So, here we are exactly 1 week after I started my all-out Social Media attack on Enterprise Rent-A-Car and I can say I've won.
I monitored their twitter account and told everyone who mentioned it about my story, gave them the link to my Blog and did everything I could to ensure my story got out there. It was retweeted enough that over 5000 people had my story show up in their timeline. Add to that the negative comments on Facebook, their fan page and every other public forum I frequent and it is no wonder they finally resolved the issue.
Wednesday morning the manager of one of the locations finally called me back and asked for the details again. After telling my story again he asked what they needed to do. I simply said "refund the money". He said OK and promised to get it done. A couple hours later I got a call from the regional manager asking me if everything was all good. I told him I didn't have confirmation that the money was being refunded so he said he would confirm and get back to me. 2 hours later he called back to say that it was done, but that it would take up to 48hrs to reflect on my credit card.
I elected to put my "war" on hold for a few days to see if this was indeed the end. As of this afternoon I can confirm that my credit card has had the charge reversed. YAY! The little guy wins one!
Through all of this I have learned one valuable lesson - when dealing with rental companies, protect yourself. If I ever have to rent a car again I will be sure to video tape the pre-rental inspection so I can be certain to have some proof if they attempt to claim damages that are simply not my fault. I don't want to assume I will get screwed over, but I will do everything in my power to ensure that it never happens again.
Thank you to all of you who read and commented on my Blog. Also, thanks to those of you who shared my story. I have to think you had some part in pressuring Enterprise into settling this matter.
On a lighter note, @enterprisecares is now blocking me on Twitter. LOL
2 comments:
On 4/4/13, my car was rear-ended by someone with Farmers Insurance. On 4/7/13, I rented a replacement vehicle from Enterprise (at the insurance's request) while my car was in the shop. My car was in the shop for over five weeks.
The first car I got from Enterprise on 4/7 was a four-door, Chevy Malibu (comparable to my four door sedan). I was not asked what car I wanted; that is what they had available that day. The next day, I noticed that the car had expired tags (two months expired). I called Enterprise to tell them, the agent said that it was not illegal because rental cars are considered "fleet" vehicles and I should be "fine". (A LIE) A few days later, I realized that this was not the case, so I called again, and spoke to someone else, "Matt". Matt first asked if I had been pulled over. I told him that I was not going to wait for that to happen. He was very rude but said that he'd look for the stickers in the office and would call me back. He didn't. I called a third time and I was told that they did not have any cars available. Then I finally spoke with "Justin" the area manager. He asked me to come by and get into another car. I went in and they put me in a Nissan Altima. I was in that car for a few weeks until my car was out of the shop (last friday). At NO POINT was I told that my car was "an upgrade". At NO POINT, did I ask for an upgrade, in fact, I was told that this was all they had. Now that the insurance has settled the bill with Enterprise, my credit card has been charged $358.40 for an "upgrade" at $10 a day, as I found out from a phone call to Enterprise. They told me "Justin" would call back to answer my questions, as I was livid. I called a second time, "Justin" was out to lunch, but he would call me before the end of the day....Justin has not called back.
Now, I have opened a dispute charge investigation with Discover Card because I will not be responsible for Enterprise's lack of inventory and because I did not request nor need an upgrade. I think that they collected enough money from a six-week car rental and they really do not need to be collecting more money from me, especially when the service and all the hassles that I have gone through with Enterprise (the expired tags, they had my name wrong, my address wrong, multiple un-returned calls) to give them another ounce of money or time. I am ready to take this up with the Better Business Bureau, the Attorney General, or anyone who will make Enterprise accountable for their greedy, fraudulent ways.
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