redtailshark

Rented a mini car from LHR. Arrived a little late and they upgraded me to an Audi A3 diesel - the best choice for the UK anyway, given the Dilbertian fuel costs.

Cost 25 GBP - a very good rate for a short-notice LHR rental.

Returned the car with limited time left prior to TK's launch from T3 but they called the driver and told him to return and fetch me to expedite. Appreciated.

Specifics the manager told me about:

Working on responding to customer feedback about service aspects. He did not disagree that LHR car rental has a very bad reputation - not Enterprise specifically, but in general - with good reason, after all the "optional" insurance coercion/damage scams practiced by several operators over years.

Damage policy. Wheels are now excluded - too many nicks/dings and clearly too much customer aggravation about this. The alloy hooves of chariots like the A3 are soft as butter and get marked/bent with very light contacts with kerb. This policy is very sensible and it was a stress reliever for me as normally I spend a lot of time documenting wheel condition - it's an easy venue for banditry and I've been shafted before in this way.

Golf ball size exclusion for other marks. Again, a great idea. Arguing over whether very small marks are pre-existing is a bane of the frequent renter.

For once in my extensive and critical history @ LHR (and other airports), I'd place this experience close to the top of all my rentals.

I'd recommend you consider these guys. Those who read these boards regularly know that I almost never say that about car rental agencies. Now back to LIM and the usual...