I've used Enterprise several times over the years and have never had a bad experience. Still, it only takes one of the magnitude described above to erase a lot of good-will.

I was done with Enterprise when they gave my wife a car (through Progressive) with tires that were practically bald. Tires not being something that gets checked, it led to her hydroplaning into a jersey barrier on the interstate and totaling the car. And she got blamed for it. The cops and the tow truck driver couldn't believe the condition of the tires, but that didn't stop Progressive (who we summarily dropped afterwards) from finding her at fault.

@Turcicus: Forgot to mention, I now use Avis for all car rentals and have always been very well taken care of from the customer service standpoint.

freaking liars is right. i reserved a car from ERAC last winter for a vacation. it said "unlimited miles". nowhere did it say we could not go south of Virginia (we live in NJ). when we got there, car loaded with pets and luggage, the rental agent casually asked where we were going. i told him North Carolina. he said, sorry, you can't take the car past Virginia. this was NOT in writing. I told him, fine, were going to virginia. He said "NO YOUR NOT. we have tracking devices on the car."

end of story, we ended up putting 2k miles on my brand new car, with a hold on our bank account for 5 days (as we used it to reserve the car). I was PISSED.

A Kia Sedona is a minivan, not a full-size car. Someone was confused, although that doesn't really mitigate the rest of the horrible situation.

@Turcicus: Totally, AVIS always treats me well.
Think I would have sued or at the minimum wrung someone's neck at the place who gave my wife the car.

I think it has to be franchise thing: we have two in town (opposite ends of town in fact.) One has always been honest, helpful and accurate to the penny. The other has always screwed up.

@bobloblawsblog:

Step 1: Use Credit Card

Step 2: Look over RA with a fine tooth comb

Step 3: Leave

Step 4: Dispute incorrectly billed amount.

How big does a car have to be for the OP to consider it a full-sized car? Regardless of what they call it, the Kia Sedona is a minivan that can seat at least 5. That's about par for most of the full-sized cars I've seen.

Not to blame the OP at all. Enterprise yanked his chain repeatedly and he's better off going with Hertz. (I hope anyway.) My experiences with ERAC have been underwhelming at best but since they're usually the cheapest around here that's what local insurance and repair places use for their loaners.

@Turcicus: "Hi. Welcome to Progressive.com. My red lipsticked-mouth looks like the ass of a baboon. How can I help you?"

When I had a problem with Thrifty I sent a very targeted email to Scott Anderson (Senior Executive Vice President). I always rent off-site (from the airport) because it saves me about $100. Take a cab a few miles away and save. Well, this time around I went to a Thrifty/Dollar franchise that was closed when I was scheduled to pick up my rental. And then the car was totally filthy with a bent rim. A non-smoking car with cigarette burns in the headliner. I took camera-phone pictures of the damaged Charger, sent it to Mr. Anderson. Within a day they offered us a discount and upgrade to a 300. It was single handedly the worst rental experience I've ever had. But I guess they saved it in the end.

The one time i had some sort of bad experience with enterprise was when my girlfriend and i planned to visit my family for thanksgiving. I called enterprise for a price estimate of the cost of renting a car, which i asked her if the total price includes the insurance and all the other charges, she said yes. When i get there (the day before thanksgiving) the total mysteriously didn't include the insurance and had to front up some more cash for it. It was already too late to get a car from somewhere else. So pretty much in the end they lied to me about the price.

@rpm773: I want that girl.

While you might have had a problem with your local ERAC, you noted that it was the local manager that gave you the problems. I've been going back to Enterprise whenever I needed a car (and have a res for next friday, too) because the guys at the local one here have always treated me right and even went an extra mile to fix a problem during the last rental. It's probably just your local store that is problematic.

I'm done with ERAC... A couple months ago i was involved in a fender bender. Everything was fine till i was told i had to leave a 300 deposit. I thought the hell with it. I need a car to get to work and that was that. They offered the insurance because i was told my ins. co. might not cover me if i get in a accident and that way it will not go on my driving record. My agent called a week later to check in on how i was doing. SO i asked him if i have to have the insurance from ERAC.. he told me to get rid of it.

Two weeks later i get a call. My car is ready to be picked up. I leave work early eager to be reunited with my baby. This is when it all went sour.....
I return to ERAC and I'm told that they called AllState and they cannot find my file. "This is normal, it usually takes a while to get everything set up"...My deposit is not returned.
*They told me to return in a few days and everything should be good.
*I have a busy schedule so i return a week later...Nothing!! "They called allstate and they do not return the calls"..so they say.
*I go talk to my agent..he makes some calls and ERAC has never attempted to contact them. They go over all my info to make sure everything is correct and there is no problems with my claim number. I went back to ERAC and they are still giving me the run around.

I returned to ERAC everyday for a week..NOTHING...After a month my AllState Agent talked to someone, explained my situation and two days later i received a $380.00 check in the mail from Allstate.

Let me just say after my VERY LONG problem with ERAC..I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS with them again....

My last Enterprise experience -- was rear ended by a teenager on a cell phone. Her insurance provided a rental through Enterprise.

Returned the car with 3/4 of a tank just like I left Enterprise with. Gave the keys to the attendant, and he returned saying that I had returned the car with 5/8 of a tank and would be charging me $5/gallon for the difference.

I balked and asked to see the fuel gauge as I had filled the car less and a mile away from Enterprise.

They took me to the car, now parked 'around back' in a area marked 'to be cleaned'. Conveniently enough the spaces were on a moderately steep uphill slope.

I complained to the manager who promptly removed the $10 charge.

Pretty sneaky, Enterprise...

Wow. I'm surprised, because Enterprise is about the only positive rental experience I've had. The two times I needed to rent a car before I was 25, they were the only company to treat me like a human being, not give me downgrades, and not charge an OUTRAGEOUS fee for having the audacity to be 24. Now granted, that means the last time I used them was a few years ago, but for me and for my parents they've generally been the most decent company.

Hertz... now there's some sleaze...

In high school, I used to work at an Avis Rent-A-Car at an airport, and they'd pull this shit all the time:

They'd always overbook their cars, but they weren't scientific about it like the airlines: the desk clerk would tell the manager that they're out of cars, and the manager would tell her to keep taking reservations, and make sure to leave before the flights came. Some people would get downgraded to a compact, because that's all that was available (even if they reserved a full-size or an SUV), others would be SOL and would get no car at all, even though they had reserved one.

BTW, don't yell at the desk clerk if the car you reserved, or any car at all for that matter. It's not her fault.

Maintenance was shitty too. I worked at a franchise location, and if it was a franchise car, we'd change the oil every 7,500 miles. If a warning light came on, we'd just reset it and rent it out to another customer. It was worse for corporate cars that were returned to our location: we'd NEVER changes the oil on those.

We'd sell the cars as soon as the warranty expired. NEVER EVER buy a used rental car. NEVER.

Enterprise managers, (everyone is a manger there) work on commission for what they sell, especially added coverages which are pure profit.

Enterprise is a self insured company which means any losses are paid for by the company. There is no insurance company.

Enterprise makes it the direct responsibility of the counter people (managers) to deal with any damage, lost cars, etc and it comes directly out of that stores budget.

Their pay is directly tied to the bottom line so they nickel and dime you to death.

I will never rent from them again. Go Alamo!

Done with lying Enterprise, eh? Welcome to lying Hertz -- they WILL charge you for gas, even if you top off the tank just before you return it...

Hopefully that annoying cockney gecko will pick up the overage...

@Turcicus: ... not that I'm trying to blame the OP or anything, but in general-aviation-world (i.e. Cessna 172s) the pilot-in-command of whatever plane is flown assumes responsibility upon deciding to fly, hence a pre-flight checklist to include control surface movement, tires, and the ilk.

Yeah, it sucks that Enterprise doesn't know how to maintain cars, but if the tires were that bad shouldn't your wife have been able to notice beforehand and told Enterprise she wanted a safe vehicle?

@ZekeSulastin: ... of course I forgot to add the point of the PoC thing - in GA, the military (the PMCS system), etc., you check everything like that before you head out. This level of scrutiny may be unwarranted for your daily commute, but if you're given a random vehicle it behooves you to check what you can.

Face it, the rental car industry is a crapshoot.

Cockney? I thought the gecko was Australian.

Anyway, I have used Enterprise many times but it has been a mixed bag. It all depends on the area or even the particular location you use. Some are excellent, some are slow but get the job done eventually, some are careless, understaffed with rude liars and some are pathetic with no idea what is going on.

I find the Enterprise near where I live (Anaheim) has been nothing short of great every time we use it.

Had to use it one time the day before my wedding 2 years ago because of a mess up with Dollar and they were extremely accommodating especially for a last second rental. Not a single "no we can't do this or that."

We've used that particular site ever since and they still treat us with the same care.

I think it's like people in general, take them by a case by case basis.

As for the OP with the car, they take a look at your car before and after you take it because they have a checklist on the clipboard. They look it over, you should too, especially when they make you sign.

Bye.

I guess all that goodwill they generated when they sponsored / presented the History Channel series on the Enterprise is gone. Of course the repeats have commercials in them like regular History Channel shows.

I haven't had any issue with any rental car companies I've used - knock on wood. However, I have learned that my car insurance policy covers rental liability and rental physical damage but does NOT cover loss of use. If you rent a vehicle and are relying on your personal auto policy to protect you, make sure it covers liability, physical damage, and loss of use (which can rack up rapidly if you have an accident in their car).

Welcome to the real world. I have had problems with almost every rental agency I have used: Hertz, Thrifty, Enterprise, Alamo, Budget, U-Haul, Penske... . A reservation is only a guarantee that they will try to charge you for a car if you do _not_ show up. It is not a secure iron clad guarantee that you will have a car at a specific time at any rental agency. . You can go to a rental location a week ahead and pay cash and check in every day. If five people show up the hour before you do and they only have five cars, you are SH_T OUT OF LUCK! There is not a single rental company that will turn away a customer if they have a car--in order to save one for *you*--unless you are personal friends with every employee at the location.

I've *never* been able to rent a full size from Enterprise despite booking them. They never have anything bigger than a smaller Cobalt or HHR on the lot. Bait and switch?

Here are Enterprises definitions of car sizes:
[www.enterprise.com]

If you read your Personal Auto Policy from Geico, you may find your Geico policy does not cover you "fully" for the rental car. Missing is loss of use expenses (the daily rate that cannot charged to a future customer while the car is being repaired for damage you created). Of course, everyone is an expert and on the internet all companies are bad.

ERAC is like other companies finding that they no longer have renters, and the cost of the cars eats at the bottom line fast. They thus have smaller neighborhood fleets and have closed a number of operations. No longer do they deliver the car, but they instead "pick you up" to take you back to the office. The fact you have $30 a day coverage helps you better than many who do not have coverage for rental at all on their PAP.

I've had a similar incident at Enterprise after I got rear ended. Needless to say, I try not to use Enterprise if I could help it.

ZekeSulastin: No disrespect to you but you are a pilot. Pilots NEED to be meticulous or else that plane is going down. If you haven't noticed about people who own cars, %95 of those people have no idea about car maintenance let alone know what tread on a tire is suppose to be for.

@Etoiles: well, I am a college student who may need access to a car sometimes (no car on college, public transportation in Baltimore is okay, but not great)

Zipcar seems nice (agreement with university), $36 a year, $9/hour or $69 a day.... of course i've seen the cars, not as well maintained as enterprise's (dents, a little unclean), but usable...and inexpensive

Just as others (ohnoes, puka_pai) have said, the Sedona is a minivan. My wife owns one. With the third row in, it seats at least 7. The middle row can have captain chairs (only 2 in that row, but they're individual chairs) or a bench (a third person in that row). Legroom in the third row is a little tight, but if you don't need that row, you can fold the chairs pretty well and get a whole lot more room.

He should have taken down that deer's insurance information.

[www.hulu.com]

@Mediocrates:

I've had to use Enterprise a few times, and I've found that if you dont have the insurance company or dealership set up the rental car for you it will either be the wrong type of car or they will ALWAYS charge you more then was said for the car already agreed upon. Also the insurance they offer is a scam, I've had 2 different insurance companys tell me that they cover rental cars under their basic insurance and every time Enterprise has told me they both didnt. After being presented the car ALWAYS go over the car. The sales person will do this, but you need to make sure you go over it alot more then them as you'll be the one charged in the end if they find something overlooked. Lastly if you can avoid using the afterhours key dropoff, or droping the car off on Sunday. I took my last car to Enterprise on a Saturday night as I was told I could, I parked it on the lot right with the other cars they rented. I droped my keys in the key drop off and walked 4 blocks home. I recieved a call on tuesday thanking me for returning the car and that they'll be using my deposit to pay for the extra 3 days. I told them the car was droped off Saturday night, and they informed me that they had not seen the keys until that day. We had alot of back and forth phone calls and in the end I got lucky and they agreed to give me Sunday even though they were not open and couldnt verify it was actuly there. My guess is they went over whatever security tapes they had and saw me drop it off, but it could have been a mess.

On a side note when I have had my insurance company get the car for me, I ended up with a much larger car then I would have normaly gotten, and paid nothing extra for it except the price of the extra gas to drive it.

@ShreyaCoeus: So, since everyone does it, it's okay?

Tough story-this sort of thing is frustrating, but I have been a repeat customer at Enterprise franchises across North America, most frequently Albuquerque (downtown) and Calgary (NW), but many other locations. I have had fewer difficulties with these people than with Budget (my old favorite), Avis (my even older favorite) and all the others. There is no way they can always be perfect but they seem to me to do a better job than most.

@puka_pai: Well think about it. He had guest over so do the math. Most families there is a Mommy, Daddy, little Timmy and Sue. Then you have relatives come over and that is a least two people so this Kia Sedona that fits 5 comfortably wouldn't seat everyone that would be riding in it. So a full size vehicle like a Yukon XL, Suburban or any other FULL size vehicle usually fits 7 to 8 people comfortably.

@Etoiles:

When I was 24, my daily driver was hit by a hit and run driver while parked and I had to rent. Insurance set me up through enterprise, and I was talking to the guy. He was going to give me a Volvo - until he found out I was <25 and couldn't because that was considered a "luxury car". So instead I ended up with a Toyota Corolla.

Because I was too young to be trusted with a Volvo.

If the primary concern was having enough room to drive around with passengers, a Kia Sedona is perfectly suited for that, even more so than a "full size" car which would be like an Impala or a Charger.

ERAC knows the value of teamwork! They teamed with a Chevy dealer to make me pay for a rental that the dealer had said they would pay for while my car was being repaired. After I got the state attorney general's office involved, things got fixed. And I only used that after trying for 2 months to get it resolved, with only a run-around and long distance phone bills.

My insurance company (Hartford) also contracts with Enterprise, and when I had to take my car in for repair after someone hit it in a parking lot, the body shop called the Enterprise location 8 blocks from them, asked if they had a small car, like an Aveo available and was assured that they had one available.

(My reasons for requesting a smaller car is I am handicapped and my rental carport parking works just fine for access with a small car, but would be impossible with a large car.)

Enterprise immediately sent a car to pick me up - a Chevy Aveo - and took me back to their location, where they tried to rent me a Ford F-150.

Leaving out all the arguing that ensued, the Aveo was not available because it was scheduled for maintenance, and the only thing other than the F-150 they had available was a Jeep Cherokee.

Since neither available vehicle was at all suitable they took me back to the body shop - in the Aveo.

(BTW, they couldn't understand why I wouldn't accept either of those two vehicles, after all, they were "upgrades" from the smaller car I wanted. They did not understand the idea of needing a vehicle I could actually get into and out of, or that would fit in my parking space.)

I got a rental from Hertz.

@midwestkel:
Full size is not a big Yukon or Suburban SUV.
Full size is Dodge Charger or Chevy Impala sedan that sits 4 adults comfortably plus a child in the middle back.

The Kia Sedona is a 7 passenger minivan. Maybe the OP heard Kia and just assumed it was a subcompact .....or wrote down the wrong name in the retelling.

Car sizes: [www.enterprise.com]

I suspect that sales reps are on commission as they always try to upsell me on the CDW. When I declined the insurance last time the rep tried again with, I kid you not... "try it for a couple of days and see if you like it."

@puka_pai: The OP is going by Enterprise's class definitions, I assume. According to Enterprise, full-size is "Chevy Impala, Nissan Altima, Dodge Charger or similar." [www.enterprise.com]!-101986713?transactionId=WebTransaction1&referingPath=%2Fhome

I hate it when car rental companies dick around with what size car they're putting you in. Last time I needed a rental because of car problems, they "upgraded" me from the "standard" sedan my insurance covered to an SUV, and categorically refused to downgrade me back. So I was getting 15 freaking mpg and paying out the ass for gas, and I COULDN'T SEE ANYTHING BECAUSE I'M TOO SHORT FOR A VEHICLE THAT BIG. I was terrified to drive anywhere all week. They wouldn't even let me try a different model SUV to find one that I could safely see out of.

And the thing is, I'm sure that tons of other customers that day would have been DELIGHTED with the upgrade ... if they knew they were going to run out of standard-sized sedans, why didn't they give the upgrade to someone who wanted it instead of to me?

@Turcicus: I sympathize with your wife, but in the two states where I've held licenses the driver of the vehicle is responsible for making sure the vehicle is in safe operating condition. From my current state driver's handbook:

Equipment Standards
The equipment on your car must meet certain standards. These are listed below.

(snip)

Tires: Your tires should have visible tread of at least 2/32 of an inch across the base with no worn spots showing the ply. Smooth tires on wet roads contribute to thousands of serious crashes.

While I agree that Enterprise should always offer only cars which are safe to drive, ultimately it is the driver's responsibility to be sure the vehicle is safe to operate. This is true for any vehicle you own, rent, borrow (steal, win, find, etc...).

This is stressed much more clearly for people who study to get commercial drivers licenses, but it's true of anyone who operates a vehicle. I've tried for years to get my mother to occasionally look at her car to see that the tires are good, the lights are working, and so on, but she seems to think that the way to find these things out is to wait for the police to pull her over, and that it's not HER fault the lights aren't working.

@Etoiles: "not charge an OUTRAGEOUS fee for having the audacity to be 24"

If you are male, pretend to be married, and you get the over-25 rate.

When I was 23 and my now-husband was 24 and we were dating, we flew out so I could meet his family. The clerk assumed we were married, and gave HIM the discounted rate. *I* still had to pay the under-25 rate because marriage makes no difference to a woman's driving safety status. (You should have SEEN what they knocked off his car insurance when we got married ... although mine's still lower, but it just irks me that marriage doesn't make ME more responsible in the eyes of the insurers too.)

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle):

The OP is going by Enterprise's class definitions, I assume. According to Enterprise, full-size is "Chevy Impala, Nissan Altima, Dodge Charger or similar."

My point exactly. None of those cars seats more than 5, which the base model of the Sedona does, too. The OP might have even gotten the 7-seater model from ERAC if they had one. So I didn't see the problem there. Unless he mistyped the model name, the Sedona was big enough.

@Turcicus: And furthermore (she said, kicking herself for not thinking of this the first time,) what matters most in cases like that is not who is at fault, but who suffers.

Your wife hit a barrier. We both know the experience was a horrible one. I'm guessing (and hoping) that she survived, but anyone who doesn't check the vehicle carefully before driving it is implicitly trusting the rental car company with their lives.

Look at the person behind the counter. Maybe they're intelligent and caring, and will carefully check the care over to be sure it's safe. Maybe they couldn't find their own head with both hands, a mirror, a flashlight, and two other employees helping. Do you trust this person with your life?