The Midwest got hit with a big snowstorm on December 8. Weather reports were saying the worst would fall overnight into Wednesday morning, so I figured I'd be OK going to work on Tuesday. There was already about 3" on the ground and this was the first time I was driving my car on snow. It was also the last. This was the Saturn I got in March from a local church. I was doing OK until I got to where I had to make a left turn onto another street. I started to slow down as I went into the turn lane, but the car kept going. I collided with a Dodge Dakota truck. The Dodge was able to be driven away, but my car had to be towed. The policeman who took the report was nice enough to take me the rest of the way to work, which was closer than going back home. My boss was nice enough to let me use the phone in her office to make my phone calls. My insurance covered a rental, and referred me to Enterprise. Here's where the trouble starts.
First off, it took my insurance a week for my insurance to even look at the car to determine it was totalled. I finally got to talk to them on December 17 to accept the offer. I was supposed to get a call from their total loss department within 24 hours, it's been 48 and no phone call. So it'll be 2 weeks in a few days, and I'm still owning a totalled car.
Now, the rental. Enterprise picked me up from work (since I had no car) to get the rental. They told me I needed a credit card. Since I don't have credit cards, I asked if I could use my Debit, they said sure. They said there was a $50 deposit which would be refunded when I returned the car. I figured that was it. Well, they showed me two different coverage options and had me under the impression I had to pick one, so I picked the cheapest. They never said I could have turned down additional coverage since my insurance company was paying for this. I told them several times that was my debit card, it was coming out of my bank account, and there wouldn't be any money in it until I got paid on Friday. They charged the first deposit on Thursday so it overdrafted. When I checked my account yesterday, I had a balance of $-23 even after my paycheck was direct deposited. When I checked account activity, I saw that Enterprise charged me $50 again on the 14th and on the 17th. When I called them and asked why, they told me then that the initial deposit was only good for 3 days because of the cost of the additional insurance. The guy on the phone said I could go back and sign off on the additional insurance. I was not happy because they had me under the impression it was required. It would have been nice if they would have 1) disclosed at the time of the rental that the deposit would only last 3 days and 2) notified me when there would be additional money taken from my bank account.
I told the guy that with the addition of the overdraft fees they caused ($108) plus their multiple charges for deposits, they got my entire paycheck. I now have no money for food, and no money to put gas back in their car before I return it, which will be another charge. I thought they did not bill additional charges until the car was returned...which they did not disclose either.
This accident has ended up costing me much more than just my car. I'm still going to be without transportation until after the new year at the rate the insurance company is going to settle the claim. If it weren't offered via payroll deduction I'd probably change companies, and definitely NOT renting from Enterprise again.
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