Rental Car Customer Charged For Damage She Said Was Already There - WSPA-TV

Rental Car Customer Charged For Damage She Said Was Already There

Karen Johnson only trusts her Taurus when she's driving around Hendersonville where she lives. So, for an out of town wedding last December, she rented a car at Enterprise and chose a Toyota Camry for the good gas mileage.

Before driving it off the lot, she inspected the car with an Enterprise representative.

“The first thing I noticed was the left rear bumper had extensive damage to it,” said Karen.

She also noticed damage to the front fender and says the Enterprise employee made note of both, as seen on the contract she showed us.

Karen says the employee assured her, with the prior damage noted, the car was good to go. She went on her trip and returned the car the next night.

Karen didn't think of it again until several weeks later when she received a letter from Enterprise, along with a photo-copied picture of a car bumper.

“It's hard to tell if that's actually a Toyota Camry, but that does look like the damage that was done to the car,” said Karen while showing us the picture.

The letter from Enterprise said Karen was responsible for the damage to the bumper, at a charge of $185.

Karen says she was never in an accident or caused any damage to the car while it was in her possession.

The Enterprise in Hendersonville directed us to the corporate office. Laura Bryant of Enterprise Holdings in Missouri looked into Karen's case. A day later, Bryant called to say the claim had been dropped as “simply a customer courtesy and a nod to our customer service goals."

Enterprise didn’t say when the damage was caused or who caused it. We would like to thank Enterprise for resolving this so quickly for Karen.

Karen is grateful and says she'll stick to her Taurus for now.

“If I rent another car, I'm video-taping around the car before I drive it off the lot," said Karen.

The next time you rent a car, request a vehicle with no prior damage. If you notice any markings, be sure to have the employee list everything on the contract. Take pictures or a quick video of the car for yourself.

And keep in mind, as long as the rental is in your possession, you are financially responsible for any damage, even if you didn't personally cause it or witness it, like a hit-and-run in a parking lot.