Do not rent from Enterprise Rent-a-Car. They basically tried to steal $250.00 from me.
My regular vehicle was going in for an overnight repair and would not be available to me for at least 36 hours. Since I was unable to get to work without a vehicle (I have 38 mile commute one way), I went to Enterprise's website and reserved a standard class car for the next day. The online reservation went through without any problems.
The next morning (June 17th) at 9am I received a phone call from from an employee named Adam at the Perimeter Loop Road office in Dublin, Ohio where I had reserved my car.
Adam was very friendly and asked me how flexible I was in needing the car that day. I told Adam that I needed the car immediately and that is why I had made the reservation. Adam apologized and told me that they didn't have any cars available because the returns he was expecting hadn't come back.
Seriously? Your branch expected a car return and when the customer didn't show up, instead of contacting them, asking them where the car was and informing them that they would be charged for an additional day - you just let it go? Apparently, "Grand Theft Auto" is just a video game to the employees at this branch.
Anyway, I told Adam that I would need to see how flexible I could be and I would call him back. After making other arrangements to get to work, I called the branch back about ten minutes later and spoke to Anthony. I asked for Adam and was put on hold. Anthony came back on the line and said that Adam would have to call me back as he was assisting another customer (with what I don't know, since they didn't have any cars to rent). After waiting 40 minutes for Adam to call, I went ahead and called and again spoke to Anthony. I asked him when the soonest he could get me a car, and he said by noon. I told him I would take it, but since I had now made other arrangements, I would be in at 5pm to pick it up.
At 5pm I went into the branch to pick up the car. I did some initial paperwork with Jeff and then waited for 35 minutes in the lobby watching customers come in after me and then drive off with their rentals. Jeff even helped some of them!
When I finally was given my car, it was not the standard class vehicle I had requested, but rather an economy size. I am rather tall and at 6'4" economy cars are not very comfortable for me. But, not wanting to be there any more, I didn't put up a fuss and accepted the vehicle and Enterprise's insurance.
Jeff told me that since I was using a debit card, they would need to put a $250 hold on my account to act as a deposit and it would not go through at that amount. This is not unusual and I acknowledged that they would need to do this.
I drove the car away and used it to get to and from work on the 18th. On June 18th I returned the car and was given a bill for $94.79 time stamped that I had returned the car at 4:55pm. This bill was itemized at $55.39 for the one day rental of the vehicle, $16.99 for something labeled "DW", $3.00 for something labeled "PAI", $9.99 for something labeled "SLP", $3.99 for "Roadside Assistance Protection", $5.17 for tax, and $0.26 for "Vehicle License Fee Recovery". Not too outrageous. I thanked them for their assistance and left to go get my regular vehicle out of the shop.
Here's where it gets really good. The morning of June 19th, I go into my online banking account and see that Enterprise has charged me exactly $250.00 - which according to them was only going to be a hold on my account.
It gets even better! This charge processed from them at 4:00pm on June 18th - a full 55 minutes before I even returned my car!
That's right, Enterprise charged me $155.21 over what I should have been giving them, before they even knew that's the amount I owed!
I immediately called the local branch and left a message (this was three hours before they opened) demanding to be contacted. I still have not heard a reply now some 5 hours later. I do not expect them to have the guts or spine to actually call me back. I then called their regional corporate office and logged a formal complaint.
Then, on my lunch hour, I took my receipt and went to my bank where I logged a transaction dispute. I have been banking there for almost 15 years, and they have always provided stellar service. I showed the bank officer the time stamp on the receipt and when the transaction was processed. He was absolutely stunned and assured me that money would be credited back to my account.
Enterprise is a rip-off. Do not rent from them. They over-charged me for a car that I had not even turned back in yet. Total rip-off. Avoid like you would a psycho ex-girlfriend.
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