Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Pickup was a little confusing as signs in the terminal lead you to the pickup booth. However, you actually have to go to the rental counter first. The guy there looked at my license and credit card, then sent me right back out to the pickup booth. Seems a bit inefficient.
From there, though, it was smooth sailing. The vehicle was clean and well-​maintained. It performed flawlessly during the time we had it.
Drop off was after-​hours, so we dropped the keys in the drop box. Before boarding our flight we received a receipt via email with no surprise charges.

Service was smooth and wonderful as always, price was great with respect to location and time, still would be my #1 choice

My customer service experience was fine, nothing extraordinary. But the car definitely not clean (yuck!) I found the remnants of someone’s old eye shadow container in the backseat, and a well used/​well loved comb in the compartment between the seats. That, I did not like.

Rented a car for 4 days, I got a Versa (Nissan) and I was not happy with the car. It had 33k miles on it and the only one USB port not even working.

Good car; Great service; All worked well.

Renters Beware! I rented a car from the Birmingham Airport and was given a car with scratches on the rear bumper. It was notated on my contract so I wasn’t concerned. I dropped the car off at another locaion (Gadsden, AL) that same day and informed Enterprise that was what I would do. If was after hours. Well, the next morning I receive a call from my husband in Califormia who had received a call from Enterprise before 6am stating there was damage to the car. My husband was frantic. I had given my husband’s phone no. as an emergency number. I called Gadsden agency and asked where the damages were and yes they were the same damages notated on my contract. I explained that and thought all was well. Recently I received a letter from Enterprise Claims Dept. wanting me to pay for the damages. I have been so stressed over this. Well, today I receive a call from mgr. of Enterprise stating that damages were not caused by me. Yeah. I expect an apology from Enterprise and hope to get it.

Enterprise prides itself on having the best customer service in the rental car industry, and that, my friends, is a load of rotten, disgusting (insert your most hated food here)!
This is a review for Enterprise as a whole, not just Birmingham, as I dealt with 5 branches.
I originally typed a NOVEL of a review, but Unilocal yelled that I had 0 characters left, and I wasn’t even 50% through my rant. So you know what? I’ll just summarize it for you:
1. Do not rent a car with Enterprise.
2. Enterprise Corporate Ladies and Gents: you need to rehash your Employee Training Handbook, or is there not one? I wouldn’t be surprised. No one knows what the heck is going on OR how to provide this «exceptional» customer service of which you speak. Enterprise clerks have not been trained on how to handle, well, anything:
a. (Bham Airport) When I reserve a Dodge Grand Caravan because I need the most space possible with the awesome seats that fold down into the flooring, I would like a Dodge Grand Caravan «or similar» as you state. Not an SUV or Pathfinder because «The van is on the top floor» and your employee is too lazy to retrieve it. I shouldn’t have to apologize for wanting to rent the car that I reserved. I received my Dodge Grand Caravan at the painstaking expense of Employee A.
b. (Bham Airport) When I call in to say that the air conditioning in my Dodge Grand Caravan has stopped working, and that I am halfway through Mississippi, and your clerk tells me «I don’t know what to tell you. Maybe just google a nearby branch and see if you can switch it out? *Click*» Where is the customer service in that?! YOU have rented me a faulty car, and I have to do the work to get it fixed??? No? Oh, I’m supposed to call roadside assistance? Ok, well I did that next:
c. (Roadside Assistance) GREEAT customer service on the phone. Really patient and understanding of annoyance as I am moving cross-​country from Alabama to California in a blistering hot car. «Where is your destination this evening? — Ok, Dallas has an airport location and we can get you switched out without any problem. — Let me put you on hold while I call to verify that they have a van like you require.» After 15 minutes on hold, I hung up to let her call me back when she was ready. She called to report that she was unable to get anyone on the phone, but that vans are common at airports and it should be fine and «Is there anything else I can help you with?» …
c. Perhaps you need to clarify beak times with your employees. No one EVER seems to be at their desk where they should be. Are you paying them to all just hang out in waiting room recliners (Love Field, TX — ran behind the desk when we walked in) or airport curbs with a cigarette (Birmingham — left us waiting at the desk for 20 minutes) or God knows where at your «24HOUR» Customer Service Center? You may not think you are, but you are.
That night, I checked Dallas Airport’s inventory and did not see a comparable van, so we decided to try Love Field in the morning, but I wanted to call that night to verify that they had a van for me to switch to. I called 4 times. No one answered. I called 24Hour Customer Service pretty irate at this point (are you keeping track of how many phone calls I am having to make here? A broken record.). Some poor guy helped angry me. He verified «a comparable van» at Love Field but wanted me to call to be sure it would be a model that works for me, stated that «Sometimes the desks will only answer at this time of night (9:30pm) if it’s a company number. Let me try transferring you so that your call shows up that way.» (HOW IS SELECTIVE PHONE ANSWERING GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE?!) Big surprise: No. One. Answered.
We went in the morning to explain the story for the EIGHTH time. Got another van.
Out of room-​So much ranting left in me.
What do I think should’ve happened in this scenario?
When we called Bham with our initial issue, Customer A should’ve been well versed in the company practices to say «Oh! You actually need to speak with Roadside Assistance!» but let’s take this a step further, shall we? Perhaps they could say, «Can I get your best phone number for contact? Where are you now, and where is your next destination? No worries, enjoy your trip, and a rep will give you a call once it’s all sorted. If you need to follow up, please call Roadside Assistance at xxx-​xxx-​xxxx and provide them the reference number #####.»
Maybe I would get a phone call, say, 20 minutes later from Roadside Assistance because everyone would be AT THEIR DESKS and ANSWER THEIR PHONES, and the nice representative would tell me «Hello, Ms. Wilson. Sorry you’re having trouble with the van we lent you! I don’t have a replacement at Dallas Airport, but we’ve got a good selection at Love Field Airport just 20 minutes away. What time shall I tell them to expect you?»
End Scene.
But did that happen? No, because THAT would be exceptional customer service.

I’ve rented from this location before with more pleasing results. This time, on arrival, a half-​dozen customers were waiting around while the staff buzzed in and out in a frenzy, never saying anything. The parking lot was auspiciously empty of cars. I thought about asking if I needed to go elsewhere to rent, but the staff never slowed down long enough to approach them. After nearly half an hour they called my name, took me outside and said, «We only have one vehicle left – a Tahoe.» I hate SUVs, especially the gas mileage, so I asked if they would pay for my gas – which they did. Once we were outside dealing with the car, the rep was very friendly and helpful, so the star rating jumped back up from a 1 to a 3.

Very helpful staff and a great car! The staff gave me an upgrade as the size that I had booked was not available — and they gave me a wide variety of cars to choose from. I am going Enterprise from now on!

I flew into Birmingham because of a death in my family. PIcking up the car went fine, but when I dropped the car off, instead of being charged $ 300 per my rental agreement it jumped up to over $ 600!!!
And worse, I accidentally left keepsakes from the deceased in the back seat. I called from my layover, my husband called before me while I was still in the air and realized my mistake. Voicemails have been left, but no return call and no answer. EVER.
I’m heartbroken that my grandfathers memorial CD from the funeral home and military hat are likely thrown out because I can’t get ANYONE on the phone.
He was my last remaining immediate family. Enterprise turned a bad trip into a worse one and because of a hasty mistake I left behind a precious memory that I seem unable to retrieve short of flying back 3000 miles today.

My service was pleasant and straightforward. The attendants were friendly and had me on my way pretty quickly. Even enjoyed a bit of humor. I prepared for any card concerns but my original arrangement worked out fine by using my itinerary. Rental prices were right within the budget and being from CA, I’m jealous of the gas prices in AL. The only thing I didn’t like was the whole last minute «here’s your car, how much do you want to pay for insurance» bit. I kind of feel like that makes better sense at the counter or during the rental booking, but I get there’s gotta be an up-​sell hook somewhere. Second time using Enterprise, first time using this location and I will continue to use Enterprise for my rental car needs. Thanks!

The lack of training at this location is a mess. After being quoted one price, charged almost twice that, told by a manager that it was my fault, having to email, tweet, and Unilocal about it for four days before getting a response… A manager finally called, apologised, and offered me the original quoted price. He was awesome and the reason why they get three stars and not one. However, lo and behold, we go to return the car and they charge us yet another arbitrary number and then can’t refund it once they are told that we were actually supposed to get a refund. We got the refund so it’s all good now, but jeez! Thank goodness for that one good manager, but they really need to work on training the staff.

Customer service was friendly. Prices were reasonable. Pick-​up and return were quick and efficient. My only complaint is that I bought the pre-​paid fuel service so I wouldn’t have to fill-​up before return but they tried to charge me for a full tank refuel despite me returning more than ¾ of a full tank. When I mentioned this they gave me $ 20 back (less than half the cost of a full tank)

I have been renting from this Enterprise location twice a year for over a decade. They have always gone above and beyond my expectations.

There was a flight delay on my trip to Birmingham on Nov. 16^th. I arrived at 8:30 pm instead of 6:30 pm and when I got there, the car I had originally rented, a Dodge Avenger, turned into a 2015 Mustang! They told me to take it at the same rental price as my original rental due to lack of inventory. Being in the Hospitality business for the past 29 years, this is what I call customer service! Thank you Enterprise!

I give this one star because I understand people have to follow corporate policy but Enterprise’s corporate policy is abominable. My friend’s mother died so she had to fly into Birmingham. Our other friend reserved a car for her at this particular store. Never in the entire process did anybody say that they were unable to rent to somebody using a debit card or without a return flight. She didn’t have her return flight because she wasn’t sure how long it would take to plan a funeral and clean out her mother’s home. She doesn’t have a credit card because she doesn’t use a credit card. When she asked if she could use one of our credit cards, she was told no.
The worst part of all of this is that earlier in the day, three of us tried to call this particular office in order to speak to somebody to tell them my friend missed her flight and was going to be on a later one. The phone just rang — nobody picked up, no voicemail. How can you run a business where customer service is key and not have a working telephone number? Had any one of us gotten through, we could have had a conversation with somebody and possibly averted disaster. Instead, this poor woman dealing with the grief of losing a loved one was turned away.
On a positive note, Anthony just a few counters over at Avis was incredibly lovely and hooked my friend up with a car. It goes without saying but I’m going to say it anyway, I will never rent from Enterprise again — and you used to be my go-​to rental car agency.
But for the customers you will continue to have, I implore you to take another look at a corporate policy that doesn’t favor said customers and maybe get yourself a working phone number at all your branches.

We had the smoothest, most-​polite service here from beginning to end. We checked in with ease and even got a free upgrade since there were exact cars available. I really wish I could remember the guy’s name who helped us because he was tops! Best deal on a car and best customer service — you can’t beat that. Highly recommend.

Another great experience renting with Enterprise! We drove an almost brand new SUV (1500 miles on it) from this location to the beach for a week, and were impressed with the staff here. It was pleasant and painless during pick-​up and return.
Recommended

My husband and I were visiting Birmingham for 4 days and needed a rental car. I chose Enterprise based on price, and we had a really great experience. We didn’t have to wait at all to either get a car, or drop off the car when we brought it back. The staff was very friendly and helpful, and due to lack of cars, we got a free upgrade on our reservation.
When we returned the car, they didn’t even checked to see if we’d filled the car up — just asked and took our word for it. We recently dealt with Enterprise in Los Angeles, which was a hellacious experience, so it’s nice to see that this company can provide better customer service elsewhere. We’d definitely use Enterprise at BHM again.

I dislike Enterprise after one bad experience, but work says we have to use them — so I do. I hate in airports how you have to walk all around hell and creation. To make it worse, I walked up to the Enterprise booth and it had a nice little sign telling me their hours… which it was in the middle of, but no one was there. So I walked over to the parking garage with all my stuff and there they were. Service was good there, but my favorite part of a rental car is getting to ride in a cool car. All they had left was a Chevy HHR — ick. Now I am driving around in a wagon. Ick Ick Ick.