The joy of renting

I travel a lot for work, and on most of my trips, I need to rent a car. Since I'm 24, my options are somewhat limited by the absurd underage fees most places charge, so I almost always rent from one particular place. (I don't want to name names, but it rhymes with "Schmenterprise.")

There are plenty of annoying things about renting a car, but by far the most irritating is the bullying sales pitch trying to get you to pay $30 a day for protection insurance. It's gotten especially bad since the early part of this year - I used to be able to shake my head forcefully and move on, but I think since 2007 Schmenterprise must be withholding salary from employees who don't manage to sell some kind of bogus insurance plan.

Now every time we get to that part of the rental contract, the Schmenterprise guy all of a sudden looks at me like he's about to tell me my cat has leukemia. "What are you planning to do for coverage?" he asks gravely. I tell him my coverage is taken care of by my employer. He is unconvinced. "For just $12.99, you can pick up our Collision Damage Waiver - I really recommend you consider it," he says. He goes on to tell me about the Personal Accident Insurance, Supplemental Liability Protection and Useless Moron Fee I should also look into - just in case. When I refuse to budge, he looks at me coolly. "OK, well then I just need to get some information from you. Because if anything happens to the car, we will go after your personal insurance. What's your deductible? I'm just going to write it here along the top of the contract - just so we know."

The worst thing is, it's impossible not to feel like I'm ensuring that me and my Aveo will be immediately crushed by an oncoming cement mixer as soon as I pull out onto the road. I can just see it now. Smarmy Schmenterprise guy, shaking his head: "If she had just signed the Truck Invincibility Clause, this never would have happened."

It just seems like a lot of strife for the crappiest little car I've ever driven.

Vote on this story This is good This is bad Report spam Add a story about your Chevrolet Aveo Story replies February 6, 2008 by does it matter? Lol! April 10, 2008 by no way I think this is bogus.....I have rented from numerous places, including the one you have, uh, sort of mentioned. Never have they asked my deductable...........Get over it, it is a sales pitch, period. May 8, 2008 by Dave Nope. I've rented from Schementerprise many times and they alway ask about your deductible. Luckily I am covered by work or when on pleasure trips, I pay with my AMEX which covers me. May 8, 2008 by Michael Over the last couple of years, I have rented from Schementerprise for business trips as well. I had this same experience with my last rental. He was really starting to irritate the heck out me. If I hadn't been short on time I may have told him if he continues pushing, he is going to push me to take my business elsewhere. May 16, 2008 by Steven You should talk to your employer; company I work at already has everything arranged by the time you get off the flight. Just walk to the counter, pickup your keys, and off you go. None of this junk with "what insurance is covering the car" as they already know. June 3, 2008 by John It doesn't have to be a work related rental to get coverage. Your own collision and liability that you already pay for your own vehicle will likely cover you for a rental as well. But it's always best to check with your provider. I have AAA and they paid the cost of repair after my rental sustained a golf ball dent to the roof. I paid my deductible and all was taken care of. June 9, 2008 by C L F This is some well-written jouranlism - humorous and informative. Keep 'em coming, sister! June 9, 2008 by Dude I always pay for the Collision Damage Waiver. Hey my company is paying for it so why not. I have had an issue once and because of the CDW I just brought the car in and they dealt with it. If I hadn't then it would have went through my personal insurance and I would have to then go through that hassle and then try to get my company to cover any deductible and I would still have the incident against my personal insurance which means higher premiums. So I'm happy to let my company for pay for the CDW and I can drive worry free. If I ever rent a car personally I would probably decline the CDW though, since technically I'm already paying with my own insurance. June 23, 2008 by J ahah this story is funny because I work with Schementerprise (working now actually) and I do see the pushy approach, the ones asking for deductibles and such. I'm very straightfoward, most of the renters have dealt with Enterprise before so they know the spiel, I just ask what they typically do. it's a great benefit to the customer, especially when you're the guy that dosen't take the CDW, then proceed to leave the lot and back our Inifiniti G35 into a pole not 10 minutes after you've finished signing the contract. And using your credit card can be risky, just a word to the wise. If you don't reserve AND pay using the same credit card, they won't cover the vehicle. And make sure your insurance transfers over state lines (here in NC State Farm is weird about their covered going across borders) it's not the scam people try to make it out to be, as it saves alot of headache on the backend, especially if you have a higher deductable. July 6, 2008 by miley cyrus i think that thsi story is stinky like yeah and your lying bye bye -mariah carey July 9, 2008 by the kraut Well, that's a cool post! I liked it alot, since I know the experience quite well. Personally I've an acct. with that other car rental, sounding like the unit of frequency. Also I'm using Schmavis quite a lot, some seventh as well (or did I go wrong with the numbers?) They're less pushy on having me signing for CDW, especially over here in Europe. But it's true, they're more insisting on CDW if I rent a car in the U.S. I've been instructed by my employer to decline CDW when renting a car for a business trip. But it's true, it always leaves a strange feeling: What if my emplyer refuses payment? Well, the car rental will go after me. That's why in most cases I DO sign all these fancy CDW things, since the rental contract is between me personally and the rental people, as I pay with my own CC. And that's what I explained to my employer: As long as I have to personally rent a car 4 business, and I'm personally liable, I set the rules and they pay the price. As soon as the employer rents a car FOR me, they can deny all CDW's they want. I'm not going to go thru all the hassle just because an idiot dents my rental with his golf ball. If renting for a private trip, of course the world is totally different: There I have my automotive club membership which explicitely covers rental damages, also in foreign countries. And it's dirt cheap: For 59€ a year (about 90US$) I get full coverage 4 me & my wife. greetz from good ol' germany July 9, 2008 by the kraut Well, that's a cool post! I liked it alot, since I know the experience quite well. Personally I've an acct. with that other car rental, sounding like the unit of frequency. Also I'm using Schmavis quite a lot, some seventh as well (or did I go wrong with the numbers?) They're less pushy on having me signing for CDW, especially over here in Europe. But it's true, they're more insisting on CDW if I rent a car in the U.S. I've been instructed by my employer to decline CDW when renting a car for a business trip. But it's true, it always leaves a strange feeling: What if my emplyer refuses payment? Well, the car rental will go after me. That's why in most cases I DO sign all these fancy CDW things, since the rental contract is between me personally and the rental people, as I pay with my own CC. And that's what I explained to my employer: As long as I have to personally rent a car 4 business, and I'm personally liable, I set the rules and they pay the price. As soon as the employer rents a car FOR me, they can deny all CDW's they want. I'm not going to go thru all the hassle just because an idiot dents my rental with his golf ball. If renting for a private trip, of course the world is totally different: There I have my automotive club membership which explicitely covers rental damages, also in foreign countries. And it's dirt cheap: For 59€ a year (about 90US$) I get full coverage 4 me & my wife. greetz from good ol' germany July 9, 2008 by the kraut Well, that's a cool post! I liked it alot, since I know the experience quite well. Personally I've an acct. with that other car rental, sounding like the unit of frequency. Also I'm using Schmavis quite a lot, some seventh as well (or did I go wrong with the numbers?) They're less pushy on having me signing for CDW, especially over here in Europe. But it's true, they're more insisting on CDW if I rent a car in the U.S. I've been instructed by my employer to decline CDW when renting a car for a business trip. But it's true, it always leaves a strange feeling: What if my emplyer refuses payment? Well, the car rental will go after me. That's why in most cases I DO sign all these fancy CDW things, since the rental contract is between me personally and the rental people, as I pay with my own CC. And that's what I explained to my employer: As long as I have to personally rent a car 4 business, and I'm personally liable, I set the rules and they pay the price. As soon as the employer rents a car FOR me, they can deny all CDW's they want. I'm not going to go thru all the hassle just because an idiot dents my rental with his golf ball. If renting for a private trip, of course the world is totally different: There I have my automotive club membership which explicitely covers rental damages, also in foreign countries. And it's dirt cheap: For 59€ a year (about 90US$) I get full coverage 4 me & my wife. greetz from good ol' germany August 12, 2008 by Ron I've rented from the same agency and have gotten the same pitch on occasion. Fortunately I've only gotten into two minor scrapes that did not involve another vehicle and 100% of both were covered by the LDW provided by my credit card. So it is VERY important to check your cardmember agreement to see what your card will and will not cover. I used to use Discover for my car rentals, but they changed their insurance provider about a year or so ago with a consequent reduction in coverage. I now use Visa but haven't had to make a claim as yet. As J stated above, be sure to keep the payment for the rental on the credit card you used to reserve the car with. My fear has always been that if I paid in cash rather than my credit card they might try to pin some minor damage on me that was found after I turned in the car and had left the property. February 6, 2009 by scott I appreciated this story...however the rental cdw is not extra insurance it is additional. If you take the cdw you can bring back just the keys and say the car caught on fire and you have no responsibility what so ever. And yes I do think it can be pricy. But all insurance policies are different. Mine only covers a rental car the same size as my car or smaller. I always take it now because I had a side view mirror knocked off my rental car. They collected my deductible and I thought that was it. I was wrong. My premiums went up by 30%. My insurance company (Which is a major one) said that anytime a rental company has to file a claim, which they do for any damage, insurance premiums go up by 30 to 40% over the next few years. I dont know about you but I would rather pay 20 dollars a day and save a couple grand November 3, 2009 by not buying Scott Scott sounds like a "corporate" guy---if you know what I mean November 3, 2009 by Steve-O Well written. Reply to this story Name: Message: Reply