A former manager in the Enterprise fleet sales division has a guilty conscience to unload at your feet. 9 tips, 5 pages of insider info about how the car rental game really works. Car rental insurance is a scam, but you can flip the script and use if to your advantage. Prices are liquid, and depending on the day of the week and how you butter your agent in certain ways, you can get a good deal. Despite the commercial with the brown-paper-wrapped car, Enterprise employees hate picking you up and dropping you off.
Don’t use the tips that require lying. They’re just there so you know how the game works.
The flagellation begins, inside…
I sat down wanting to send you a quick list of ways customers can get the upper hand at the Enterprise rental counter, but I know entirely too much about this business to make this brief. In more than six years of employ with ERAC I worked as a grunt (“management trainee”), assistant and branch manager, and finally a manager in the fleet sales division. I know every sad angle of the rental car business and I think people should be educated about some of the games that go on behind the counter. This list is truly the tip of the iceberg; I left the company because I had some misgivings about corporate policies toward customers and employees, but needless to say I picked up a lot of information along the way. I assure you every bit of this is accurate as of February when I left my post, minor details may have changed but I highly doubt it.
Now, Confessions from the Enterprise rental counter:
1. Enterprise doesn’t have any set prices. That rate you got when you called in was either the full retail rate, or the first number that popped into the agent’s head. There are three main categories of rentals: personal (retail), corporate, and insurance, but on every single contract that goes out the agent manually types out how much you pay per day and he has authority to make it pretty much whatever he thinks you should pay. When an employee makes a reservation it’s critical to key in the rate quoted so the branch knows what to charge the customer when she comes in otherwise nobody would know what to charge. A good branch manager trains his employees to adjust the price as needed to keep the lot sitting tight, that means making some way-too-cheap deals when there are too many cars around. It also means someone walking in saying they need a car no matter the price, that customer might get charged twice what he would have paid just asking for a car.
2. By now everyone knows that you don’t need that extra rental insurance but just like service contracts at Best Buy, you can negotiate the daily rate of your rental down by agreeing to add all the insurance (we call it “full boat” when some poor soul gets soaked for all of the extra protections–damage waiver, personal accident insurance, and supplemental liability: the trifecta of consumer stupidity). One of the lines that I used to use was, “For just a few bucks a day you got a million dollars of coverage.” True, but the full million dollar payout from the supplemental liability doesn’t come due unless you die. Gruesomely. Nothing says you can’t initial the “decline” box instead once your contract is printed, thereby declining the insurance and paying only your lower rate.
3. Managers are the ones responsible for how much insurance (usually called “waiver”) their branch sells–frontline agents (“manager trainees”) aren’t commissioned, they just look a lot better on paper if they sell lots of waiver, this is also how they get promoted. The branch manager or assistant manager will be just as likely–if not more so–to drop the daily rate in order to sell you his pricey insurance package.
If you want to secure a really low daily rate but stay on that employee’s good site (i.e. so you can get the same deal again and again), take your rental by any Enterprise in the region the next day and remove the extra coverage, you can take that coverage off at any time but if you pay for one day’s coverage the person that sold you the waiver still gets credit for the sale and you get the cheaper daily rate for the rest of your rental, win-win.
4. This is the big money tip: Most of Enterprise’s business comes from insurance replacement rentals. Insurance customers pay a lot less and all insurance contracts have unlimited miles. The only substantial difference between a retail deal and an insurance deal (other than price) is that insurance clients are billed in a calendar day instead of a 24-hour clock, this means you can return a car anytime until closing and you’re still charged the day’s rate (conversely, if you have the car at 8am you may as well keep it until 6). If you’re going on a long vacation this can save you a fortune: that minivan that cost you $69.99 per day retail goes for $37.99 if your car is in the body shop and Allstate is footing the bill, the SUV we roll for $109 per day retail is $50.99 if you’re renting because some State Farm customer smashed up your car. The daily rates vary by geography. Insurance rates are negotiated for each region, but they are usually around half of daily retail rates.
Here’s how to get that insurance rate on your next rental: Call for a reservation, say your car was totaled and you need a replacement; your insurance company is cutting you a check for $25.00 per day flat so you need something for under $25. Tell the agent that your insurance company is State Farm, or Farmers, or someone big–the big insurance companies have the best rates (rates will vary a few dollars from company to company). You’ll need your own proof of insurance when you come in but don’t that needs to match what you say here, nobody cares and people utilize different insurance companies for all kinds of reasons (you were hit by another company’s insured is probably the main reason). The important thing is that the insurance company is cutting you a check so you’re responsible for this rental, you’ll bring your own credit card, you don’t even know who your adjuster was (if you know the name of a local adjustor you can use it, Enterprise’s computer will show the adjustor’s name but nobody’s going to check, State Farm uses regional teams for their claims so for State Farm you could say “State Farm Team number something, I forget the exact number.”).
The agent hates these calls–the cheapest car on his books is more than your lousy $25 allowance. In this case he is supposed to give you ‘standard insurance rates’ which are midway between what a big insurance company pays and retail, but in this instance he’ll usually just source you to State Farm’s bargain prices because it’s not worth his time. He should offer you an economy or compact for somewhere around the $25. Stick to your guns: you absolutely have to keep under your $25. He can work that price to come to exactly $25 after tax (or close, if not just call another branch). By now you’re locked into the insurance company’s rates and he knows you’re cheap: if you want an upgrade now is the time: “well I did have a Taurus, my adjustor mentioned I should be able to get something like that for $29.99, can we just do that instead? I can’t really afford it but I think I need the space for my kids.” Remember to be as nice as possible, if the agent likes you he’ll make the deal even if he has to go out of his way to get your car (hint: mentioning you might need supplemental insurance can work wonders to seal the deal, see above).
Daily insurance rates are flexible per region and carrier, in my region which was a major Southern metropolitan area daily rates start around $21.99 for the economy, $23.99 compact, $27.99 mid, $30.99 full, $40.99 premium. Minivans start around $37.99, SUVs around $50.99, Luxury is rare on insurance deals but starts around $49.99. This is the bare minimum insurance replacement cost, rates are generally higher in the East and Northeast, a touch lower in the Midwest, and a lot higher on the West coast. Adjust your figures up or down depending on your geography, call two or three branches and you’ll have a good idea of all the rates in your region.
5. Enterprise runs the “weekend specials” because there are loads of spare cars on weekends. Airport and tourist-heavy places won’t have much for you, but neighborhood branches will be “sitting fat” (way too many cars) 40 out of 52 weeks of every year, a branch that has zero cars on the lot can pull a car from another nearby store that certainly will have too many. Weekends are hard on insurance adjustors’ numbers so they push the body shops to get all their jobs done by Friday evening, therefore a ton of rental returns come in on Fridays. Prices for the weekends are especially flexible, entirely dependent on how many cars there are in the area. I usually told my employees to roll a car at ANY price just get it off my books–having a car unrented over the weekend is murder on your branch’s numbers, the more expensive the car the more we need to get it off the books for that weekend. If you want the premium car for $14.99 a day and I have one, I’ll roll it (only caveat being you have to add my extra insurance if you want that price _and_ unlimited miles…plenty of locations are open on Saturday just stop by and remove the insurance tomorrow but keep your lower price). Enterprise corporate really frowns on cutting the rate and adding insurance but it’s a great tool to clear out the lot on Friday afternoon.
6. For the best weekend deal call up on Friday sometime before 2pm and say, “I have all my info, drivers license and credit card, can I get a rental all setup so I don’t have to do anything but sign the ticket when I come in?” This is GOLD because now the agent can pre-write your ticket and get that car off his books before the 2pm count (if a car is unrented at 2pm, it counts against the branch for that day so he’ll write your ticket before 2:00 and then the car can sit there all day for all he cares). Have your rate in mind and ask for it–don’t be afraid to make your own price! If there is a car available, you’ll get that car. If you still can’t get the rate you want, casually mention you probably need the extra insurance. He’ll write the contract now, then you initial the “decline” boxes when you come for the car (so you changed your mind). The contract is already written; he can go back and take off the waiver with just a couple keystrokes, it’ll probably cheese him off but you’ll get your lower rate and not pay for the insurance.
7. What if you’re traveling to a far away city and don’t want to use the insurance replacement method? Call ERES at 1-800-Rent-a-Car and tell them you’re a State Farm adjustor from [whatever city you're from]. Your wife/mom/dad/whoever is going to be needing a car in [whatever city you're going to]. Here’s some jargon for you, say: “I can’t exactly send the reservation over on ARMS [the automatic reservation system, which would make State Farm pay the bill] can you help me get her setup with my rates?” Insurance adjustors are treated like royalty at Enterprise, they’ll bend over backwards to make you happy.
Any insurance company will do, adjustors are the top of the customer pyramid. A little more jargon to help you look like you know what you’re talking about: Ecar is economy, Ccar is compact, Scar is midsize, Fcar is full, P-car is the premium, then SUVs and Minivans are usually just referred to as SUVs and Minivans, an adjustor probably wouldn’t ask for a luxury but that’s an Lcar. So you would say, “My wife is in Buffalo this weekend I need to get her something close to an F-car, pickup Friday evening drop off Monday, can you get that set up for me? Also, you guys are so good to us, my wife really has to get to her mom’s house, can you maybe note on the reservation this is an adjustor’s wife and she’s really in a hurry so they know to take care of her?” When she shows up at the branch they’re going to give her the best car they’ve got, probably a free upgrade if there is a spare one around, and send her on her way without any hassle about extra insurance (remember, she’s married to a state farm adjustor, she certainly knows not to take the extra coverage). It’s a courtesy for one region to help out another region’s adjustors when they pass through since adjustors refer the bulk of Enterprise’s business.
8. Enterprise has what they call “ESQI,” like car dealers each branch is rated on how many customers rate our service as 5/5 on the phone surveys. Anything less than 5 is the same as zero. Managers have to answer for this number like you can’t believe, so next time you forget to fill the tank or you bring a car back a few hours late, say there was some problem with the car–it smelled smoky, wasn’t running right, anything that says you’re not entirely happy with your experience. Most people just turn the car in and go; you’d be amazed what you can get away with just so the manager makes you “extremely satisfied.” I’d happily waive up to a full day’s rental charges if I think that’s needed to keep you happy, a grunt doesn’t have much stake in the ESQI but he has the authority to do the same. Policy depends on the branch, but it’s pretty standard to allow any rep to waive up to a day’s rental (or a tank of gas, something equivalent) without even asking if they thought it was necessary to get me a 5/5.
9. One final note: employees truly will give you a better deal the better mood they’re in. All employees universally hate ‘the ride,’ where we have to pick up a customer and drive them back to the shop. If you make us pick you up, even if you’re really close, we won’t be so happy to serve you as if you’d walked in. Set the deal up on the phone and if you can get a ride in, do it. It seems small but every little bit helps, the agent is holding all the cards until your contract gets signed, you’re already getting a way too cheap deal on his car–give the guy a break if you can get a ride in just as easily.
— BEN POPKEN
Or I could just rent from another company that’ll give me a good deal without making me play a bunch of silly games.
geez. I hope this doesn’t get around here at the major insurance company that i work at, which was mentioned several times.
Enterprise and that “good neighbor” company are tight here in the home office area.
Enterprises main training facility for the area is less than 4 football fields away from Corprate South property.
A few of my clients (i’m an independant IT guy) are autobody shops. They have a special deal set up with enterprise brokered by the local adjusters.
@Blackneto: Don’t worry – none of this works at the Blo-No Enterprises. They have too much business with SF, CC, ISU, IWU, etc. There are NEVER cars on the lot over the weekend…
Interesting info, but it’s a bit dodgy to just call up the rental place and lie that you’re an insurance agent or have been in an accident in order to get a better deal. I don’t think I’ll be putting much of this information into practice.
@acambras: yep. I’ve gotten good deals with Hertz and Avis. but always had problems with enterprise.
Especially the time I tried to get my mother a car for a few days while she visited us. It’s was a big mess and i’m not sure of all the facts as it happened 6 years ago, but it was enough to swear me off them permanantly.
My comment has dissappeared (and I can’t spell..)
Interesting info, but it’s a bit dodgy to call up the rental place and lie that you’re an insurance agent or have been in an accident to get a better rate. I don’t think I’ll put this advice into practice.
Have to remember lying is bad… lying is bad…
I will use these tips next time I rent a car. Do these also apply to the other car rental companies?
Thank you, Mr. Former Enterprise Manager. This is very useful. I never suspected any of this.
I hope you got a way better gig.
This is very helpful. My wife and I do not own a car and Enterprise is the closest (and most affordable) car rental.
We’ve all heard that the insurance is a scam – but I guess my question is, “Why?” My wife and I don’t have car insurance, we do get collision from using our credit car, but what about the others – wouldn’t we still be liable if someone was injured? Not driving much and living in an urban area, I’m generally skittish about driving around without coverage.
test, comments aren’t being shown for some reason on this post
Me and my buddy are planning an east-west coast road trip. The plan is to rent a car, drive to the other coast, drop off the rental, and fly back.
What’s the best way to get a rental company to give me a one-way rental w/o the ~$300-400 “drop-off” charges or whatever it is they call it now??
I wish I had known this a few weekends ago when the loaner van I was using started crapping out on me (having a mechanic in the family is all fine and good when they’ll do the work for free, but take *looks at calendar* 49 days and counting to complete it).
I went into an Enterprise just stating that I needed a car since I wasn’t sure how long the van would last and I was promptly quoted ~$45/day. I walked out immediately, drove back home, jumped on Priceline and got a Focus for $14/day.
Good informative post, now if the Bubba Gump one would work correctly, I could read the end of the story.
This is pure gold. Thanks!!
I’ve rented from neighborhood Enterprise locations about two-dozen times and never had a bad experience, I rented once from an airport location and regretted it.
All that to say, I don’t figure how much better a deal all this deception and scheming will get you. If you sign up for the Enterprise email you’ll essentially get discounts you can use any day of the year. I’ve never paid more than what was fair on a rental using these. 3 out of 4 times if I just ask for an upgrade, I get it at the same price.
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised how “low-pressure” Enterprise was in trying to sell me the collision coverage. The first time I rented from the neighborhood they asked if I wanted it and I declined. Ever since then the salesperson has always declined it for me!
That was an incredible read! Thanks for the tips.
I know #1 to be true as my visit to LA flying into the LBC airport, my friend and I got a ridiculously huge Nissan Armada for the price of a small pickup ($40/day).
Enterprise negotiation is also cool.
I had a cavalier on rent for $20/day or so at Burbank. I got there (this was in february) and upgraded to the miata they were using as the stereo system for $10.
@SteveJeltzFan: I wonder the same thing–I don’t have a car, so don’t have insurance, and I’m not about to drive around with no coverage. While my credit card might cover me, the details were vague enough that the last time I rented a car (from hertz, I think) I purchased the coverage. It was about $15 and worth the peace of mind it gave me at the time…but now I wonder.
I can confirm that this information is correct. I used to work at ERAC too.
@Blackneto:
If you have a AAA membership, here’s something to think about — they partner with Hertz, and the last couple of time I’ve reserved rental cars through AAA’s website with my AAA membership #, I’ve gotten tremendous discounts (much better than the rate offered through hertz.com without the AAA discount). You can also get frequent flyer miles.
I once needed to do a one-way rental and at the time (2003), Enterprise flatly told me they don’t do one-way rentals. So they didn’t get my business that time. And most other times their internet rate is substantially more than the rates of other companies.
The couple of times that I have used Enterprise, their service was less than friendly/helpful. Perhaps they hated me because they had to drive five whole minutes to pick me (and my credit card) up.
As a former Thrifty Rental worker (a couple years while I was in college) I can confirm alot of the pricing stuff said in here. I don’t know about the insurance, but pricing is COMPLETELY arbitrary. We would just make up numbers depending on whether we had lots of cars or few, whether the renter was an attractive woman or not, etc. Sometimes you could tell when someone was going to trash the car and return it a mess, so you’d double your prices as they walked to the counter so that they’d go rent from someone else. It’s a bit shady, but it was encouraged. As long as you’re renting tons of cars, they really don’t care what you do.
Actually acambras makes a good point. I don’t know if it works this way at other places, but at Thrifty, when I started, my manager told me that if the customer even utters the word discount (as in corporate, AAA, senior, etc) give them 10% off the top just like that. Never even asked for a card.
I’ve rented from neighborhood Enterprise locations about two-dozen times and never had a bad experience, I rented once from an airport location and regretted it.
All that to say, I don’t figure how much better a deal all this deception and schemeing will get you. If you sign up for the Enterprise email you’ll essentially get discounts you can use any day of the year. I’ve never paid more than what was fair on a rental using these. 3 out of 4 times if I just ask for an upgrade, I get it at the same price.
I’ve also been pleasantly surprised how “low-pressure” Enterprise was in trying to sell me the collision coverage. The first time I rented from the neighborhood they asked if I wanted it and I declined. Ever since then the salesperson has always declined it for me!
Having a husband who works at the national reservation center, I can tell you that some of this is true, some is not. The guys at 1-800-Rent-a-car have no control over what happens to you when you get to the branch or the airport. He cannot change the rates in front of him, no matter who you are. Please, do not call the reservation center pretending to be an insurance agent and then get mad when they can’t do anything for you. You’ll do no more than ruin some poor person’s day.
@acambras: Who did you end up using when you needed the one-way rental? I may be needing one in the next few weeks, and short of trying every rental car’s website methodically, can’t figure out who does them and who has the best rates.
@not_seth_brundle:
I think I ended up using Thrifty. It was just from LaGuardia to New Haven (a relatively short trip), and it was several years ago.
Funny thing about that. When I got to my apartment (they gave me a ride), I realized that I had left my housekeys in the rental car! The guy found the keys and drove back to my apartment to bring them to me (where I was waiting in the parking lot). I was embarrassed, but he was so nice about it. Needless to say, I tipped him generously for his trouble.
@acambras: Do make sure to compare the AAA rates with non-AAA, though. With hotels, I’ve run into cases where the AAA rate was actually higher than the default rate through hotel’s own website.
@SteveJeltzFan:
Well, yeah—and, depending on the state, it might be illegal to drive without liability coverage. Rental company insurance is a scam if you’ve already got your own insurance. (Usually. I suppose there might be auto insurance plans out there that don’t cover you in a rental car.)
These tips are great! Thank you.
@John Stracke:
Yep — that’s the whole thing. The past 2 times I’ve rented from Hertz (in the past year), I’ve checked — and the rate I get by booking with Hertz through AAA is much better than the rate on Hertz.com. And there have been no problems with the service.
A few weeks ago, I booked a room at a Holiday Inn Express. I needed to use that particular hotel (only convenient location in a small town), so I looked at rates for that hotel through Holiday Inn’s website, AAA’s website, and Hotels.com. AAA’s rate came in $5 below the others. Not as substantial a savings as my Hertz thing, but still saved me $10 over 2 nights. And there were no advantages to booking directly through the hotel’s website vs. AAA.com.
Now with airline tickets, that’s another story. I use Yahoo Farechase (farechase.yahoo.com) to search (it searches about 10 different websites). Then, when I select my ticket, Farechase’s link takes me to that airline’s website (or Orbitz, or whoever has the deal I want), where I book directly. The Farechase search engine is easy to use and there are no damn pop-ups. (By the way, I don’t work for Yahoo or Farechase or receive any compensation from them — I just like the website).
I rented a car from Enterprise for a weekend a few weeks back. Their rate was good–$17/day for a full-size, and we ended up with a fully-loaded Nissan Altima. The car was great, though it wasn’t as clean as it could have been. My only real complaint with the experience is that, since I was three months shy of my 25th birthday, I had to pay the stupid underage fee, which was an extra $15/day, for a total of $60 extra. When I went to pick up the car I asked politely if the fee could be waived since I’m so close to 25, but the guy said he couldn’t. Can any Enterprise insiders tell me if this is a policy or if I just wasn’t willful enough? Granted, I probably won’t be renting a car again until after my 25th birthday, but I’d still like to know.
Also, I picked up my car at a strip mall branch where I discovered they don’t actually keep any cars–they just had a guy drive one over from the shop a few blocks away. Are the policies or conventions any different at branches like these?
One other anecdote about the experience: When I picked up the car the needle was just below three quarters of a tank. Before I brought it back (after hours) I put gas in it, but mis-estimated and only filled it to about five eighths. The next day the Enterprise guy called and said “It looks like you left with three quarters of a tank and brought it back with half a tank.” I said, politely, “Oh, I think it was pretty close to three quarters,” and the guy just dropped it. I would have been upset had he insisted on dickering over an eighth of a tank, but happily he didn’t.
@John Stracke:
Thanks (and thanks from Scarfish, too, presumeably). This confirms what I thought.
Not having a car/the requisite car insurance I guess my car rental experience is slightly different than others – but I’ve always made sure I had the insurance since my jurisdiction requires it and I’d be uncovered otherwise.
USA Today has an article about the changing prices at rental car companies today…
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2007-03-12…
Amusing, given this post.
@Swirlee:
First, happy birthday.
I remember having a very hard time renting a car when I was under 21. I’ve seen the under-25 thing before, but I’m not sure if it varies from company to company or if it’s industry-wide.
Sadly, it’s been a long time since I was under 25 (sigh).
I’ve never had problems renting from Enterprise. I actually found out about the insurance reimbursement tactic by accident. When I got into a fender bender, I had to rent a car but I didn’t have rental car reimbursement option on my policy. My plan was to rent a car that day, and then add the option later when I got to my office.
The Enterprise guy gave me a price of $36 a day for a Camry. But when I told him that this would be an insurance reimbursement, he dropped the price to $25. Wow.
I used to work for Hertz as a Management Trainee, here’s my take:
> i wouldn’t mess around with pretending to be an insurance replacement. that’s a thin tightrope to walk, and if you never provide a valid claim number or it comes out you’re lying you better hope the csr that sorts your case out is lazy or sold you insurance.
> call up the local branch location NOT the national call center. The national call center is a bunch of drones that follow the book and have no reason to quote you a better price. Build some rapport with the local person who you’ll actually be meeting later to rent your car and your likely to get a price break.
>rent from the local branch, not the airport. Lower rates, no airport taxes, and anyone (not just enteprise) will pick you up from transit (even thought it’s a pin in the ass, unless you’re hot)
>insurance. the mt’s at hertz bonus off our insurance sales figures. use this to negotiate.
> if you make a reservation for a smaller car we can give you that lower insurance rate on any car you end up with. upgrade fees are negotiable to a point.
> the liability insurance serves a purpose for people who don’t have their own. credit cards work for the car itself but other than that i’d be wary.
> if you don’t want to get asked about the insurance sign up for the frequent renter club, indicate your preferences and by policy you shouldn’t be asked again.
> if you rent consistently always ask for the same agent, buy some cheap insurance, and you will get hooked up when we have good cars, G35′s etc. This korean business man always went premo (bought all insurance) and got half off his C230 and Navigator rates once in a while.
“All employees universally hate ‘the ride,’ where we have to pick up a customer and drive them back to the shop. “
How about if i sweet talk you and make you laugh during the ride?
I hate Enterprise. Way back when I didn’t own a car they would refuse to rent to me since I didn’t have car insurance, despite my Amex being primary in that case. The major companies don’t hassle over that. My wife has rented from them and I swear it takes about 30 minutes to get her in and out. And the gas tank game is ridiculous. It’s tough to estimate how much to put in to get it the same as how it went out. I want a full tank when I rent, and to fill it before I return it.
Anymore I just rent from Hertz through their #1 Gold Club. No hassles, just go right to the car and drive off (show ID at exit gate) or if a neighborhood one, flash license, get keys. Maybe the rate isn’t the best, but not having to play stupid games and get the third degree about insurance is worth a few extra bucks a day to me.
I think any service-based company is going to vary wildly from office to office, but I’ve had pretty good, even great experiences with Enterprise. For the three years that I lived in Chicago without a car, they got me to weddings, summer homes and far flung job interviews without fail.
My only routine car-rental hack is to insist on the lowest-rung car I can possibly stand (compact, I think, one up from economy) and not budge when offered an upgrade for “just $xx.xx” more. Result: Get upgrade for free, because there isn’t a compact on the lot they could give me.
(My husband occassionally screws this up, because he’s a sucker for the idea of “treating” ourselves. Now we have a little talk on the airport shuttle, and things go much more smoothly.)
I do think maybe the offices located away from the easy public transit routes have slightly better customer service, for the obvious reason that they can’t count on the same flow of foot traffic.
@katewrath:
I’ve used the same technique (booking the cheapest car and then often getting a free upgrade because they’re out of the cheap cars) with great results.
@camas22:
>rent from the local branch, not the airport. Lower rates, no airport taxes, and anyone (not just enteprise) will pick you up from transit (even thought it’s a pin in the ass, unless you’re hot)
So when I call to make the reservation and I need to ask them to pick me up, should I say, “Oh yeah, by the way, I’m really hot” ?
I love these “insider” posts. Keep them coming!
I spent several years of my life hustling hotel rooms. There are not a whole lot of businesses that enjoy the luxury of doing “on the fly” pricepoint manipulation to massage demand. Rental cars, hotel rooms, airline seats, are the best examples of these. Airlines and hotels have this down to a science. Holiday Inn used to have this thing called HIRO which monitored room demand over time and produced a hi/low threshold for each day to maximize revenue – or what I like to call, “the customers pain threshold”. The best days are when you know your competition in the area are full and you have the only rooms left. Turn off the HIRO and max the rates. On the other hand, if I’m getting ready to go down for the night with unsold rooms, you could walk in and practically name your price.
In the end, if you know your product and market, you get almost a zen-like ability to pick the right price for each customer. These days, rates are virtually consistent across all distribution channels so a lot of the fun of negotiating is gone. I’m looking forward to the day when reverse auction comes around. I could notify a town that I was coming and every general manager with available rooms would meet me at the highway exit to huck their wares. Power to the People!
In an effort to enlighten us about the questionable practices that go on in the car rental business, you advocate we lie about why we need the car. i.e., Because our car was in an “accident”, just so we can get the insurance rate. This seems a little inconsistent.
It doesn’t bother me that the Enterprise prices are not fixed, but essentially negotiable. Good. That’s one of the reasons I like them. I will gladly do business with a company that is willing to negotiate and work for my business, than to deal with one that won’t budge on price even if it means losing a sale. In my experience, the Enterprise people I have dealt with are professional and provide a level of service that will keep me coming back.
Former ERACer as well, and that post is spot on. Were I to add anything, it would be far more emphasis on the “waiver”. It is everything to them, and the only reason for promotion at the company. It is crazy. Fight the Waiver!!!
-also scary, if you are really into it, they say you are “bleeding green!!”
Well if you live by San Francisco, there is a place by the SF airport called Fox rent-a-car. Great rates. I remember making a reservation for a mid sized car and when I got there, the only mid-size car was a Buick which a questionable sound coming from the engine. The agent put me in a Chrysler 300 (luxury) for the same cost.
Oh when you rent from them, all cars have a full tank of gas.
Someone else mentioned the eighth-of-a-tank unit of measurement, which makes me think all those times I rented an ERAC car with less than a full tank was NOT a coincidence.
How the hell am I supposed to return a car refilled to the nearest eighth of a tank? It’s nearly impossible. And when you see the price of their gas (nearly $6/gal) buried in a price like “$24.99 per quarter tank”, you know that’s gotta be a profit center for them.
Yeah, that fraction of a tank thing is a big racket. Every other place I’ve dealt with gives me a car with a full tank, and I make sure it’s full when I return it. No guesswork.
I worked at ERAC for 3 months, then quit. Towards the end I was asking the customer what they felt like paying. I’d tell them if you opt for the insurance now, I’ll give you that $29.99/day Camry for $13.99. Then, you call and ask for me tomorrow and say you want to stop the insurance. I almost always got an agreement and a smile. Though some people thought I was trying to screw them.
I was really into this post until you advocated out-and-out fraud. Numbers 4 and 7 have no business being here.
I was a car rental agent in college. Customers would rent the car and switch tires – 4 brand new tires for the price of a one day rental!
We didn’t do anything about it we just didn’t rent to them again.
Also, they would buy the insurance and switch dented fenders etc…
My sister works for Enterprise and here’s her response to my sending her link with the question; Are these true?
“Yes, so don’t even try to complain about your job to me! Even the jargon
like “full boat” and “sitting fat” are terms I use everyday. I’ve never
done #6 though, because we have far to many people call at the last minute
and then not come in.
Now you know why I hate my job so much. In addition to feeling totally
corrupt and shady, (#1 really bothers me the most) I have to do things like
#8, when I totally hate the customer and know that they are just trying to
work the system. They can be the rudest assholes and I just have to smile
and eat shit because of stupid ESQI.
True, the first one shouldn’t bother me quite so much because we are a lot
like hotels and airlines where prices should depend on availability, but I
wish there wasn’t so much flexibility. We have guidelines, but a lot of
times you do kind of make up your own prices for retail deals.
I can’t believe I spent 4 years in college to do this stupid job.
I’m on my lunch break now and really don’t want to go back to work after
reading that. It makes me feel lousy about myself. I tend to try to forget
all that when I’m at work.
My job sucks.”
She also says to check out:
http://www.failingenterprise.com
I just want to ask why does everyone think that the rental ins is a rip off? Have you ever been hit in a rental in a parking lot and have to pay 500 to file a claim for a 3day weekend rental? I have and from now on I alway pay th 15 buck to total out a rental and walk away! Get real if they are willing to buy a car for that small amount then let em. Why is it such a crime for them to sell this!