DISCLAIMER;

1. Mistakes happen.  
2. I make plenty of them.
3. I really value time and may have an unfair advantage and/or extra motivation in this category

So I thought I was done when I wrote this letter to Enterprise yesterday.  Then minutes after writing it Enterprise called and said they should not have given me the car I had, could I please swap it out.  I replied to this message at about 10:00 a.m.  We agreed they had a comparable car **honestly the Ford Fusion may be fancier than the Chrysler 200 but it is not an upgrade** and we agreed that we can exchange cars at 1:00 at my home.  Simple enough, mistake happened, I said no problem I would be happy to help and went about my day.

Now it is 12:30 and I am home.  Car seats are removed and the original car is in my driveway ready for pickup.

Now it is 1:05 still no Enterprise.

Now it is 1:15 so I call.  After sitting on hold for several minutes I am assured he is 5 minutes away.

Now it is 1:35 I call back pretty annoyed since I will now be late for my 2:30 and was told there was an accident on an adjoining road and he was on his way.  **

Finally 1:55 and the driver arrives.  Here are some observations;

1. People are late all the time, it happens.  CALL  Most humans will  understand.  But call even when you think you may be late.  The only call I received was at 9:30 when I was asked for help.

2. OWN your mistakes.  Not once did I feel any genuine empathy for the time I allowed you to steal from me.  Remember I was helping you fix your mistake.

**3. About that “accident”  Most accidents that hold up traffic involve the police and sometimes fire trucks and ambulances.  My home is .2 miles from the main rd and .9 from the fire station.  I heard nothing BUT the driver had a full iced tea/coffee from Dunkin Donuts.  Could be coincidence but this is just north of my home and actually out of the  way if coming from your location.

4. About the driver, if you are employing anyone you have a responsibility to help them develop.  Why would  you send a college graduate out with jeans, a t-shirt and a baseball cap on.  Like it or not image is very important.  Then again you gave me another car that is overdue for an oil change.

Now what, right to Twitter and Facebook.  A very quick response via Facebook and I was told someone would call.  Earlier this afternoon they did.  I suppose 24 hours from an incident is not bad.  I think the only way this person could have cared any less is if he actually said I really don’t care I am just calling because I was told to…  When your managers have no ability to empathize it makes sense that their reports have none either.  He claimed to know nothing about what the actual problem was and I had to explain it.  During our chat he actually gave more praise to the manager who gave out a sold car, lied to me and made no effort to make things better than he did to apologizing and making me feel better.

No genuine thank  you, no random “gift” no direct compensation for my lost time/productivity, NOTHING.  Just another lost opportunity and another hour of my life gone.

Now I will spend the next two weeks or so in your rental.  It would be great if you could try as hard as your commercials say you do.  Aw well.