I have had a few issues with Enterprise car rental in Eau Claire, WI. On Tuesday, March 4, I was told that there were NO vehicle available only a 15 passenger conversion van. The representative had told me that nothing would be available until the next day. On Wednesday, March 5, I return to Enterprise with the impression that I would be able to rent a car. Well once again I was told that there were NO vehicle available until Thursday. This time the representative asks: "Would you like to set up a reservation?" OF COARSE!!! In my mind I am thinking "Why didn't they ask me this yesterday?" So I am told to come back to the office at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, March 6. Today is March 6th, and still I have no vehicle. I arrive at the Eau Claire Enterprise office as scheduled and next thing you know I am told that there will be NO vehicle available for another couple of hours. ARE YOU KIDDING ME??? They were not kidding. The representative told me that they were bringing in cars from the Wausau, WI office. This office is about 2 hours away. I feel personally that this NO VEHICLE problem has to do with the closing of the other Eau Claire office and Menomonie, WI office. Maybe Enterprise should consider reopening another office in a more convenient location by Eau Claire, WI. In conclusion I will try and see about a discounted rate for Thursday at a weekend rate. If not, you will probably be hearing from me again. Thank you for your time and consideration.

I rented a car from Enterprise in Killeen, Texas because I had to make an early morning appointment on Saturday morning. The rep advised me I should get the weekend special because the office was closed on the weekends anyways. I picked up the car friday evening and on Saturday morning proceeded to go to my appointment that was 50 miles away from my home. As soon as I got on the highway the tire was flat. I called the company to get the roadside assistance but they said it would be a few hours. I was told to put the spare tire on myself if I wanted to make my appt. On Monday I brought the car back and told them about the flat tire and being late to my appt. They could care less. The rep told me the tire had sidewall damage. He told me I must have parked too close to the curb that night. The thing is is that I parked the car in a carport away from any curbs or sidewalks. Then he calls the manager. The manager gets the tire and starts poking around with his key and tells me he found a hole and that someone must have slashed the tire. Now that they are claiming the tire was slashed, they tell me I am liable for that. I told them I had my own insurance but they said it did not matter because tires and stuff must be paid out of my own pocket. I tried to ask them if they could determine if the tire was damaged the night I picked it up but they wouldn't hear a word of it. They were extremely rude and accused me left and right about damaging the tire. Now they are going to try to notify my insurance. If anything, I don't feel I should be charged for the day the tire was flat and ruined the whole reason I rented the car.

Subject: damage to car rental

Here is my account of events:

5:15 pm:
Lorena called me on my cell to let me know that she just got on the i-56 and that there was traffic so she would be late in picking me up.

6:00 pm:
I did a cursory walk around the car with lorena telling me that everything was alright. The car was parked in the compact space of “enterprise” allocated spot at “doubletree”. Car was not in a very illuminated spot. I assumed that there was no damage to the car and drove it directly home where i garage-parked it all night.

8:00 am:
Drove 165 miles to meet with pat brice (cell 661-466-3139) for exactly 45 minutes. On way i stopped only once at 76 union gas station (i-15 and hwy 138) to fill up the gas tank. And drove off to my meeting.

10:55 am:
Arrived at the remote site where pat was working. And parked the car with passenger side adjacent to curb. Mine was the only car parked there on the road…very remote site.

11:40 am:
Drove back 165 miles non-stop to my office at 7920 miramar rd. I parked the car in one of the extra-wide parking spots immediately facing my office (i could actually see it from my window). I stayed in the office for about 80 minutes.

4:10 pm:
Drove back to double tree and parked the car in the tight spot next to the doubletree club van on my passenger side.

5:15 pm:
Dan pointed out the damage. And drove me home.

5:40 pm:
I drove in my personal vehicle back to double tree and found no damage to club van. The rental car was parked by dan directly underneath a working light pole. I went around the car and did not notice the damage even with the knowledge this time that it was there !! Extremely ease to miss under the circumstances.

6:00 pm:
I drove on to my office to the same spot where i had parked the car for 80 minutes and looked with my son (each of us equipped with a flash-light) for a loose broken 2”x3” plastic piece (off the hub-cap) that ought to have been lying there had the car been during that time. We found no trace of it anywhere within 40 feet of the location. We even had the hi-beam of our vehicle shining directly on that area.

I could not possibly have hit someone else’s car while driving or else i would have definitely felt it and we would have exchanged information. With over 25 years of driving experience i could not have possibly bashed the car negotiating a curve that would have had to have a blunt hard object protruding off it !!

This could not have happened in my garage.

The only 2 plausible locations where i parked 45 minutes in palmdale and 80 minutes next to my office and since the facts above suggest that did not happen, then the only remaining conclusion in my mind is that the car was actually already damaged when i picked it up and simply did not notice it.

Car Renter Beware!

Recently I needed to rent a vehicle while mine was in the shop for repairs. It was a short term rental, only 3 days. When I picked up the vehicle they tried to talk me into taking their bumper to bumper car insurance for $12.00 plus some change per day and I informed them that I had excellent insurance and would not need the extra coverage. I walked around the vehicle with the agent and looked for any obvious damage before signing for the vehicle. I noticed small chip in paint but figured this was normal wear and tear and did not examine every square inch for any type of damage. I drove the vehicle less than 100 mile and had no incident with the vehicle. When I returned the vehicle a different agent walked around the vehicle and stopped by the windshield. When he can in to the office he asked me about the stone chip in the windshield and how the accident happened. There was no accident and nothing flew up and hit the windshield while I was driving. I also informed him that I didn’t note every little stone chip in the paint or examine the windshield for stone chips. He tried to make me sign 3 different forms about me having an accident with the vehicle and I refused. I did sign one form acknowledging that there was a chip in the windshield and that I wrote on the form I did not examine it for chips when I picked it up. I watched him walk around the vehicle and he walked right to where the chip was as if he already knew it was there. Enterprise had my insurance information and made no attempt to contact them, infact they had the windshield replaced the same day I returned the vehicle. Within 2 weeks of returning the vehicle I received a bill for $160.00 for a new windshield. My son took a picture of the chip with his camera phone and 2 different glass companies and my insurance agent all state that it was fixable and didn’t need to be replaced. My insurance agent filed a claim and the windshield will not cost me anything but still Enterprise is ripping off my insurance company. The moral to this story is check every square inch of your rental car for damage and make sure it is documented on the form and you get a copy of the form. And second DO NOT rent from Enterprise.