On May 25th, my husband got in a car accident. On the following day (May 26th), our insurance company set us up with a rental car through Enterprise. At around 12:30 pm, I arrived at the rental car location to pick up the car. I agreed on a vehicle and the employee drove the vehicle to the front of the business. On this particular day, the weather was already in the high 90's/low 100's and there was no shade in the front of the building. The employee and I went outside to check for any pre-existing damage; however, the employee practically ran around the vehicle instead of thoroughly checking for any damage. I know I should have taken the initiative to check more thoroughly, but (1) I trusted that the employee knew what he was doing, (2) It was hot and (3) I was 4 months pregnant at the time and was not going to get on my hands and knees and inspect the lower panels of the vehicle or the underside. The papers were signed (unfortunately) and I was on my way.
Within 2 days of picking up the vehicle, the car signaled an alert that one of the tires was low on air. While my husband was filling up the tire, he noticed a scratch on the bumper panel adjacent to the tire (on the rear of the driver's side). It was obvious that it was an old scratch that had been "filled" in with the touch-up paint. We both (erroneously) assumed that this was damage that the rental company was already aware of and was "patched" up, especially considering that it was towards the underside of the vehicle and that it was barely noticeable.
We returned the car to a different Enterprise location on 6/28/10 and the employee noticed the scratch and filled out an accident report since we did not make note of the damage when we picked up the vehicle. I refused to sign the accident report because this was obviously damage that was present on the vehicle before we received it (as evidenced by the patchy paint touch up). We attempted to take pictures of the scratch, but it was so faint that the photos do not even show any damage. I know I should have asked my husband to pick up the car so that a thorough check could be performed, but I guess I falsely trusted that I would not be taken advantage of by a well-known company. I plan on filing a complaint with Enterprise, complaint, the BBB, and contacting my lawyer because I refuse to pay for pre-existing damages.
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