They Pick You Up (Enterprise Rent-A-Car)

Member Name: MagdaDH

Product:	Enterprise Rent-A-Car
Date:	29/05/09 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: free pickup, take debit cards, good prices, can pay for zero excess

Disadvantages: Perth branch sometimes has no cars

Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company is an American car company serving customers in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Ireland, Puerto Rico and the U.K.. They are also the owners of the Vanguard Automotive Group, operator of National Car and Truck Rental and Alamo Rent A Car in North America.

My experiences with Enterprise were from here, and specifically with Enterprise offices in London and Hull, England and Perth, Scotland.

I booked online and by phone.

We hired a car from Enterprise a few times in the last 10 years and we hired a van from them twice in the last year. As these were the more recent experiences, I will concentrate on those.

I will start by telling you what I look for when hiring a car.

*Firstly, and obviously, a good price. At the end of the day, a hired car is to do a job, most larger companies have similar fleets and what matters is to get the job done cheaply and efficiently. All deals are welcome.

*Secondly, a company that accepts payment by debit card. Surprising number of car rental companies require a credit card, often in the driver's name, and I find this requirement totally baffling and very annoying. I have credit cards, for emergencies mostly, while my husband (who drives when we hire a van for example) doesn't on principle. The idea that you can't pay by a debit card, linked to a bank account with a balance larger than any of my credit limits is just ludicrous.

*Thirdly, a reasonable opening hours and/or free delivery/collection or a pick-up service. We live in the sticks and don't want to have to drive to the city or take a cab costing an extra £12 one way to pick up a vehicle that will have to be driven out again.

*Fourthly, a company that provides an extra insurance option that waives the necessity of paying any excess charges or/and low excess on insurance. One's better safe than sorry and especially with a van driven by a person who usually drives a normal cars, it seems a sensible precaution.

On our recent rentals, Enterprise fulfilled all those requirements.

They offer great deals, especially on van hire, but a small car can be had for £20/25. They are flexible and helpful in offering a half-day (4 hour) van hire, ideal when what you need is to move one van load within 50 miles without having to pay a fortune. They were even helpful enough to let us know as one became available on the day we enquired about and couldn't get one for earlier on.

The excess on insurance is £500, but for another £10 per day to reduce it to zero. Extra drivers (that's me! and there was no limit to how long you had to have you licence for - I could have hired one a week after passing the test, there is an age limit though) are £5 per day.

The Perth branch seems to often suffer from a lack of stock: the last time we hired a car (just last week) we booked it for a day and then decided to keep it longer - on the understanding that it was all right with the branch - but we got a call around half an hour before the 24 hour period expired and had to take the car back on the day as they had offered it to another customer. They were very apologetic about it and called us the next day with a little customer service questionnaire. I wonder what would have happened if we just kept it? Would they have come and snatched it back?

Enterprise don't do deliveries, but they do offer a pick-up service. A driver will collect the customer from their place and take them to the Enterprise office; on the return journey, take them back home. This is very useful especially for the car-less, but even if you do have own vehicle, it saves on the amount of driving you have to do and finding the office itself.

In a rural area like Perthshire, the good prices and the free pickup option are really a winning combination. We would have to pay another £12 for a cab to get to town to get the car and then about £2 for the buses back after dropping it off if it wasn't for the pickup service.

The telephone booking was efficient, they seemed to be genuinely interested in us as customers, and the paperwork, done by a friendly, competent and pleasant lady in the Enterprise's Perth office was quick and efficient.

The car (or a van, couple of times) was always as it should be: clean, in good condition and ready for as when we arrived.

All in all, I can recommend Enterprise, or at least its UK operation, to all customers looking for a well priced, efficient and friendly car hire company and in particular those who have no transport of their own as their collection service is free and very useful in such cases.

Summary: probably the best budget car hire company at the moment