Enterprise Rent-A-Car

In an episode of “Seinfeld,” Jerry is stunned to hear that despite making a reservation, the car rental company “ran out of cars.” The reservation, Jerry informs the woman behind the desk, is supposed to keep the car here. “That’s why you have the reservation,” he says.

Recently, a TINA.org reader found himself in a similar situation only his predicament was real.

After making a reservation with Enterprise Rent-A-Car, the reader said he went to pick up the rental at the airport and was told “there were no cars available and there would not be any cars for two days.”

As it turns out, Enterprise does not guarantee that a car will be available when you arrive at a rental location regardless of whether you have a reservation.

Prompted by the consumer tip, TINA.org did a little digging and found that at the time of booking, Enterprise discloses in the fine print that:

By clicking Reserve Now I agree to these Terms of Use. All reservations subject to availability and standard eligibility requirements.

And clicking on the Terms of Use reveals that the rental location:

does not have any duty or obligation to keep any reserved vehicle available.

Then why take reservations in the first place? As our reader points out, he could have made plans to fly to another airport to pick up a car at a different location had he been informed that there were no available cars at the location he booked.

It’s not just consumers who are frustrated with Enterprise’s reservation policy. There’s an entire Reddit thread filled with comments from people who claim to be current or former Enterprise employees who say they’ve showed up at work with not enough cars to meet the number of reservations made for the day.

In response to a TINA.org request for comment, an Enterprise spokesperson, while noting the aforementioned website disclosures regarding the company’s reservation policy, said it makes “every effort to ensure our customers are given the vehicle class they’ve reserved, and we are able to meet this expectation in the vast majority of our customer transactions.”

However, there are rare occasions when unforeseen circumstances can disrupt the supply of vehicles and vehicle types to a particular branch. These circumstances can include things like a previous renter not returning a vehicle on time or a vehicle being returned with damage, causing it to be removed from the rotation. Other factors can impact vehicle class availability as well, including significant weather events, vehicle safety recalls and widespread flight cancellations – none of which are in our control.

The bottom line? If you’re making a reservation with Enterprise, you may want to call the rental location before heading down. Or have a back-up plan in the event you show up and the lot is empty.

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