I got stung by Enterprise car hire.
Discussion
Hired a car for two days, a poxy little Chevy Spark. I gave it a quick check over when I collected it, but as usual it was after a long flight, I was tired, and it was parked tightly in a row of other cars.....
So, when I return it two days later the girl inspected it and said all was okay, some other female employee jumped in, drove it away, then brought it back two minutes later??? Then the original girl, after fumbling with paperwork and the computer for five minutes, tells me her boss had found some tyre damage. She showed me where it was, a slice in the side-wall, about 50mm long, and about a 1mm deep, like a skinny little flap of rubber hanging off. I had to get down on my knees to see it.
I have no idea where I could have done that, as all I did was drive up to the Midlands, park it up, then drive back to Enterprise 48 hours later.
Their policy states the only fix for such damage, any side-wall damage, is to fit a new tyre, for which they bill me £100, and if there is any change they give me that back eventually.
What started out as a cheap two day hire, for a web-page-indicated £31 (£15.50 a day) hit me for £171 eventually. I did ask for the full insurance cover, to avoid a £700 excess, at £10 a day, and then '£7 premium location charge' was added, and then 20% VAT on the top, and later the £100 bill for the tyre piled onto the painful pile.
Lesson learned: have a bloody good look at the tyres, and the small print/extra charges, before you sign the papers. I'm not saying I definitely didn't cause the damage, as there was loads of roadworks and stuff all up the M6, but I never kerbed it, mounted a pavement, went off road or anything else. Maybe they pull the same stunt once a week, but never actually change that tyre.....
So, when I return it two days later the girl inspected it and said all was okay, some other female employee jumped in, drove it away, then brought it back two minutes later??? Then the original girl, after fumbling with paperwork and the computer for five minutes, tells me her boss had found some tyre damage. She showed me where it was, a slice in the side-wall, about 50mm long, and about a 1mm deep, like a skinny little flap of rubber hanging off. I had to get down on my knees to see it.
I have no idea where I could have done that, as all I did was drive up to the Midlands, park it up, then drive back to Enterprise 48 hours later.
Their policy states the only fix for such damage, any side-wall damage, is to fit a new tyre, for which they bill me £100, and if there is any change they give me that back eventually.
What started out as a cheap two day hire, for a web-page-indicated £31 (£15.50 a day) hit me for £171 eventually. I did ask for the full insurance cover, to avoid a £700 excess, at £10 a day, and then '£7 premium location charge' was added, and then 20% VAT on the top, and later the £100 bill for the tyre piled onto the painful pile.
Lesson learned: have a bloody good look at the tyres, and the small print/extra charges, before you sign the papers. I'm not saying I definitely didn't cause the damage, as there was loads of roadworks and stuff all up the M6, but I never kerbed it, mounted a pavement, went off road or anything else. Maybe they pull the same stunt once a week, but never actually change that tyre.....
SS2. said:
I would have thought the opportunity for them to highlight / proceed any issues ended when the first employee drove the car away..
Did you get anything signed when employee #1 first looked at the car ?
Well, the first girl told me everything was okay after her inspection, but it wasn't until ten minutes later that she mentioned the tyre. Did you get anything signed when employee #1 first looked at the car ?
The second girl did clip a traffic cone when she brought the car back! We all laughed about it, but that was before the tyre damage was pointed out to me......
I guess I could have argued the toss and asked why the car had to be taken away, then brought back etc, but I was tired, had a plane to catch etc.
Fubar1977 said:
I always make a point of taking photos of the car when I pick it up before I even drive it away.
Used Enterprise a few times and never had an issue.
Next time it will be fine tooth comb job, I'll ask them to pull the car out of the line so I can see all sides clearly, and if they say they are busy I will make sure they know exactly why I am taking my time and cataloguing every last mark and scratch, dink or scuff.Used Enterprise a few times and never had an issue.
hora said:
I've only ever used Enterprise - never had a problem however recently they've changed their T&C's- They charge you PER scratch/damage even if you've taken out the excess waver protection. So say you visit London and two parking clods use the corner of the bumpers its 2xclaims. etc.
I can't hire a car knowning that now.
What would be the point of the excess protection, if it doesn't apply??? I'd like to see this T&C you refer to.I can't hire a car knowning that now.
My excess was maximum £100 for anything, which added £10 a day to the £15.50 the car cost. Normally it would have been £700 excess but I'm not risking paying that just because some clown reverses into it.
hora said:
I hired a car from Enterprise a week last Sat. They said they have raised their excess to £700 but its £700 PER scratch or dent outside of the circle-guage tool that they use. This worried me into buying the (now) £12 a day excess reducer which reduces down to £100 PER scratch or dent.
The key word being PER. I queried this and they said they've had to do this as some people have been quite careless with the cars on hire (basically badly parked etc and got away with just a £100 charge.
Yes I know. Whatsthe point in taking out the excess reducer then? Whats more worrying is they said its £700 per scratch/event etc. Mental.
I wont hire again- just too risky.
Nobody mentioned £100 per dent to me, just 'the maximum you will have to pay is £100'. I've tried to find something about it on their web page but can't find a thing.The key word being PER. I queried this and they said they've had to do this as some people have been quite careless with the cars on hire (basically badly parked etc and got away with just a £100 charge.
Yes I know. Whatsthe point in taking out the excess reducer then? Whats more worrying is they said its £700 per scratch/event etc. Mental.
I wont hire again- just too risky.
hora said:
About a month ago now? I've never taken the £10 a day damage waver before. When they told me its now been increased AND its per dent or scratch thats what worried me. Its a new one as I'd only hired a car two weeks before that.
Makes me think 'is it worth hiring anymore'?
If this is the case I'd like to see it on paper if they want pay-per-dent. I think they thrive on people being tired, or in a rush, or busy, without time to double check everything.Makes me think 'is it worth hiring anymore'?
speedking31 said:
Ask for the old tyre once it has been replaced as you've paid for it. Prevents them double charging for the damaged tyre.
If I was in the UK I'd do that, or at least living somewhere near London, but I was just leaving back to the Philippines when I dropped the car off.Next time I will tie their people up for a half hour inspecting everything before I sign any papers and take a car.
Just to re-open the thread, I got £30 back from Enterprise last month, paid to my credit card. They told me they'd refund any difference in the price of a tyre from £100 at the time, but they also told me I'd get a full invoice from the tyre people, which I never did. I received no details of info on what the £30 was for/from.
eliot said:
At the point of charging you £100 for a 'new' tyre you should of put a knife through it. The temptation to pull the same trick with the next customer is avoided then.
I should have told them to get stuffed, as mentioned earlier, they told me all was good, drove the car away, then five minutes later drove it back and told me 'oh, our supervisor spotted some damage'....Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff