Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Not as solid as I was hoping. Two issues that need addressing:
1. There is the lack of coordination between the website and the pick up office. I requested a car at 1130 and had to wait till 2 to get it. The website should have stated that the car I wanted was not available at 1130. It didn’t mention anything when I made the reservation. A representative from the office had to call me to tell me that I had to wait until 2.
2. I did not get the car I asked for. I wanted a compact hatchback like the Kia Rio and got a Fiat 500 instead. While the 500 is a compact it cannot be grouped in the same category as a 4 door hatchback like the Rio. The 500 was not comfortable for my two passengers in the back. I was expecting a Kia Rio or something similar in size, the 500 was MUCH smaller.
However, the on site customer service was great. The person helping me get in, and out, of the car was very courteous and helpful.
These concerns are directed towards the Enterprise head office, I hope they’ll update their website and fleet in DC soon.

The process was quite easy and the staff is super nice. However, I got a $ 100 ticket because the tags on the rental were out of date.

I love enterprise. The price is always right, but more importantly it’s less corporate than the rest of them. Which means more friendly and they don’t try to sell you all the upcharges like the rest of the insurance companies.

This is a brutal place to rent a car. Staff was pleasant and courteous, but the entire experience is not worth of a return trip.
For starters, it’s 100 questions to rent, and I already have a corporate profile set up. «we’re are you going?» Where are you staying”, do you want insurance, why are you in town. I just want my car. So after 15 min of prying questions and paperwork, you have to walk a block or so (I got to do it in the rain), to anoth garage, down a wet ramp and to the other side of the building to pick up your ride. No signage, no sidewalks. And, as an added bonus, you get to play frogged with all of the incoming packers who are already pissed off and lucky to spot you.
We get to follow that up with more paperwork. A walk around the car, more questions, a 4 minute wait to move it from a parking spot, some up sell on insurance and fuel, and then you get to leave. If you can get out of the garage without scraping the sides of the vehicle on key boxes, circuit breakers and incoming traffic, you are the proud renter of one enterprise vehicle.
I also got hit $ 100 to drop it off at the airport 11 miles away. All told, $ 210 for a days rental to drive to Ashburn. I saved $ 40 by not using Über and keeping my blood pressure in check.
I’m presidents club at Hertz, and only rent at enterprise b/​c my company prefers we do and this one was walkable from my hotel. No more for this. I can’t think of any reason to go back. Hertz clearly has it figured out– walk up, get in your assigned ride, leave. No fees for local drop off either, regardless of where that is. IMHO it’s worth a cab to another provider to save the time and sanity, and avoid the nick knack fees.

I had a great experience at this rental car location! They were speedy and attentive and worked great as a team. The assistant manager Brian McNeil is exceptional at his job and should definitely be valued! He was able to answer all my questions and provide solutions to problems without referring to someone in higher management. Grayson was also a great help. Thanks for such a positive experience!

I didn’t have a reservation as I needed to drive as an alternative to a cancelled flight — I had fantastic help from (and great conversation with) both team members on 3÷17÷16 in the afternoon!!!

I had a great experience at Enterprise on Vermont Avenue. Not only were the employees all helpful, but the manager was especially gracious in helping my boyfriend and I upgrade our rental so we wouldn’t get stuck in a snowstorm without 4-​wheel drive. I am very grateful to all of them for their courteousness and flexibility to help us get what we needed. I will make sure to go to Enterprise first when I need to rent a car again!

Multiple horrendous experiences with this 1029 Vermont Ave location. I spoke with a manager and asked if they were going to do anything for me before I wrote my one-​star Unilocal review. I was told that they could «squeeze me in tomorrow».
I was given a loaner by my insurance company. I was told to come to 1029 Vermont Ave. When I got there I was told they have «zero cars» and that I had 15 minutes to somehow get to their Howard U. location at the heart of rush hour if I wanted a car. Now I was stranded without a ride in the middle of the city.
A week later someone else at my company had the same thing. He tried the same 1029 VT Ave location. After solidifying his arrangements, he was told there were no cars and his was in Springfield, VA. Wow! The same exact freaking thing happened to him!
To make things worse, the woman at the store was not very polite. In the end, I decided to go without a car for five days rather than deal with this incompetent group of kids again. I would never rent a car from these losers. This place really sucks.

Vacation rental after arriving in DC by Amtrak. We modified the rental to get an SUV as there was snow and rain in the forecast. Representatives were thoughtful and helpful and we rented a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee. The model had all the bells and whistles — heated seats, steering wheel, GPS, rear camera, full moon roof, etc. Worked out great as there was snow and heavy rain during our trip. Returned to Enterprise garage and the staff were helpful in getting us unloaded and on our way to finish up our vacation.
This shop will not pick you up, but will reimburse you $ 10 to take a taxi ride to their office.

Really good team at this location. Friendly and efficient. Much better than the Budget office on M St. There was one other couple there when we picked up, and a second employee came over to help us at the same time. So the whole process was quick and easy.
The garage is located around the corner on 14^th St., which is a little inconvenient. They also charge a $ 100 deposit on your credit card ($ 200 on a debit) when you pick up the car. Not sure what that’s all about since I’ve never had that with another rental. Maybe it’s just to test the card and make sure you’re not scamming them. But they did warn me in a phone call the day before and told me again at the counter, so it wasn’t a surprise.
The woman who checked us back in a few days later was delightful, and she credited us $ 10 to take an Über back home. The guys checking us in hadn’t offered that, so I’m not sure what the policy is.

Great experience!
I’ve rented from Enterprise in several states and this was my quickest experience. They called me in advance to verify some information. They asked for a lot more info than I’ve ever had to provide, but each state has different rules I guess.
All three gentlemen were extremely polite. They were also very sympathetic to my situation (car accident) and offered some kind words and witty banter to help me feel better.
A few quick signatures They even had a guy drive the rental up from the garage so I didn’t have to go down to get it. After the experience I’d had with the accident and the towing (see my review of ABC Towing) it was nice to have a smooth and pleasant experience here.
I would advise to make a reservation in advance. They were pretty busy for a Sunday. They said they are one of the few locations open on Sunday’s.

Very good and quick service. Friendly staff, very helpful.

Long story short, I went to this location the day before Thanksgiving to pick up my rental. Called Monday to make sure I had everything I needed to get my rental. I wouldn’t purchase their insurance since I had my own and was told that because I wouldn’t purchase the insurance– I could not get my car. So it is now 6:15pm the night before Thanksgiving and I am going to have to spend it without seeing my family. Management laughed at me when I asked for their names and said «we’re not the ones who won’t be spending the holiday alone». Thanks enterprise, I hope all your locations aren’t like this one.

Stay away! If you must use this branch, plan on waiting a while even if you have a reservation. Also watch out for the staff, they were incredibly rude, appeared to be overwhelmed and unprepared. I HIGHLY recommend using the Georgia Ave branch instead. We received wonderful service there and they also had more cars that appear to be in much better condition.
In our case, we made a reservation through our auto insurance company at the Vermont Ave location and even called and confirmed the night before. Yet, the Enterprise representative told us the next morning that we did not have a reservation because we were not on her list. She very quickly became annoyed at our insistence that we did have a reservation and, in fact, refused to look us up or in any way check anything beyond the single page of her list she was holding. She then made clear we were being bad customers having questioned her judgment and loudly ordered us to step aside until she had first helped all the other customers behind us. It was almost surreal… as though we were being scolded like school children.
Upon confirming on the phone we found our reservation number and it turned out our reservation was on «the list» after all, but the representative had simply missed it. It bears noting that we had received no information or confirmation from the branch. We had to call and find that information ourselves.
We nonetheless had to complete the term of our punishment for second-​guessing the enterprise lady and were only assisted after every single other customer was helped before us. Having waited for 45 minutes as a result of Enterprise’s own mistake, we were then given a long explanation as to why Enterprise’s reservation SYSTEM is to blame and not this one lady’s failure to try to help us. Yes, this Enterprise employee actually excused her rudeness by saying that Enterprise has a poorly set up phone system that frequently causes mistakes.
The fun didn’t end there, however. We then got to meet the manager, who took control of the situation by… Explaining that he would help us… We would just have to wait a moment, which turned into many moments. We were also ordered to be patient and to not mention he fact that we needed to be somewhere by a certain time. Now about an hour in, he went through our reservation information in his computer — the reservation that didn’t exist — and asked how we wanted to pay for the extra amount (above that which was to be covered by our insurance company). When I explained that I had asked for only the rental type covered by insurance, I was told that I could only receive a much smaller car. In other words, he now tried to change the reservation by explained owed more money than was quoted.
Because this information directly contradicted the reservation I was quoted, I called enterprise on the phone and had the manager talk directly with a phone representative reviewing my reservation. When the enterprise rep on the line confirmed I should owe nothing, the Vermont Ave branch manager argued with the representative on the phone. Yes even after sending us to the back of the line because of laziness and then making us wait for no apparent reason, the Vermont Avenue crew was now attempting to demand more money from us than was listed in the reservation we made. We learned that apparently not even ENTERPRISE corporate itself may question the authority of the Vermont Avenue branch. The power of this branch manager was truly awe inspiring. Roger Goodell would be proud.
I thereafter walked out of earshot of the branch manager and foolishly pressed my luck when I continued speaking to the Enterprise corporate representative on the phone, specifically so that I could share a few details of our less than ideal experience. This act was a step too far. Believe it or not, the branch manager told my wife he was not going to give us a car. That was that. We were denied a rental car. Having brought our business to enterprise and having confirmed a reservation with Enterprise we were insulted and berated for almost an hour and a half and then left with no car. We were, needless to say unhappy. More importantly though, we had no car and we’re left unable to get another car because we had relied on our reservation. Silly us.
Thankfully, however, the Georgia Ave Enterprise branch (and GEICO) came to our rescue and saved the day. We took a cab up to the Georgia Ave branch and made it moments before closing. We were in and out in less than 10 min. Kara, the branch manager was seriously our hero. We were incredibly grateful for her sincere concern, particularly when finding us distraught and my wife on the verge of tears. We got a great car with ease and were able to get where we needed to go. Kara saved the day and miraculously left us with a positive feeling towards Enterprise as a company.

Enterprise has come a long way.
My rental had 15,000 miles but was very clean. The crew in the garage was especially helpful and friendly. A good experience.

Very helpful and responsive when there was some confusion with my reservation. They cleared it up quickly and honored the rate I reserved. Thanks as well to the Enterprise at 700 N. Glebe Rd.

Really nice, efficient staff. When I returned the car with more fuel than was required, I was given a $ 10 reduction in the rate! I didn’t ask — the attendant just did it. That kind of customer service is rare and very much appreciated!

Since moving to DC I’d always chosen this branch to rent from as their staff provided fantastic service. Unfortunately, after my last rental experience with them, I would not recommend that anyone uses this branch. Short breakdown of my rental experience:
After returning the car, the manager noticed two minute dents on the bottom piece of side trim next to the undercarriage. Had he not pointed them out, I would have never noticed – just as both I and the agent failed to do during the pickup inspection. He then remarked that this was a common occurrence with their front wheel drive models. Nonetheless, he decided to file an insurance claim, complete with $ 500 deductible. For existing dents no larger than a dime in diameter.
On top of that, prior to pickup, I was told over the phone to simply take a cab to the office since they did not have enough employees on hand to give me a ride. I was assured that the cost would be subtracted from rental charges. I was also told to do the same after drop off. However, when I went to submit my taxi receipts, the manager informed me there was a $ 10 limit on cab reimbursement. As the two taxis totaled $ 30, this untimely piece of information was not welcome news. The manager refused to cover the total, despite the fact that neither he nor his employees made mention of a cap on taxi fare.
So much for customer service. By and large I’ve had great experiences with Enterprise across the country and would highly recommend them as a company. I would stay far away from the Vermont Ave branch in DC though.

After turning 25, this was the first place from which I have ever rented a car. I went in hesitant and not expecting much help. BOY, was i surprised! It has been some time now, and regrettably I didn’t write a reveiw then, but now that I find myself going back to the same specific location, it warrants a little note. Even more so, I like speaking to one man there, Sanjeev. He made sure I had all the information I needed and even remembered me the next time I went. I will be booking a trip next week and am looking forward to the rental experience again because of him and his staff. Much appreciated! Keep up the great work.
–Travis

This place gets a CRAZY bad rap, but I assume it’s because customers are normally a) rushed, b) confused, c) none too bright, d) don’t understand the difficulty of creating any decent level of service in an obviously commodified industry…
But that’s what Enterprise does all over, and this spot, downtown DC, does an especially good job considering the type of people that churn in and churn out of there. Specific props to the team of Sanjeev, Mariama, and Naquan. Seriously went out of their way, multiple times, to help, make things easier, offer options, etc. These were not robotic script people mindlessly trying to upsell… these are thinking, kind, friendly people that are trying to help you on your day. If the car isn’t ready, if you didn’t plan… lay off and realize they are trying their best.
Seriously well done guys. Wifey and I couldn’t be happier. You’ve done great… take the rest of the day off.