Many people who rented cars from Enterprise Colorado locations this summer (particularly in Loveland and Greeley) claimed they were unfairly charged for hail damage, but said they did not put those charges on the car . Now, they’re warning everyone to take pictures before leaving the car park in their rental car.
“I’m not going to pay for a mistake that someone else didn’t see,” Daniel Norwell said.
The Greeley resident was the first to tell CBS News in Colorado that he was charged for damage from the hail, which he said he did not cause. In July, Norwell rented a car from Enterprise in Greeley for a family road trip.
After this story was published, many people contacted CBS Colorado News saying the same thing happened to them
“My mother-in-law texted me and said, ‘You need to be on Channel 4 now!’ ” said Greeley resident Daniela Reyes.
Sean Robinson said: “If I saw the same thing happen to other people online, and it was in the same store that I was in, I would be a little bit skeptical.”
Robinson also rented a car from Greeley Enterprises after totaling his own car in August. He said he had never left the state and never encountered hail. But when he returned the vehicle, he said the business pointed out the hail damage.
“I thought ‘There’s no hail, there’s no hail where I live or work.'” “Well, hail damage happens overnight, and you have to pay for it,” Robinson said of the Enterprise interaction.
Daniela Reyes said she had a similar experience at Loveland Enterprise last month.
“She said ‘wait a minute! There’s some dents on the hood and roof of the car.’ My husband said, ‘Where did that come from? We didn’t hit anything and the weather was fine,'” Reyes said.
Reyes, Robinson and Norvell said they did not take photos of the car when they picked it up, but were all told Enterprise took photos. However, none of the three said the business ever showed them the photos.
Enterprise told CBS News Colorado in a statement, “Each customer’s situation is different and undergoes a rigorous investigation to best determine the facts related to the claim. When we become aware of an issue, We work directly with each customer to clear up any miscommunication and try to reach an amicable resolution for all involved.”
They also said a common misconception is that customers are not responsible for damage they may not have caused or witnessed.
All three customers CBS Colorado News spoke to said their forecasts did not reflect hail, but were told they would still be charged.
“I said I refused to do this and I didn’t do anything wrong,” Robinson said.
“Nothing happened. You are accusing an innocent family just to use our money to fix your van!” Reyes said.
However, days after our story was published, Norvell said Enterprise called to say his money had been refunded.
Two days after we asked Enterprise about Reyes’ claim, she said her money had also been refunded.
“We saw an email yesterday morning where they said ‘don’t worry, we’ll take care of it,'” Reyes said.
Full text of corporate statement:
“Colorado has experienced significant storm/hail activity this summer. As a result, many vehicles were damaged. Every customer’s situation is different and undergoes a rigorous investigation to best determine the facts of the claim. We are committed to When an issue is brought to our attention, each customer is contacted directly to eliminate any miscommunication and work to reach an amicable resolution for all involved.
“More broadly, sometimes customers mistakenly believe that they are not liable if they do not personally cause or witness any damage, such as ‘hit and run’ incidents in car parks, flood or hail damage. This is about rental vehicle damage One of the most common misconceptions. In fact, customers are financially responsible, whether through fault or negligence, for damage or theft that occurs during a rental transaction, just as if they owned the rental vehicle themselves. This is stated in our rental contracts.
“However, I can tell you that if at any point a customer has a concern about a claim, he or she should contact us immediately. We will do everything we can to properly investigate and resolve the claim as quickly as possible. When there is hail, our team studies the hail and the weather Reports, the time frame the customer has owned the vehicle, and where they have traveled to verify that we will proceed with hail claims. We review the accuracy of when and where severe weather occurred during the customer’s rental period by reviewing third party documentation of weather reports published.
“Businesses also offer additional optional protection products that in most cases relieve lessees of liability.”
