Enterprise ruined my vacation in phoenix
Apr 27, 2011, 3:53 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tulsa
Programs: DL, AA, FRONTIER , SW--A LISTED
Posts: 173
Enterprise ruined my vacation in phoenix
Location: 140 W Camelback Rd. Phoenix AZ 85013 602 2406792
Scheduled Date of Rental: Fri Apr 15-Mon Apr 18
These people ruined my vacation. I got a phone call on Apr. 14 asking if I was still coming in for the rental that I confirmed a month in advance. I said yes and I would be coming in at 9AM. Friday 9AM arrives, I walk into the rental place they said that because the black light was lifted off of the license they claim, they did not want to rent a car to me. What actually happened was the license was in the plastic part of the wallet and the plastic lifted up a portion of my picture. I had the wallet with me and it was obvious that that was what happened. I had no trouble getting through the airports with the defective license. I had Oklahoma Dept of Motor Safety fax a letter that the license was valid. I had two previous rentals within a month with the same license, one at Hobby Airport in Houston on March 5-10, the other in downtown Seattle March 10-24th without a hitch.
Despite a letter on their letterhead they were so definite about definitely not renting a car to me. I think they were also out of cars on their lot. I also had my passport with me but they refused to see that as well. While they were waiting for the letter they were going to run my American Express card. They said it was denied when in fact the card was very current and they said they could not run another card for 24 hours. That was the management trainee whose name was [name removed per FT TOS]. I checked with American Express and they said to the fact that the card was never run. I went back to get my copy of the letter from the Dept of Public Safety that was faxed over to this location by Oklahoma on their letterhead. While I was in there there was another customer that asked for a cheap car and got a minivan as a result. The manager of the branch whose name was [name removed per FT TOS] or something like that, I asked for the regional number and she said that they were all out of town. She gave me the phone number 4808934656.. I spoke to a lady named [name removed per FT TOS]who was incompetant. She kept calling the wrong enterprise locations and never worked with that one. I kept calling [name removed per FT TOS]and at 430p she put me on hold for five minutes and cut me off. I ended up without a car this weekend and from good samaritan of my friends they drove me around and I saved the rental money. Im going to try hard not to rent with Enterprise after this. I think the bottom line was they ran out of economy cars, I didnt see any when I got there or they didnt want to rent because of my name.
Scheduled Date of Rental: Fri Apr 15-Mon Apr 18
These people ruined my vacation. I got a phone call on Apr. 14 asking if I was still coming in for the rental that I confirmed a month in advance. I said yes and I would be coming in at 9AM. Friday 9AM arrives, I walk into the rental place they said that because the black light was lifted off of the license they claim, they did not want to rent a car to me. What actually happened was the license was in the plastic part of the wallet and the plastic lifted up a portion of my picture. I had the wallet with me and it was obvious that that was what happened. I had no trouble getting through the airports with the defective license. I had Oklahoma Dept of Motor Safety fax a letter that the license was valid. I had two previous rentals within a month with the same license, one at Hobby Airport in Houston on March 5-10, the other in downtown Seattle March 10-24th without a hitch.
Despite a letter on their letterhead they were so definite about definitely not renting a car to me. I think they were also out of cars on their lot. I also had my passport with me but they refused to see that as well. While they were waiting for the letter they were going to run my American Express card. They said it was denied when in fact the card was very current and they said they could not run another card for 24 hours. That was the management trainee whose name was [name removed per FT TOS]. I checked with American Express and they said to the fact that the card was never run. I went back to get my copy of the letter from the Dept of Public Safety that was faxed over to this location by Oklahoma on their letterhead. While I was in there there was another customer that asked for a cheap car and got a minivan as a result. The manager of the branch whose name was [name removed per FT TOS] or something like that, I asked for the regional number and she said that they were all out of town. She gave me the phone number 4808934656.. I spoke to a lady named [name removed per FT TOS]who was incompetant. She kept calling the wrong enterprise locations and never worked with that one. I kept calling [name removed per FT TOS]and at 430p she put me on hold for five minutes and cut me off. I ended up without a car this weekend and from good samaritan of my friends they drove me around and I saved the rental money. Im going to try hard not to rent with Enterprise after this. I think the bottom line was they ran out of economy cars, I didnt see any when I got there or they didnt want to rent because of my name.
Last edited by cblaisd; Apr 28, 2011 at 8:26 am
Apr 29, 2011, 3:33 pm
#2
Join Date: Feb 2011
Programs: Delta Gold Medallion
Posts: 449
I too had a not so pleasant experience with Enterprise a couple of years ago, when they were short on cars, although I had a happier ending.
I reserved a full-size car, and were using a low limit credit card (my first credit card, which I got for the purpose of renting cars). I knew that I had enough limit for the amount they hold, and at the counter again I asked what amount they put on hold and they gave the formula (very simple: estimated charges + some fixed amount) which was enough below the limit for me not to worry. When they swiped the card, it got denied. I said it didn't make sense but from this point the agent (and later his supervisor) seemed keen on getting rid of me.
I called the credit card company, and they explained to me that the charge got denied because the amount was above the limit. Apparently the agent put an amount much higher than what he should have. I came back and for a few minutes I was arguing with the agent trying to explain to him the right amount he should have charged while he was playing dumb and confused. Finally he agreed with my calculation, but then came up with the "can't swipe again for 24 hours" line. At that point I almost lost it and explained that it wasn't my fault, he screwed up and he should fix it, I didn't care how. The supervisor returned and magically swiped my card again and it worked fine. I got a Chrysler 300 Touring (which I think enterprise call Luxury).
The branch definitely seemed on some kind of a crunch; during my wait I heard them shuffling cars between branches and such. But this is not an excuse for giving me such attitude like they are eager to get rid of me. They kept behaving as if I was bothering them all the way until they gave me the keys with a look as if they were donating me a kidney. They didn't even suggest me to call the credit card company but just tried to send me home right away. And of course this 24 hour thing. Luckily the 300 was great for the occasion (4 big people driving for a few hours) and better than I expected to get, so it all worked out for me and I kind of forgave them. Kind of.
I reserved a full-size car, and were using a low limit credit card (my first credit card, which I got for the purpose of renting cars). I knew that I had enough limit for the amount they hold, and at the counter again I asked what amount they put on hold and they gave the formula (very simple: estimated charges + some fixed amount) which was enough below the limit for me not to worry. When they swiped the card, it got denied. I said it didn't make sense but from this point the agent (and later his supervisor) seemed keen on getting rid of me.
I called the credit card company, and they explained to me that the charge got denied because the amount was above the limit. Apparently the agent put an amount much higher than what he should have. I came back and for a few minutes I was arguing with the agent trying to explain to him the right amount he should have charged while he was playing dumb and confused. Finally he agreed with my calculation, but then came up with the "can't swipe again for 24 hours" line. At that point I almost lost it and explained that it wasn't my fault, he screwed up and he should fix it, I didn't care how. The supervisor returned and magically swiped my card again and it worked fine. I got a Chrysler 300 Touring (which I think enterprise call Luxury).
The branch definitely seemed on some kind of a crunch; during my wait I heard them shuffling cars between branches and such. But this is not an excuse for giving me such attitude like they are eager to get rid of me. They kept behaving as if I was bothering them all the way until they gave me the keys with a look as if they were donating me a kidney. They didn't even suggest me to call the credit card company but just tried to send me home right away. And of course this 24 hour thing. Luckily the 300 was great for the occasion (4 big people driving for a few hours) and better than I expected to get, so it all worked out for me and I kind of forgave them. Kind of.
Apr 29, 2011, 10:04 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SGF
Programs: AS, AA, UA, AGR S (former 75K, GLD, 1K, and S+, now an elite peon)
Posts: 23,194
The restriction on running cards a second time something that the card associations (VI/MC/AX/DS etc.) impose on merchants.
Here's a FAQ from one card processor:
Here's a FAQ from one card processor:
Avoid The Ten Costliest Chargebacks
...
4. Failure to Obtain Proper Authorization
Be sure to authorize all transactions, and accurately record the approval code on the sales slip. If your request for authorization is declined, do not attempt to reauthorize the transaction to the same account number, as subsequent approval may not protect you from a chargeback. Information on proper voice authorization procedures may be needed for “referral” responses.
Reason Codes: MC 07, 08, 12 Visa 70, 71, 72, 73, 78
...
4. Failure to Obtain Proper Authorization
Be sure to authorize all transactions, and accurately record the approval code on the sales slip. If your request for authorization is declined, do not attempt to reauthorize the transaction to the same account number, as subsequent approval may not protect you from a chargeback. Information on proper voice authorization procedures may be needed for “referral” responses.
Reason Codes: MC 07, 08, 12 Visa 70, 71, 72, 73, 78
May 2, 2011, 4:53 am
#4
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Melbourne, Australia
Programs: QFF NB, Velocity Silver, Hertz 5*, Avis Preferred, Thrifty Blue Chip (Oz), Europcar Privilege Exec.
Posts: 378
Glad I haven't experienced crap like that renting through Hertz, Avis, Europcar and Thrifty in Australia and Hertz in the US! Maybe I've just been lucky!
May 13, 2011, 11:02 am
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Tulsa
Programs: DL, AA, FRONTIER , SW--A LISTED
Posts: 173
The restriction on running cards a second time something that the card associations (VI/MC/AX/DS etc.) impose on merchants.
Here's a FAQ from one card processor:
Here's a FAQ from one card processor: