This all started on the morning of March 9 when I was rear-ended by a hit-and-run driver as I headed to work. As part of my coverage my insurance company offered me a rental car while mine was in the shop. The insurer uses Enterprise Rent-A-Car, so, after dropping off my own car at the shop on the morning of March 17, I was carted off to Enterprise's nearest office in Pawtucket, RI.
I waited in Enterprise's shabby office until Liz was ready to go through the paperwork with me. She gleefully announced that I was to get a "free upgrade." My reward turned out to be a huge, gas-guzzling, filthy Jeep 2010 Commander. When the time came for the all-important vehicle inspection my scam antennae definitely went up. I thought to myself, "How the heck can I tell under these circumstancescurbside on a busy avenue, car covered with water dropletswhether or not this car has damage on it?" I foolishly assumed that Liz was only getting me to acknowledge that there was no obvious damage to the car; big dents, missing parts, etc. I just wanted to get out of that grimy neighborhood and back to my life. I initialed the line and took the car home. What an idiot I was!
On March 24 I turned in the Jeep at the body shop as is the norm and drove away in my own car that had now been repaired. Three hours later I got a call at my home from Enterprise: "Sir, did you know that there was damage to the Jeep's front bumper cover?" I was perplexed. I had not hit anything.in fact, this wretched behemoth had sat in our driveway except for when I used it to drive my child to and from school.in the few minutes it sat parked at my child's school, it was on a largely empty street with no other cars around. When was it that this car was hit it on its front bumper?
The answer, obviously, is that it was not hit in any way while in my possession. The damage preexisted my renting of the vehicle. As the Jeep sat for days in the driveway none of the other adults in my house noticed anything wrong with the way the Jeep lookedjust as I had thought earlier during the fateful curbside "inspection" with Liz. Well, I adamantly refused to accept responsibility for the damage when speaking on the phone with Stan from the miserable Pawtucket office. I reminded him that insurance fraud is a felony in the state of Rhode Island.
So this is where we stand at the moment. I shall update as my saga develops.in the meantime, my advice to you all is to not agree to vouch for the condition of a rental vehicle without rigorously inspecting it first. I was railroaded by Liz, and I now have to fight my way out. Don't let the same thing happen to you!
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