Jim K.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. I gave them a one star rating in this review only because zero stars was not an option. I recently rented a car from them in France and they tried to defraud me in the amount of 1,500 Euros.

My wife and I went to Europe in September. We started out in Switzerland on a river cruise which terminated in Paris. We then rented a car in Paris from Enterprise, which rental we had arranged in advance. The car rental was 315 Euros and I had to give them an authorization on my Visa credit card for a further 1,500 Euros to cover potential damage. We drove from Paris to Normandy, where we spent two days touring the beaches, and then on to Calais for another two days before taking the train to London. We left France on a Sunday and those of you who have rented cars in France may be aware that the car rental agencies in France are all closed on Sundays. Accordingly, there was nobody from Enterprise in Calais to take delivery of the car at dropoff. We knew this in advance and were advised by Enterprise that this was not a problem - we just had to leave the car in a designated area in the Calais Ferry Terminal parking lot and then put the keys in a drop box at the [closed] Enterprise office inside the terminal. This we did.

Two days later, I received an email from Enterprise advising that [a] the rental vehicle had suffered windshield damage in the form of a large crack that ran halfway up the windshield to the middle and [b] they were charging my Visa account with the additional 1,500 Euros. A couple of points here:

1. There was zero damage to the windshield or any other part of the vehicle.

2. When we dropped the car off, I took a video and several pics, which clearly showed there was no damage.

I immediately fired off an email to Enterpise, denying that there was any damage and advising them that I had photos to prove this, not to mention three witnesses [my wife and our two travelling companions] who would attest to same. I also demanded that they provide me with their own photo evidence of the damage that they were claiming. They replied that they would refer the file to their regional manager and that he would respond within 5 business days. To this day, despite numerous follow-ups, I have never heard from him.

I then called my Visa issuer from London and advised them of the situation. They told me that since I had in fact authorized the full 1,815 Euros [315 for the rental and 1,500 for the deposit] they could not simply reverse the payment; however, they advised that there is a Visa process whereby fraudulent claims such as this could be disputed. I said fine, I would call them when I returned home to Canada.

I called Visa when I got home a couple of weeks later and they opened a file. They asked for, and I sent them via email, a letter outlining the whole situation, including copies of my email correspondence with Enterprise, the rental agreement, and the photos.

After reviewing my information, Visa advised that they would initiate a dispute on my behalf. As they explained it to me, the dispute would be filed with Enterprise's Visa bank who would then invite Enterprise to respond. If Enterprise did not respond within 30 days, or did not present a reasonable case, then my money would be returned. If Enterprise did present a reasonable case, and its Visa bank agreed, the matter would go to some Visa International body for arbitration.

Happily, but not surprisingly, two weeks following the filing of the dispute by Visa [which included my photo evidence], Enterprise gave notice that they were dropping their fabricated damage claim and that my money would be returned, proof positive that their actions were an out and out scam. I now have all of my deposit money back. My Visa bank [CIBC] was fantastic in all this and I doubt I would have been able to recover my money without their support, short of initiating a lawsuit in France. No apology or any other communication from Enterprise has been forthcoming. I have always rented from Enterprise in both Canada and the U.S. but after this experience, I will never do business with them again.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY. I gave them a one star rating in this review only because zero stars was not an option. I recently rented a car from them in France and they tried to defraud me in the amount of 1,500 Euros.

My wife and I went to Europe in September. We started out in Switzerland on a river cruise which terminated in Paris. We then rented a car in Paris from Enterprise, which rental we had arranged in advance. The car rental was 315 Euros and I had to give them an authorization on my Visa credit card for a further 1,500 Euros to cover potential damage. We drove from Paris to Normandy, where we spent two days touring the beaches, and then on to Calais for another two days before taking the train to London. We left France on a Sunday and those of you who have rented cars in France may be aware that the car rental agencies in France are all closed on Sundays. Accordingly, there was nobody from Enterprise in Calais to take delivery of the car at dropoff. We knew this in advance and were advised by Enterprise that this was not a problem - we just had to leave the car in a designated area in the Calais Ferry Terminal parking lot and then put the keys in a drop box at the [closed] Enterprise office inside the terminal. This we did.

Two days later, I received an email from Enterprise advising that [a] the rental vehicle had suffered windshield damage in the form of a large crack that ran halfway up the windshield to the middle and [b] they were charging my Visa account with the additional 1,500 Euros. A couple of points here:

1. There was zero damage to the windshield or any other part of the vehicle.

2. When we dropped the car off, I took a video and several pics, which clearly showed there was no damage.

I immediately fired off an email to Enterpise, denying that there was any damage and advising them that I had photos to prove this, not to mention three witnesses [my wife and our two travelling companions] who would attest to same. I also demanded that they provide me with their own photo evidence of the damage that they were claiming. They replied that they would refer the file to their regional manager and that he would respond within 5 business days. To this day, despite numerous follow-ups, I have never heard from him.

I then called my Visa issuer from London and advised them of the situation. They told me that since I had in fact authorized the full 1,815 Euros [315 for the rental and 1,500 for the deposit] they could not simply reverse the payment; however, they advised that there is a Visa process whereby fraudulent claims such as this could be disputed. I said fine, I would call them when I returned home to Canada.

I called Visa when I got home a couple of weeks later and they opened a file. They asked for, and I sent them via email, a letter outlining the whole situation, including copies of my email correspondence with Enterprise, the rental agreement, and the photos.

After reviewing my information, Visa advised that they would initiate a dispute on my behalf. As they explained it to me, the dispute would be filed with Enterprise's Visa bank who would then invite Enterprise to respond. If Enterprise did not respond within 30 days, or did not present a reasonable case, then my money would be returned. If Enterprise did present a reasonable case, and its Visa bank agreed, the matter would go to some Visa International body for arbitration.

Happily, but not surprisingly, two weeks following the filing of the dispute by Visa [which included my photo evidence], Enterprise gave notice that they were dropping their fabricated damage claim and that my money would be returned, proof positive that their actions were an out and out scam. I now have all of my deposit money back. My Visa bank [CIBC] was fantastic in all this and I doubt I would have been able to recover my money without their support, short of initiating a lawsuit in France. No apology or any other communication from Enterprise has been forthcoming. I have always rented from Enterprise in both Canada and the U.S. but after this experience, I will never do business with them again.