At the end of January my daughter was rear ended while driving my vehicle by another vehicle. The party's insurance company arranged for Enterprise to rent me a vehicle while mine was repaired. The insurance informed there would be no expense to me. Therefore, I did not take the additional insurance offered by Enterprise at approximately $38.00 per day.
When I arrived at Enterprise on February 1, the only vehicle they had available was a full size Crew Cab Truck. My vehicle is a compact. The clerk inspected the truck and wrote down the damages he observed to the truck. The clerk took my $25.00 deposit and informed me it would be returned if there were no problems.
I drove the truck without incident and returned it on February 8. The clerk went outside, took a long time looking at both sides of the truck, called me outside and attempted to show me a small dent on the bottom of truck in front of the rear tire. I had not noticed it but did notice other sratches and small dents to the same side of the truck (that had been there previously). The clerk told me it was so insignificant, not to worry and even returned my deposit. He had me initial an area that read, "Dent on the back left bottomside of the bed. Customer is unaware of how it happened." Had I seen it, I guarantee, a rubber mallet would have fixed it.
The next thing I know, I'm getting a bill and estimate from Enterprise for $1,126.27. Ths included $823.70 for damages (paid for by Enterprise Insurance), $100.00 for administrative fees, $120.00 for loss of use and $82.37 for diminished value. The appraisal included repair to the entire panel, the gas tank cover and replacement of rear lamps, gravel deflector, mud guard and bumper. I called the repair shop to ask them to explain the estimate for me. The repair shop wouldn't talk to me, citing Enterprise brings in hundred of repairs in every week and I needed to speak with them. Enterprise never gave me an opportunity to have my insurance company look at the alleged damage.
When my wife called the Damage Recovery Unit, she spoke to the first representative who told her (as a "whistle blower") that she wouldn't pay for it. I ended up calling the representative assigned the case and infomed her that I wanted to go to court to settle the manner. She instructed me that they don't do that. They only turn the case to a collections agency. She actually told me that if I wanted them to go away, I would have to sue them. She wanted me to go through my insurance company because they probably wouldn't question the repair, but that's a $500.00 deductible and a mark against me.
I am upset that Enterprise is attempting to use me as a sucker to pay for the replacement of the entire side panel and they intend to harass me for a debt that I am disputing. I never paid for the rental, yet they won't pursue the insurance company of the party that struck my vehicle. If they want to go to court and receive a judgement from a judge, I will gladly pay it (but they won't because they know they wouldn't win). The representative instructed me that until the debt was paid, I would not be allowed to rent any vehices from Enterprise. They certainly don't need to worry about that!
It's unfortunate that a large company like Enterprise tries to take advantage of the little guy. I guess I'll add myself to the numerous compaints filed against them at the Attorney General's Office. I think it's borderline fraud. They probably make more money from the insurance and repair fees than they do for rentals.
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