After being a loyal Enterprise customer in New York for about 7 years, the Maryland division of the company has managed to lose my business for good.
Normally, I rent cars to drive around town on weekends and on occasion to go out of town. Using the branches in Albany, New York and Palmyra, New Jersey, have been fairly easy and convenient experiences.
This past Friday, December 22, I went to the Oxon Hill, MD Enterprise after pre-registering both a car and a coupon my wife found online. I planned to use a specific card so that my funds would be appropriately managed. After my wife made transactions to ensure that our card would be usable, we went to enterprise to pick up the car.
We got there early then started the process of getting the car. The card was declined because our payments were received but not completely processed - which was understandable.
We called the credit card company (MBNA, Bank of America, N.A.) and the problem was resolved, or so I thought. They gave us an authorization number and an apology. At which point, Enterprise's agent told me, "�there shouldn't be a problem processing the authorization, but because of 'Maryland Enterprise Rent-a-car 's policy, the company would/did not re-swipe customers' cards for customer safety."
How not re-swiping a card helps with security, I am not sure, other than eliminating an additional surcharge the company has to pay for each swipe. Despite my apprehension about the policy, I wanted the car and I thought I would be finished shortly.
Besides that, the attending agent as well as an assisting agent became increasingly rude as time passed and there was continued difficulty with process of the override.instead of trying to assist me, they became condescending and snide. The agent, in frustration, called her district Manager, Mr. Brent Taylor, and told him the situation. At which time, he told me there was nothing he could do other than suggest coming back to the same location the next day to retry the transaction. I asked him to escalate the complaint. He agreed to call "Accounting." After sometime, Mr. Taylor called back and said he had spoken to accounting and they told him, "there was nothing enterprise could do." He then told me that he had also spoken to Mr. Vin Perez, Maryland Controller. Ironically enough, before telling me about Mr. Perez, Mr. Taylor told me that I could not call accounting, which according to him "didn't have any more authority than [he]." I asked for Mr. Perez's phone number and called to speak with him personally. Mr. Perez never spoke to me.
The MBNA, Bank of America, N.A. Agent, David L. (Rep Code.: #), stayed on the phone with me throughout the ordeal and was even courteous enough to give me a second authorization number so the Enterprise agent could re-try it.
In all, we wasted 3 hours 12 minutes at Enterprise, left with no car, my wife arrived at work late, and we eventually made the deal with Hertz Rent-a-car, where they offered reduced for a car two classes above that which Enterprise offered, without a "deal, " no less. Mr. Perez never called back either.
Enterprise has a vote of no confidence from this former customer.
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