oxymoron
Aug 22, 11, 1:43 am
I had a bad experience with Sixt in Erlangen (Germany) with my last rental. I had reserved a ECMR with them. They offered me a Mini Cooper with two doors. I asked them if they could give me another car preferably with Diesel and four doors as I had my family and baby with me. Both my requests were flatly denied saying no other car was available. No big deal. I got what I had booked.
Then I was handed over the rental contract and keys of the car. By chance, I had a brief look at the contract and saw the price mentioned on the rental contract was almost 50% more than the online price which I had booked on sixt.de. I pointed this out to the receptionist, who then changed the rental contract with the correct price. After so many good experiences with Sixt, the above small things made me feel a bit circumspect. But maybe it was just my sixth sense. I went to the garage and inspected the car for any possible damages. From an average person's eye I could not see any scratch or damage. The next three days I had a nice time. The car was in a good condition and a pleasure to drive.
Fast forward to today morning :
While returning the car, as usual, I asked the lady at the reception to check the car for damages and provide me with a no damage report. After waiting for about 10 minutes, another Sixt employee / driver went outside to have a look at the car (without me). He came back after about five minutes and said there is a damage on the car. I asked him to show it to me. We both went outside and he pointed me at the rear bumper. I could not see any damage or scratch. Then he pointed me to look at the plastic below this bumper. I still could not see scratch, crack or damage. The point to be noted is that this guy spoke very little English and I speak very little German. So, we went back to the station and I asked the lady (she spoke English) to please come out and have a look at the car and tell me what the damage is. She reluctantly came out and had a look at the car. She also could not see any damage and asked me to show where the damage is. I showed her the plastic below the bumper. Then the driver came and both spoke something in German. What I could understand after looking at the plastic for 10 minutes from all possible angles that maybe it was slightly twisted or bent. However, I am not sure about this. But since they insisted that there is a damage so this is the only possible damage I can think of. I am sure if any average person who does not work for a rental car company is asked to look at the car will also not find any damage. But yeah obviously the rental companies are expert at finding even non existent damages. I asked the lady and driver to please explain me how could I have caused this damage when there was no scratch or crack anywhere. They had no reply to this.
So, I told the lady that this damage has not been done by me. She replied that I will get a letter in next four weeks about this. Then I could claim that this damage is not from me. I asked her why you want me to wait for four weeks when I am telling you now this damage is not from me. She said she will have to check with the people who have rented this car in last four weeks. Then she took my signatures on some smart phone or similar device and gave me back a damage protocol (with my signatures on it) with mention about this damage. I then said to her when I did not accept the damage why did you take my signatures over there. She said that this does not mean I have done the damage. This is just routine procedure. The entire paperwork was in German. So. of course I did not agree to this. I asked her to mention this specifically on this report. Then she again reluctantly wrote something on this protocol in German, which as far as I could understand meant that I did not accept the damage.
My thoughts: Does Sixt really thinks that anyone who has rented the car in last four weeks will accept the damage ? Also, this clearly shows that Sixt does not check the car for damages after every rental. They do it randomly or only when are forced to do it by people like me. Then they blame it on the last person or the person who did not take insurance with them. In my opinion, they have no standard procedure for finding out who is responsible for the damage. Additionally how should I check the car for damages next time I rent ? Should I do a PhD in finding damages which are not visible to naked eye ? Or should I take photographs and then get them signed by the Sixt employees on the day of rental ?
Please note that I did not take any CDW / LDW with Sixt, so they might have found an easy scapegoat in me. I would here also like to mention that the lady at reception today morning tried to be helpful and friendly.
In general ,following has been my experience with Sixt before the above mentioned rental.
Positives:
1. I have rented multiple times in last five months from Sixt and did not have any problems.
2. Most of the Sixt employees till date I interacted with have been polite and helpful. Their customer service is also good.
3. Sixt has an amazing fleet of cars.
4. They gave me a Platinum card matching it to the status I had with an airline. Though, I don't really know if this card is of any real use.
Negatives:
1. Sixt has never been happy when I have asked them to have a look at the car and give me a no damage report after I return the car. I always have to insist them and then they have always made me wait for more than 15 minutes and most of the times their attitude was as if they are doing a favour to me.
Then I was handed over the rental contract and keys of the car. By chance, I had a brief look at the contract and saw the price mentioned on the rental contract was almost 50% more than the online price which I had booked on sixt.de. I pointed this out to the receptionist, who then changed the rental contract with the correct price. After so many good experiences with Sixt, the above small things made me feel a bit circumspect. But maybe it was just my sixth sense. I went to the garage and inspected the car for any possible damages. From an average person's eye I could not see any scratch or damage. The next three days I had a nice time. The car was in a good condition and a pleasure to drive.
Fast forward to today morning :
While returning the car, as usual, I asked the lady at the reception to check the car for damages and provide me with a no damage report. After waiting for about 10 minutes, another Sixt employee / driver went outside to have a look at the car (without me). He came back after about five minutes and said there is a damage on the car. I asked him to show it to me. We both went outside and he pointed me at the rear bumper. I could not see any damage or scratch. Then he pointed me to look at the plastic below this bumper. I still could not see scratch, crack or damage. The point to be noted is that this guy spoke very little English and I speak very little German. So, we went back to the station and I asked the lady (she spoke English) to please come out and have a look at the car and tell me what the damage is. She reluctantly came out and had a look at the car. She also could not see any damage and asked me to show where the damage is. I showed her the plastic below the bumper. Then the driver came and both spoke something in German. What I could understand after looking at the plastic for 10 minutes from all possible angles that maybe it was slightly twisted or bent. However, I am not sure about this. But since they insisted that there is a damage so this is the only possible damage I can think of. I am sure if any average person who does not work for a rental car company is asked to look at the car will also not find any damage. But yeah obviously the rental companies are expert at finding even non existent damages. I asked the lady and driver to please explain me how could I have caused this damage when there was no scratch or crack anywhere. They had no reply to this.
So, I told the lady that this damage has not been done by me. She replied that I will get a letter in next four weeks about this. Then I could claim that this damage is not from me. I asked her why you want me to wait for four weeks when I am telling you now this damage is not from me. She said she will have to check with the people who have rented this car in last four weeks. Then she took my signatures on some smart phone or similar device and gave me back a damage protocol (with my signatures on it) with mention about this damage. I then said to her when I did not accept the damage why did you take my signatures over there. She said that this does not mean I have done the damage. This is just routine procedure. The entire paperwork was in German. So. of course I did not agree to this. I asked her to mention this specifically on this report. Then she again reluctantly wrote something on this protocol in German, which as far as I could understand meant that I did not accept the damage.
My thoughts: Does Sixt really thinks that anyone who has rented the car in last four weeks will accept the damage ? Also, this clearly shows that Sixt does not check the car for damages after every rental. They do it randomly or only when are forced to do it by people like me. Then they blame it on the last person or the person who did not take insurance with them. In my opinion, they have no standard procedure for finding out who is responsible for the damage. Additionally how should I check the car for damages next time I rent ? Should I do a PhD in finding damages which are not visible to naked eye ? Or should I take photographs and then get them signed by the Sixt employees on the day of rental ?
Please note that I did not take any CDW / LDW with Sixt, so they might have found an easy scapegoat in me. I would here also like to mention that the lady at reception today morning tried to be helpful and friendly.
In general ,following has been my experience with Sixt before the above mentioned rental.
Positives:
1. I have rented multiple times in last five months from Sixt and did not have any problems.
2. Most of the Sixt employees till date I interacted with have been polite and helpful. Their customer service is also good.
3. Sixt has an amazing fleet of cars.
4. They gave me a Platinum card matching it to the status I had with an airline. Though, I don't really know if this card is of any real use.
Negatives:
1. Sixt has never been happy when I have asked them to have a look at the car and give me a no damage report after I return the car. I always have to insist them and then they have always made me wait for more than 15 minutes and most of the times their attitude was as if they are doing a favour to me.