Enterprise Rent-A-Car review: Car rental experience ( 1 comment)

I have been in the ERC vehicle program for over three months. This is now my sixth vehicle—not because I change cars as a matter of preference, but because each change has been necessary due to issues with the vehicles provided.
My problems began when, despite having a midsize SUV reserved, I was given a VW Jetta because it was the only vehicle available. It was hardly an SUV, but I had only a few hours to pick up a vehicle before leaving town for four weeks, so I had no practical alternative.

Unfortunately, this has become a recurring experience. However, that alone is not why I am reaching out.
On multiple occasions, the escalation team assured me that a local area manager would contact me. Only once did a manager actually call. She promised that a vehicle would be reserved for me at a specific location in Las Cruces, NM. When I arrived, there was no reservation. The local manager told me she had no vehicle available and initially brushed off the issue. After I was able to get her to contact the person I had spoken with, I was ultimately placed in a Toyota Camry, despite the explicit assurance that an SUV would be waiting for me.

I drove approximately an hour to that location based on Enterprise's assurance. That experience made it very difficult for me to trust subsequent promises from area managers.

More recently, I picked up an SUV in Austin. Unfortunately, after only a few hours of driving, the vehicle experienced a mechanical failure. I was somehow able to drive it to the nearest Enterprise location, approximately 355 miles away. That location was in El Paso, TX, and I was told that they had nothing else available, so I was given a minivan. This was despite there being what appeared to be hundreds of vehicles on the lot.
The following morning, I called the Las Cruces location and spoke with an agent who told me that she had submitted a request for my vehicle exchange. I specifically asked whether I needed to call the location again before coming in. I was told that this was not necessary.

I therefore drove to Las Cruces again—another approximately three-hour round trip—based on the information provided to me by Enterprise.

When I arrived, the local manager immediately told me that she had no vehicles available. When I explained that I had been told a vehicle would be available and that I had driven a considerable distance based on that assurance, she told me, and I quote, "You did not speak to anyone on my team, and I can't be responsible for the promises the remote customer service agents make."
I was taken aback by that response. I explained that I had come to the branch specifically because an Enterprise representative had instructed me to do so. The manager became visibly annoyed and abruptly told me that there was nothing she could or would do for me, that I needed to contact the central customer support line, and that she was "tired of their mistakes."
I am genuinely confused by these experiences.

As a customer, am I really expected to understand or resolve internal communication problems between local Enterprise branches and Enterprise's central customer service or escalation teams? Even if there are internal disagreements or communication failures, how can that reasonably become the customer's responsibility?

I followed the instructions given to me by Enterprise representatives. I drove for hours to the branch, only to be told that the branch would not honor what I had been promised and that the local manager was not responsible for what Enterprise's customer service representatives had told me.

This latest incident cost me approximately three hours of travel time and required me to cancel patient hours at the hospital. More importantly, I was treated in a manner that I found dismissive and, frankly, insulting. What is most frustrating is that, despite repeatedly explaining these issues through the appropriate customer service and escalation channels, I have yet to see anyone take ownership of the problem.

I understand that vehicles become unavailable and that mistakes happen. What I find unacceptable is being repeatedly given specific assurances by Enterprise representatives, making significant efforts and travel based on those assurances, and then being told at the branch that those promises are not the branch's responsibility.

I would sincerely appreciate your assistance in either resolving this situation or routing this email to someone who has the authority to address the underlying issue. At this point, I am not simply looking for another vehicle exchange. I am looking for someone within Enterprise to take ownership of the repeated failures in communication and the way these situations have been handled.