The one-day car rental was supposed to be free, a perk of servicing your car at Subaru of Schaumburg.
For Eileen Hennessy, the so-called perk cost nearly $3,000.
The retired schoolteacher’s tale of expensive rental-car woe began May 23, when she took her Subaru Legacy to the Schaumburg dealership for service. An employee from the dealership dropped her at a nearby Enterprise Rent-A-Car with a coupon for a free rental.
Although Subaru was paying for the rental, Enterprise required Hennessy to secure the vehicle with her credit card.
By the time Hennessy returned to the dealership that night to pick up her car, Enterprise was closed. Hennessy said she was told by an employee at the dealership to leave the car there—someone from Subaru of Schaumburg would return the car for her.
Hennessy said she drove the rental car into the service area, handed the keys to a Subaru employee, then drove home in her Legacy.
More than a month later, Enterprise called her and asked when she planned to return the rental.
Shocked, Hennessy said she had returned it to Subaru of Schaumburg May 23.
Enterprise finally found the car on July 2—at a tow lot in Rolling Meadows. The rental-car agency told her she owed it for the tow, 37 days of storage fees and more than a month of rental charges.
The grand total: $2,871.
The Problem Solver called Subaru’s headquarters in Cherry Hill, N.J., the dealership in Schaumburg and Enterprise Rent-A-Car.
Subaru, both at the corporate level and locally, denied any wrongdoing.
“The dealer believed the customer had returned the car to Enterprise, which is what they’re told to do and is normal practice,” said Michael McHale, a Subaru spokesman. “The customer says she handed the keys over, but can’t say who to. Our dealership says she parked the car in the wrong lot.”
Enterprise took a different approach. After researching the case, it agreed to refund all of Hennessy’s money.
“We are not holding her responsible for this,” said Lisa Martini, an Enterprise spokeswoman. She said her company will work directly with Subaru to decide how much each company will pay of the $2,871.
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