What do Avis, Hertz etc employees think of ERAC employees?

[slave no more]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Here's why I asked the original question: My neighbor is the manager of an Avis location at the airport.... he seems pretty impressed with his company and specifically said that Enterprise employees are losers that can't get hired by a 'real' car rental company and that people are fools for working at ERAC. He says he works Monday thru Friday only.
I dunno who is right, but he makes a convincing case.

Your neighbor is going to say that because if he talks up Enterprise then you are going to rent from them locally as opposed to seeing him at the Airport. I worked at ERAC for 6 and a half years and was recruited weekly by other rental companies (especially Avis and Hertz) while I was at the airport. They would drool over having someone from ERAC there otherwise they would not copy their business model.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Enterprise vs. Everyone else

This Avis manager aka your neighbor is from a little town called DENIALville. And probably for good reason, if he never leaves the airport and looks only at the number of cars in his lot compared to Enterprise's airport lot, he probably thinks Enterprise is a joke. However, he couldnt be more wrong. Enterprise is exactly what it is: an ENTERPRISE. No other rental car company is within 90% of the population at a 10mile distance. Also, Enterprise may not have the largest amounts of cars at many airports, they defintely have all their competitors beat with their thousands of national branches with 40-500 cars within each branch located all over cities/states/small towns in the US.

Enterprise airport locals usually hold a competitive number of cars, but normally not nearly the number Avis, etc. will have, at least if you compare their lots. Most of Avis, Hertz, etc. business is from their large airport locations, that stocks thousands of cars, and they have small, meager branches around town holding 25 to 30 cars (maybe more depending on the city). All of those other companies airport locals buy tons and tons of cars gauranteeing the car of their choice to every single customer who walks into their airport locals. Except for busy holiday times or sporting events, who is going to rent ALL of those cars the rest of the 350 days of the year. No one, and so all of those cars SIT and collect DEBT. Just drive by an airport Hertz/Avis lot and look at ALLLL the cars just lined up, and not being rented, day after day...

Enterprise calculates roughly how many cars they will need versus last years numbers, etc, and tries to 'break even' daily. Thus, no cars are left on the lot, they are constantly being recycled. This means that if people are being turned away, new cars are ordered, but no cars sit on the lot which means no debt, only profit. Whereas, Hertz, Avis, etc. are sitting on thousands of cars daily just so they can say "yes, we have that, and you want red? oh of course! With 2 doors? Great!" That sounds all pretty and excellent, but the truth is these other businesses are poorly run.

Also, Enterprise is constantly being sued by all those other listed rental car companies for being a so called 'monopoly' and for bascially bogarting the entire car rental business. Just google Enterprise+monopoly. Enterprise's competition is grasping onto a slippery rope and falling off fast.


Keep in mind I have no idea where your airport is located, and most of my statements were blanket ones, and for your neighbors sake, he's probably just peaved because the E-train is gobbling up his national company, and if he isnt he should be. Either way, he's not very smart. After all, Hertz and Avis dont require a college degree like Enterprise does to work for them.

Also, it would be wise to ask the people in AVIS and HERTZ what they think about ERACers, not ERACers, that would make the most logical sense to answer your question effectively.


To all you Employees reading this: get out now and save yourself the wrinkles, broken hopes, and mysterious bar tabs. If youre at this site obviously you are not happy, save yourself: www.monster.com.

I would like to mention that Enterprise may be within 90% of the population in METROPOLITIAN areas within 15 miles, but about within 50% in rural areas. (Just a little FYI)

do you realize that 80% of the U.S.'s population lives within 15 miles of a metropolitan area... it isn't hard to make a claim that you are within 15 miles of 90% of the population if you are simply in every major city and surrounding area.... think about it

Originally Posted by Unregistered

do you realize that 80% of the U.S.'s population lives within 15 miles of a metropolitan area... it isn't hard to make a claim that you are within 15 miles of 90% of the population if you are simply in every major city and surrounding area.... think about it

You sort of made the point. They are in every major city and surrounding area. Thats a good thing.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Enterprise vs. Everyone else

Whereas, Hertz, Avis, etc. are sitting on thousands of cars daily just so they can say "yes, we have that, and you want red? oh of course! With 2 doors? Great!" That sounds all pretty and excellent, but the truth is these other businesses are poorly run.

True, but imagine how stress free that must be compared to Enterhell where its: "I'm sorry 'mam, the economy car you reserved is getting some work done on it and won't be ready for an hour. But for only ten dollars more you can drive this nice GMC cargo van, its my last vehicle". And another 20 minute confrontation begins. Welcome to Enterprise!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

True, but imagine how stress free that must be compared to Enterhell where its: "I'm sorry 'mam, the economy car you reserved is getting some work done on it and won't be ready for an hour. But for only ten dollars more you can drive this nice GMC cargo van, its my last vehicle". And another 20 minute confrontation begins. Welcome to Enterprise!

I used to work for National, and car shortages were more common with them than with Enterprise... at least where I worked. The problems associated with Enterprise happen with EVERY rental company... it's a fact of the industry.

As a Hertz employee, all I can say is it appears that

1. You deal wit a hell of a lot more trash than we do

and

2. I cannot even fathom wearing a suit while renting cars for $9.99

I walked into a manager position with a Budget in-town location after leaving ERAC. They were salivating from the mouth. ERAC's competitors respect them immensely and the guy getting near minimum wage behind the counter couldn't care less. ERAC hired and breaded competition. Hard to generalize, but to employees at the other companies, it's a job, not a crusade.
If they're not #1, they could give 2 shits. Big difference between a private and publicly-traded company.

I despised the internal workings of ERAC when I left, but not without acknowledging that from a business standpoint it was genius. Think of Wal-mart. Not a chance in hell any self-respecting person would work in one of their retail stores, but they're a Fortune 500 heavyweight.

When I worked for the other companies, it was at my urging that they be scared of ERAC. Then I took everything I learned from ERAC and used it against them. Got all the shops on board and they were so impressed. I was closing deals their corporate act mgrs couldn't even close. Reason being was they were so inflexible, believe it or not. If they couldn't have the whole account, they'd give up. And lets face it, at the end of the day it comes down to rate and a "promise" of excellent service, whether that actually happens or not. A couple shops already had longstanding relationships with ERAC and I knew I couldn't get those overnight. So I used the ERAC strategy and networked and took them out to dinner and for drinks. I brought them coffees and picked up whatever few rentals I could. And when I did, I usually took control and gave them the same service of a 5-star hotel, and made sure the account knew it. Didn't get many insurance deals though, except when ERACers didn't make calling their ARMS reservations a priority and they screwed up by not having any cars available for 3 hours.

Having a full tank of gas was definitely the right way to go. I never agreed with this whole 1/8 tank full of gas, bring it back at the same level bullshit. Gas disputes were non-existent. ERAC's justifications are nonsense. The real reason is it takes "time" to fill the tanks if they don't come back full (which was less then 10% of the time) and organization so that when a car drops at a dealership, that the customer is billed if the gas is short. But then, ERAC always purposely short staffs their branches by at least one guy. So they couldn't afford to do either. And if ESQi remained high, who cares, which is fair. But I tell you, it's a lot less stress on the employees, but ERAC doesn't care about that do they?

And it was SO NICE not to have to kiss every customers ass. I told them like it was. If they didn't like it, they could go somewhere else. I didn't have time for thier bullshit. ERAC could have the headcases, I'd take the normal guy. Don't get me wrong. I used all the ESQi techniques, but if a guy was being an asshole, I wanted nothing to do with him. My underwriting was tough as nails. Consequently, I had the best customer service rating out of all the branches. Yes, other companies monitor it, just not as nazi-crazy as ERAC.

At the end of the day, customers want a good rate, quick friendly service, a clean well-maintained low mileage vehicle. They don't want any surprises and repeat renters want consistency. ERAC is a paradox of the best and worst of all of the above. You're renting a car. There's only so many ways to reinvent the wheel. Every company pretty much does it the same way with little differences here and there.

To summarize my experience, "overall" ERAC is the best company hands down, just a really shitty place to make a career. Understanding "how" ERAC did business was the most rewarding part to anyone recently out of college.
The experience made it valuable, but on avg, to spend anymore time then 3 years at ERAC would be a waste unless you were well on your way to area mgr or above. Renting cars with any company is no "career".

You know ERAC, there's nothing wrong with having "a couple" extra cars on the lot. That surprise walk-in customer trying you for the first time doesn't give a damn about the 2 o'clock count

Benefits of ERAC competitors:
Hertz: catered to the corporate no nonsense client where money is not the issue, but rather quality and speed

Avis/Budget: strong competitor to ERAC because of their diversified business. Avis competing with Hertz, and Budget catering to the price conscious traveller.

National/Alamo: nothing really special here. Rates not as good as the discount companies and not as luxurious as Hertz/Avis. Alamo has Walt Disney...so what

Dollar/Thrifty: unsure why they run identical businesses under 2 banners. Obviously cater to the value oriented customer, but not necessarily the cheapest (Walmart/ERAC --> K-Mart/Thrifty)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I walked into a manager position with a Budget in-town location after leaving ERAC. They were salivating from the mouth. ERAC's competitors respect them immensely and the guy getting near minimum wage behind the counter couldn't care less. ERAC hired and breaded competition. Hard to generalize, but to employees at the other companies, it's a job, not a crusade.
If they're not #1, they could give 2 shits. Big difference between a private and publicly-traded company.

I despised the internal workings of ERAC when I left, but not without acknowledging that from a business standpoint it was genius. Think of Wal-mart. Not a chance in hell any self-respecting person would work in one of their retail stores, but they're a Fortune 500 heavyweight.

When I worked for the other companies, it was at my urging that they be scared of ERAC. Then I took everything I learned from ERAC and used it against them. Got all the shops on board and they were so impressed. I was closing deals their corporate act mgrs couldn't even close. Reason being was they were so inflexible, believe it or not. If they couldn't have the whole account, they'd give up. And lets face it, at the end of the day it comes down to rate and a "promise" of excellent service, whether that actually happens or not. A couple shops already had longstanding relationships with ERAC and I knew I couldn't get those overnight. So I used the ERAC strategy and networked and took them out to dinner and for drinks. I brought them coffees and picked up whatever few rentals I could. And when I did, I usually took control and gave them the same service of a 5-star hotel, and made sure the account knew it. Didn't get many insurance deals though, except when ERACers didn't make calling their ARMS reservations a priority and they screwed up by not having any cars available for 3 hours.

Having a full tank of gas was definitely the right way to go. I never agreed with this whole 1/8 tank full of gas, bring it back at the same level bullshit. Gas disputes were non-existent. ERAC's justifications are nonsense. The real reason is it takes "time" to fill the tanks if they don't come back full (which was less then 10% of the time) and organization so that when a car drops at a dealership, that the customer is billed if the gas is short. But then, ERAC always purposely short staffs their branches by at least one guy. So they couldn't afford to do either. And if ESQi remained high, who cares, which is fair. But I tell you, it's a lot less stress on the employees, but ERAC doesn't care about that do they?

And it was SO NICE not to have to kiss every customers ass. I told them like it was. If they didn't like it, they could go somewhere else. I didn't have time for thier bullshit. ERAC could have the headcases, I'd take the normal guy. Don't get me wrong. I used all the ESQi techniques, but if a guy was being an asshole, I wanted nothing to do with him. My underwriting was tough as nails. Consequently, I had the best customer service rating out of all the branches. Yes, other companies monitor it, just not as nazi-crazy as ERAC.

At the end of the day, customers want a good rate, quick friendly service, a clean well-maintained low mileage vehicle. They don't want any surprises and repeat renters want consistency. ERAC is a paradox of the best and worst of all of the above. You're renting a car. There's only so many ways to reinvent the wheel. Every company pretty much does it the same way with little differences here and there.

To summarize my experience, "overall" ERAC is the best company hands down, just a really shitty place to make a career. Understanding "how" ERAC did business was the most rewarding part to anyone recently out of college.
The experience made it valuable, but on avg, to spend anymore time then 3 years at ERAC would be a waste unless you were well on your way to area mgr or above. Renting cars with any company is no "career".

You know ERAC, there's nothing wrong with having "a couple" extra cars on the lot. That surprise walk-in customer trying you for the first time doesn't give a damn about the 2 o'clock count

Benefits of ERAC competitors:
Hertz: catered to the corporate no nonsense client where money is not the issue, but rather quality and speed

Avis/Budget: strong competitor to ERAC because of their diversified business. Avis competing with Hertz, and Budget catering to the price conscious traveller.

National/Alamo: nothing really special here. Rates not as good as the discount companies and not as luxurious as Hertz/Avis. Alamo has Walt Disney...so what

Dollar/Thrifty: unsure why they run identical businesses under 2 banners. Obviously cater to the value oriented customer, but not necessarily the cheapest (Walmart/ERAC --> K-Mart/Thrifty)

Please limit the content of your posts to 1,000 or so words. We ERAC employees have short attention spans, are easily distracted, and can't read all the way through posts this long without taking several breaks to give our brains a rest. Thank you.

I'm a Hertz employee and I don't think anything of ERAC. All I know is that they drive through my lot 3 or 4 times a day b/c they are too lazy to market to new accounts and take care of their old accounts. I just feel they are waste and beneath me.