Complaint to the Federal Trade Commission 5-12-2011

Regarding Enterprises False Advertising & Bate & Switch Practices

In mid April 2011 I called to inquire of a rental program advertised by Enterprise Rent A Car called "One Way." The Ad, which I still have states "clearly, " that from March 28, through May 31 of 2011, you can rent an Economy - Full Size car for $10/day and a Mini Van for $15/day. However, when I attempted to do so CSR had no knowledge of the program and insisted it did not exist. The CSR, upon my insistence escalated the call to what Enterprise calls their "Help Desk, " and I was met with the same response and disinterest regarding my claims of the programs existence, but this time the "Help Desk, " individual hung up on me when I insisted upon speaking with their superior. Over and again I called seeking accountability and resolve requesting and demanding a member of management
and was met with similar responses. Finally, I called and was routed to a different call center in Oregon and the CSR responded with concern rather than disregard and connected me with someone that claimed to be a member of management over the "Help Desk, " in St Louis, MO. To make a long story short, in the end she gave me her extension, but refused to provide me her last name; However, she acknowledged the programs existence and assured me Enterprise would honor it and she said handle my rental personally, when I was ready to make my reservation. However, yesterday, when I called and asked for her extension I was met with an even more hideous response by a person who insisted that Connie, the alleged manager over the help desk was in fact not who she claimed to be and ... I was "over the top, " outraged for the "wicked arrogance, " and double talk of the "Help Desk" individuals refusing time and again to connect a member of management. When I asked for the CSR's the person over her she stated her boss was " Andrew Taylor, the CEO of Enterprise and implied that she was as far as I would get to him. I went into a triad over her "evil sarcasm and failed in my composure to care about her personal views any longer and called her some pretty graphic names. She made threats regarding tracing my call and assured me that I would be refused to ever rent from Enterprise now or ever again. I can assure you I have never in my life ever had such an experience.
In conclusion, I was previously offered alternative rental agreements to the "One Way, " program, they were all more costly.
Therefore, it is obvious that Enterprise is falsely Advertising and willfully practicing "Bate & Switch with consumers.

Took my car in for service and dealership offerred two day courtesy rental whil my car was under service. Rental car was picked up and returned to dealership servicng my car as instructed by Enterprise agent.
I had possession of rental car for three days, of which two days rental picked up by cealership. Yet Enterprise Rent a car charged my credited card for 7, yes seven day rental. Contacted my credit card who company who reversed the charge pending investigation with Enterprise. Enterprise response was that I signed rental agreement. Yes I did sign a rental agreement, however I did not sign any agreement authorizing Enterprise to charge my account after the rental car was turned over to the car dealership, as instructed by Enterprise agent. I will never ever use Enterprise again. Charging my credit card without my authorization, for services I did noe receive appear to be fraud. I wonder what will the state Attorney General think abount this unethical business practice.

Does anyone remember the Seinfeld episode where the rental place has no cars even though Jerry reserved one? The punch line was basically this "you do a good job taking a reservation, but you don't hold the reservation". My situation exactly. We had a reservation for almost two weeks for a vehicle. Having had spotty service with them in the past I drove by the night before to see if they had cars on the lot. They didn't. So I called the morning of the reservation at 8. I spoke with Paul (who I later found out was the manager) and told him I was confirming the reservation for 9. The first thing he said was "well it's 8 now". He was immediately sarcastic and sounded annoyed that I was calling that early. He confirmed they had no cars but he was doing his best to find one and asked if I could delay picking up until 10. I said no, we needed the vehicle for business reasons and needed it at 9. He said he would make a call, then call me back in 15 minutes. He failed to keep that commitment as well. At 8:45 I called and got through to him again and asked why he didn't call me back. He said he was busy. But he had some great news for me. He had found a car! The not so great news was that they were busy putting a door handle on the car and it would be ready by 10. Needless to say I canceled the reservation and went right down the street to Avis to get a rental. But wait, there's more...
I contacted their national customer service department to complain and asked for the names of the local branch manager, his boss, and then his boss. The only name they would give me was Paul as the branch manager, no other names would be given for "security" reasons. What? I asked how is that dangerous to know who the managers were, but they would not give the information out. Oh well, I did my own digging and found out who the national management team is (thanks Consumerist) and they will be getting my complaint. Now it will go from the top down. I've used this branch for both business (my wife and I are in the insurance industry) and for personal reasons. Needless to say, that won't happen again.

While having car repaired at CarMax, was offered a warranty rental from Enterprise. Picked up car, and was requested to return car to that exact location by rental agent. Location was a no parking zone that I didn't know about. While in the process of returning car, the car was ticketed. Not only did the Enterprise office not accept responsibility for the ticket, they let it languish. Thus there are now late fees involved that they say I must pay. I'm not sure how this will be resolved, but I will never go near Enterprise again, and I would suggest that nobody else do so either.

i had a car accident a few weeks ago and already had a bad time of it with the guy who hit my car's insurance company giving me the run around but to make things worst when i finally got the rent a car it was from enterprise i never had a problem with them til now, first of all they were suppose to give me a car that is similiar to my own car and i got some small car that i can barely fit into along with a baby and a car seat.also the registristration sticker on the license plate still reads july of 2010 the front tags are for aug of 2011 and then also i thought it was policy to fill the gas tank it wasn't even half full when i received it and the guy seem like he was in a rush to get me into the car.just seems like nothing has been right .even wrote a letter to their offie and no write back thanks enterprise for nothing.can't wait to get my suv back so me and my family can feel safe again