LathropFamily

Since March, I haven't managed my time well enough to blog about the trip Simon and I took to Houston to see Radiohead! The show was the first weekend in March and it was amazing, but I will go into that another time. Instead, I'd like to start by writing about the one and only negative part of our otherwise perfect trip. It stars with En and ends with terprise Rent-a-Car.

Our trip was meticulously planned from our flight, to our one day detour to Galveston, the incredible hotel stays, and our rental car. The entire weekend, both of us kept commenting on how we couldn't believe how seamlessly our trip was going. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING had gone wrong. Not even a tiny bit. Until thirty minutes after we turned in our rental car.

For the eighteen hours prior to our departure, the Volkswagen Jetta we'd been driving was in valet parking at the Doubletree in downtown Houston and we never checked it out once it was parked. The valet brought us the car the morning of our departure, everything was peachy, and we drove the car back to Enterprise at the Houston airport. Simon pulled into the crowded and busy parking lot, we got out, the Enterprise guy checked the odometer, walked around the car and looked it over, printed out the receipt, and said, “You’re good to go,” as he handed it to me. Simon and I stood on the driver’s side of the car throughout the process. We noticed nothing wrong.

We took the shuttle to the airport, and thirty minutes later while we were checking in, my phone rings. It’s the Enterprise guy. He tells me that there is “significant damage” to the rear door on the driver’s side of the vehicle we’d just turned in. I told him that was impossible and got a little short with him because I was in line at the airport and couldn’t really have a serious conversation at that moment. Especially one about bogus accusations. I told him I’d call him back after assuring him that we would dispute the claim. As soon as we finished our check-in, I explained everything to Simon, then I called Enterprise. The same guy offered to email pics to me. When I accessed my email from my iPhone, this is what I saw…

Now somebody tell me how the heck we would've missed that level of damage?! I knew in my gut one of those crackheads ran into that car and they wanted us to pay for it. They probably assumed my credit card would pay for the damage and that I wouldn't fight it. They were wrong! And another thing... Where is the time limit line? How long after a rental car is turned in can they come after you and claim you damaged the car? One hour? One day? Apparently they still considered us responsible thirty minutes after control of the car was relinquished.

Needless to say I immediately filed a dispute with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. That went nowhere. After a couple of weeks, they told me they did a "full investigation" and found us at fault. A full investigation? Seriously? I would think they would have provided that proof to me if they'd had it. Video footage, more photos, something, ANYTHING. They were lying. Remember up until this point they had not even proven that the photos were of the same car we had rented!

Fast-forward several weeks. After countless emails and phone calls with my insurance company it became clear that Enterprise was not going to budge. They even sent me a bill for $1,045.40. In fact, the Enterpsie guy lied (again) and told the insurance company that I rushed him because we were in a hurry to catch a flight and didn't have time for an inspection. Unbelievable! I still had proof that we had almost two hours to catch our flight, so at least my insurance company knew he was full of crap.

I made it my mission in life to prevent my insurance company from paying. To attain my goal I conducted a great deal of online research and discovered that it was not uncommon for Enterprise to pull this same scam with other renters nationwide. Reading the numerous complaints online sparked the idea of filing a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I wrote a detailed complaint complete with documentation and photographs as supporting evidence. It wasn't mean or tacky. Only factual. However, I did request that they drop the claim and that they pursue no further collection action toward me or my husband.

Imagine my surprise when I received a phone call about a week later from the customer complaint department at Enterprise. He explained that he'd been asked to review a claim and that they'd decided to drop it because their inspection procedure wasn't followed! If I could've done a back flip, I would have! He said he would follow-up with an email to verify that no future attempts to collect on the claim would occur and the file would be closed. At this point, I assumed that the adjuster for my insurance company had done a great job kicking butt. But, when I opened the email from Enterprise, I saw that it was attached to the complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau! I could not have been more pleased! My effort had paid off AND right conquered wrong!

Although I am very hopeful that this never happens to anyone else, I have some advice if it does. Obviously, take pictures of your rental car when you turn it in. If the company tries to make a bogus claim, fight it tooth and nail and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau! Companies are required to respond to those complaints and, if you're lucky like we were, the complaint will be handled by someone who is willing to do the right thing.