Ramblings-n-Writings

If you are considering renting a car in the near future, you might want to read this post in it’s entirety.

When we arrived to pick up the car, much to our surprise, the car we reserved was not available. It was still out on its previous rental. No mention of this was made during the previous phone conversation. The only vehicles available were a Toyota Tundra, Chevy Outlander, and a Dodge Caravan.

The Enterprise agent offered us one of those vehicles but only if we paid the upgrade price – an extra $55 for the 6 days. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but seriously, should that have even been suggested? Plus the above-mentioned vehicles’ gas mileage is considerably less than what we reserved. Our budget wouldn’t allow for the extra costs.

After we stated we would have to go to a different rental agency that we’ve used before, the agent decided he could give us the Dodge and we could trade out at another Enterprise dealership along our travel route for our original cost. While it would be incredibly inconvenient to pack the Dodge for vacation, drive 100 miles, unpack the Dodge and repack another vehicle, we were willing to work with it since we had no other options. Plus as the driver, I really was not comfortable at all driving a vehicle that big, hence the reason why we reserved an intermediate size car. But what could we do?

The agent made the arrangements for us to make the swap at the next dealership along our route Thursday morning. However, that morning, our vacation plans were canceled due to various reasons. When we discussed the 3 vehicles on the lot, the agent plainly stated that the Dodge got about 22-24 mpg. That’s a joke. We live a fair distance from the location (approx 43 miles one way). Our mileage for leaving the lot, going straight home, and returning it the next morning was 87 miles. It took 6 gallons of gas. With the car we requested and reserved, it should have taken no more than 3 gallons. (In fact, my 10-year-old car averages 30 mpg, and would have been a better option than a vehicle that gets 16 mpg. Our gas cost would have been double for the trip!!! Hardly a wise choice in today’s economy.)

Given our horrible experience to that point – no car available, poor customer service, wasted time waiting for our vehicle, etc – I was aghast when we were charged $43.29 for a full day rental. We left the lot at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday and returned at 10:22 a.m. Thursday. That’s hardly a full day, but I’m sure there’s some fine print that says there’s no half days blah blah blah. Also, our original price quoted to us was $227.53 for 6 days. $227.53 divided by 6 = $37.92, not $43.28.

At this point, we will not be renting from Enterprise again. And I’ve sent a letter to Enterprise stating the above facts.

So, how could our experience have been improved? It’s simple – better customer service.

1. When I called for directions, a simple statement of “your car is not on our lot at this moment, but we expect it at 4 p.m.” would have warned us that we could rearrange our schedule and save ourselves the hassle of standing around waiting.
2. When it was apparent that the car may potentially not be there, arrangements should’ve been made to bring a car from another lot to the Sutton location for us rather than send us away in a gas-guzzling beast.
3. If we had opted to not take the Dodge and our reserved car did not show up by 5 p.m., we would not get a car. WHAT?!? That’s pitiful customer service.
4. To suggest that we could take an upgraded vehicle for the upgraded price was not wise. We’ve rented from other rental agencies before, namely Hertz. If the vehicle we requested was not available, we got what was on the lot without even the slightest suggestion of our paying more. It’s not our fault the vehicle wasn’t there. Don’t put the customer in the position of having to make the choice.
5. While there’s no concrete proof that the gas mileage was worse than the car we reserved, some compensation should have been made for that.
6. We should have been charged the agreed on price in our reservation.
7. We were told that the car that was supposed to be ours didn’t even have power windows or power locks. They still make cars like that? When I rent a car, I expect it to be nice, not low end. My 10-year-old Ford Escort sounded more luxurious than Enterprise’s intermediate level car!

And in case you are wondering, in the future, we’ll be renting from Hertz, not Enterprise.

Have you had any trouble with a rental from Enterprise or another agency?

Update 2/8/09… Enterprise has yet to respond to my letter about our experience. When I submitted it, their message said that the regional manager would be in touch within a few days. I also got a survey call about our experience where I told the lady what happened. The lady promised someone would call me to get details. Two weeks later, no such phone calls have happened. Hmmmm…

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