Manager - Manager Enterprise Mobility Employee Review

Working at Enterprise has some major downsides! The company is overboard about costs to maintain the insanely high operating margins, which is why upper managers make what you will in a year in one day to even hours! The corporate cost policies are the real reason for everything wrong and bad at Enterprise. Enterprise has the following problems because of corporate hoarding profits from unrealistic cost allocations: bad locations in places where they should not be to save money or un-refurbished branches to keep costs down; lower vehicle classes with less options than competing companies because Enterprise saves money by -purchasing and selling vehicles in bulk - normally the stock editions, over-classified, (i.e) cars that should be considered sized as standard sedans or SUVs are classified as full-size - try dealing with six highly upset foreigners traveling for the holiday who have a cruise/plane to catch who were shown a picture of a suburban on Enterprise's website and had the expectation of having one knowing they and their luggage fit from prior experiences, when you only have a GMC Acadia that the customer will not fit in because the company said it is the same car class, fulfills the reservation and is all you needed and to "make it happen", the over riding theme at Enterprise is to "make it happen" when in reality it cannot happen and when it does not it is always your fault and problem; dirty cars because they will not pay for full time help when they should or attract help that is anything but competent; the constant need to cater to bottom pricing tiers of the car rental industry to maintain/gain market share and be an industry price leader - "$9.99 Weekend Special and Insurance and Body Shop rentals." the company believes all $9.99 Weekend Special should purchase Damage Waiver because the rate is so cheap, when in reality the $9.99 rate attracts the type of super-cheap customer who does not want Damage Waiver to begin or should not be sold it because they are an inherent danger. The same type of customer always gets upset about coverages being over-offered three times before getting to leave in the vehicle - the customer will always say they are completely dissatisfied during their survey, even if you give them a new convertible. Similarly, Insurance and Body Shop customers are already upset about their car malfunctioning or being in an accident and they are almost alway told mistruths by body shops and insurance companies to get their business (i.e.) your rental car is waiting, or Enterprise is on site, when the body shop or insurance company has not even made a reservation and Enterprise is 30 minutes to an hour away in traffic and has no cars and is not making reservations because it is already overbooked, all the while the company expects you to up-sale them into a more expensive and un-necessary vehicle; a significant number bad employees because of the initial low pay and eventual requirement to manage and sale without being compensated fair commissions attracts some bad candidates not meant or prepared for "real sales and management." Many times the bad element gets promoted and cannot manage or sale but are "protected" by corporate. Corporate does not initially care if the bad managers act unethical and cannot manager or sale, besides once you are terminated their unethically created performance will be used as the standard to beat even if they were terminated for being unethical. In other words, the new manager replacing them will not get paid commission unless they beat last years sales numbers, even if the previous manager cheated to perform and was terminated. It is this specific policy that corporate used to create environments during my employment where mangers were constantly acting unethically to create performances and corporate would initially look the other way. Eventually, when it was convenient, the managers would be systematically and strategically terminated to inflate corporate profits and the positions would be left open for a month to a year while everyone else at the branch level carried the work load. The costs go down for corporate because of one less managers' salary and the increased probability that next year corporate will not have to pay commissions to the new manager, because the numbers were inflated from unethical actions and will be difficult to impossible to beat. Meanwhile your work load and responsibility will triple and your pay stays the same, kiss your lunches and evenings good by. I personally worked in a branch that either lacked a Branch Manager or Assistant Manager for over a year and a half because it was so important of a branch and corporate could not find the "right person." If your the "right manager," then there is not really the right person because anyone can be managed to come early, stay late, work hard and push for sales. Being a manager at Enterprise does not take an educated, intelligent and trained person. Enterprise likes to present managers as being educated and gentleman like to the protect their public image and place in the psyche of the American consumer, when in reality many managers are ravenous savages ready to do anything to push and confuse someone into a car they did not want or contract that they did not understand. By the time I left the company my previous branch actually had three and sometimes four managers and more employees. Corporate had finally switched an upper manager because of their near "ZERO" retention rate for employees, with someone who had a "100%" retention rate so their retention and sales numbers could be averaged and the company save itself expensive terminations. Corporate managers have non-compete agreements with salary guarantees for 2 years to not compete at Sixt, Hertz, Dollar, Thrifty, etc. The new corporate manager finally hired an appropriate staff level, by then I was out of that branch and I did not benefit, instead I had to compete at another understaffed location. No one could really work like me or and our team did at that time, none of which are still with the company predominately because of getting burned out and sick and tired of corporate "BS." Corporate precipitates incompetence, administrative abuse, corporate politics, favoritism, you name it, everything that you would never think a big company like Enterprise would have in any location or capacity but does because it is a by-product of producing profit unethically. Be warned, the company attracts talentless people who will do anything to try and compete once they get a deal. For instance, I will always remember being a trainee and the branch gas card not working while trying to go fill up a 30+ gallon suburban at about $5.00 a gallon at an expensive gas station. Enterprise has an division that contracts with movie studios, sports teams and the like, which is supposed to be easy revenue for the branch because the rentals are usually twice as expensive as retail and always require full tanks of gas. The suburban was for a high profile person and it needed to be at a hotel where the head manager and concierge were waiting and it needed to be perfect. The gas card probably did not work because the bill was not paid, or it looked like someone was stealing gas from the data, so corporate deactivates the card and asks the manager to pay for gas out of pocket and then submit the expenses for reimbursement. The manager demanded I pay and still deliver the suburban. The money was not the issue it was the principle, whether it was $1 or $10-billion! Why was I was being forced to effectively give an interest free, off the books loan to one of the largest private companies in America for one of its' most critical needs, gasoline? The answer, corporate profits and corporate executives pay. I found out later that the managers and even corporate either wait to process or trash receipts you turn in, in hopes that you did not make a copy and you will not be able to be reimbursed or that you will not notice not being reimbursed on your check. Not to mention, it adds "pure profit" to the books, because it was already costed into the rate and then never actually expensed. You should have seen the look on my managers face during the discussion about not being reimbursed, when I whipped out the copy of my receipt, the guilty I will have to deal with this look was unforgettable. Why does corporate facilitate this system? Multiply a few hundred of dollars of monthly expenses times all the managers and up at Enterprise and you will have a big number, a big number that never goes on the books as anything but an expense. When in reality it should involve a revolving credit facility at a financial institution, major liability and an expense account. A public company would not be able to do this legally, but Enterprise is a private company and does not have to answer to the public or the SEC. In a similar incident to the gas card was when the branch vacuum, one of the most critical tools necessary to clean and re-rent vehicles, broke while I was using it one morning. Apparently someone kicked it in anger and it was partially broken when I started using it to vacuum a car in a hurry and I did not notice. The manager blamed me and said I needed to go buy a vacuum at lunch with my own money and they were serious. You can imagine what happened right? I did not buy a vacuum at lunch with my own money, it was their responsibility not mine. Enterprise has unrealistic expectations and standards, especially time frames for washing and re-gassing cars, because everyone is trying to beat last years numbers. Wash areas look like something you would see in a OSHA employee training video as examples of what not to do to prevent work place accidents. Many wash areas are actually hidden in garages and basements somewhere to prevent authorities from knowing they are washing cars in a place not meant for car washing, like hiding behind movable tarps in the dark, back corner basement of a parking garage where no authority thinks or knows they have a car washing operation. Enterprise claims it only washes each car once a month to the to avoid environment liability, which is a total lie. Enterprise rents cars to the entire Federal Government, specifically law enforcement agencies for undercover purposes and you will learn the government cares about its contractors and treats them leniently. Enterprise does not have the same commissionable pay structure it used to have back in the day and was the reason why it every attracted anyone with competitive talent and ambition. The salary when I started was 30K yearly for 59 hour weeks, off major holidays, 7 days paid vacation accrued after a year, affordable company health insurance, 401k match, and profit sharing. You should have vacation your first year, big companies with revenue usually give employees first year vacation, but Enterprise has so much turnover they cannot afford to allow first year employees to have major benefits. The real, fair minimum wage was thought to be and raised in some places to $15.00. If you crunch the numbers, then you will see that you are getting shafted in terms of labor and revenue created by your sales. You will realize practically immediately how much profit you generate, which is why the company does not pay commissions until you are a manager. Commissionable pay was stopped and then halved by Enterprise at the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008, the excuse was profits and to afford purchasing Alamo and National to maintain a competitive advantage and begin competing with Hertz in airport markets. The commissionable pays was never reinstated after the end of the Great Recession in 2008 to the old pay plan, which paid twice as much commission as the new pay plan. Over the course of the several years I was with the company every single "old pay plan" manager was systematically terminated to create additional revenue to perform. If the old pay plan manager makes 30k in commissions and they will only have to pay you on the new pay plan 10k, then the old manager is probably a target for a strategic termination. It sounds ridiculous, but it really was happening to everyone and the person behind it, who always bragged/talked about terminating people was also eventually terminated. I personally worked at a branch that generated a $1Million + plus in net profits, and I was generating around $300,000-$350,000 of it on my own. The branch was so run down people used to think we were going out of business and feel bad for us and our work condition. Most customers I talked to did not believe Enterprise could have significant earnings and profits, the public is very fooled about Enterprise. When I say run down I mean, a parking lot that you or your customer could break a ankle in from stepping in a cavernous water filled pothole created from washing cars. Meanwhile the property owner will not fix it because they expect Enterprise to help cover the unexpected damages. How long do you think asphalt lasts, a few months instead of years under a major branches wash bay. In reality, the revenues all goes to corporate through back-flush costing, per car amounts dictated monthly by corporate that determine your profits. You make millions in revenues and maybe even a million in profits, but corporate says you did not profit and will not be paid commission because of last years numbers, or be afforded an upgraded branch, new equipment, more help or basically anything that might help you perform or lessen the difficulties of achieving a performance. Meanwhile all that revenue flows right out too corporate. You are expected to immediately become practically omniscient as a sales person and outperform others who have already been with the company for months and even years and know the ins & outs better. Granted you are simply asking customers to purchase vehicle upgrades and coverages, but that is the you side, what about the "them" side. The pressurized up or out sales environment makes most people be unethical and shady, making it more difficult to impossible to perform unless you play by their rules, which could result in termination. Performance is not simply renting one more car and selling on one more contract, you have to actually outperform your peers on a Sales Matrix that favors certain branches and can be manipulated by managers and the administration. The corporate administration does not care unless you are a mindless, kiss-up, who they personally like, who is willing to do anything to co-workers and customers to earn them more profits. Promotions are oftentimes based upon subjective favoritism or politics, rather than performance. I broke performance records on a consecutive month-to-month basis at a branch that I was originally sent to because it was failing, was slated for closure and "needed the best person" according to management. I earned perfect ESQI - customer service, the highest Additional Daily Rate, highest Insurance Rate, the highest Up-Grade premium, the highest Damage Waiver Sales, highest Third-Party Liability Sales, highest Road-Side Assistance Sales, I had the highest Revenue Per Car, the highest Income Per Car. People I did not even know from across the country were calling my branch to ask me what was I doing to perform, why had I not promoted? It was becoming all to obvious that bad managers who do not like you personally can and will prevent you from succeeding irrespective of your performance and corporate policies. I was a top-performer by any standard of measure at any level of measurement. I gave it my all, proved myself and was still not promoted and every one knew it and wondered why. I interviewed for several positions, and should have been promoted. One interview deserves mentioning, it was for a highly competitive position and my pay would potentially triple. The interview was partially conduct by a "protected" manager who had the final say and had seriously been given their position because their immediate manager was promoted and they were automatically given their bosses position with no competing interviews as a part of corporate policy. The other interviewing manager who did not have the final say had actually earned their position and was a performer. I would have been working directly for the other manager and their performance would be more influenced than the "protected" higher manager. The other manage basically said I had the most outstanding sales ever and began telling me about the position, expectations, when it would begin, etc. It was awesome considering they were one of the top performers and successes in the history of the company telling me you are killing it, well done, here is what your new position is and the expectations. The "protected" manager back-tracked the whole discussion after the fact and actually asked why a current manager had not promoted me and used it all to override the decision. A total slight because almost everyone knew I was performing, deserved a promotion and I was not being treated fairly. I had no real answer other than to say it is an utter mystery to me and everyone and it must be a personal reason because my performance mandates promoting based upon corporate standards, please let me know once you find out! The boss, the "protected" manager with the final say so, actions were so awkward and offensive to the other manager and their decision to move forward in the interview discussion, (i.e.) promote me, that they began searching for another company and quit a few weeks later. I finally washed and put away my Enterprise Holdings jersey after interviewing and being denied opportunities waiting for a promotion that never came irrespective of my comparable performance and time with the company. If you can outperform unethical and shady competing managers at Enterprise without being unethical, then you are seriously talented at sales and management and there are incredibly better opportunities hunting for you everyday and everywhere.