Enterprise Rental is a name that I will always avoid in the future. A couple of years ago I had a truck that needed repairs that would take all day. I had a friend drop me off at Enterprise to pick up a rental for the day, since it was my only day off and I had a lot of errands to do. Being keen on what charges they could possibly hit me with, I took out the extra $9.99 a day insurance policy. When I took the car back, they went outside to "inspect the car". They found a "scratch" that wasn't there before, and proceeded to tell me that I was responsible for the repair to the scratch. I said, "Excuse me, but I have the $9.99 a day insurance on the car." They looked at my paperwork and agreed and said that because of that I was not responsible. It was apparently a bold face attempt to get more money out of me than was already taken for the rental of the day. I told them that they were a couple of shysters and if they had a honor left in them, they would stop working for a crooked company.

I assume you inspected the car before you rented it. Was the tire low then? If the gentleman who inspected the tire determined it was irreparable, it more than likely happened on your drive to Rochester. Perhaps you ran over a nail on your way. Is Enterprise responsible for the condition of the roads? Do you think that Enterprise should be responsible for your faulty driving? Whenever I run over a nail in my car, which is a few times a year, I don't blame the manufacturer of the vehicle or tires. I plug it myself and take responsibility for it. If the tire was in poor shape before you rented it, then they dropped the ball bigtime and you should email carpet bomb the crap out of them.

While Enterprise didn't really step up here, I think the assertion that the car was "Faulty" to begin with is a bit of a stretch. The OP simply says the the tire was "unrepairable", which is usually an indication that either the tire is too bald to patch or the hole is in the sidewall. If the problem was a hole in the sidewall, there is no way to know whether it was there when she picked up the car or whether it occurred while she was driving it. Moreover, I don't think it's completely unreasonable of Enterprise to expect her to have it taken care of, assuming they would reimburse for the new tire (She simply says that she was told to pay for it, but makes no mention either way of whether they would reimburse her for it, which they likely would have). There is some level of responsibility that the renter takes on when renting a car, and I don't think asking her to have the tire fixed, assuming it would be reimbursed, is unreasonable. Finally, in my opinion the medical issue is completely and totally irrelevant. She can't expect Enterprise to alter their policies and procedures because she had surgery, medically necessary or not.

I use Amex for all my car rental needs. That way if crap like this happens I put Amex to work for me. And yes, they should have replaced the car the first day the OP asked. What the hell is the point of renting a car that doesn't work? The tire was probably already in need of replacement before she rented the car and Enterprise put her safety at risk, then refused to rent her another car. Yikes.

I'm lost on how it's the customer's responsibility to get the tire repaired on their dime.

There's not enough info in this. Did they say they would pay her back? What was wrong with the tire exactly? If it's low or had a leak then buy a can of fix-a-flat.

I would find this annoying, but instead of going through all the hassle, I'd just buy a used tire for about 10 bucks to put it on.

The only way that Enterprise should have replaced the car was if the tire had been like that before she left. If it was the sidewall it was probably on the interior of the tire and therefore unnoticeable, so there would be no way of knowing whether or not it was a pre-existing condition (borrowing that phrase from the insurance companies), or if she punctured it or something.

I wonder if Enterprise's rationale for denying a replacement car and mandating that she replace the tire comes from the fact that she drove it to Rochester before the problem was noticed, a distance of about 330 miles. A lot can happen in that distance. It seems logical that Enterprise assumed that she caused the problem, hence it was not their problem.

Cheers!

I was in the same situation (minus the surgery.) Rented from Enterprise and got a flat in a strange city. Called the auto club number quoted on the contract and the gal on the phone said - Georgia drawl -

"Sir, you are 3 blocks from a garage. Please drive it there on the doughnut, have the tire repaired/replaced and STOP CALLING US." click.

One usually finds ladies of her style and sophistication in bowling alleys. I did as the "charming" lady had suggested and had a shiny new tire in about 30 minutes.

When I returned the vehicle, the Enterprise rep said "The cost of the rental's only $35 more than the tire. Let's call it even?"

Fine by me. I'm not blaming the gal here but surely the time spent on the phone (not to mention the heartache dealing with it while recovering) was more than the time out of her schedule getting a tire put on. Pick your battles, my Mom used to say.

Taking your business elsewhere is valid - it's obvious they'll never supply the level of service you expect.

Enterprise should swap the car for her... but if it was me I'd just take the car to a tire shop, be out in 1/2 an hour, and get Enterprise to pay for it when I returned the car.

Earlier this year I rented a car for a week at Enterprise. I declined the insurance but they persisted and said that I could "test it out" for a couple of days and If I didn't like it could cancel it. :)

I had the same thing happen to me from Enterprise. Rented a car, and as soon as I got to work, my co-worker pointed out that steel belts were showing, and the tires were bald. They tried the same thing with me, But in the end I had to take it to a goodyear that deemed the tires unsafe to drive period. Not even for in town they said, let alone the highway. I had to call some pretty higher ups to get anything done, spent over an hour of my time waiting for the new tires to get put on, and will never ever return to enterprise ever again.

Those of you who think she should have paid for the tire with the expectation that Enterprise would reimburse her upon return are a remarkably trusting bunch. There's no way in hell I'd do that without at LEAST an explicit promise from someone whose name, location, and if possible customer service number I knew.

That said, while I think Enterprise was being obnoxious in not replacing the car, she probably still would have had to pay for the tire repair even if they HAD replaced it. If a tire's defective to the point of being un-repairable when it leaves Manhattan, ain't no way it's making it all the way to Rochester without a significant problem.

They ARE obnoxious. They rented a car for me on my mom's credit card so I could drive to St Louis (the car I had at the time was not up to the trip) that had a broken driver's side mirror. My mom was livid. I don't recall if she got her money back or not, but their customer service was awful.

Every employee is a "management trainee." I think that's so they can avoid paying overtime.

When that kind of dishonesty is built into the damn HIRING practices, I don't think it's reasonable to assume they'll be any better to the customers.

@TechnoDestructo:
I'm not sure how hiring someone as a management trainee, making them fully aware of the fact they will be salaried employees exempt from overtime is dishonest. I interviewed with Enterprise a few years ago, and they made clear that it's 50ish hours per week and no overtime.

@Pylon83:

They aren't "management trainees." They aren't managers. Most of them won't be managers. That's like saying every burger flipper at McDonald's is a management trainee just because a few of them eventually will be.

I rented a Saturn from Enterprise that went entirely dead the day after I picked it up. They were out there with a replacement car after I called.

Granted, I called on Saturday, and they came Monday, and I had to have a friend drive me around all weekend to the class I was teaching, and they gave me the world's most beat up Chevy Aveo...but who's counting?

@TechnoDestructo:
So what? They are told up-front what the deal is, that they are training to become managers. Not everyone who trains for something actually succeeds at it. I'm not saying that it's not slightly scam-ish, but it's certainly not dishonest. They do take advantage of people who are quick to jump at an opportunity to become a "manager" at something and make a lot of money, but who don't listen to the details.

The people who work at my local office are clowns. I had to call states away to get someone to jump some asses at our local office. After the ass-chewing from corporate, which the lady that helped me told me she did, they couldn't be nicer, but before that, It was like getting tech support from someone in India...

It's funny how quickly they changed their tone after the ass chewing though, hell they even upgraded me to one of their premium cars, which they told me several times before they didn't even have any cars, let alone an upgrade. Then it went from no cars period to I could pay for an upgrade (in the same call), All of them are a bunch of liars.

Actually, if you look at the FAQ on their website:

What happens if the vehicle I have rented is damaged or stolen?

You are responsible for the cost to repair the vehicle or the value of the vehicle prior to the loss if stolen or not repairable... {snip}

Also, if you click around some more, looks like a flat-tire would force you to deal with their roadside assistance.

What I gather from this is that, once the car is in your possession, its maintenance is your responsibility. It's probably outlined in the fine-print on the contract you have to sign.

The OP (or a family member or friend) should just go to a Discount Tire in the area, or what have you, get a cheap tire put on, and forget about it.

From their own contract, they don't really owe the renters of their cars anything.

@Pylon83:
the comment about them making it clear that it's 50 hours with no overtime compensation...I'm pretty sure that is in direct violation of the FLSA overtime policy. Though if every employee agrees to be a "management trainee" then maybe that does weasel them out of overtime regs, but that's kind of a slimy thing to do if you ask me.

I have my own Enterprise horror story, which was nearly as bad.

I flew into SFO on a flight that arrived about 9PM, and well after dark. I took the shuttle and picked up the car. I tried to look it over as best one could in a lot with poor lighting.

As I drove out of the Enterprise driveway, around the corner and onto the freeway, the right front hub cap comes rolling off the car, and is promptly run over by another car. I pulled over and foolishly retrieved the hub cap. As I went to get back into the car, I noticed that the front tires were nearly bald.

I immediately returned to Enterprise. Driving a rental car back was a hassle in and of itself, since they think you're there to return the car and leave.

I explained the situation to the lot attendant, who sent me inside. Upon speaking to the counter person, and then the manager, I was told that once I drove off the lot I was responsible for the car, and for the tires. I explained that I only had the car 5 minutes, and that I wanted a different car. They claimed that they only had a larger more expensive car, that I would pay extra for. I politely declined, and left, taking the shuttle back to the terminal and made other arrangements to get to my hotel.

Enterprise put a hold for $2K on my credit card, and tried to make me pay them for the hub cap, the tires and the cancellation.

Fast forward to the conclusion, no one at Enterprise was willing to even have a civil conversation, all the way up the tree. I contested the charge, which was promptly reversed. After 2 months of fighting, Enterprise finally gave it up.

Our company no longer uses Enterprise for any of our associates anywhere in the US, largely as a result of my experience and similar incidents with others in our company. In fact, we are expressly prohibited from using them, as our CEO had his vacation ruined by their hyjinx as well.

Sending customers out with bald tires, especially in San Francisco is unconscionable.Their antics are shameful. But in the end, they lost a customer. Our company spends 70-80K per year on rental cars. Hertz is a tad more expensive, but the convenience and the lack of problems proved to be more than worth the small difference.

Amtrak runs from NYC to Rochester and it's a pleasant ride along the Hudson much of the way.

I worked at Enterprise before, and I can see what they were trying to do here. IF (biiiig if) it was more convenient for everyone [distance, etc.], we would usually have the customer go to a shop and get it fixed. The shops would be able to tell whether it was patchable or not, and replace it if needed. The time for this was never over 20 minutes. I should know because I took dozens of cars in for that type of service. The shops prioritized our cars by contract agreement.

Problems are induced when traveling hundreds of miles, because even though it is a national company ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR BRANCHES ARE NOT FRANCHISES!!!! That's right, they are independently owned by companies which cover everywhere from part of a state to multi-state areas. As such, "just getting another car" from a different rental group becomes a $30,000 asset transfer from one independent company to another. Because nobody wants that, it means a driver will have to be dispatched to go pick up the car and return it to the original branch ($$$$$).

I also see where NATRES (the 800 number people) failed the customer by not following up with the local branches with specialty instructions. NATRES are the ONLY people in the company who will never see a customer face-to-face (they are in a building in St. Louis), so they are prone to telling all sorts of lies and making all kinds of promises. BUT!!! If you are a branch and a customer comes in and NATRES told them something, you are supposed to STFU and HELP THE CUSTOMER at all costs. So, the branches failed here too.

It should also be noted that replacing tires and other small stuff happened frequently enough that the reps sometimes forgot to mention that you will be reimbursed, but it's pretty much a given. HOWEVER - tires are a part of the car, so they are only covered if you have ERAC's insurance (or your own). The most important fact to be aware of is JUST BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T SEE/NOTICE IT HAPPEN DOESN'T MEAN IT DIDN'T. People came back with busted up, screwed up, broken, slashed and otherwise destroyed crap and thought if they shrugged and claimed to not know how that got there everything would be A-OK.

I am not blaming the OP but please please please realize that when renting a car you ARE ACCEPTING FULL FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY for a 5-figure piece of machinery and not a toy, it can and will cost you $$$ out of pocket if you are cheap and skimp on insurance. If you did it, your fault. If your kid did it, your fault. If some creepy guy in the parking lot did it, your fault. If the devil did it, your fault. If some bitch with a grey car and breast implants did it, YOUR FAULT. I know it sucks but when you sign on the dotted line, everything and anything that happens becomes YOUR FAULT. If you don't want such "hassles", then rent a car from your roomie or friend or something.

BTW to all of you folks up there, ERAC MT's are paid hourly wages, PLUS overtime past 40 hrs. Unfortunately, that fact is *included* in the estimated yearly wage figure (they tell you this in interview 1). This is true for the next two or three levels up until assistant branch manager, when the variable part becomes a % of branch profits.

Aside from everything that is wrong with their lack of customer care, apparently Enterprise does not understand the power of negative publicity on the internet (more specifically, forums such as this one). So let me just make it clear to any of the "higher ups" from Enterprise who may be reading this:

As a direct result of what I have just read, I WILL NEVER rent a car from Enterprise for the rest of my life. I would imagine that the same would be true for several others who are reading this as well.

@Pylon83: I'm not sure how hiring someone as a management trainee, making them fully aware of the fact they will be salaried employees exempt from overtime is dishonest.

It's dishonest because it's a violation of US labor law, which makes it illegal to classify someone as "management" for the sole purpose of avoiding overtime payment.

Moreover, being a management trainee doesn't even meet the letter of the law in terms of providing ineligibility for overtime, so Enterprise is deliberately lying to their hires.

You may be considered "management", but if the majority of your day to day duties aren't related to managing people, but providing customer service or working a line or something, you're eligible for overtime and your employer is violating labor laws.

Personally, I have to question why the op kept saying she didn't have time to go to a garage and have the tire fixed when she had time to spent hours on the phone with them over a period of days. Why not just skip all that and go get the tire fixed? Problem solved.

@shufflemoomin:
Well let's see here, "medically unable" comes to mind.

My family has had some experiences with them, but since we own Ford vehicles and there is an enterprise IN the ford dealer, they are fairly convenient. Fortunately nothing quite as bad as this has happened, though they have lied frequently about the availability of certain cars.

A company this bad does NOT deserve to have a name as illustrious as Enterprise. That name, and the ships commissioned as such, have literally saved this country and will continue to do so. They should change their name to something like g.w. bush, or congress!

This is a crazy story - I was under the impression that these rental car agencies had 24 road side assistance??? In which case, an authorized repair person would have hooked her up with a new tire (happened once when we rented a u-haul trailer). The world would implode if u-haul had better roadside service than Enterprise, it just wouldn't make any sense.

Anyway, if the price is reasonable, you're renting for only a day or so and you're not already travelling under your work's insurance company (if you rent on business) get the rental car in-house insurance. Twice now I've had plastic wheelcovers stolen off of rental cars I've driven and both times after the return visual inspection I've taken great pleasure in saying "I paid for the full insurance, it's your problem, see you later." when they pointed out the missing hubcaps. Otherwise I'm sure that they would have a) gouged me and b) delayed me for an hour or so filling out paperwork.

As the saying goes:

"A rental car is transportation.
A rental car with insurance is entertainment."

Stupid donut spares. I hate those things, full sized spares are the only way to go.

@Zatnikitelman: You're right. After watching History Channel's Battle 360 (with limited commercial interruption - 1 commercial break in the entire hour), and discovering that the founder of the company was an aviator on the USS Enterprise during WWII, and that's why he named the company after the ship, I was thinking, gee, maybe they are a good company.

After reading this story, I might have to disagree a little. Granted, we don't know all the facts in the story, but, still, "god_forbids's" comments are good ones to keep in mind the next time someone rents a car from anyone.

I think there's blame to go around on both sides.

you would think that a rental company would include full size spares in the trunk rather than donuts considering the amount of usage of the vehicles

So let me get this straight. A hundred people rent and put wear and tear on the car, but if a tire fails while I have it, I have to replace the tire? Umm,... bullshit? Is it the same with the tranny? (Pun intended)

I had a similar experience - I was in Syracuse and they wanted me to drive it back to the city (NYC - specifically Brooklyn). Although I ended up having the car checked out and cleared before I came back (it was the MIDDLE OF WINTER IN SYRACUSE!!!), the following worked in helping me get a different car with 4 wheel drive the next week (up until then, they refused to give me 4 wheel drive because I was under 25 - and they said by policy they couldn't):

1 - I called the enterprise line (800 number) and then THEY connected me to the local enterprise in NYC so that the woman from Enterprise who was very nice, listened to the entire conversation we had and realized that the store manager was being inappropriate, refused to acknowledge that I was putting myself in harm's way, and was misportraying Enterprise corporate policy. So she put this in her report :-).

2 - I MAGICALLY received an enterprise survey request THAT evening hahahahahhaa. I think it may have been coincidence but really... hrm... So you know what that store got in ratings

3 - On another occassion when I had a tire issue, I had the tire entirely replaced and Enterprise reimbursed me - THAT is what this customer should've done

4 - I called Enterprise corporate customer service which doubles as the number you receive for Business Class peoples' customer service. Call them, and the first person you get off the bat is usually an Admin Assistant to a VP. I spoke to the assistant to the VP of customer service - who clarified that my manager was not divulging all of the policy details - turns out that if you're under 25, you CAN have a 4 wheel drive but it must be valued at under $30K or so for insurance purposes.

5 - When I arrived at my local enterprise the next time they were open - for a car swap - who would've known but suddenly they had found a 4 wheel drive, UNDER 30k, that I could drive for the rest of my rental (3 - 4 months of rentals ahead of me at that point).

The manager of the store asked me why I had gotten him into trouble with corporate despite his helpfulness - and I pointed out to him that the manner in which he spoke to me, and the fact that he withheld info on being able to get me a 4 wheel drive was unacceptable. He apologized, and said if there are any other issues for the rest of my rental period, PLEASE tell him first and he promises to resolve them without hesitation. He wasn't lying :).

So remember:

1 - Business Class folks have a # they call and that # is in the same building I guess or is the same folks as Customer Service Execs I think? In fact, I believe that # was on their website under Business Class. The actual location is in downtown NYC (for THIS region - i.e. Downstate NY).

2 - Offer to do a survey if you can somehow

3 - Have the 800 number for Enterprise monitor your call directly (not via some recording) with the store managers. The 800 number is the only nationwide link between Enterprise regions.

Oh one more note... When I needed a tire replaced - I had the NYC manager speak to the Syracuse mgr and the Syracuse folks offered to pick up the car from me while I was at work, take it to have the tire replaced, and then drop it back in front of my work. So that's a good way to deal with this stuff.

As far as paying for the cost of fixing the tire - they reimbursed me the minute I returned to NYC.

@ purplesun -

The paragraph you quoted applies to damage that would be considered for coverage under comprehensive and collision, not vehicle maintenance. Generally bad tires are considered maintenance, which is the responsibility of the car rental company.

If on the other hand it was determined that the tire was in good working order but had been (for example) slit then that would be the responsibility of the renter.

@BeeBoo: Amtrak will also drive you around over the weekend, right?

@crashfrog: Please see post above for correct info on "Management Trainee" compensation. Though many small companies do shady stuff like that, ERAC does not lie to interviewees and does not skirt labor laws. Also, the monikers in Daily Rental are:

Management Trainee (MT)
Management Assistant (MA)
Assistant Rental Manager (ARM)
Branch Rental Manager (BRM)

It is quite possible to go from MT to BRM in 18 months, I have seen it done. Even MT's and MA's frequently designate duties (i.e. "manage") other employees but the company does not pay salaries until ARM. You are encouraged to go from MT to MA within 9 months, at which time you will be able to make the MTs do the less glamorous tasks in the branch like helping preps wash cars in crunch times. Still, at times I shared car-washing duties with our Group Rental Manager (high, high up guy) so nobody is truly exempt. Except NATRES (grumble, grumble).

@god_forbids: ERAC does not lie to interviewees and does not skirt labor laws.

I'm glad to hear that. Nonetheless, labor law violations are very common. In 3/4ths of the jobs I've worked, my manager was violating labor law (most commonly in regards to overtime), simply because almost every hire was ignorant of their rights under the law. The posters they have to put up do essentially nothing. Who wants to risk their job by complaining?

Enterprise is hands down the trashiest outfit out there. Yet on the infrequent occasions that I do need a rental, I rent from them because they always have the cheapest rates among all the rental places near me.

This is my solution to the Enterprise scam machine: bring a digital camera with you and take pictures of _everything_ on the car, and from every angle. That way you've got evidence on your side when they try to scam you. And this is a given with any contract, but make sure any exceptions, offers, etc are noted on the contract by the clerk (whoops, I mean "management trainee"--lol what a bunch of b.s.).

A few years ago we rented a car for a vacation from Milwaukee to South Carolina. Somewhere around Indianapolis, the tire pressure light came on. We called Enterprise and the agent told us we could swap cars at the Louisville airport and they would repair the tire problem. We did just that, and planned to swap back on the way home. But on our return trip the car wasn't ready so they told us just to bring it back to Milwaukee. A few weeks later we got a call from Enterprise in Louisville wondering where their car was. I explained what happened and never heard from them again.

I have no use whatsoever for, nor will I EVER rent from Enterprise again.
They could not be bothered to call me on my cell phone to tell me the location I had to return the car (on the day I was SCHEDULED to return the car) closed early that day due to weather.
Their sole response when I contacted them later about it?
"Well if you send a receipt, we'll reimburse your cab fare to the airport."
Enterprise Rent-A-Car = FAIL

@loudguitars:

Well, the OP would have paid for the tire, so if they refused to reimburse her, she could always argue that she paid for the tire and is keeping it and leaving the car with three tires.

@boones farmer: Did it occur to you to spend the $0.75 to put some air into it rather than going through the hassle of swapping cars?

Geez, Enterprise spends a few tens of million of marketing bucks to give a impression that the company will go the extra mile for customer satisfaction, then blows that carefully crafted image away to save a few bucks.

Marketing is propaganda.. believe it at your own risk.

@madanthony: I like that solution, leave with the tire you bought,... OH and have them buy the rim back from you.

@chartrule: Enterprise is obviously saving a bundle by only supplying their cars with donuts as spare tires.

I traveled from Manhattan to Rochester recently, and I would recommend taking the Amtrak empire service.
It is almost certainly cheaper (~$50 each way if you buy the ticket a week in advance)
And it is way easier than driving for eight hours.

No real delays, and I had an outlet at my seat so I watched movies the whole way with my laptop, and plenty of leg room.

From the description, (dangerously low, but not completely flat) the tire probably had a worn out bead which would not be a customer's fault. It is also possible that the tire is wore so bad that it was punctured by normal driving conditions. Usually, a sidewall tear will deflate the whole tire.

Also, for those saying she should spend the money on the tire, remember, some tire shops will not sell single tires, and will only do pairs if you are lucky. The standard answer is that 4 tires need to be replaced at the same time. Do you think the local branch is going to hand over $300+ when you return the car?

@shor0814:
I don't know what kind of scummy tire shops you patronize, but I have never had a problem buying one new tire after a flat. I've never even heard of such a thing. Moreover, most people aren't pushovers and will simply insist that the tire shop replace only the one tire and that they don't care if they recommend replacing all 4.