My car door has a small dent.  The person who backed into me, at the bridge club, left a note and her State Farm policy number, so I left it to be fixed while we were in Monterey.  It’s just a tiny dent, so they’ll have my car at least a week.

State Farm said I could have a rental car, so I planned on picking it up this morning; I surely didn’t need to let it sit in the driveway all weekend.  They made a reservation for me at Enterprise in Walnut Creek, and Enterprise called me to confirm, get some data and set a 10 am pickup time.

So I get there this morning.  Wait in line, fill out the paperwork, argue when they insist on a second phone number, since I don’t actually have one.  Tried to give them their own number as my second contact point, but they wouldn’t fall for it.  Eventually made something up.

Noticing the people waiting and the dearth of cars on the lot, I asked Nick (yes, Nick.  I”m certain. They are real big on introducing themselves and shaking hands.  Good customer relations, doncha know.) if my car was actually present.  He said a clear yes. Then he suggested I have a seat while they got my car.

After about 10 minutes, when I didn’t see anything happening for me or the other customers, I asked him which of the two cars on the lot was mine.  He then explained that they were waiting for more cars to be delivered from another lot.

He didn’t  like it when I asked why he lied to my face.  I didn’t like having to ask.

Since I didn’t have any interest  in waiting around a dingy storefront while being lied to, I left.

Why do companies do this?  If he had the courtesy to tell me the truth, I could have made a rational decision on whether or not to leave.  When he lies to me, I can’t, so I have to wait and hope the car will someday arrive.  FedEx learned early to underpromise and overdeliver.  If you tell me an hour and do it in 30 minutes, I’m happy.  If you tell me 10 minutes and do it in 20, I’m angry.  Why doesn’t Enterprise learn that lesson?

There is also the problem of the rent a car reservation–it doesn’t mean what you think it does.  When I have a car reserved for 10 am, the car should be there, ready and waiting.  But they think that a reservation just means that they will think about giving me a car, if they have one, sometime in the general area of when the promised they would.

I called the office that contacted me in the first place to talk about this.  They promised that the store manager would call me.  I’m not holding my breath–Enterprise has hardly shown themselves to be truthful or trustworthy.  Hertz is just up the street.