Enterprise Rent a Car Rediculous Dammage Claim New Orleans Airport Louisiana

 My report is similar to other reports involving Enterprise Rent a Car's over-the-top damage inspections on returned vehicles. I rented a car for four days while in New Orleans. When I returned it the agent performed an unusually lengthy inspection and pointed out a small scratch on on the rim of one of the tires. I had done an inspection of the vehicle prior to renting it but never thought to look that closely at the rims. The car had 12,000 miles on it so one might expect a minor scratch or two. A supervisor came to look at the damage and initially could not find it. Unfortunatly my wife pointed it out to him. He was dismissive of the scratch but the original agent was adamant about it and drove the car over to the location manager to look at. I was shocked when the location manager did not dismiss the claim. I had not recorded the scratch as part of my original inspection because I never dreamed that anyone would even consider it damage. While filling out the paperwork another agent asked for my insurance company info so they could file a claim. "File a claim for that small scratch?" I responded, "You've got to be kidding!" I have $500 deductable so even if they did file a claim I'd have to pay for the whole thing, plus my rates would go up.

My guess is that Enterprise files bloated insurance claims and gets away with it becuase the insurance company isn't there to see how minor the damage really is. Enterprise charged me a $250 deposit pending an investigation by their repair department. I saw many cars in their fleet that had 100 times as many rim scrapes as my rental so I doubt anyting will actually be done about the suposed damage. I've rented at least 200 cars in my life and have never experienced anything like this.

The four or five agents who circled around during this exchange went along with the whole charade so I assume this behavior is a management directive. Or, perhaps the location has a revenue target or bonus plan that incents the staff to resort to such predatory tactics.  

Two of my wife's co-workers have recently had similar experiences with Enterprise. The car was fine and the rate was good, but if you do rent from Enterprise, I recommend that you take at least 50 close up photos of all aspects of the vechicle with a 10 minute video for backup. Spend at least 15 minutes during the initial inspection so you can detail all nicks and smudges on the inspection report.