Enterprise Rent-A-Car

On 3/6, i rented a 2013 Hyundai Elantra from Enterprise (32-33 62nd St Woodside NY).
When i was picking up the car rep Allison told me to do the walkover around the car to mark any dents, dings, dents bigger than the size of a golf ball.
There were no significant marks on car and i signed the paperwork for clean car.
I returned the car on 3/24 to the same branch. Employee Lauren greeted me and did my paperwork for check out and at the meantime she asked another employee
to check my gas usage and do the return inspection.

As i was waiting for the paperwork to finish, the rep who did the return inspection called rep Lauren outside. Lauren went out and came back in the branch
and asked me to come out as she wanted to point out a damage.

I came out and Lauren asked me "kindly" to kneel down on the ground to look at the undercarriage as she claimed part of it was scraped. I bent over
and tried to understand what the damage was and she advised me that in order to see the damage, i had to go down on all fours on the ground .
I followed her instructions (as ridiculous as they sound) to see a part of the undercarriage scrapped/scuffed.

I got up from the floor and told rep Lauren that when i rented the car, i did not crawl underneath the car to inspect it and verify that there were no pre-existing scuff marks underneath the car prior to my rental.
I was not asked to do such an inspection. I have rented cars at least 10 times from this branch and nobody has never told me to inspect the bottom of the vehicle to date.

I also stated that if there is such a policy regarding "concealed damages", I should have been informed during the initial walk thru and even if possible, airlift the car so we can get a clear view of the undercarriage before signing for clean car.
Rep Lauren insisted that a 'damage' is a damage, i damaged the car in my possession, i scraped the undercarriage and i had to sign the paperwork accepting that damages.

I argued with her that i am not signing anything, as it wasn't possible to identify if these scuff marks were on the car prior to my rental or after.. It could have possibly gone unnoticed for multiple rentals.

Lauren's argument as to why i had to own up to the damage was comical, "since that week it snowed a lot i most likely drove over a 'pile of snow' and it was me who scraped the bottom without even realizing it".
So, if it hadn't snowed but rained, the argument would have fallen apart.

I told her firmly that i had not looked at the undercarriage of the car, i wasn't asked to or neither did i remotely think this was a part of a reasonable car inspection. Therefore even though she was insisting i sign for the damages, i refused to.

She then asked me if she worded the paperwork as "returned car in different condition then pick up" if i would sign it, and i responded that i would not sign anything that holds me liable for the damage.

Lauren finally gave up on pressuring me to sign as she realized i was being argumentative and raising questions about the incident. At the end, she went back in and said she had to fill in paperwork about this damage and told me that it was for "internal" usage only.
I followed her back in to the branch to see what type of documents this was and she told me that since I wasn't signing it I didn't have to wait and I could leave.. I gladly did what she asked me to.

A week after, i received a bill for $1, 164.04 sent from Enterprise Damage Recovery Unit.

Claim # [protected]
Unit # 7H2F5M
Invoice # [protected]

$614.00 (Parts - Rocker Panel)
$483.00 (15 hours labor)
$42.20 (Paint)

Meanwhile they were kind enough to waive additional fees:

$100.00 (Admin Fees)
$114.60 (Diminishment of Value)
$129.80 (4 days Loss of use - Meanwhile the entire job was billed above for 15 hours)

As soon as i got the letter i called Lauren in the Woodside Branch and i presented myself and she promptly remembered me, i started arguing with her that she had informed me the paperwork she filled was "internal" purposes only and i could leave and now all of a sudden i was hit with a bill. She said it is out of her hands and whatever problem i had, i had to call the 1-800 number on the letter and hung up the phone.

Contemplating what my next step should be, I went on the Internet and searched online "Enterprise rental car damage scam." I was not surprised to find pages and pages of complaints from people from all over the United States with stories similar to mine.

This scandalous practice by Enterprise Rent-a-Car is a shakedown of innocent people that comes very close, in my opinion, to insurance fraud. I wouldn't be surprised if Enterprise collects on several of these bogus claims because it is less expensive and certainly less time consuming to simply pay (or turn it over to the insurance company and let them pay) and move on. In the business, it's called a "nuisance claim." But it's fraudulent practices like this that drive up the cost of insurance for all of us and I think it is our duty as consumers to take a stand and do what we can to stop questionable practices such as this.

I have no intention of paying for damages ($1, 164.00) that I did not cause. I have sent a copy of the above letter to the New York State Attorney General, the New York Department of Insurance Consumer Protection Division, the Federal Trade Commission, the Better Business Bureaus in New York City, my insurance company (GEICO), my two major credit card companies (CitiCard and American Express), the consumer advocates at all four major network television stations in my metro area (CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox) plus the two major newspapers (Daily News and New York Post) and lastly Enterprise Recovery Unit, Kansas City, MO.

This fraudulent activity of Enterprise has got to stop.