What is Digg?60 Comments
- TheSavageNation, on 10/12/2007, -5/+33I've been reading digg for awhile now and I'm just wondering, what do we not hate, what isn't a scam, and who isn't evil?
- mushroomtap, on 10/12/2007, -2/+14@thesavagenation - Yes there are a lot of stories which are aimed to expose fraud and protect the consumer/citizen/netizen... Sometimes they're just ranting or tinfoil hat stories, but by and large it's for YOUR benefit. Also, I'd say about half the stories on digg are also the opposite, like the "Hey check this out it's really cool" stories.
If you don't like the content, then don't visit the site... - wonboodoo, on 10/12/2007, -5/+16> I've been reading digg for awhile now and I'm just wondering, what do we not hate, what isn't a scam, and who isn't evil?
Ponies. - invision, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Dude! My step-brothers uncles cousins daughters boyfriend in middle school was dating the step daughter of one of the VP's of enterprise! woah! we're like...cousins! omg, reunion?
- nixr, on 10/12/2007, -0/+9@thesavagenation
If you have been reading digg for a long time then surely you know the answer to that question is Wii. - Moocat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9I want to know why one Enterprise service charged me $300 deposit when I had never had that happen before and never since. It was the only time I've ever rented from an airport, is this policy? Or did they just want to play with my money for 3 days?
They could never give a straight answer to me why I was charged it, their replies ranged from
"well, we can't just let you drive out of the lot with a $20k car"
-last time I checked, that's what I was paying for and signing all the nice forms
"we do this at all agencies"
-a lie since I've never had it charged before or since
"we only do this at airports"
-really the only one that seemed to make a little sense, but still pretty shady, if they can't trust my previous service, they still have all my personal info to come hunt me down if I stole their car
I wasn't really happy about it and I don't think I'm going to use them again because of this. - datastorageguy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8Of course the insurance is a scam, in Massachusetts anyways. Your personal policy covers you in a rental and buying the insurance from the rental company is a complete scam.
- WaterDragon, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7I rented from the Enterprise just outside the airport in Montreal, a couple of years ago. Part of their scam was to charge me the full amount of insurance, claiming it was required by law. I specified that I only wanted what was required, nothing additional. The attendant wanted to lock up and leave, allegedly to go pick up someone else at the airport...about a 10 minute ride, but he said he might be away for an hour or more, as he rushed me to just sign the paper, without time to thoroughly read it (and much of it was in French.)
I finally had to practically beg him to let me sign it and get a car, as an alternative to being left standing outside with my luggage, as it was getting dark, during a very heavy snowstorm.
He just wanted to lock up and drive off, and the other employee was nowhere in sight.
It took most of the following year to expose their scam with the help of the VISA company, but I finally got them to only charge the low rate I had actually reserved for, without the extras.
It is interesting that this article was about the same company. I shall definitely save it and use it, if I ever have to rent from those criminals again. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Some of those tips (like #4) sound like a good way to get a dirt cheap price... but they also sound kind of illegal. I don't know that you'd really get pinched for trying to cheat Enterprise out of $100 bucks.. but who knows? Falsely claiming to be an insurance adjuster sounds a bit farther than I'm willing to go to save some cash.
- kakapu4u, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6You mean fake like that internal Best Buy website?
http://consumerist.com/consumer/best-buy/best-buy-confirms-the-existence-of-its-secret-website-241097.php - jdavid, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5true, but if you use the jargon, you may not have to say you are an agent
- logicalnoise, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6true but like the guy says the Employees NAME the price. So if they can give you whatever rpice they want how the hell is it illegal? Their never supposed to recieve the money your supposed to be getting from an insurance company.
- InfamousAtheist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Oh well, it's a paycheck..."
Make sure you up-sell the "trifecta of consumer stupidity" to earn your bonus.
I'll be sure to be abusive to the next manager trainee I see at Hertz, thinking it might be you ;-) - ubuwalker31, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"None of these tips sound illegal."
Hmmm...pretending to be an insurance agent, and describing a fake scenario to get a special rate? That is good 'ole fashioned fraud, my friend. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I had some weird experience like that, too. Albeit not at an airport Enterprise, but a city one where I was picking up a rental car. Only the person who hit my car was paying out of pocket to avoid insurance... so apparently because of this I owed Enterprise some $150 deposit, then my insurance was NOT good enough (even though it's collision from a big company), and they ended up wanting $300+ from me on a 3-day rental (when the payee rightfully only allotted $100 for the rental).The agent always had some other excuse for why it was so much, and just wasn't budging. So I just walked out and called a friend for a ride to another rental place. I guess you just get the wrong agent sometimes.
- drmangrum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4If you don't have insurance yes. Most people do have insurance, and most people pay the extra 3 bucks to get the rental coverage on their policy.
- saigumi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Every large company has a *sucks.com.
So? - 1KrazyKorean, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Nice I know for a fact many of these tips are true, The workers have some sort of price. I remember when I asked them how much the Explorer was and hes all ummm howabout 35 bucks a day, im all I dont know what about 25 per day, and he said ok. So they do name there own prices. Lol I bet they hate picking you up and dropping you off, but I still make them do it :)
- david76, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I once rented from Budget when I was in college. I signed a receipt when I brought the car back, then when I looked at the invoice I noticed a surcharge because I was under the age of 25. They had applied the surcharge daily, but on the bill there was no mention of per day next to the rate. I contacted Budget, explained the problem and they insisted "It was understood to be per day." I simply said, everything else on the contract is listed as per day, except this line item. And, if they intended to make it a per day rate, they should have indicated as such. After a few rounds of my explaining the legal implications of violating a signed contract, she relented and only charged the surcharge once.
Hertz is another story. Nearly every time we rent from them we have coupons for free days or free weekends. Every time, when we return the car they charge us the full rate and we have to follow up to get the rate reduced per our coupons.
Considering how each of the car rental companies nickle and dime you, there's no reason you shouldn't fight back if they are anything but completely honest.
By the way, if you have a credit card, make sure you have rental coverage on the card. If you don't have primary coverage from an insurance company they will pay for any damages. If you do have primary coverage, they will cover your deductable. - aelias, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I rented a car only once, from Enterprise. I was driving from Ohio to the upper asscrack of maine for a Phish show. I paid the insurance, since I didn't have full coverage, and it was only a "couple extra dollars". That little Nissan sentra performed flawlessly, there and back.
I would recommend them again, and didn't feel pressured or gouged. They gave me the weekend rate of 25$ even though we left on thursday and came back tuesday. They let me bring it back a day late, no charge. The agent even sent me a handwritten card asking how the show went. Maybe I just got a cool agent. - chetanw, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Interesting comments. I have rented with Enterprise several times over the past 3 years and their service has always been great. Initially, I did not have my own car (and insurance), so I always purchased their (exorbitant) insurance. Once I got my own insurance, their rates were really good.
No matter which store I went to, I got smiling faces, courtesy pickups and drops and no hassles in the final bill amounts. I have also used coupons several times and they were always honored. I don't agree with the Consumerist on this one (too). This confession is just plain old BS.
Also, I stick with my policy of not digging any more Consumerist sensational headlines, so, no Digg. - AxeSwinger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2For it to be fraud the other party would have to suffer damages. Since the rental agency is willing to negotiate price and enter into the contract it's not fraud. Deceptive maybe even a little unethical but not really fraud. Besides, most companies hire entire teams of people (read marketing) with the goal of separating you from your money if I can get an upper hand I'm going to try. While I would never say I was an adjuster I think next time I need to rent a car I will mention that my brother is an adjuster and leave it at that to see what happens. Sure it's deceitful but since I'm working with a business with no "true" pricing policy, everything is negotiable. The reason why companies have price policies like this is because they can make more money from customers who don't deal with them on a daily basis and don't know how the system works so yeah I'm going to negotiate.
- nairanvac, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Dude, bury this article. The Consumerist is just spamming bad "confessions" from various places. Most of these "confessions" are fake, anyways.
- invision, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6Lets just have a permanent link/rss feed from consumerist scroll across the top of digg. i've seen like 6 stories from them in the past 2 days.
- pleaseluggage, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I don't have a car and so don't have auto insurance. I still use the full coverage thinking that they will charge me damage if I damage the car and or another car. I was hit in a rental by another rental and they nailed that poor sod to the wall because he didn't have full coverage on the rental. I called to see what the resolution was and he was dealing with it a year later.
Is full rental coverage recommended if I don't have insurance?
The deposit thing's happened to me when I used a debit card, but no other time. With 3 different agencies. - crawfishsoul, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Can we just all agree to go read the Consumerist when we want to hear about some sad sack whining about how ***** {insert big corporation} is?
- DTJunkie07, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Haha my ex-girlfriend in middle school was the step daughter of one of the vice-presidents of Enterprise Rent-A-Car. Holy ***** did she have some money!! The ironic thing is that my family has never rented from them, we always use Hertz.
- Oofoot, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not sure if it is relevant, but there is tons of information from employees at Enterprise listed here:
http://www.jobvent.com/companyBrowse.php?CompanyID=103 - Tawni, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4Consumerist spam needs to go! Digg is becoming almost all consumerist links.
- rarkai, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2It only covers you if you have full coverage on your other car. I only have liability and am forced to pay insurance every time i get a rental.
- greenvortex, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4None of these tips sound illegal. They sound like "pretexting";) If a company is foolish enough to set prices based on employee mood and perceived importance of the customer, then the consumer should by all means exploit that pricing scheme.
- daborg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Is it really a scam?
If you use your own insurance you have to a) pay the deductible, which can be high, and b) pay higher insurance prices if you ever switch due to having a claim on your name.
Since the time when we crashed a rental without having the insurance waiver, I always get the loss/damage waiver, mainly because it's so much easier in case anything happens. - guillermox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Buncha cheapskates around here.
All that reading and hassle to save a few bucks.
I guess I'll use it next time I have to rent a car. - SanTe, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"I've been reading digg for awhile now and I'm just wondering, what do we not hate, what isn't a scam, and who isn't evil?"
Euraisa. No, Eastasia...
Also, we like the PFJ and *really* hate the Romans. - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+4proof? counterclaims?
- saigumi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"If you have been reading digg for a long time then surely you know the answer to that question is Wii."
I thought it was "Bush sucks!" - jordan314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1All confessions. Yeah I'm freaking sick of them too.
- jordan314, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1off topic: Happy Pi day, BTW! (Like your icon)
- Anrkist, on 10/12/2007, -11/+11How many "Confessions" are going to pop up? I must confess, if you want to make a competitor look bad, just post some fake information about them.
- zepner508, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0why should a service cost more or less for one person than another if not based on something factual like accident history?
- webwidejosh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I've heard ponies bite!
- sentai, on 09/09/2008, -0/+0http://www.r94.info i like it. great job!
- nbcivic, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1that's why you rent a car, get the insurance, and then learn the full capabilities of that tiny cobalt, while keeping it in one piece, of course.
- plamia, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0So... I'm surprised.
- nowayhoseb, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Hertz - OJ's company. Good career move.
- mrmagic07, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0You could go through all the trouble, lie, cheat, scam, etc.
...or you could do the following:
1. Get a Gold Visa card (never pay rental insurance again)
2. Rent from Budget.
I was able to get a Camry for the weekend (10 am Saturday till 10 am Monday) for $57. Not bad at all....and no scamming.
And no...I don't work for Budget, or any other industry remotely related to car rentals. -
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