I got stung by Enterprise car hire.

I got stung by Enterprise car hire.

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Discussion

mabosh

299 posts

185 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
quotequote all
They tried it on with us a few years ago too, during the 'Beast from the East' blizzard chaos.

Flight back to Edinburgh from Copenhagen was cancelled. We had to stay an extra night and change the flight to Manchester. Decided on a one way car hire from Manchester Airport as the trains were still off. Also decided to stay overnight in an airport hotel at Manchester too rather driving home in the snow in the dark. Starting to get expensive!

Collected a Focus and had a very undramatic journey home. Took it to our local Enterprise depot first thing the next morning. Barely got out of the car and the bloke was already crouching down at the offside front tyre. "It's chunked' he said. His face fell though when he looked at the paperwork and realised we had taken the full excess and damage cover and therefore we were not liable. Cost us £12 for the cover I think.

I'm certain he was about to try and stiff us for the cost of a new tyre. I knew I hadn't damaged it and so was pretty angry, especially as we had coughed up approx £500 already in additional costs to get home.

No point in saying anything though and I just left as soon as I could. If we hadn't taken the additional cover though I was quite prepared to argue my case. Chancers.


Falconer

299 posts

49 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
quotequote all
Had a similar experience with Enterprise, a tiny dent very low down which we must have missed in pick up.
However , the girl insisted we pay, abd said she would have to take it to the workshop. She proceeded to scrape the whole side against a wall. End of claim.

I always arrange excess insurance on line separately as they also include glad, tyres and underbody , that the rentals companies exclude.

Fastdruid

8,623 posts

151 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
quotequote all
The most annoying one I had was for a toll charge. The way they work is that they include the automatic "e-pass" and then charge (with a minimum daily fee) if you use it. I found out afterwards there is a switch on the thing to turn it on/off.

We paid for every toll in cash and then got a charge for using the e-pass later, but being a month later before got the bill we have no _proof_ that we hadn't left the thing turned on (or even messed with it and turned it on by accident) and so the "charge" would be valid (and we'd double paid).

Took photos of the car before and after but none showed the position of the e-pass switch.

Grrrr.

StuntmanMike

11,671 posts

150 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
quotequote all
I had a big bill in Spain with a certain hire company.

I returned the car, then have a seven hundred euro bill for damage.

They emailed me the bill, then charged me fifty euro on top because it was a day late.

The car must have sat in the multi story car park at Alicante airport for a day. It was scraped down both sides probably done by people squeezing past with luggage. I emailed them my boarding pass to prove I had left the country 24 hours previously to no avail.

I was lucky, I take out an excess insurance every year that paid up.

Who me ?

7,455 posts

211 months

Wednesday 1st July 2020
quotequote all
Falconer said:
Had a similar experience with Enterprise, a tiny dent very low down which we must have missed in pick up.
However , the girl insisted we pay, abd said she would have to take it to the workshop. She proceeded to scrape the whole side against a wall. End of claim.

I always arrange excess insurance on line separately as they also include glad, tyres and underbody , that the rentals companies exclude.
I always do likewise with Enterprise. They seem to like to offer cheap rates, but the "excess " charge is always IMHO "excessive". Plenty of on line sites giving better cover than Enterprise rip off rates.

Uggers

2,223 posts

210 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
quotequote all
My company tend to use Enterprise a lot. So far I have been stung 3 times by these chancers.

1st time a scratch in the clearcoat on the underside of a sill (had to get on my hands and knees to see it)

2nd time, was arrived at drop off really early so left keys in the drop box. Got stung for a flat tyre even though there was nothing wrong with any of them when I arrived. I did notice one tyre was pretty low on tread.......

3rd time, having got wise to how they operate I took video of the car as again I left it early morning via drop box. This time a split in a boot mount spoiler.
Didn't have that on video tnough as I'd concentrated on the bottom half of the car where they always look.banghead

That last one was a £700 repair.

arguti

1,772 posts

185 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
quotequote all
One of the ways to avoid being stung is to ask them to look at their last two signed off return inspection checks of the car before you take it out as it will often reveal damage you will not notice and prove it was there before.

Castrol for a knave

4,635 posts

90 months

Thursday 2nd July 2020
quotequote all

I use Enterprise fairly regularly, and never had a problem. I do find the service a bit too "American" and obsequious at times.

Europcar however. Caught twice (albeit company rentals).

1) Glasgow. Dropped the car back and the desk did not bother to do a walk around. I checked it myself in the car park when I left it and it was 100%. Our firm got a claim from them a fortnight later saying there were dints and scratches down one side. I know Greenock can be rough, but I don't recall any mad max incidents on the way to the ferry.

2) Edinburgh. Got upgraded to a nice E class as they'd run out of cooking spec stuff. Again, a single day work hire. Dropped it back, checked it over and filmed it. Guy in the site office couldn't be arsed to inspect so IO left the keys with him. 2 weeks later, a bill appears at work for "damage to tyres". the speed humps at Gleneagles might be a bit high, but they're not tank traps.

I argued with our fleet manager that both were scams, she passed it to our insurers....

Turns out the little monkeys have a nice line in "reapir costs" going

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/06/24/exclus...

Salted_Peanut

1,359 posts

53 months

Sunday 26th December 2021
quotequote all
Falconer said:
I always arrange excess insurance on line separately as they also include glad, tyres and underbody , that the rentals companies exclude.
A bit of a thread resurrection to ask about this insurance. Who offers decent excess insurance for car hire (separate from the hire company)?

Teddy Lop

8,290 posts

66 months

Sunday 26th December 2021
quotequote all
Salted_Peanut said:
A bit of a thread resurrection to ask about this insurance. Who offers decent excess insurance for car hire (separate from the hire company)?
Or even better, does anyone still just hire you a car and charge the money they want without trying something on?

I had it from autoitalia few years ago for scratches on the underside of the front valance, the only way to see them was pretty much lying on the ground...

Salted_Peanut

1,359 posts

53 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
Teddy Lop said:
Or even better, does anyone still just hire you a car and charge the money they want without trying something on?
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?

The spinner of plates

17,649 posts

199 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...

popegregory

1,420 posts

133 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
Because their asset has been damaged and subsequently becomes worth less? I do appreciate the frustration of people who get stung but is there not also a joke that rental cars are the fastest in the world for a fairly good reason?

Funk

26,254 posts

208 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.

CABC

5,526 posts

100 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
Funk said:
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.
such an easy business that Hertz went bust.
I'm not saying they're wonderful companies, but a little care to detail on handover can avoid most scams.
Also, some renters are like tenants or guests in hotels, "well they expect it don't they?" "just a little scratch, it's nothing"

andy43

9,545 posts

253 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
Salted_Peanut said:
A bit of a thread resurrection to ask about this insurance. Who offers decent excess insurance for car hire (separate from the hire company)?
I’ve used icarhireinsurance.com - under 40 quid for a years European cover. Never had to claim on it though!
Also check out the trip advisor forum covering the resort or airport you’d be picking the car up from. There’s usually threads on specific hire companies. Who’s good and who regularly takes the piss is fairly easy to spot.

Wombat3

11,962 posts

205 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
CABC said:
Funk said:
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.
such an easy business that Hertz went bust.
I'm not saying they're wonderful companies, but a little care to detail on handover can avoid most scams.
Also, some renters are like tenants or guests in hotels, "well they expect it don't they?" "just a little scratch, it's nothing"
So much this...according to many the odd scratch or dent or three is just "fair wear & tear" rolleyes

No it's fking not! It's damage that either has to be repaired or devalues the vehicle such that on resale the rental business can't sell it for as much as they should be able to.

Either way, there is always a cost to it and that's before you get to the aggravation of having to fix it and the potential opportunity cost of having the thing unavailable to hire out while its being repaired.

Basic tenet of hiring anything: You give it back in the condition you got it or you expect to pay extra.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
Wombat3 said:
CABC said:
Funk said:
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.
such an easy business that Hertz went bust.
I'm not saying they're wonderful companies, but a little care to detail on handover can avoid most scams.
Also, some renters are like tenants or guests in hotels, "well they expect it don't they?" "just a little scratch, it's nothing"
So much this...according to many the odd scratch or dent or three is just "fair wear & tear" rolleyes

No it's fking not! It's damage that either has to be repaired or devalues the vehicle such that on resale the rental business can't sell it for as much as they should be able to.

Either way, there is always a cost to it and that's before you get to the aggravation of having to fix it and the potential opportunity cost of having the thing unavailable to hire out while its being repaired.

Basic tenet of hiring anything: You give it back in the condition you got it or you expect to pay extra.
I think a lot of the people who get stung aren't the ones who did the damage, if the previous renter did it but it wasn't spotted on return the next renter if they don't check the car properly at pick up will carry the can.

The hire company doesn't care who pays so long as someone, anyone does.

Wombat3

11,962 posts

205 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
gottans said:
Wombat3 said:
CABC said:
Funk said:
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.
such an easy business that Hertz went bust.
I'm not saying they're wonderful companies, but a little care to detail on handover can avoid most scams.
Also, some renters are like tenants or guests in hotels, "well they expect it don't they?" "just a little scratch, it's nothing"
So much this...according to many the odd scratch or dent or three is just "fair wear & tear" rolleyes

No it's fking not! It's damage that either has to be repaired or devalues the vehicle such that on resale the rental business can't sell it for as much as they should be able to.

Either way, there is always a cost to it and that's before you get to the aggravation of having to fix it and the potential opportunity cost of having the thing unavailable to hire out while its being repaired.

Basic tenet of hiring anything: You give it back in the condition you got it or you expect to pay extra.
I think a lot of the people who get stung aren't the ones who did the damage, if the previous renter did it but it wasn't spotted on return the next renter if they don't check the car properly at pick up will carry the can.

The hire company doesn't care who pays so long as someone, anyone does.
Maybe so. The answers are obvious though - rental companies need better pre & post hire checks and sensible customers will also protect themselves with pre-hire photos & videos & excess protection insurance.

Bottom line is that unfortunately, too many customers are less than honest when it comes to damage to rental vehicles.


Fastdruid

8,623 posts

151 months

Monday 27th December 2021
quotequote all
CABC said:
Funk said:
The spinner of plates said:
Salted_Peanut said:
You're not kidding. It's an industry ripe for disruption.

A glance at Tustpilot, plus my personal experience, makes the entire car hire industry appear borderline corrupt. Why does virtually every hire company try it on?
I think it's because they keep getting away with it...
And charging for 'damage' they never actually pay to repair is 100% profit.
such an easy business that Hertz went bust.
Hertz went bust because of the pandemic though.