Me and my gf were planning to take a trip and rented a vehicle from enterprise. On the way we blew a tire and we ended up having to drive off into the shoulder of the freeway bc with the flat there was no way we could get to the next exit and find a safe spot to pull over. So here we are on a narrow shoulder with cars litterally 1-2 feet away from us zooming by at 70 - 80 mph. We called the enterprise hotline for AAA service and they advised due to the spot we were in, we should call the police to have them redirect traffic from us. Well 30 minutes went by and still no one had showed up so I called a buddy in the area who came to pick us up and take us to a safe location so we didn't end up getting stuck by a car while being sitting ducks. We waited at a local mcdonalds for 2.5 hours before the AAA driver showed up, he says the dispatcher gave him the wrong instructions and apologized for being late. We came back to the spot and the car had already been towed and sent to a storage facility. We spent $70 for a fair to get back home as well as lost our money spent on the hotel. So saturday morning comes and Enteprise says they can't do anything about the car because their corporate office closes on weekends and I have to wait until monday for them to get the car out, meanwhile it costs more each day the car is in storage. Monday morning comes, and enterprise quotes us $300 to get the car out of storage, I let them know that It took 2.5 hours for their AAA service to come out and had they been out sooner, the car may not have been towed, as well as them being unavailble to do anything with car during the weekend causing the charges to go up even higher at the storage location. They still say that it is not their responsibility to get the car out. They tried to place blame on AAA and advise I call them instead, of course AAA says they make no gaurantees. What can be done besides give in to them and pay the $300? I don't think it's fair that I'm paying to have their car taken out of storage when it's their fault they didn't have the process down right and it took the AAA service 2.5 hours to get to the site.
Dang..sorry to hear that I think National is the best. Their local offices are open until 4:30 on the weekends and if I'm not mistaken, the airport locations are always open. I have also heard that they have good roadside assistance. I used Hertz the last time I rented when my car was at the dealership. They are closed on the weekends and have no drop-box for returns so if you don't return the car on Friday, you're stuck with it until Monday. Anyways, I didn't know this and ended up leaving my car at the dealership on a Saturday. Bad mistake bc they overcharged me like a mug. I was getting the compact car rate even though I had a Camry, but they changed it back to the full-size car rate on the final invoice. It was direct billing to the insurance company so they figured that they could rape them. The problem was that Allstate only pays $25 a day towards a rental. The grand total was something ridiculous like $800 for 3 weeks. It was annoying to get it all straightened out.
That sucks man, sorry to hear. Besides the Texans win, this has been a terrible weekend. I'm stuck in an Enterprise rental right now after having my truck wrecked by a rubber necking idiot who rear ended my truck. Good luck with that Enterprise issue.
keep calling, move up the chain, thats ridiculous. b**** enough about safety and you can get out of it
That sucks. I was a manager at Enterprise about 10 years ago. If I were you, I would offer to split the cost of the storage place with them. If they’re being a-holes about the whole thing, ask to speak to – and this is very important – the AREA MANAGER. As a former branch manager, I can tell you that this is their worst nightmare. Area managers don’t like to be bothered with issues like this. They would prefer the branch manager handle it himself. That’s what they’re trained to do and the kind of thing they look for when promotions come around, so most branch managers don’t want the Area Manager to think they can’t handle their own branch because then they’ll never get promoted. They will give in and give you what you want. They have the ability to handle anything without getting the AM involved and that’s what they’re encouraged to do. To be honest, Enterprise is a great company to rent from for local driving. Pretty much the best replacement car rental company out there. But if you’re taking a long trip, I would go with someone else with more experience in that area. 90% of Enterprise business is people who have their car in the shop and are just driving locally around town. That’s what they know and that’s what they’re good at. Most of their cars have less than 10,000 miles so breakdowns are VERY rare. And if a breakdown does happen, there's an Enterprise on every corner to get you switched into a new car. Your situation is so rare that I doubt most of the BM’s know what to do. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Tell them tire remnants show the blow out occurred in the sidewall, meaning no road hazard could have been responsible. Rather, it was wear and tear that their routine maintenance should have covered. You and your gf were endangered (as someone said earlier, emphasize the safety.) All systems are now engineered to extract money from people who will not sit and b****. If you sit and b****, you will eventually get what you want. It's so, so sad, but it seems true in every aspect of American commerce now. Oh, and ask for the AREA MANAGER.
Thanks, I will try that, right now the branch manager agreed to cover the additional per day cost, which is $20 per day, really is not enough considering that it is around $300 all together. If they get the car released today for me to get my stuff, do you know if they will make me pay first before I can get my stuff out of the car or do they bill me?
Dude - why didn't you just drive on the flat tire to the next exit? It's a rental for chrissakes. Do you realize how much abuse those cars are put through?
This... I know it's too late now, but for the safety of all, it's best to get that car off the road to a safe place even if the wheel is distroyed. Oh and I don't see how you should have to pay a dime, but since your stuff is held hostage, you may have to work with Enterprise.
Take a close read of your contract. Seems bizarre to me you'd have to pay anything for the car given it was a mechanical breakdown, and the costs were due, in part, to Enterprise's contracted Road Side assistance being late (especially since their dispatcher apparently gave the wrong address). If the car had broken down elsewhere, would you have been responsible for towing it to a shop? Your cab fair and lost hotel should be your costs, but the car costs should be theirs, I would think. Of course I haven't taken a magnifying glass to the small print on the back of whatever you signed.
What credit card did you use for the rental? It may have benefits with respect to the problems you had.
