Have a confirmed reservation, show up for the rental car.... no car.

[mrsilv04]

Well, I knew it was bad... but I didn't know it was *this* bad.

I have a confirmed reservation for a rental car through National/Enterprise, using my employer's corporate account. Showed up to get the car, and was told at the counter... no sorry, we don't have a car for you. Too bad.

Got back home and re-confirmed the reservation on-line... my reservation is still there, and it is still appears to be valid. Even though they didn't have a car for me, no one on that end has cancelled the reservation yet. So, you can bet that there will be a charge for the rental. They'll probably charge it as a "no show".

Waiting for someone with National/Enterprise to contact me with an explanation for this. As I've already said... I knew it was bad, but... wow.

 

[mightymousetech]

Have you watched “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”?

 

[RhondaHonda]

Is this an airport rental? I wonder if they have prioritized rentals to the airports for travelers vs the discounted rental rates they get from insurance companies? I looked at booking a van or suv in Florida for 3 weeks this summer and the best rate I could find was over $3,000. I can ship the Yukon there and back for less or just drive.

 

[fsdork]

 

[simple_gifts]

View attachment 57046

90% is the delivery

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

They didn't have a car available for your reservation, or didn't even have the reservation to begin with?

And was it with National or Enterprise? They may be owned by the same company but that doesn't mean their systems are tied together.

 

[javacontour]

I think you lost leverage when you left.


The play here is to remain present and expect they fix THEIR problem. I don't mean be ugly, just assertive.

Now if you didn't really NEED the car and just WANTED the car, then maybe it makes no sense to stay. But I sure would have asked for some compensation for their failing to provide the car you reserved.

Leaving takes away some of your power in the situation.

Anyway, I do hope it gets resolved in an advantageous fashion.

 

[40w8]

I never got the car I wanted. I got the car they wanted to to send back to other city.

 

[mrsilv04]

They didn't have a car available for your reservation, or didn't even have the reservation to begin with?

And was it with National or Enterprise? They may be owned by the same company but that doesn't mean their systems are tied together.

I have a reservation, that is still a valid reservation in their system when I look it up... and the Enterprise location did not have a car for me.

National, Enterprise, Enterprise, National... It doesn't matter to us. They're the same company using the reservation system that they provide to us.

 

[SeaJay]

Have you watched “Planes, Trains and Automobiles”?

A fantastic movie. The scene after the car burned with them cruising down the highway and getting stopped is an absolute classic. At the time the movie came out I drove a jalopy in only slightly better shape than the burned car.

 

[ecotourist]

I've never been refused a car. Offered a different car yes, but never refused. And sometimes it works to your advantage:

In Quebec City I was told that they had a great weekend sale on Volvo rentals, actually told that a couple of times. I didn't need a very big or particularly good car because I was going less than 50 miles, so I declined. When I picked up the car it was a Volvo - they only had Volvos.

On Stord Island in Norway I rented the cheapest possible car, purely for local use. They didn't have one so I got an Audi hybrid (about the size of an Audi A3) instead. Terrific car!

In San Diego we ended up with a Toyota Prius (instead of a Corolla - a great way to try one out over a few days). I liked it.

And occasionally I've been stuck with a worse vehicle - a Ford Escape in Montreal (which is not the ideal size for urban driving).

 

[Hall]

At my work, when they don't have the car (by size or class) we reserved, they upgrade us. It's happened more than once where the "mid-size" wasn't available and you end up with a mid-size SUV, full-size car, etc. Of course, we don't go home when they first tell us this....

 

[joegreen]

Ex enterprise employee here. Yes we do sometimes run out of rentable cars. It sucks but we book on expected return dates from customers already in cars. So if someone doesn't return a car or damages a car that's one less vehicle we can rent and means we may not have a car for you now. Although we try and get vehicles from another branch for you.

 

[PandaBear]

Basically they booked too close to the capacity and anything happens (customer returns late, car is too dirty, car broke down, accidents, etc) means some customers won't get their cars.

 

[WylieCoyote]

Ex enterprise employee here. Yes we do sometimes run out of rentable cars. It sucks but we book on expected return dates from customers already in cars. So if someone doesn't return a car or damages a car that's one less vehicle we can rent and means we may not have a car for you now. Although we try and get vehicles from another branch for you.

So, they're now subscribing to the "Just in Time" inventory method. Wouldn't think that would be effective in the car rental biz, unless you just don't care about how many people you screw over. All good information to have when (if) I plan my next vacation. It's sounding more and more like the destination will need to be within reasonable driving distance.

 

[PandaBear]

So, they're now subscribing to the "Just in Time" inventory method. Wouldn't think that would be effective in the car rental biz, unless you just don't care about how many people you screw over. All good information to have when (if) I plan my next vacation. It's sounding more and more like the destination will need to be within reasonable driving distance.

Not exactly just in time, it is a lending business just like the bank and there is a car shortages.

Try Turo, those are owners renting our their cars and they are still around, many work from home folks are renting out their cars.

 

[JC1]

Customer service these days is really going down hill. To top it off some of the employees don't go out of their way to try and help people.

 

[WylieCoyote]

Customer service these days is really going down hill. To top it off some of the employees don't go out of their way to try and help people.

It's because they weren't promoted to Senior VP in their first 3 months.

 

[PandaBear]

Customer service these days is really going down hill. To top it off some of the employees don't go out of their way to try and help people.

Don't blame the employees, blame the owners of the business. They likely understaff or underpay and end up with not the best people or insufficient staff to provide the quality you were expecting.

The better question should be, are you paying for those extra services or are you paying the cheapest and expecting the best?

 

[y_p_w]

Everyone forgets that there’s also overbooking since most rentals aren’t reserved with a credit card. I’ve been late for pickup and figured I didn’t need the car. I called in and was told it was too late to cancel, but also no penalty for a no show, although it’s possible to be placed on a blacklist for doing it too many times. I’ve also been way delayed (waiting for the rest of my family to show up on another flight) and picked up my car like 7 hours late.

Once I wanted to cancel at the counter thinking we could drive our own car. The agent just took my printout and tossed it in the trash. Said everything was good.