[X]
Write ReviewJump to 
14
Helpful
Votes
Votes
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Complaint - Enterprise Scam - Charged with damage I did not do
Charged with damage I did not do - Complaint
OKLAHOMA CITY -- On October 30, 2006, I rented a car from Enterprise Rental, 7500 S. Shields, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, due to the fact that my own personal car, a 2005 Suzuki Forenza, had been hit and damaged by my neighbor while backing out of his driveway. My neighbor was insured by Allstate who covered all the necessary repairs to my vehicle. When settling the claim to my vehicle, Allstate advised me that I could have access to a rental car free of charge to me through their rental agency partnership with Enterprise while my own personal car was being repaired.
I rented this car from Oct. 30, 2006 until Nov. 14, 2006 while my own personal car was being repaired at Legends Auto Body shop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. When I returned the car on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 2006, I was greeted by a young woman who shook my hand and took the keys and the pink copy of my paperwork, said “thank you” and then walked to the back of the agency. Normally I would have left at this point but I had forgotten to tell her I needed a courtesy ride to the auto body shop where my personal car was being repaired. All of the agents were busy at the time, so I waited about 10 minutes for someone to wait on me. Finally the young woman came back to the counter and seemed confused as to why I was still in the agency. She asked me if there was something else I needed and I told her I needed a courtesy ride. She said, “Oh yeah just a minute while I go take a look at the car you returned” like she had forgotten she needed to do this. She took a clipboard out with her and came back into the agency about sometime later, went up to one of the male rental agents and said something to him. He then proceeded to ask us if we knew anything about the damage to the left side of the car. I told him that damage was already there (as stated in my explanation below) and he disagreed with me. I reminded him that at the time I rented the car, he mentioned the car had some dings, dents and scratches on it and he disagreed with me again. He then asked for the name of my insurance company and my deductible amount, and asked us to sign some paperwork, which I refused to supply to him because I am not responsible for this previous damage. At this point he refused to listen to anything else I had to say, ignoring me and referring another agent to me who explained that Enterprise would be investigating this damage as damage caused by me while the car was in my possession. After waiting about 15 more minutes, I was finally supplied a courtesy ride back to the auto body shop to pick up my personal car.
When I arrived at Enterprise on the morning of Oct. 30, 2006 to pick up my rental car, I was told there were no cars available at the moment but there should be one available soon because one had just come in but was in such a mess, it was having to be cleaned up and would be available, if I would just wait a few minutes inside the rental agency. After about 20 minutes, one of the agents (Agent #104CW) told me my car was ready and gave me a set of keys. He had me go over the standard rental paperwork and initial at the spots where I declined the additional insurance. He told me to come outside the dealership in the parking lot right outside the front door so he could “get me ready to go.” He had a clipboard in his hand and showed me the car that was to drive, a late model 2-door red Chevy Cobalt. He walked around the car making notes on his clipboard. He acted like he was in a hurry and stressed, and it was very cold outside and wind was blowing, so the entire walk around process lasted about 2 minutes.
At the back of the car, he stopped and stated “this car was a mess when it came in and the seats were pretty dirty and stained but we got them cleaned up” and went on further to state “there are some dings and dents and a few scratches on the car but it’s in good shape” while pointing with his hand in a general manner to the car. I made the statement to him “Well as long as it doesn’t break down on me on the highway and it isn’t dangerous to drive,” to which he laughed and said “No not at all.” He had me initial on the paperwork that I accepted his comments about the car, and then handed me the pink copy of my paperwork, told me the car had a ½ tank of gas in it, and started talking to another agent outside while re-entering the rental agency. At no point during the initial process did he go over each and every ding, dent and scratch on the car and have me initial each one, but had me initial a general area that I accepted the car. I have never done this through any previous rental agency so I did not know I should have demanded to go over each and every blemish on the car; I thought his general statement about the car having “dings, dents and scratches” on it covered everything since the damage on the left side was so obvious.
As I started to get inside the car, I did notice there was a dent (the dent I am being accused of causing) on the left side behind the left back window. I neglected to mention the dent because I thought he had already referred to the dent while mentioning the “dings and dents and scratches”. I thought this practice was strange since I have rented cars many times in the past from various rental car agencies such as Alamo, Budget, and Thrifty (never Enterprise) and I have never had a rental agent do this at the time of rental. In the past when I have rented my car, I complete the necessary paperwork, go over the rules and regulations, and the rental agent gives me keys, then tells me where I can pick the car up in their parking lot, they have never physically walked me out to the car. I have never had to go over a car with a rental agent therefore and because I thought he had referred to the “dings, dents and scratches” in his statement, he was including every ding, dent and scratch on the car and I did not specifically point out every one that I noticed. In fact, one of the scratches he pointed to in a general way on the back bumper turned out to be bird manure that came off when I rubbed it with my finger.
The car the rental agent (Agent #104CW) supplied me had keys already in the ignition but as stated above, he had also given me a set of keys. Thinking this was a second pair, I placed them in the glove compartment. After I got home, I opened up the glove compartment to put my Enterprise paperwork in it and I noticed the keys were to a silver Ford Taurus.
I am suggesting that the agent meant to place me in the Taurus but in his haste that morning, he placed me in the Chevy Cobalt. As I stated above, the agent seemed to be in a hurry that morning and confused about which car I was to rent. I also remember there were two or three people coming in at the time I was waiting in the rental agency to return their cars and my speculation is that one of them was the previous renter of the Chevy Cobalt because after they left the agent told me my car was available right outside the door. I think he meant for me to rent a silver Taurus because those are the keys he originally gave me, but he became confused and gave me the red Chevy Cobalt instead. I am suggesting that the previous renter is responsible for the damage to the car and (1) he left before the rental agent discovered the damage, or (2) the rental agent never noticed the damage but noticed it when I returned the car and I am being accused of it unfairly.
I would also like to point out that Enterprise utilizes elderly drivers to pick up renters and take them to Enterprise to rent cars. One of them picked me up in a van the morning I rented the car, but the afternoon I returned the car, one of them took me to the auto body shop to pick up my personal car that was being repaired and he transported me in the same car (the Chevy Cobalt) that I had rented. On the way to the auto body shop, the elderly driver almost ran a red light at S.W. 74th and Shields and would have had my husband not been riding in the front seat and reminded him to stop. The driver seemed confused about almost running the light as if he never saw it. I am suggesting that this same car (the Chevy Cobalt) could have been damaged in the transporting of renters back and forth by negligence or accident on the driver’s part with or without him being aware of it, due to the elderly nature of the drivers. Also I noticed Enterprise rental cars are parked in an uncovered parking lot and this car could have been damaged by vandalism or an object striking the car in the parking lot.
I am not responsible for the damage to the car of which Enterprise is accusing me; responsibility for the damage is due to negligence by Enterprise in not adequately documenting damage done by a previous renter, vandalism or natural accident; therefore, Enterprise is attempting to coerce an innocent party, Debbie Gardner, and/or her insurance company to pay for the damage when there is no conclusive proof that she is responsible.
I rented this car from Oct. 30, 2006 until Nov. 14, 2006 while my own personal car was being repaired at Legends Auto Body shop in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. When I returned the car on the afternoon of Nov. 14, 2006, I was greeted by a young woman who shook my hand and took the keys and the pink copy of my paperwork, said “thank you” and then walked to the back of the agency. Normally I would have left at this point but I had forgotten to tell her I needed a courtesy ride to the auto body shop where my personal car was being repaired. All of the agents were busy at the time, so I waited about 10 minutes for someone to wait on me. Finally the young woman came back to the counter and seemed confused as to why I was still in the agency. She asked me if there was something else I needed and I told her I needed a courtesy ride. She said, “Oh yeah just a minute while I go take a look at the car you returned” like she had forgotten she needed to do this. She took a clipboard out with her and came back into the agency about sometime later, went up to one of the male rental agents and said something to him. He then proceeded to ask us if we knew anything about the damage to the left side of the car. I told him that damage was already there (as stated in my explanation below) and he disagreed with me. I reminded him that at the time I rented the car, he mentioned the car had some dings, dents and scratches on it and he disagreed with me again. He then asked for the name of my insurance company and my deductible amount, and asked us to sign some paperwork, which I refused to supply to him because I am not responsible for this previous damage. At this point he refused to listen to anything else I had to say, ignoring me and referring another agent to me who explained that Enterprise would be investigating this damage as damage caused by me while the car was in my possession. After waiting about 15 more minutes, I was finally supplied a courtesy ride back to the auto body shop to pick up my personal car.
When I arrived at Enterprise on the morning of Oct. 30, 2006 to pick up my rental car, I was told there were no cars available at the moment but there should be one available soon because one had just come in but was in such a mess, it was having to be cleaned up and would be available, if I would just wait a few minutes inside the rental agency. After about 20 minutes, one of the agents (Agent #104CW) told me my car was ready and gave me a set of keys. He had me go over the standard rental paperwork and initial at the spots where I declined the additional insurance. He told me to come outside the dealership in the parking lot right outside the front door so he could “get me ready to go.” He had a clipboard in his hand and showed me the car that was to drive, a late model 2-door red Chevy Cobalt. He walked around the car making notes on his clipboard. He acted like he was in a hurry and stressed, and it was very cold outside and wind was blowing, so the entire walk around process lasted about 2 minutes.
At the back of the car, he stopped and stated “this car was a mess when it came in and the seats were pretty dirty and stained but we got them cleaned up” and went on further to state “there are some dings and dents and a few scratches on the car but it’s in good shape” while pointing with his hand in a general manner to the car. I made the statement to him “Well as long as it doesn’t break down on me on the highway and it isn’t dangerous to drive,” to which he laughed and said “No not at all.” He had me initial on the paperwork that I accepted his comments about the car, and then handed me the pink copy of my paperwork, told me the car had a ½ tank of gas in it, and started talking to another agent outside while re-entering the rental agency. At no point during the initial process did he go over each and every ding, dent and scratch on the car and have me initial each one, but had me initial a general area that I accepted the car. I have never done this through any previous rental agency so I did not know I should have demanded to go over each and every blemish on the car; I thought his general statement about the car having “dings, dents and scratches” on it covered everything since the damage on the left side was so obvious.
As I started to get inside the car, I did notice there was a dent (the dent I am being accused of causing) on the left side behind the left back window. I neglected to mention the dent because I thought he had already referred to the dent while mentioning the “dings and dents and scratches”. I thought this practice was strange since I have rented cars many times in the past from various rental car agencies such as Alamo, Budget, and Thrifty (never Enterprise) and I have never had a rental agent do this at the time of rental. In the past when I have rented my car, I complete the necessary paperwork, go over the rules and regulations, and the rental agent gives me keys, then tells me where I can pick the car up in their parking lot, they have never physically walked me out to the car. I have never had to go over a car with a rental agent therefore and because I thought he had referred to the “dings, dents and scratches” in his statement, he was including every ding, dent and scratch on the car and I did not specifically point out every one that I noticed. In fact, one of the scratches he pointed to in a general way on the back bumper turned out to be bird manure that came off when I rubbed it with my finger.
The car the rental agent (Agent #104CW) supplied me had keys already in the ignition but as stated above, he had also given me a set of keys. Thinking this was a second pair, I placed them in the glove compartment. After I got home, I opened up the glove compartment to put my Enterprise paperwork in it and I noticed the keys were to a silver Ford Taurus.
I am suggesting that the agent meant to place me in the Taurus but in his haste that morning, he placed me in the Chevy Cobalt. As I stated above, the agent seemed to be in a hurry that morning and confused about which car I was to rent. I also remember there were two or three people coming in at the time I was waiting in the rental agency to return their cars and my speculation is that one of them was the previous renter of the Chevy Cobalt because after they left the agent told me my car was available right outside the door. I think he meant for me to rent a silver Taurus because those are the keys he originally gave me, but he became confused and gave me the red Chevy Cobalt instead. I am suggesting that the previous renter is responsible for the damage to the car and (1) he left before the rental agent discovered the damage, or (2) the rental agent never noticed the damage but noticed it when I returned the car and I am being accused of it unfairly.
I would also like to point out that Enterprise utilizes elderly drivers to pick up renters and take them to Enterprise to rent cars. One of them picked me up in a van the morning I rented the car, but the afternoon I returned the car, one of them took me to the auto body shop to pick up my personal car that was being repaired and he transported me in the same car (the Chevy Cobalt) that I had rented. On the way to the auto body shop, the elderly driver almost ran a red light at S.W. 74th and Shields and would have had my husband not been riding in the front seat and reminded him to stop. The driver seemed confused about almost running the light as if he never saw it. I am suggesting that this same car (the Chevy Cobalt) could have been damaged in the transporting of renters back and forth by negligence or accident on the driver’s part with or without him being aware of it, due to the elderly nature of the drivers. Also I noticed Enterprise rental cars are parked in an uncovered parking lot and this car could have been damaged by vandalism or an object striking the car in the parking lot.
I am not responsible for the damage to the car of which Enterprise is accusing me; responsibility for the damage is due to negligence by Enterprise in not adequately documenting damage done by a previous renter, vandalism or natural accident; therefore, Enterprise is attempting to coerce an innocent party, Debbie Gardner, and/or her insurance company to pay for the damage when there is no conclusive proof that she is responsible.
Comments:
Posted by CaptainSpaulding on 2006-11-20:
It's getting to the point where the renter will have to take pictures of the rental vehicle before accepting it from the rental company! A lot of these car rental agents are incompetent boobs who blame the next renter of a vehicle for damage inflicted by the previous renter because, for whatever reason, they didn't spot the damage (or didn't bother to look at the vehicle) when the renter returned the car. If I were you, I'd write to the CEO of Enterprise Rent-A-Car explaining your experience with the agents that this location.
Posted by GWbiker on 2006-11-20:
For future use: In this age of time-stamp Digital photography, it might be a good idea to photograph the car damage prior to accepting the rental. Then download the photo onto a computer for printing. Might prevent a person from getting a big headache when returning the rental.
Posted by Shakra on 2006-11-20:
When you take the pictures, make sure you do it right in front of the agent. They started asking me the same questions and I became suspicious. I will NEVER rent from Enterprise again. They are shady.
Posted by CaptainSpaulding on 2006-11-21:
GWbiker: Didn't I post the exact same suggestion before you did? For future use: Reading previous dicussion posts will prevent redundancy, and will prevent you from looking like a copycatting doofus!
Posted by GWbiker on 2006-11-21:
Hey Heywood: Your public post to me didn't prevent you from looking like an immature brat.
Posted by bsk20719 on 2006-12-07:
I am just now going through the same darn thing i didnt notice a very low dent before i left with it and there trying to blame me, also may i add it was my second car because the first ones inspection and registration was outdated. I want to fight this but i dont know how. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Posted by webigail on 2007-09-19:
I will NEVER rent from Enterprise again. I am experiencing the same problem. Ironically, I only used them this time, because I had a 50% coupon, which was the result of a class action lawsuit.
Their unethical practices are beyond belief.
Their unethical practices are beyond belief.
Posted by CoopersDad on 2010-01-15:
Hi there,
I worked for a rental car company for 8 years, and this kind of thing was, unfortunately, common. I have written a couple of articles that outline a) how to prevent this from happening and b) what to do if something likes this happens to you. I hope that this is helpful to you and other readers:
How to prevent rental car damage claims:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5866562_prevent-rental-car-damage-claims.html
How to dispute rental car damage claims:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5866362_dispute-rental-car-damage-claims.html
Good luck.
I worked for a rental car company for 8 years, and this kind of thing was, unfortunately, common. I have written a couple of articles that outline a) how to prevent this from happening and b) what to do if something likes this happens to you. I hope that this is helpful to you and other readers:
How to prevent rental car damage claims:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5866562_prevent-rental-car-damage-claims.html
How to dispute rental car damage claims:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5866362_dispute-rental-car-damage-claims.html
Good luck.
Posted by Anonymous on 2010-01-15:
I have heard of this type of thing, and my husband is anal about walking an agent around a car we are renting and making him write down every thing he can see about the car and refuses to sign the contract unless all the things he sees is in the contract.
Posted by Charlie61 on 2010-03-23:
It is now 2010 and I have just been victimized by Enterprise Rental Car. I rented a car in Philadelphia on a rainy, cold day and did not get out of the car to inspect. When I returned the car, the agent found 2 dents on the roof of the car which she accused me of causing. I can assure you, I would have known if I had rolled over or if something had fallen on the car that caused dents on the roof. She asked me to sign a paper taking responsibility which I refused to do. I asked to see all the prior rental damage reports to make sure this had not been reported before. She said she was unable to do that. As soon as I got home, I cancelled my credit card so they couldn't automatically charge me. Do not rent from Enterprise, they are hounding me via mail every other day.
Posted by truthhurt on 2010-08-01:
Next time, check the car over before you leave, if there is damage and you do not report it when you see it, then how is enterprise supposed to know you didnt do it???
Note: All comments are reviewed by a moderator before being published. Please be sure to read our guidelines before commenting.
Company Reps: Post your company response!
