By far, this has been the best car rental experience I've ever had, and over the last three years, I've had almost monthly experience. Just to be clear, I do place all my rental car reservations through Costco, not directly with the companies.
I reserved a minivan about a month and a half prior to my travel with Budget. On the day I was to pick up the van, I called to see if I could get it a few hours early, as I wasn't going to be able to pick it up right after work as scheduled. Budget had reduced their hours to close early due to Covid-19. While I called the local office, no one answered, and I was routed to their national call center. The woman I spoke with was not able to accommodate that modification to my rental. That was surprising, as the van was at the location already.
I went out on Costco's travel site and did a quick search. Lo and behold, Enterprise not only had availability at the time I needed, but they also were $26 cheaper than my Budget reservation. I quickly called Enterprise to ensure that they really DID have a minivan (I've been burned in the past by Avis, where upon arrival, the car I'd reserved wasn't available, and after waiting TWO HOURS, I was stuck with a gas-guzzling huge pickup truck. But that's another story.) I spoke with Connor, who told me they had a Dodge Caravan. I was a little extra and asked if there were any other brands, as I preferred Toyota. He said he didn't have one, but that he'd do a search for it at the other locations. That seemed excessive, so I told him he didn't need to trouble himself with that. He said, "That's ok, I'll look anyway, and hopefully we'll have something else when you get here." Mind you, I was looking to pick up the van in two hours. That offer was just way above and beyond what I had expected! So, I cancelled the Budget reservation and made one with Enterprise.
Within five minutes of completing my reservation online, I received a call back from Connor at the Bloomington location. He wanted to let me know that the Burnsville location was closed (also due to Covid-19), and he could switch my reservation to either Bloomington or Apple Valley, whichever was most convenient. I picked the Apple Valley location, and he transferred the reservation.
Within another 15-20 minutes, I received a call from Dominic in Apple Valley. He said he'd spoken with Connor, and apologized that he only had a Dodge. I told him that was fine, that the important thing was that it was a minivan. I couldn't believe they were taking my desire for a certain brand so seriously! Even I knew I was being high maintenance. He then proceeded to tell me that they didn't have it on their lot, and had to go get it from their overflow lot in Burnsville. Would it be ok if they just dropped it off at my house instead of me driving to Apple Valley to pick it up? I was floored. I know their slogan is, "We'll pick you up!" but I wasn't expecting THAT sort of service.
About an hour later, here came the minivan. Cameron got out, was super polite and all smiles. Because of everything going on with the Covid-19 pandemic, he kept his distance and wore gloves. He helped me look over the van (I'm short and couldn't see the roof.) and then demonstrated how to stow the seats in the back. He knew exactly how much gas it had, and how many miles. He was completely professional and friendly, just like Connor and Dominic. He chatted with me for a few minutes, then hopped into the waiting truck and rode off.
While I'm not trying to imply anything negative about Budget with this review, the experience I had this morning with Enterprise was just so stellar that it makes Budget look bad by comparison. That is not my intention, but I can't help noticing the differences in customer service. And Enterprise was even less expensive!
The politeness, professionalism, accommodation, and friendly attitudes by Connor, Dominic, and Cameron inspired me to write this review. read more