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Truth be told, no one cares if you satisfy the customer, they care if you sell insurance. Once you get in the company the area managers will tell you this all the time. Expect to spend 12 hours or more and several days at the branch. You will wash cars, if this is a problem then you should move on. It is not uncommon for your assistant manager to "cherry pick" easy insurance sells, which leaves you in the cold in terms of promotion.
I think some employers like that you can handle high stress and ever changing conditions, but it isn't the gold medal on the resume that ERAC makes it out to be. You can gain this experience elsewhere and not have to worry with all the hassle.
Pay is low, but you work overtime so you do ok. Bonuses don't apply until you make it to management. The only other "perk" I can think of is that managers get to take branch cars home with them. Big whoop!
I worked at Enterprise for little less than a year and I think it has taken three years to recover. We had to work 12 hour days, then go to "Happy Hours" where they would pour on the liquor and expect you to get yourself home and get to work by 7:00 a.m. the next day. It reminded me a bit of a cult, they wanted almost ALL of your free time. Not to mention that I gained NO management experience as I was stuck at a Cadillac dealership all day where people who had real jobs looked at me like scum because I would try to sell them insurance they didn't need and were too smart to buy. Again I know the job market in Detroit is really bad right now but I honestly think you could gain more experience in management running a McDonald's.
I think my paycheck was like $900 every two weeks. I didn't get any vacation (I wasn't there long enough) and "flex time" is a freaking joke. I also have to say that the two or three times I had to call into work ( I was really sick!) I got a major guilt trip and had my manager calling my house not checking on me, but making sure I would be in the next day.
Unless you want to stay in the car rental business look elsewhere. You can get more relevant management experience working for a major retailer.
The hours and culture at Enterprise were just too rough for me, I got burned out real quick I will say though that coming out of college I did develop patience and some very good customer service skills.
Low but you can move up and then earn decent bonuses but it still may be too low.
Working at Enterprise was mistake. Don’t expect for the ‘management” experience to have any value anywhere else. You are going to learn a lot about the car rental business and not much else.
You are held liable for many things which are out of your control at Enterprise. Let me explain, a big part of the enterprise pay is a bonus which is based on how much money your store makes. If someone doesn’t return a car or damages a car your store makes less money and so do you. What happens when someone doesn’t return a car? Do you declare it stolen? No. You must knock the door of the person who rented it and ask for the keys back. Even if you have a key and you see the car in their parking lot you must knock on the door of the person who didn’t return the car and ask for the keys. I happened to be in inner-city Atlanta so this occurred often and it never went well. I feared for my safety. It’s a ridiculous policy. This is just one example of some of the unpleasant things you will go through at Enterprise.
You do have the opportunity to move up to branch manager rather quickly but opportunities get slim after that. You will be working extremely long hours. 7-7 on Saturdays is the norm. Unless you are fascinated by renting cars I would avoid this company.
Enterprise was a great place to gain knowledge of the business world. Most people think Enterprise is just a place where employees only rent cars. It is so much more the company teaches you how to run a business while maintaining customer satisfaction.
It is true the hours are long and the work is tideous at times, but for those who can look past the grind of the workplace will have a great experience. ERAC thought me how to market, grow my business, accounting, managerial duties, customer relations, sales techniques, and how to motivate people around me. The best part of it all is I got paid to do it.
For those of you thinking about working at Enterprise you will be asked to do alot and work long hours, but the rewards are worth it.