is taking it in the face for the team hard on our employees? You bet it is. It's not a perfect world....

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Except you're asking your customers to "take it in the face" for Enterprise.

And we are, as employees, forced to choose WHICH customers will take it in the face.... but remember, for the ERAC employee, no matter which customer gets the shaft, we also get the shaft, 'cuz we're the ones who have to represent the "face" of our company... meanwhile, those above us who reap the REAL profits of all this are comfortably removed from all the nastiness of the day-to-day operations.... Yah, it sucks!

Originally Posted by erac_whore

3. To perform an attempted "end-run" around the same employee, when, after he or she has told you no cars (SUV's, minivans, etc.) would be available when you tried to call and book a rental for today (tomorrow, the day before Christmas, whatever...), you went on the Internet and booked a reservation anyway... Just because you booked it ain't gonna make your car appear, Sparky! No means no, A--hole! Remember, failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on our part....

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Failure to have your Internet reservation system coordinate with the local branches does not constitute an emergency on your customers' part.

Yes, yes, and yes. That being said (and it is a real problem that needs to be dealt with...) when an employee at a given location tells you in no uncertain terms that they do not have any vehicles (of a given type, or any cars at all) available for a certain time frame (especially today, as in 15 minutes from now) and then you go online, book a reservation anyway, and show up at the branch that you just talked to, and now say you have a reservation, I still say,"YOU ARE AN A--HOLE!" What part of "NO" did you not understand? Just because you can exploit a loophole in our system to put your name on our reservation sheet, does not mean a car will magically appear to fill your reservation that you made ten minutes ago....

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

This is an amazing message you've written here. It's a combination of spin, lies, and blaming the customer. It's attitudes like this that show clearly that the public needs to be protected against Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

It was not my intention at all to provide spin, lies, or blaming the customer (except for that last part about booking on the website or 800 number after a customer called a branch and was HONESTLY told that we could not accomodate their needs at this time... in THIS case alone will I blame the customer...). I began my message by openly admiting that ERAC overbooks. I followed that by explaining the legal rationale that protects ERAC from breach-of-contract lawsuits (I may not be right about the laws in question, but can you imagine the class-action lawsuit(s) against every major rental car company, airline, and hotel chain if my interpretation is not fundamentally correct?) After my brief foray into the legal field, I provided an explaination of how we prioritize our customers when there are not enough cars at a given location to satisfy all reservations, and I tried to explain the business rationale behind these decisions; as a counterpoint to that, I tried to show why a successful rental car business could not ultimately just purchase so many vehicles that every customer 100% of the time would always have a vehicle waiting for them (at least, NOT AT A PRICE THEY WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY!) Finally, while I tried to inject a little humor into the discussion of what the purpose of having a reservation is good for, I would like to suggest, that despite the negative experiences of some, that we are able to successfully provide the vehicle reserved, on the day and time stated in the reservation, for the vast majority of our customers, every day. Were we not able to do this, we simply could not exist as a successful business.

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

If Andy Taylor ever asks me why I built Failing Enterprise, I'm going to point to messages like this and explain that I'm going to hound Enterprise until this stuff stops.

I'm going to make New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer the least of Andy Taylor's worries, and he'll have guys like you to thank.

Nicely done.

I have always tried to be completely honest and up-front in my posts on your site. Often, I agree with anti-ERAC points of view (just do a search on all of the posts I have made since registering...) I am confused as to why this post drew the ire of FailingEnterpriseAdmin... but so be it...

Just my $.02

erac_whore

Of course you can say this...because something negative has not happened to you....I am a customer....first time renter.... and I am 100% disatisfied!!! My hunch.....you are one of the people at Enterprise ripping us off!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

don't be a dipshit admin-I swear you are so quick to jump on anything that is going to put enterprise in a bad light. Funny website, but grow up. Enterprise gives two shits about your site. All this site means is that Enterprise has made it into the "elite club" of corporate hate sites. If 80% of Enterprise's customers are completly satisfied, how are they doing such a bad job. Yes, they run tight Yes, once in a blue moon they might not have the exact class size you reserved Yes, the car may not be ready the minute you walk through the door-But 80% of their customers are COMPLETLY SATISFIED. Also, Enterprise is running a business to make money, just like any for profit business out there, they are one of the few rental car companies that has grown and made money since 9-11. Man-Enterprise is so evil they want to make money, but 80% of their customers are completly satisifed. Go ahead and tell me how it has to do with Ins. customers who get a replacement car for free-this show me you know nothing about the business. Try dealing with someone who either just hit someone and will most likely have to pay between $5-$20 a day for their mistake plus their deductible or someone who was just hit and now has to go through the inconvience of putting their car in a body shop and finding out they are getting a ford focus when they are putting their Volvo in the shop. With all this crap to deal with and Enterprise is able to COMPLETLY SATISFY 80% of its customers-wow the evil company must be doing something right. As many people have stated this cutomer is mainly a site for former and current employees to bitch and complain-and rightfully so, many put up with alot of crap or put up with alot of crap. But cutomers rarely come onto this site and say how horrible enterprise is. With over 700,000 car in service in the US and you have a handful of complaints. @ 80% of their cars on rent @ a given time that is 560,00 people in Enterprise cars @ a given time-with 80% of those people COMPLETLY SATISFIED. Can't really say from that, that the "Evil Enterprise" is doing such a horrible job.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Of course you can say this...because something negative has not happened to you....I am a customer....first time renter.... and I am 100% disatisfied!!! My hunch.....you are one of the people at Enterprise ripping us off!

Simple answer for you: rent somewhere else. Posting here will not make a difference to erac brass. Policies change when they do not make economic sense. The happenings that erac_whore accurately described work for erac mgmt because they make them money. If customers exercise their right to rent elsewhere, then the policies will no longer be profitable and will then and only then be changed.

Whining, ranting and chanting "erac sucks" on a prurient gossip rag that loves to libel current erac employees is not the way to make erac change. Look how many posts dissatisfied employees have made regarding working conditions. They sure haven't changed a damn thing either.

BTW Admin, would you kindly respond to the threads questioning your lack of enforcement of your TOU in the Failing Enterprise Admin thread? Thanks. We have 9 pages of posts for you to address.