Update on Enterprise, the House, and Asher

So, I need to exonerate Enterprise Rent-A-Car. A week after my last post I got back on and noticed they commented on my blog. I talked to their reps and everything was taken care of that day. To their credit, they took care of the customer, and I might actually rent from them in the future.

The house... Well, we were going to close on the 16th. Then the 17th. Docs didn't come in on time, so we pushed it back to the 20th - no big deal because the contract said we had until the 24th; as long as we close by the 24th we won't get charged. Well, the 20th didn't work out either - it got pushed back to the 23rd, which would be okay because we could get in before the last day and the weekend. Nope. Last resort, back to the 24th. I literally had my amended taxes in hand to put in the mail because I was SURE it would be on the 24th. Yeah, didn't happen. Who really knows when we will actually close on our house?!?!? At this point we are looking at Tuesday, the 27th.

All of these delays, while not our ideal, may actually have turned into a blessing. Because we went past our contract date, the percentage we locked in no longer applies. Fortunately, for us, the interest rate fell from 5% to 4.87%. This will end up saving us approx $150 a month on our house payment. Yeah. Needless to say, I'm not too upset about closing late.

Now, to my favorite subject - Asher! This picture was taken two weeks ago on Easter. In honor of Katie and Nelson's much dreaded departure in the near future, Marilyn put up the ball pit in the front room. Great times were had by all - and awesome pictures were a great result. This is Asher's first experience with the ball pit, and I don't think he was ready to jump in swinging. However, I'm betting the next time it gets put up he will be playing with the rest of his cousins. ;) (Thanks again, Katie for sending the photos!)


Oh, P.S. When we get moved in we will set up our other computer and will be able to show you all the fun photos we have of Asher on our camera! :)

Word to the Wise - don't go with Enterprise

Hey All,

I'm not usually this emphatic about these things, but I can't even believe how upset I am with Enterprise Rent-A-Car. So, I am telling everyone I know, and even those I don't to never go with Enterprise when you rent a car. I've had great success with Avis, and in the future will go with them (or anyone) over Enterprise. Let me tell you a story:

As you know I had a conference in California that I had to go to for work. After much discussion Durrant and I decided to rent a car and drive the distance rather than trying to deal with a 3 mo. old baby and all the accoutrement's on the plane. It turns out that Enterprise had the best deal and we thought it would be fine. Having rented cars before, we knew the routine. However, I should have known from the beginning that it wouldn't turn out.

First: When I picked up the car I was told that I could either return the car with a full tank of gas, or be charged to have them fill it up (normal to all rental agencies I've dealt with). However, they were not obligated to provide me with a full tank when I picked it up. That was my first sign.

Second: The car was dirty when I picked it up. Not only on the outside (actual mud splot on the mirror), but literally covered with pet hair on the inside. Can you say NASTY????

Third (and most significant in my mind): The middle seat belt in the back seat, where we would be putting the baby's car seat, was broken. The belt was stuck, and wouldn't give. I considered taking it back, but was told when I arrived that they didn't have any other cars for me to take. And, I didn't have the time to deal with the problems that would ensue with exchanging cars at a different location.

All of these things were not ideal, but something I would probably store away in my mind and remember never to personally rent from Enterprise again. Not until I tried to return the car did I decide to tell the whole world to black list the company.

The reservation was through Sunday, but I had intentionally extended the reservation knowing we would probably be back sooner than that. On the way home on Saturday I called the company to see where to drop the car only to find out that their office was closed. Their hours were 9am to 12pm on Saturdays. So, I called the national line and found some disparraging news: since it was after hours I could either pay a $75 drop off fee to take it to another agency, or simply pay through Monday 7:30am; regardless of when I dropped the car off. Seeing as how I only paid $52 a day for the car, it wasn't worth it to drop the car off early. So, I figured if I was going to pay for the car, I might as well hold on to it.

I expected to hear from the car company on Monday, so I could tell them exactly how I felt about things. Nothing. On Tuesday, I received a call that said that everything was okay when I returned the car (they obviously didn't check the seat belt in the back seat), and since I returned it on Sunday I would only be charged $200 more than I originally budgeted and was contracted for. Yeah...

Oh, it only gets better. I went online to lodge a complaint with the company and discovered that you can't complain via email, you are forced to do an online chat with one of their agents. Unhappy with this, I proceeded to tell them how I felt about things. They asked for my contact information and told me the regional manager would be contacting me.

They waited a few days, then called Durrant's phone (weird, as the only way they would have that is to look on the contract and it was listed as HIS phone number, not mine) saying they heard something about us not being satisfied. I called them back, and the person I talked to wasn't who called D's phone, and didn't know anything about it. They said they would pass on the information to their manager, Dave. That was 10 days ago and I have heard nothing.

As a result, I am so angry with this company that I am on a personal mission to broadcast to the world how unhappy I am with Enterprise. I hope you pass this on to any/all who might ever be interested in renting a car.

My advice: go with Avis.