This Thread Is Probably Going To Start Up A Stir But Here It Goes...

[Captain Fucking Bleedgreen]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

At Enterprise, they dishonored 10 out of 15 reservations. At the national chain that I rent from regularly now, they've dishonored 0 out of 60 reservations, they've never tried to upsell me

I find it hard to believe that out of 60 rentals NO ONE has even mentioned the availability of a bigger car. I think your love affair with that national company may be shading what you consider an upsell.
Maybe you weren't closed on the offer, but you were offered an upgrade at some point during 60 rental transactions.

The things that I criticize Enterprise for don't "go on elsewhere as well". There's no comparison. Saying "everyone else does it" is a excuse I've heard repeatedly at Enterprise and it's simply not true.

The bias was gently shading your writing, now it's completely overtaken it. I do understand and agree that ERAC as a company has work to do, we're not perfect. But I differ with your perception that every other rental company runs a business perfectly and doesn't ever dishonor reservations, have communication problems or archaic technology. Employees from Hertz post on your site about difficulties they have with their company, you just conveniently ignore those posts because they're not fueling your hatred for ERAC.

Wait a minute; evidence that Area Managers do sometimes call NatRes to cut off reservations in no way refutes my claim that nobody below an Area Manager (whom I hear mysteriously can't be found whenever the car shortage gets really severe at a branch) is authorized to do this.

Yes, when people get stressed and business picks up, area managers get busy too. Are there shitty area managers that bail out on their people? YES. Are there some area managers in the trenches when we're knee-deep in shit? YES.

Here's a thought, Just like EVERY other big business there are good managers and shitty managers. People come here to vent about the bad ones, not to highlight the accomplishments of the ones who have helped them. Probably because no one wants their name on this site, the good managers either, and people respect the good ones and don't post about them. Having a debate about someone's ability to execute when the commentary is safely submitted under the veil of anonymity isn't my idea of objective.

Yes, and you know this is going to happen on a fairly regular basis, and you have a detailed historical record of how frequently this happens, and Enterprise refuses to keep enough cars around to accomodate this. The problem isn't customers who keep cars; the problem is running at 92% occupancy.

yes, and all big business runs with 30% excess inventory in the back of every store because it makes fiscal sense to pay storage on items that aren't moving (read sarcasm).

So, what are you saying? That you advocate overbooking only to a "reasonable" extent? Ten reservations out of 15 dishonored. How many out of 15 do you consider "reasonable"? (I honestly wouldn't mind if it were one or two).

If you're looking for an exact percentage, I don't have one for you. I'm a pee-on, I don't run calculations for corporate or do forecasting on fleet inventory. I'm appealing to common sense from a layperson's perspective.

I've never demanded that Enterprise be perfect, or anything even close to that.

fuck, that was rich. Best part of your post is right there.

Nice try. Read the site. I'm sure there are plenty of people at Enterprise who can't possibly process the concepts on this site and quickly dismiss Failing Enterprise as the work of a guy who has "no inclination toward objectivity" and who thinks "every company outside their target is perfect".

Benefit of the doubt to you that your insult was not directed at me; I'm pretty sure even a moron like myself can follow discussions on your board.

If I was dismissing your work, I would be resorting to personal attacks as many posters do. I haven't attacked you (maybe your ideas, there's a difference) or implied that your opinions are a direct result of your community.

I respect what you're trying to do, but you have to respect other's ability to "process the concepts on this site" and yet still form differing opinions of motives of ERAC personnel at large. It's not rocket science -- and you should be able to process and accept differing perspectives.

I realize there is a very strong customer-proof and logic-proof force field up at Enterprise and that for a lot of employees it's really, really important to preserve the emotional investment they've made in Enterprise to find some way, any way, to dismiss Failing Enterprise. People outside Enterprise know this is a losing battle.

yes, I surround myself with a force field that doesn't allow me to comprehend when someone of your educational background is condescending to me. As we've discussed, I bleed green, therefore I must be an idiot. I agree that I'm emotionally invested in my work. If you're saying you're not in your site, you're not being honest with yourself.

I agree that posters on Failing Enterprise do not represent an unbiased or random sampling of Enterprise customers or employees. Of course.

finally you throw me a bone, and it wasn't of contention in this one sentence! Thanks Admin!

When you resort to generalizing using demographics and lumping my thoughts in with "all of those green-bleeders" it emphasizes the fact that something I said rang true or you wouldn't pick apart my logic by trying to pigeon-hole my thoughts and dismiss them.

reality: happy to see I'm not the only one. Also happy to see rational thoughts instead of personal attacks. Thanks.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I find it hard to believe that out of 60 rentals NO ONE has even mentioned the availability of a bigger car. I think your love affair with that national company may be shading what you consider an upsell.
Maybe you weren't closed on the offer, but you were offered an upgrade at some point during 60 rental transactions.

Believe it because it's true. He occasionally gives me a free upgrade, but that's because I rent 25 times per year. Unlike Enterprise, he takes care of his regular customers.

Not once has he ever tried to upsell me into a larger car or insurance or anything. I make my reservations over the Internet and it's obvious I know what I want when I get there. He respects business renters.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

The bias was gently shading your writing, now it's completely overtaken it. I do understand and agree that ERAC as a company has work to do, we're not perfect.

"Perfect" is not the standard, not for Enterprise, not for anyone else.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

But I differ with your perception that every other rental company runs a business perfectly and doesn't ever dishonor reservations, have communication problems or archaic technology.

Again, "perfect" is not the standard. I wouldn't have minded if Enterprise had blown maybe one or two of those fifteen reservations. Things happen and they want to maintain a high occupancy. That's fine.

When I complain about ten reservations out of fifteen being dishonored, please don't dodge the issue by saying "Well, we're not perfect". And when I say that 60 out of 60 reservations have come off without a hitch at that other company, please don't tar me with "(my) perception that every other rental company runs a business perfectly and doesn't ever dishonor reservations".

Things happen and sometimes people make mistakes. That's fine. The problem is when there's a pattern and practice of excessive customer service problems, almost all of which go to increase profitability, are the result of expected statistical outcomes, and then on each one Enterprise claims "Oh my gosh! We're out of cars! We never could have anticipated that!".

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

Employees from Hertz post on your site about difficulties they have with their company, you just conveniently ignore those posts because they're not fueling your hatred for ERAC.

58,000 posts about Enterprise and a few about Hertz. Sorry I didn't point them out more prominently.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

Yes, when people get stressed and business picks up, area managers get busy too. Are there shitty area managers that bail out on their people? YES. Are there some area managers in the trenches when we're knee-deep in shit? YES.

Here's a thought, Just like EVERY other big business there are good managers and shitty managers. People come here to vent about the bad ones, not to highlight the accomplishments of the ones who have helped them. Probably because no one wants their name on this site, the good managers either, and people respect the good ones and don't post about them. Having a debate about someone's ability to execute when the commentary is safely submitted under the veil of anonymity isn't my idea of objective.

That's a totally fair observation. The commentary on Failing Enterprise isn't objective. It isn't intended to be. It's a complaint site about Enterprise.

It's a response to the messages that Enteprise employees give to customers, and Enterprise managers give to their employees, which certainly aren't objective. From what I've read in tens of thousands of messages here, employees routinely lie to customers and managers routinely lie to employees.

Yes, the posts here aren't objective, and many are made anonymously. They're made as a counterweight to all the lying and spin that Enterprise spews out on a daily basis.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

yes, and all big business runs with 30% excess inventory in the back of every store because it makes fiscal sense to pay storage on items that aren't moving (read sarcasm).

The other big rental car chains don't have nearly as bad a problem of dishonored reservations, and that's because they don't try to run at 92% occupancy.

Why is it that they can manage this but Enterprise can't? It's because Enterprise doesn't want to. Running a high occupancy is more profitable and that's why Enterprise does it. Lying, spinning and appeasing customers who get inconvenienced is, so far, a manageable cost of doing business. One of the purposes of Failing Enterprise is to raise the cost of mistreating their customers in this way. If we're successful here, occupancy rates, and complaints, will go down.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

If you're looking for an exact percentage, I don't have one for you. I'm a pee-on, I don't run calculations for corporate or do forecasting on fleet inventory. I'm appealing to common sense from a layperson's perspective.

fuck, that was rich. Best part of your post is right there.

Benefit of the doubt to you that your insult was not directed at me; I'm pretty sure even a moron like myself can follow discussions on your board.

If I was dismissing your work, I would be resorting to personal attacks as many posters do. I haven't attacked you (maybe your ideas, there's a difference) or implied that your opinions are a direct result of your community.

I respect what you're trying to do, but you have to respect other's ability to "process the concepts on this site" and yet still form differing opinions of motives of ERAC personnel at large. It's not rocket science -- and you should be able to process and accept differing perspectives.

yes, I surround myself with a force field that doesn't allow me to comprehend when someone of your educational background is condescending to me. As we've discussed, I bleed green, therefore I must be an idiot. I agree that I'm emotionally invested in my work. If you're saying you're not in your site, you're not being honest with yourself.

finally you throw me a bone, and it wasn't of contention in this one sentence! Thanks Admin!

When you resort to generalizing using demographics and lumping my thoughts in with "all of those green-bleeders" it emphasizes the fact that something I said rang true or you wouldn't pick apart my logic by trying to pigeon-hole my thoughts and dismiss them.

reality: happy to see I'm not the only one. Also happy to see rational thoughts instead of personal attacks. Thanks.

I apologize for lumping you in with other people when you clearly have your own opinions here.

It's just that there are about a dozen standard Enterprise excuses that I hear over and over again and they appear to me to be nothing but spin and a diversion away from critical thinking. I really believe that many people who work at Enterprise acquire a cult-like set of beliefs and a well-practiced ability to just spin and duck and dodge and weave whenever challenged on those beliefs. It appeared to me that you were starting to sound like them. I should have remembered that you're an independent thinker here (which you are).

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Believe it because it's true. He occasionally gives me a free upgrade, but that's because I rent 25 times per year. Unlike Enterprise, he takes care of his regular customers.

Not once has he ever tried to upsell me into a larger car or insurance or anything. I make my reservations over the Internet and it's obvious I know what I want when I get there. He respects business renters.

"Perfect" is not the standard, not for Enterprise, not for anyone else.

Again, "perfect" is not the standard. I wouldn't have minded if Enterprise had blown maybe one or two of those fifteen reservations. Things happen and they want to maintain a high occupancy. That's fine.

When I complain about ten reservations out of fifteen being dishonored, please don't dodge the issue by saying "Well, we're not perfect". And when I say that 60 out of 60 reservations have come off without a hitch at that other company, please don't tar me with "(my) perception that every other rental company runs a business perfectly and doesn't ever dishonor reservations".

Things happen and sometimes people make mistakes. That's fine. The problem is when there's a pattern and practice of excessive customer service problems, almost all of which go to increase profitability, are the result of expected statistical outcomes, and then on each one Enterprise claims "Oh my gosh! We're out of cars! We never could have anticipated that!".

58,000 posts about Enterprise and a few about Hertz. Sorry I didn't point them out more prominently.

That's a totally fair observation. The commentary on Failing Enterprise isn't objective. It isn't intended to be. It's a complaint site about Enterprise.

It's a response to the messages that Enteprise employees give to customers, and Enterprise managers give to their employees, which certainly aren't objective. From what I've read in tens of thousands of messages here, employees routinely lie to customers and managers routinely lie to employees.

Yes, the posts here aren't objective, and many are made anonymously. They're made as a counterweight to all the lying and spin that Enterprise spews out on a daily basis.

The other big rental car chains don't have nearly as bad a problem of dishonored reservations, and that's because they don't try to run at 92% occupancy.

Why is it that they can manage this but Enterprise can't? It's because Enterprise doesn't want to. Running a high occupancy is more profitable and that's why Enterprise does it. Lying, spinning and appeasing customers who get inconvenienced is, so far, a manageable cost of doing business. One of the purposes of Failing Enterprise is to raise the cost of mistreating their customers in this way. If we're successful here, occupancy rates, and complaints, will go down.

I apologize for lumping you in with other people when you clearly have your own opinions here.

It's just that there are about a dozen standard Enterprise excuses that I hear over and over again and they appear to me to be nothing but spin and a diversion away from critical thinking. I really believe that many people who work at Enterprise acquire a cult-like set of beliefs and a well-practiced ability to just spin and duck and dodge and weave whenever challenged on those beliefs. It appeared to me that you were starting to sound like them. I should have remembered that you're an independent thinker here (which you are).

I'm sure JFCB will add some, but I just want to state a couple of things. The reason those other rental car companies don't run at 92% most days is because they can't...not because they run their business better. Enterprise has a stronghold on many of the markets that your newfound favorite rental car company is so desperately trying to capture. If your new rental company had hit the markets that enterprise hit all those years go, you'd have a failinghertz.com or a failingavis.com site to naively boast about.

And the fact that you rented 15 times when they continuously messed up....You've said that this location was close to you, but it sounds like this competitor you go to now is not that far from you either. Most normal people would have just checked out someone else to see if they could do it better. After reading your posts over the last several months and knowing your propensity for the dramatics, I wonder if you kept going back so you could gather more ammo so you could start another discussion board......

Enterprise has a lot of flaws. But to think they are any worse than their competitors is naive. Their competitors only wish they could have the same problems that erac has. Then someone from Hertz would be one of the wealthiest Americans instead of Andy. To think that the rental car company you go to wouldn't be doing these things if they had the local business that enterprise has only furthers your forgetfulness of your Master's education.

[Captain Fucking Bleedgreen]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

Believe it because it's true. He occasionally gives me a free upgrade, but that's because I rent 25 times per year. Unlike Enterprise, he takes care of his regular customers...He respects business renters.

Oh, well "he" knows the deal because you rent from the same person so you're a regular. Sorry, that IS my fault for not deducting the obvious; you're a regular and they know what you want so of course you don't get offered anything else...I had regulars too and know what they wanted and didn't bother offering upgrades because they'd already communicated their preference in the past. I know you are pissed about your treatment and you should be, we fucked up. But I can assure you there are MANY repeat renters, business and otherwise, at ERAC that are respected and are in and out quickly as well.

58,000 posts about Enterprise and a few about Hertz. Sorry I didn't point them out more prominently.

fair enough

It's a response to the messages that Enteprise employees give to customers, and Enterprise managers give to their employees, which certainly aren't objective. From what I've read in tens of thousands of messages here, employees routinely lie to customers and managers routinely lie to employees.

Maybe it's your verbiage that crawls under my skin... the fact that you use "Enterprise managers" instead of "Some Enterprise managers" that bothers me. Maybe that's my own nit-picking, but all ERAC management doesn't lie, cheat and scam the public, that's the most bothersome generalization you've made. The fact that there are bottom-feeders in every industry is not alluded to in these heated posts and the generalization of all ERAC management as shady salespeople bothers me.

Yes, the posts here aren't objective, and many are made anonymously. They're made as a counterweight to all the lying and spin that Enterprise spews out on a daily basis.

I realize it's a discussion board and everything (outside of your posts) is posted anyonmously, but defending hateful and derogatory posts as a counterweight to lying at ERAC is reaching a bit. I don't have a problem with the posts themselves, I'm all about free speech, but you can't seriously justify the hateful intent by citing it as a "counterweight" to ERAC.

The other big rental car chains don't have nearly as bad a problem of dishonored reservations, and that's because they don't try to run at 92% occupancy.

I'd love to see more on this from Hertz, what their occupancy goals are. I'd assume their goals are hovering around 90%. I agree with reality that they don't because they can't.

One of the purposes of Failing Enterprise is to raise the cost of mistreating their customers in this way. If we're successful here, occupancy rates, and complaints, will go down.

I'd rather see you touting an overhaul of business practices that lead to better service and not focusing solely on lower occupancy, but that's just my own preference. I think there is a lot to be gleaned from your site, but leveraging it to lower profits isn't as lofty an aspiration as learning from it and adjusting business practices (including, but not limited to, fleet mix and availability).

I apologize for lumping you in with other people when you clearly have your own opinions here.

It's just that there are about a dozen standard Enterprise excuses that I hear over and over again and they appear to me to be nothing but spin and a diversion away from critical thinking. I really believe that many people who work at Enterprise acquire a cult-like set of beliefs and a well-practiced ability to just spin and duck and dodge and weave whenever challenged on those beliefs. It appeared to me that you were starting to sound like them. I should have remembered that you're an independent thinker here (which you are).

Thought I was going to get a compliment there for a second, then you veered off into generalizing again, then you cited what matters most to me: I don't come here and post to represent ERAC. I post what I think, that is not representative of ERAC management as a whole. I do think we have work to do, I've said that repetitively, but I also think that 76 - 80% global ESQi as of late is a pretty good measure of what we're doing RIGHT which relatively few discuss here.

I'm going to give you a compliment without veering off: You're not scared to debate anything, even if it means potentially pushing away posters. I respect the fact that you're willing to take risks like that and don't hide behind the board to debate the finer points for you.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by reality

I'm sure JFCB will add some, but I just want to state a couple of things. The reason those other rental car companies don't run at 92% most days is because they can't...not because they run their business better.

I strongly disagree here. A car rental company can dial-in its occupancy rate to whatever it wants by adjusting pricing, fleet size and controlling the flow of reservations. Every company can raise or lower it at will. The tricky part is that while a higher occupancy is more profitable, it disappoints customers more often. Enterprise has decided that higher profits and more disappointed customers is a balance they're willing to accept.

And whenever Enterprise gets accused of this, they immediately start blowing smoke with all sorts of excuses like "Sometimes customers keep cars longer than they said they would", always trying to divert blame to some random event rather than to the fact that they're trying to raise occupancy. It's a very effective strategy until somebody really starts to hold their feet to the fire.

Originally Posted by reality

Enterprise has a stronghold on many of the markets that your newfound favorite rental car company is so desperately trying to capture. If your new rental company had hit the markets that enterprise hit all those years go, you'd have a failinghertz.com or a failingavis.com site to naively boast about.

And the fact that you rented 15 times when they continuously messed up....You've said that this location was close to you, but it sounds like this competitor you go to now is not that far from you either. Most normal people would have just checked out someone else to see if they could do it better. After reading your posts over the last several months and knowing your propensity for the dramatics, I wonder if you kept going back so you could gather more ammo so you could start another discussion board......

Nicely done. I stayed with Enterprise because they kept explaining that all the problems I was having were just a fluke, the result of random bad luck. If I had left earlier, you'd be here accusing me of not having a large enough statistical sample. But I stayed, and now you're criticizing me for not leaving earlier.

Originally Posted by reality

Enterprise has a lot of flaws. But to think they are any worse than their competitors is naive.

I know this isn't true for two reasons. First, I've now got almost 100 rentals with which to compare. Second, I've got the over 58,000 postings here with which to compare. Show me any other car rental company who has anywhere near as many complaints that Enterprise does. In fact, I'll bet that over 95% of all Internet car rental complaints are directed at Enterprise. That's a market share that money can't buy.

Originally Posted by reality

Their competitors only wish they could have the same problems that erac has.

I'll bet the managers at every other car rental company thank their lucky stars daily that they don't have a site about them like Failing Enterprise.

Originally Posted by reality

Then someone from Hertz would be one of the wealthiest Americans instead of Andy. To think that the rental car company you go to wouldn't be doing these things if they had the local business that enterprise has only furthers your forgetfulness of your Master's education.

Weren't you the guy who not too long ago was bashing me by falsely claiming that I was "always bragging" about my education? I guess it's OK if you mention it, though.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

Oh, well "he" knows the deal because you rent from the same person so you're a regular. Sorry, that IS my fault for not deducting the obvious; you're a regular and they know what you want so of course you don't get offered anything else...I had regulars too and know what they wanted and didn't bother offering upgrades because they'd already communicated their preference in the past. I know you are pissed about your treatment and you should be, we fucked up. But I can assure you there are MANY repeat renters, business and otherwise, at ERAC that are respected and are in and out quickly as well.

At my local Enterprise branch on Folsom Street, they knew who I was also. In fact, when the two local VP's came out to talk with me, they stated right up front that the local branch employees knew me and that I was not only a regular customer but that I was a good customer.

One of the reasons I kept renting from Enterprise as long as I did was because I kept hoping to establish a reputation there as a "regular" and that things would go smoothly, but it never happened.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

fair enough

Maybe it's your verbiage that crawls under my skin... the fact that you use "Enterprise managers" instead of "Some Enterprise managers" that bothers me. Maybe that's my own nit-picking, but all ERAC management doesn't lie, cheat and scam the public, that's the most bothersome generalization you've made. The fact that there are bottom-feeders in every industry is not alluded to in these heated posts and the generalization of all ERAC management as shady salespeople bothers me.

It's a fair complaint. When I complain about Enterprise employees or managers, I certainly don't mean every employee or manager. I do mean to indict the entire Enterprise culture though, and I really hate when someone tries to argue that since it's not every manager then it's really only a few bad apples and every company has a few bad apples, especially in a company as big and geographically distributed as Enterprise and therefore they're no worse than any other company, blah, blah, blah.

So, to be clear: I'm not accusing every Enterprise employee and manager, but it's clear the problems at Enterprise are company-wide and are deeply embedded in the company culture.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I realize it's a discussion board and everything (outside of your posts) is posted anyonmously, but defending hateful and derogatory posts as a counterweight to lying at ERAC is reaching a bit. I don't have a problem with the posts themselves, I'm all about free speech, but you can't seriously justify the hateful intent by citing it as a "counterweight" to ERAC.

I try to maintain a tone here of being truthful, lawful, and civil (although I'll agree I sometimes get lured away from that last one), and I don't want hateful comments here. I was only stating that if it seems that people here are biased against Enterprise, it might be because the only allowed communications are Enterprise are biased towards Enterprise.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I'd love to see more on this from Hertz, what their occupancy goals are. I'd assume their goals are hovering around 90%. I agree with reality that they don't because they can't.

I'm confident it's "won't", not "can't", because they don't want to piss off their customers.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I'd rather see you touting an overhaul of business practices that lead to better service and not focusing solely on lower occupancy, but that's just my own preference.

Me too, although I feel the obsession with occupancy is what leads to many of the problems.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I think there is a lot to be gleaned from your site, but leveraging it to lower profits isn't as lofty an aspiration as learning from it and adjusting business practices (including, but not limited to, fleet mix and availability).

My only goal is to get them to change their ways, but since everyone here points out so consistently that they're only driven by profits and that they're not going to change unless these practices start costing them more money, I'm hoping that by warning their customers away from them they'll find these practices too expensive to continue.

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

Thought I was going to get a compliment there for a second, then you veered off into generalizing again, then you cited what matters most to me: I don't come here and post to represent ERAC. I post what I think, that is not representative of ERAC management as a whole. I do think we have work to do, I've said that repetitively, but I also think that 76 - 80% global ESQi as of late is a pretty good measure of what we're doing RIGHT which relatively few discuss here.

I agree that you only represent yourself here, and by the way I must compliment you again on being both a current employee and valuable active participant. I also agree that the high global ESQi numbers are impressive and are an argument against the larger arguments I make here (although I still have some questions about the accuracy of ESQi measurements).

Originally Posted by Captain Fucking Bleedgreen

I'm going to give you a compliment without veering off: You're not scared to debate anything, even if it means potentially pushing away posters. I respect the fact that you're willing to take risks like that and don't hide behind the board to debate the finer points for you.

Thank you for this. I've been more active on the board lately mostly because work has eased up a bit.

I come from a science and engineering culture, where arguments are really collaborative efforts to learn and to get to a closer approximation of the truth. It's been a real eye-opener for me to argue with people who come to such discussions with what appears to me to be different goals, such as persuasion or "winning", and where being truthful is just one of many possible tools at one's disposal. This certainly seems to be the culture at Enterprise. I think business people and technical people have long clashed due to these differences in culture. In the high-tech world, the "marketroids" and the "geeks" are always going at it.

[slave no more]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

I strongly disagree here. A car rental company can dial-in its occupancy rate to whatever it wants by adjusting pricing, fleet size and controlling the flow of reservations. Every company can raise or lower it at will. The tricky part is that while a higher occupancy is more profitable, it disappoints customers more often. Enterprise has decided that higher profits and more disappointed customers is a balance they're willing to accept.

Admin,

I strongly disagree with this statement as well. While being at ERAC there are several customers that you cannot ignore without repercussion from either an insurance company or a local dealership account. Whenever we have an agreement with a local dealership it usually means that if there cust is there without a reservation they get a car. That is how that dealership and basically all of them do business. It isn't oh they can get one next week it's NOW. Reason being, they can get that person's car in now so ERAC should be able to do the same. They don't care that we have a tangible product that does run out and cannot be replaced right away every time.

The other is the national agreements ERAC has with State Farm, Erie, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Progressive, and basically every other top 50 insurance company. It's the same thing. They need a car and they get one. Yeah it's tough for a branch to perfectly regulate the amount of cars needed and again yes it does make it tough for retail and corporate renters to get exactly what they want every time and yes it is a pretty shitty way for them to do business "Take every deal but make sure the important ones get their cars". But that is what they did to be the most PROFITABLE REVENUE DRIVING RENTAL CAR COMPANY IN THE US! They are not going to change that just yet.

I am guessing that you are either going to a small local competitor or ERAC, a Hertz Local Edition or an airport location to get your cars. Reason being is that they actually always cars around because NO ONE ELSE USES THEM.

[FailingEnterpriseAdmin]

Originally Posted by slave no more

Admin,

I strongly disagree with this statement as well. While being at ERAC there are several customers that you cannot ignore without repercussion from either an insurance company or a local dealership account. Whenever we have an agreement with a local dealership it usually means that if there cust is there without a reservation they get a car. That is how that dealership and basically all of them do business. It isn't oh they can get one next week it's NOW. Reason being, they can get that person's car in now so ERAC should be able to do the same. They don't care that we have a tangible product that does run out and cannot be replaced right away every time.

The other is the national agreements ERAC has with State Farm, Erie, Liberty Mutual, Nationwide, Progressive, and basically every other top 50 insurance company. It's the same thing. They need a car and they get one. Yeah it's tough for a branch to perfectly regulate the amount of cars needed and again yes it does make it tough for retail and corporate renters to get exactly what they want every time and yes it is a pretty shitty way for them to do business "Take every deal but make sure the important ones get their cars". But that is what they did to be the most PROFITABLE REVENUE DRIVING RENTAL CAR COMPANY IN THE US! They are not going to change that just yet.

I am guessing that you are either going to a small local competitor or ERAC, a Hertz Local Edition or an airport location to get your cars. Reason being is that they actually always cars around because NO ONE ELSE USES THEM.

If what you're saying is true, then the 93% of Enterprise's business that comes from insurance replacement customers always comes ahead of those customers who have reservations and that reservations are filled only on a best-available basis. Which means they're not even really "reservations".

It sounds like Enterprise has redefined the word "reservation" to suit themselves and forgotten to tell their customers that it now means "come in and we'll what we can do". That's fraud, of course...

[slave no more]

Originally Posted by FailingEnterpriseAdmin

If what you're saying is true, then the 93% of Enterprise's business that comes from insurance replacement customers always comes ahead of those customers who have reservations and that reservations are filled only on a best-available basis. Which means they're not even really "reservations".

It sounds like Enterprise has redefined the word "reservation" to suit themselves and forgotten to tell their customers that it now means "come in and we'll what we can do". That's fraud, of course...

"Fraud", well then let's start ganging up on Airlines, hotels, restaurants, Spas, Golf Courses and anyone else who makes reservations with certain expectations of "No Shows" and VIP clients coming in unexpectedly or other shit happens. This past Labor Day weekend my wife and I were bumped from our flight (overbooked) and we had to reschedule a spa appt (yes I get massages) because they double booked the suite we were going to use. It is not a perfect formula when it comes to "forecasting" your needs for vehicles and when it bites you in the ass then it bites hard (see this website) but the issue is not with the branches itself it is with the upper management. When the managers are being told "Run 92% or it's your ass" they will book every flipping thing and when their bread and butter Dealership and INS reservation comes through hey will ignore the future reservations for the "present" pain in the ass about to walk through the door. The problem is that to win the business you have to guarantee said Ins or Dealership 100% rentals 100$% of the time or they will not do business with you. See my office was easy to gauge. 2 dealerships, 13 body shops and a shitload of weekend business. I could almost guarantee I would have stuff on the weekends and I would probably come through on about 90% of my reservations. Did people have to wait? Of course. Was it done intentionally? No. I would tell people the truth. We would set the expectation up front "you may have to wait because our Fridays are very busy and people will return cars late or dirty or damaged or whatever" so if someone came in they expected some sort of delay or would come in a little later. No one is perfect ????? and when you are the largest, most used in your niche then there are obviously going to be more issues than with the little guys. No rental car company is perfect and you are stereotyping your experiences against the company as a whole. ERAC does Millions upon Millions of transactions MONTHLY yet you don't seem to have millions upon millions of horror stories about ERAC. You have maybe hundreds (if that) and by my calculations hundreds into millions is not very much.

Why are you fucking morons so worried about enterprise? Its a choice not a requirement. get something better to do.

Originally Posted by MarbleCheese

You have posted a bunch of crap after 6 months on the job.
"I am on pace for..." blah, blah, blah...
First off, things will slow down for the second half of the year and you'll net $65,000.
Next year, maybe $70,000 while driving a different, used, rental every night.
You also stated your starting base as an assistant is base will be $75-$80,000...give your head a shake! Ecrap is all commission. Your base will go up maybe $5,000 as an assistant.
You work nights and weekends and you'll only be a manager when the current one quits or is promoted.
Saying car sales is great compared to rental is like saying a root canal is great compared to child birth.
They still both suck and you are still stuck at enterprise.