For years, I have been a good customer of Enterprise Rent A Car. I fly into DC every month to see my girls who live in the DC area. This past time, I dealt with a young black man who seemed to have it in for me. He showed me an upgraded car (I have been VIP for years, so I am used to upgrades from Enterprise) and asked me if it was OK. I took a walk around the car and did not notice anything glaring about the condition of the vehicle. It was a Dodge crossover SUV type vehicle with just over 14K miles.
I kept the car for the six days, returning it at 4 am, as I had promised. Since nobody was there (at the Enterprise area of DCA), I left the car and went to catch my flight.
Two days later, i received a letter stating the the vehicle had suffered "damage to the roof due to hail" and that I was responsible for 2300 in damages. I called and said that I did not look on the very roof of the vehicle when I checked it out, since it is an SUV and i am a senior citizen and did not feel comfortable climbing up on the wheel well and looking at the top roof. After all, I had never thought to look at the top roof of any SUV I rented in the past.
Enterprise insisted that the car had been damaged whist in my possession, a finding that I found difficult, since I could not remember any hail coming down while i was in the DC area.
I went to the NOAA (National Oceanographic and Aerospace Agency) and looked up the storm reports for the week I had the car. There were no reports of hail within 300 miles of where I was. Since I had only driven the car for 225 miles, I figured this was proof positive that the care did NOT receive any hail damage whilst I had it in my possession. I even emailed the link to the NOAA to the claims people at Enterprise.
They continued to deny my claim that the vehicle was damaged before or after I had possession and insisted that I either have my insurance company (AAA) pay for the damage or that I pay for the damage myself.
I am very angry at the way I was treated. Even after I provided absolute PROOF that no hail had occurred while I was in possession (an impossibility), they continued to insist that I was responsible.
My take on this is that the young black radical who helped me had it in for me. I am a successful businessman and he had an attitude from the get go. I cannot prove he purposefully gave me a car he knew was damaged, but I feel i was setup.
Now... Since I have not listed his name, i am not committing libel, but the real kicker is that even with POSITIVE PROOF from the main storm SCIENTIFIC center for the USA, Enterprise continued to claim the car had been damaged while in my possession.
My insurance company is going to pay the claim, minus my deductible, but the absolute crappy way I was treated has firmed up my resolve to NEVER again rent from Enterprise, or their sister companies, Alamo, or National. I spend about 6K a year on just my DC trips with them, but now... I just booked a six day rental with Hertz, my old car company, who for some reason, I quit using (I think Enterprise is cheaper, now I know why, jerks).
So, here you have it. An unscrupulous company claiming damages to a vehicle by a loyal customer, even after proof has been provided.
I almost thought about suing them, but finally, just decided to let my insurance pay and leave as many bad reviews for them as possible.
Caveat Emptor.
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