My Enterprise Horror Story, Part 2

I was going to post this update yesterday, but I waited a day in hopes that I would hear back from Enterprise Corporate beforehand… but I have not.  They were supposed to return my phone call on Saturday (4 days ago) but nothing as of yet. I most definitley have a complaint to file about how I was treated & how this situation was handled. This whole experience has been so stressful & absolutely unnecessary. Also, some people really shouldn’t be in customer service.

If you missed Part 1, you can read it here.

I took the truck back yesterday. Again. 

‘John’ was there!! ‘John’ actually turned out to be a stand-up guy.

‘John’ checked out the truck & confirmed yes, those damages were there before I rented the vehicle. He again looked confused as to why no one called him to clear up the confusion & excused himself to go speak to his manager. I’m going to call that manager ‘Mr. Grinch’ because he’s a rude one. They went into his office & closed the door. They were in there for a few minutes before ‘John’ came out and said that Mr. Grinch would be out soon to speak with me. Well, Mr. G came out almost immediately but wandered around the Enterprise office randomly, making it a point not to make eye contact with me, and clearly not doing anything other than walking around in circles avoiding looking at me.

After about 5 minutes of doing the Mr. Magoo thing, he came over to me & said ‘Ok, let’s check you out’. I immediately told him that he owned me an apology for how he treated me & how this whole situation was handled. I mean, this man told me over & over that I was a liar – he even went as far to say that I called him and told him that the damage wasn’t there when I first rented it. He was just so hateful & I totally feel like he tried to take advantage of me.

I didn’t get an apology though. Instead, he rolls his eyes – holds out his hand, & says “Just give me the key. It’s fricken Monday’. 

The customer service here just gives me the warm & fuzzies. I’m telling ya….

At this point, I turned on the video on my phone and recorded the rest of our ‘time together’. I’m not going to post that here, but I am going to hold onto it for Enterprise – that is, if corporate ever returns my phone calls. Here’s what was said though.

He was not pleasant during our time together. At all. He didn’t want to have the conversation around customers so we went into his office. I told him point blank that I was not paying for this car rental & stood firm in my ground complete with a whole list of reasons why I shouldn’t be paying it and how this situation should have been handled differently.

This little visit in his office only lasted 4 minutes according to my video – short enough that I can transcribe what was said.

His first words to me when we sat down in the office? “If there was any miscommunication – I was pretty much transparent with you the whole time’.

Oh I’m sorry, did I just snort out loud? Oops. 

I replied, ‘No, you were rude. Y’all made a mistake & tried to blame it on me’.

Mr. G – ‘I’m just saying what you told me’.

Me – ‘And what did I tell you?’

Mr. G – ‘That you didn’t see the scratches on there before you took the rental’

Me – ‘No, I did not. I told you that ‘John’ pointed them out before I left with it’.

My witness – ‘Actually, yes she did tell you John pointed them out. I was standing right there for that conversation.’

Me – “I never once said that I didn’t see those. You put those words in my mouth”

Mr. G – “I didn’t, but it’s he & she said at this point in time. So, I do apologize for any miscommunication or any inconvenience that it does cause you. That’s not the type of business that we run. So, I’m just gonna make sure that we close this out for you.” (the tone in his voice y’all when he said this. Like he read it from a book with no tone in his voice at all. He was definitely channeling his inner Ben Stein. Bueller? Bueller??)

Me – ‘I appreciate that’ (Maybe I was slightly sarcastic in my tone at this point 😉 )

Mr. G – “Did you speak to them about the charges from keeping the car longer because I can’t do anything about that”

Me – “I’m not paying anything on that. Because if I turned that car in without ‘John’ being here, I was accepting responsibility for damages that I did not cause – that’s on y’all. Y’all should have done your jobs & documented that damage. AND, you treated me – a customer that has been with Enterprise for over 10 years – like crap’

Mr. G “For future references, before you get into a rental – they are going to hold you responsible for anything that happens when you have that rental’

Me “UGH! I know this…. And I’ve learned my lesson. Always take a video. I will always make sure now. Sadly, I’m not the only one that this kind of thing has happened to either.’

Mr. G “That’s what happens sometimes when you run a business. Everybody knows it happens sometimes.”

Me – “You don’t give very good customer service.”

Mr G – “That’s in your opinion. And it’s in a situation where it’s a difficult situation’.

Me – “You told me that I needed to take responsibility for my actions. I told you that I didn’t damage that vehicle and I asked you to contact ‘John’ or even pull security footage. This went on for way too long. This should have never have happened. And the same thing applies for the manager at the other location too.”

Mr. G – ‘Well now they have their branch manager there so I just stopped the charges on it – well stopped them as of Friday. But you need to give them a call & let them know your discretions for a refund on the rest. Everything is in the notes right now (which it ended up not being when I spoke to the other location a bit later) so hopefully they will be able to make a change for you’

So, then he stands up and begins to escort us out of his office. He instructs me to contact the other location for a refund for Friday-Monday. Before I left, I made sure one more time that I had him on video confirming again that ‘John’ told him the damage was there before & I was not responsible.

He couldn’t get me out of the branch fast enough.

He said to call the other location, but after this whole ordeal – myself and my witness both felt it best to go do this in person.  This way, I could have a video of what transpired just in case I needed it later. I should note that these two locations are not super close to each other. They are in two different counties & it takes 40 minutes each way without traffic… and this is the Metro Atlanta area so basically there’s rarely a time where there’s no traffic.

I get to the other location & had my video going from the moment I walked in this time. I would transcribe this one like I did the other one, but the last one lasted for just 4 minutes while this one lasted for 18. That’s a lot of typing! But, here’s what happened.

The manager was there that I had previously dealt with – the same one who had me in tears just a week before . I was gonna give her a nickname too but all the ones I can think of for her are pretty bad so we’re just gonna call her M.  Well, M has a very high & mighty attitude to her. When I walked in, I got straight to the point. I wanted a refund, plain & simple. I also wanted an apology. She took the  ‘Oh I’m so sweet & innocent and would never ever be hateful to you’ stance. She had no idea what on earth she could have done to cause me wanting an apology or a refund. Yeah, ok.

She had many excuses but this one was my favorite.

M – “I’m sorry but you switched out the truck at a different location and I didn’t know their phone number to call them so I had to follow procedure when there is un-notated damage on a vehicle. That doesn’t fall on me.”

I couldn’t help but laugh.

I reminded her that I called the other location on my personal cell phone & handed it to her so she could speak with that manager – you know, Mr. Grinch.

Her response (while beating her fist into the palm of her hand I might add….gotta love video) – ‘What I’m trying to tell you ma’am is that is a different office. There is no way to reach out to ‘John’ when he’s not working that day.’

I said, ‘You were on my personal cell phone with the manager of the other location & y’all couldn’t figure out how to put your two heads together… two full grown adults… and get in touch with ‘John’. What horrible customer service!’

She walked away after that & the other manager on duty handled it from this on out. Apparently it still wasn’t notated yet that the damage caused wasn’t me. Geez.  So, this other manager (who is actually quite nice from what I’ve seen) calls the other location (that we left 40 minutes prior) and both ‘John’ and Mr. G have left & gone somewhere.

Of course they have left. How convenient.

So I just kept talking. My mouth runs pretty good when it has something to say & I was pretty upset if you can imagine. I think he eventually got tired of hearing me go on & on (I can be loud honey – ever seen a Southern girl riled up? I get to talking fast too… ooh, it’s something lol). He handed me a receipt for a zero balance on the rental… and then said he’d try the other location a bit later to confirm the damage wasn’t me.

Can someone pass the Excedrin?

So, I left… and waited to hear from someone once again to confirm that I didn’t damage the vehicle. Fun times. I hadn’t heard from him by that afternoon, so I called.

‘Yes, they confirmed the damage was there prior. You’re all clear’.

FINALLY.

At least, I hope…

I’ve read some horror stories in forums online & from many of my readers who have reached out to me. Best believe I’m holding onto all my video evidence for like – forever. Geez, you just never know.

Moral of this story – always, always make sure you walk around that car like you’re about to buy it. Even check the undercarriage because I’ve had a few people email me and tell me they were charged for damages on the undercarriage (like really, who does that?!). Video the entire walk around and make sure you get the salesperson in the video. Take a video of the documentation too – make sure the date is in it.

DOCUMENT EVERYTHING.

VIDEO EVERYTHING. 

PROTECT YOURSELF!

And hold onto that stuff for at least 6 months – maybe even up to a year. I’ve had so many people email me about receiving collection letters for ‘damages’ months after returning the vehicle. It might seem like a hassle but going thru what I have for the past 10 days is way more of a hassle. Trust me on that.

I still plan on speaking to corporate (if they’ll ever return my phone calls – I was told 4 days ago that they would ‘reach back out to me soon’ after reviewing the details. This whole thing is completely unacceptable – and how I was treated is just icing on the cake. Sure was a nasty cake. I hope to never experience that flavor again.