Boycott of Enterprise Rent-A-Car

Enterprise Rent-A-Car boycott details

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Boycott Originator

callyhouck | Email this user

Boycott Title

Boycott Enterprise Rent a Car

Boycott Description

Boycott Enterprise Rent-A-CarCategory:Common Interest - Beliefs & CausesDescription: This group is an effort to bring awareness to the bad corporate practices of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company. The company recently (June 2010) admitted that "they were negligent and that their negligence was the sole proximate cause of the fatal injuries of Raechel V. Houck and Jacqueline M. Houck".

Enterprise rents out recalled vehicles as well as vehicles that are in need of maintenance and service putting customers at risk. The former Area Manager for Enterprise Rent-A-Car Company of San Francisco testified that "at the branch level, managers and employees intentionally rented recalled vehicles to the public." ENTERPRISE MUST BE STOPPED!

This could happen to you or to a loved one. The Vice President of Service Operations at Enterprise testified that "he was unaware of any changes Enterprise plans for the way it handles recalled vehicles." Unfortunately, it's too late for Raechel and Jackie Houck but you can help make sure no one else is a victim of Enterprise's bad corporate practices.

BOYCOTT ENTERPRISE RENT-A-CAR!

ENTERPRISE also owns ALAMO and NATIONAL car rental companies.

Boycott Demands

Start putting the safety of your customers and other drivers on the road at risk because of your myopic focus on your bottom line. Isn't $8,100,000,000 enough Mr. Jack Taylor? It's about life, not profit!

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Anonymous

Message from Rosemary Shahan

Auto manufacturers and dealers are lobbying members of Congress like crazy, in a behind-the-scenes attempt to water down the widely popular auto safety legislation that is up for a vote on the U.S. House floor on Thursday. The bill, HR 5381, was introduced in response to revelations about Toyota's runaway autos and the company's cover-up of safety defects in its cars.

Among the auto industry's targets: a key provision that would provide funding for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to identify life-threatening vehicle safety defects and get unsafe vehicles recalled -- before innocent car owners and their passengers are killed or injured. The companies claim the sky would fall if they have to pay a fee of $3 per new vehicle, gradually increased to a maximum of $9 per new vehicle, to fund vehicle safety programs at NHTSA. At $9, the fee will still be less than three-ten-thousandths of the average $30,000 cost of a new vehicle. This outcry comes from the same industry that gouges car buyers over $20 billion annually through just one of many predatory auto lending scams. And that received tens of billions in taxpayer subsidies, just to keep them from collapsing completely.

For the latest on this battle, check out the new press release posted at: http://www.consumerfed.org/about/press_release.asp. Want to help combat this sleazy attack on the safety of American families? Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask to be connected to your U.S. Representative. Tell him or her that you care about auto safety, and urge them to reject the auto manufacturer/dealer amendments to weaken protections against unsafe vehicles. Now is the time to weigh in to help curb the #1 killer of our nation's children, teenagers, and young adults.

Thanks for the opportunity to sound off!

Best,

Rosemary Shahan, President
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety

Anonymous

end of discussion

there is negligence when someone is caught off guard to risks inherent in life. Then, there is the systematic breakdown of all consideration in the pursuit of profit.
We are moving toward legislation that will prospectively require a system of stopgap measures until the policies of consumer protection are automatic priorities of companies who sell their products and services to the public.
The focus is not WHO is to blame, but what policies and practices are in place that allow corporate malfeasance to endanger human beings. The problems are pervasive and long-running. Change will occur when auto-industry companies, including rental car companies, support legislation that will make safer cars and roadways, rather than lobby against it. It's really a no-brainer.

Anonymous

To stop the silly arguement between you two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kFTN_FR8Gs about 3:30 in they mention what the person from the appliance rental place is talking about. It clearly does say Hertz and Avis follow the same guidelines.

Sorry Cally, but I'm still joining.

Anonymous

I hope its the last post too

I really don't know what Hertz and Avis policies are....as I said, the legislation will be focused on the entire rental car industry. But, I do know what Enterprise's policies are, and for that reason I boycott. The greed and avarice exhibited by this company is unbelievable. My legal team, 36 years as consumer attorneys. said in all their years of practice opposing corporate defendants, they have never seen such despicable conduct by a corporation from their policies to their business practices. I'm not going to argue with you...you don't have to join the boycott. I wish you luck in the corporatist culture that buys our government and thumbs its nose at the consumer. Consumers should not do business with a company who does not care about safety and human life. I don't care who the company is...BP, Halliburton, Phillip Morris, Enterprise whoever chooses to take the risk in their insatiable quest for profit.

Anonymous

last post... i hope

I do not work for enterprise, as I have stated before. I litterally pointed out I work for an appliance rental store (as I said earlier I wish not to share what company)

Yes I do understand your daughters were killed. Yes I will never know that kind of pain or suffering. Yes it did take five years for them to come around. That still does not answer my main question. Lets try rewording it.If Hertz and Avis have the same policy enterprise had, do you really think this boycott is right? That is all I was getting at, I'm not making this personal, I'm not pointing fingers, I'm simply asking the question that I feel needed to be asked. I feel like rental car persons are just like dirty used car salesmen... they could care less about their customers. This is the same across the board.

As for me working for enterprise... please do not insult me like that. I have standards. I work in a similar industry and I shared that with you.

I am sorry if you are offended by my question, I just wanted a clear answer.

Anonymous

from Al Einstein

“Concern for man and his fate must always form the chief interest of all technical endeavors … Never forget this in the midst of your diagrams and equations."~ Albert Einstein

Perhaps we should add "profits" to the diagrams and equations.

Anonymous

response to Clarification

I believe you are an Enterprise insider. Fine. Tell Mr. Jack Taylor that instead of striving for the annual Forbes World Billionaire List, he could start by putting people first.

You make some reasonable points. Now I want you to think of something. Enterprise killed my daughters. Not Avis and not Hertz. Enterprise admitted they were 100% at fault only after the evidence proved conclusive. If any other company had caused our family this amount of pain (my only daughters....BOTH of them) I would encourage anyone and everyone to Boycott them as well.

If Enterprise and the Taylor family cared about consumers and the people who have made them billionaires, then there wouldn't be dozens and dozens of lawsuits against them. They wouldn't spend millions on lobbyists to promote their agenda, which is to have little or no regulation over their conduct.

Sure, the automotive industry is corrupt as the day is long. They, like the big Pharma, Tobacco, Insurance and other big corporations care about the bottom line.
These companies have shareholders to whom they are responsible to insure returns on their investments. Ok, that's the way the game is played. But Enterprise is a privately held corporation, whose stock is primarily owned by the Taylor family. The decision to "opt out" of a standard safety feature to save a few million bucks shows you how much they care. Those types of decisions are made at the corporate level, not from a subsidiary...apparently 47 billion dollars is not enough profit to suit the founder or 10 billion not enough for the corporate parent.

For over five years they conducted their war of attrition on us with their five, yes FIVE law firms racking up the billable hours for what?    To avoid responsibility, and hope that our legal team would run out of money.

Is a boycott fair?    You have daughters?    How would you react if some industry leader continually and persistently put profits over safety and their policies killed your children?    Legislation will proactively address the wrongs this company and others in the rental industry engage in.   However, how do they bring my daughters back?   And, unlike your off-point example of the rental business whose rented product killed a family, Enterprise malfeasance is systemic and
pertinacious.    We are only one family so affected.   We spoke out.     The news will eventually fade, and there may be some cosmetic changes within this company, but the greed runs very, very deep and to its source.
They deserve to be out of business because their policies for years resulted in the death of innocent customers.   Work with them?    Surely, Mr. Enterprise, that is not the priority of your company or the Taylor family.   They'd just as soon sweep my daughters under the rug, shut me up and continue business as usual.
Let's see how many Enterprise lobbyists support our legislation.

Anonymous

Clarification

So you agree that Enterprise is not the only company that should be boycotted, right? I mean if all companies are practicing the same way surely you would want to boycott all companies. You wouldn't want Hertz, Avis, Budget, Dollar, Thrifty, or even the smaller chains to gain more buisness as a reward for doing the right thing. Maybe instead of fighting enterprise (or any major rental brand), you could work with them?

I recall an account of a appliance rental company going through something very similar, a dryer caught fire and killed an entire family. It was painfully tragic. So much so that things changed. The next of kin actually worked with the rental company to correct the errors. (I'm not about to name that company because I sure don't want any phone calls) But you see, I as well as many of the people in America agree, the recall should have been done, and enterprise was wrong. Just like Toyota, just like Chrysler, just like Chevy, Just like VW, the list goes on. The idea is don't fight against them but work with them. Ask to be involved with it, and make sure they have a maditory policy for recalled cars (pull them as soon as announced) Enterprise is not the same in every state. Infact, they are run differently from each "Group" and they hold the same basic principals.

It may be hard to take, but there are 8 things they stand behind...

Their Brand is the most valuable thing they own

Personal honesty and integrity are the foundation of success

Customer service is their way of life

Enterprise is a fun and friendly place to work

They work hard, and reward hard work

Great things happen when they listen, to their customers and eachother

They stengthen their communities one neighborhood at a time

Their doors are open.

(That is a quote from a book they give all new hires)

Now, I'm not saying that the group in question was right at all, I'm not saying that they are following all of those guidelines, but, they are people. They aren't out to kill anyone. They made a very poor judgement that will haunt those employees forever.

I'm not doubting that you want to get the word out and do the right thing, but do you have ALL the facts? Or do you have some facts and a lot of strong emotions? I'm not saying this to be crass i am asking with a honest curriousity. If your boycott is successful, when will the return to business happen for the rental companies?

I will leave you with this.. I am not questioning your motives or anything like that. I am however confused as to why just enterprise. Why not all rental companies?

Thank you for trying to do the right thing.

Anonymous

Response to "Still Confused"

Legislation will mandate regulations for the entire rental car industry, not just Enterprise. As for your opinion that revenge is the motivator here....wrong. It's called accountability and consequences, both of which have not occurred notwithstanding a jury verdict. If the acts committed by Enterprise (recalls, safety issues, opt-outs, fraud, wars of attrition on plaintiffs,) were committed by an individual, that individual would be charged with manslaughter and fraud, yet due to its multitude of lobbyists at both the federal and state level, it avoids any penalty whatsoever. That is a fact. You may may think you have the complete story. My friend....You. Do. Not.

Anonymous

Still confused.

"to anonymous....please read my response Dear Anonymous....
Enterprise is the largest and purchases 9% of all new cars in North America. It's the largest reseller of new cars in North America...cars it sells through its dealerships and fails to warn buyers that there on unresolved recalls on the cars....that is FRAUD. Enterprise, as the leader in the industry and the
As for the substandard practices that all the rental car companies engage in....we will fix that in the legislature. "

I understand the feeling of revenge, but to be as misguided as to not take on every one of the companies is kind of silly. I mean, yes they are the biggest but Hertz and Avis aren't any better. As was shown in the report you posted by GMA. So again I ask... Why just enterprise? Why would you go to another company who has the same policy? Why would you risk everything again?

Enterprise has admitted fault and I am sure they want to make things right with you. I am also sure that I have no clue how much you have gone through. What I do know is that I would not want to go with another company who has not changed anything.

I will not pour salt into a wound that wont heal, but I will say this, if you are going to be as bold as to make the comments that you are about them, shouldn't you get your facts 100% clear before directing people to another company that does the same thing?!

I personally do a lot of work in the rental area (appliances) and I know that there are certain things that can and should be avoided. If someone wanted to change the way things are done, they ought to get all the facts and post them, not just direct people to another company and say go with them... what is the point to go to a company who will put your life in danger just the same as these two lovely innocent young women. I am very sorry for your loss but I would not want that idea on my mind that I put someone else in the same situation.

Anonymous

Response to Enterprise's Comment in Ojai Valley News

Response regarding the Ojai Valley News article comment posted by "Christine" on July 7, 2010...

link is here: http://ovnblog.com/?p=2947#comments

"I feel compelled to address the comment left by Christine regarding the email to all Enterprise Employees. The “difficulty and complexity of the the Houck case against Chrysler and Enterprise”…the difficulty was made so by the actions of the defendants…this was a no-brainer case. Notwithstanding eyewitness accounts of the car on fire as it approached and crossed the median, Enterprise denied that this was so….for 5-1/2 years their position that it was driver error until expert testimony and reconstruction technology proved irrevocably that fire cause the loss of control that led to the collision.
As for Chrysler, the PT Cruiser was defective. But the company did issue a safety recall….whether it should have also mandated the PT Cruiser not be driven until the issue was resolved is the source of their liability. But, Chrysler did order a safety recall. Enterprise ignored it. It was a MANDATORY SAFETY recall and they ignored it not once, but four times.
I would also like Christy and Pam to explain the following policies that address Enteprise’s consistent practices that strongly indicate that profit is Enterprise’s only priority:
- Renting vehicles with bald tires;
- Ordering fleets of vehicles from manufacturers with factory-installed safety features intentionally “opted out”;
- selling vehicles through its Used Car dealerships and failing to disclose to buyers that a car has 1) subject to a recall and 2) the recall has not been repaired. The failure to disclose this fact to purchasers of their used car is deemed fraud in all jurisdictions.
The point of my response is to show that Enterprise’s bottom line has consistently and persistently trumped safety of its customers, whether renters or buyers of its used cars. The greed that infects this company in the majority of its practices (including employer-employee relations) shows that it needs some lessons in integrity, ethics and honesty, values that come from the top down (hear me Mr. Taylor?), not from one well-publicized issue."

Anonymous

to anonymous....please read my response

Dear Anonymous....
Enterprise is the largest and purchases 9% of all new cars in North America. It's the largest reseller of new cars in North America...cars it sells through its dealerships and fails to warn buyers that there on unresolved recalls on the cars....that is FRAUD. Enterprise, as the leader in the industry and the
As for the substandard practices that all the rental car companies engage in....we will fix that in the legislature. Enterprise killed people from their greed-over-life policies, including my daughters. They have my attention and I will focus as much of my anger at them. I'll take care of the rest of them through the legislative process.
Peace.

Anonymous

Confused.

If you listen to the report from GMA they even tell you it is not just enterprise that does this. I am confused on why you would go to Hertz or Avis if they also have the same guidelines. This is a horrible story and extremely tragic. I am sorry for your loss but I feel you should be fair in a boycott. If you are going to boycott rental companies, you should probably do some more work to see what changes have taken place to make sure this does not happen again. How do you know they haven't changed anything already? Hertz and Avis both have the same policy enterprise had at the time of the crash.

callyhouck