555555
Apr 22, 12, 4:18 pm
This past week in Dallas at a neighborhood location, I experienced some pretty sleazy bait-and-switch tactics for a 50-hour rental. Enterprise tried to charge $16.66/hour for extra hours even though I was quoted $10/hour. He also tried to charge an additional $10 claiming the "taxes here are different".
I guess he didn't like me complaining about the overcharge so he put an "X" for me to initial and ACCEPT the roadside assistance plan at $3.99/day. He never asked if I wanted it. And he never discussed prices.
Me: I don't want the Roadside Assistance Plan. I already have AAA.
Enterprise dude: Why don't you want it? The RAP is included in our daily rates.
Me: What do you mean "included"?
Enterprise dude: The RAP is quoted with all of our daily rates so there's no cost or worry to you. This is standard for all of our rentals.
So I initialed and accepted the RAP. This was late afternoon and he reviewed the paperwork outside with the sun to our backs. Since they run their preprinted forms through a dot matrix printer, the type is difficult (if not impossible) to read outdoors in bright sun. I never saw the part where it read $16.66/hour for extra hours or $3.99/day for roadside assistance.
Talk about manipulation on the RAP. When he said "there's no cost or worry to you" he was talking about the costs of towing the rental car if it broke down. He wasn't denying or even addressing the cost of $3.99 per day. To their credit, when I returned the car, the manager reversed all the extra charges but the experience was like buying a new car at a dealership. Same slimy tactics. I've rented from Enterprise countless times but this was the worst experience I've encountered.
Always, always bring your online reservation printout along! Without it they would have taken another $40 of my money.
I guess he didn't like me complaining about the overcharge so he put an "X" for me to initial and ACCEPT the roadside assistance plan at $3.99/day. He never asked if I wanted it. And he never discussed prices.
Me: I don't want the Roadside Assistance Plan. I already have AAA.
Enterprise dude: Why don't you want it? The RAP is included in our daily rates.
Me: What do you mean "included"?
Enterprise dude: The RAP is quoted with all of our daily rates so there's no cost or worry to you. This is standard for all of our rentals.
So I initialed and accepted the RAP. This was late afternoon and he reviewed the paperwork outside with the sun to our backs. Since they run their preprinted forms through a dot matrix printer, the type is difficult (if not impossible) to read outdoors in bright sun. I never saw the part where it read $16.66/hour for extra hours or $3.99/day for roadside assistance.
Talk about manipulation on the RAP. When he said "there's no cost or worry to you" he was talking about the costs of towing the rental car if it broke down. He wasn't denying or even addressing the cost of $3.99 per day. To their credit, when I returned the car, the manager reversed all the extra charges but the experience was like buying a new car at a dealership. Same slimy tactics. I've rented from Enterprise countless times but this was the worst experience I've encountered.
Always, always bring your online reservation printout along! Without it they would have taken another $40 of my money.