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Emily Tombleson
Dec 31, 2025
I had a frustrating and disappointing experience with Enterprise.
I booked a rental car through Costco Travel on October 10, and received confirmation that my reservation was secured through Enterprise. Because I was planning to drive my family of four to a snowy destination in December (and would be transporting a full carload of Christmas gifts and personal items) I specifically reserved a full-sized SUV with AWD or 4x4 well in advance.
It was not until the morning of December 19, the very day I was scheduled to pick up the vehicle and begin our trip, that I was informed Enterprise did not have the vehicle I had reserved. Instead, I was given two options:
1. a minivan with no AWD, or
2. a compact SUV with AWD.
Given that my reservation was confirmed more than two months earlier, there should have been ample time to either honor that request or communicate well in advance that the vehicle would not be available. Discovering this information on the day of pickup left me stuck and forced to choose between two less-than-ideal options or risk delaying our trip entirely.
I was told that "many people request AWD/4x4 vehicles this time of year," which raises the question: if that was the case, why wasn’t this communicated earlier? Was my October reservation really too late, or were newer reservations prioritized over mine? Either way, the lack of communication was unacceptable.
Enterprise did not offer any compensation, upgrades, or “extras” to help make the situation right. While the employee assisting us was polite and understanding, he mentioned that he was new to the location and did not escalate the issue to anyone higher up who might have been able to help.
Ultimately, we rented the compact SUV with AWD out of necessity. We needed more space than it offered, but we needed the AWD for the driving conditions we would be in more. Because it was much smaller than the full-sized SUV we had reserved, we were forced to leave behind several Christmas gifts we had intended to bring to family.
Aside from the vehicle availability issue, the rental and return process itself was smooth. However, reliability and communication are fundamental expectations of a rental car company, and Enterprise failed on both fronts in this case.
Because of this experience, I cannot say I would use Enterprise again, as it appears unreliable when it comes to honoring confirmed vehicle reservations or communicating inventory issues in a timely manner.
Aside from the annoyance of having to rent a car that was not what we had requested, the process was easy to rent and return.
I cannot say that I would use Enterprise in the future, though, as it seems to be unreliable in terms of supplying a requested car and having timely communication about inventory.