Sixt - Sixt car rentals Orlando Florida

After 55 years of work, my first dream vacation marred by sixt. Instead of what should have been $25/day it cost over $1000 for 10 or 11 days. We booked a VW EOS convertible with 4,000 miles in Orlando as part of a A Airlines booking. The garfish orange and black neon lights should have been a warning. We caught the female agents charging $231 extra for duplicate liability insurance. When I questiond them about comp and collision the agent said she didn't really understand it. Even tho shocked at the inept and slow shuffle around service we made ourselves be positive and drove 61 miles to Daytona Beach. We stopped by Walmart for provisions for wife's bosses opulent beach house next to the white sands. Wife came back and the German marvel of precision engineering wouldn't work. We twisted the wheel with foot on break while turning on ignition. The elec system was frozen. AAA sent mechanic who found battery OK but stated the master race's car was kaput and he gave up. We called VW USA and VW in Vegas with no help. Called SixT who said they would send replacement car on tow truck, for 700$. We were stunned. There was a Hertz branch a block or so from the stalled car with 4,000 miles on it. At 1am tired with and diabetes sick from stress we towed the car and rode with the kind tow operator who liked to never got magnetic stop lifts attached to the plastic marvel of engineering. At 3am we got a SUV after asking them to pay the $331 tow bill. They refused and the dimwit agent who 3 hrs earlier said no one knew how to fix it stated "all you had to do was twist wheel, foot on brake while turning ignition", when we told her several people tried she tried to blame the tow truck operator. If that wasn't enough she charged us to top up with 3 gals gas for $28. We argued for a receipt which she finally gave us. I guess we were supposed to push their car to a gas station and top it off. When we argued incessantly 10 days later for a bill, it clearly shows a charge for any kind of incurred charges. I have a barrel of ink and I am sending BBB Florida, Atty Gen Florida and the worlds traveling public on the Internet the $22/day auto turned out to be about $100 per day nightmare and a day of our vacation recovering. I hope VISA charges them back. They should pay the $331 tow bil and forgive 1/2 the rent charge and the asinine $28 gas top off bill. If they make it right, I will contact this forum and Trip Advisor forum. People are already dropping them in favor of major rental car companies responding to my posts. A Airlines said they never heard of customers towing broken rentals. Thx for hearing me out and look at their other online complaints. Being a novice traveler I had no idea this could happen. Doug Embrey, Atty, Tulsa OK USA

As this is not a trip report I will move it on to the Sixt forum.


Moomba
Moderator: Trip Reports

may I ask why you didnt read the manual of the car?

Used SIXT in Miami and never had an issue with them. The car rented, with its exotic systems, seems to be the underlying issue.

may I ask why you didnt read the manual of the car?

May I ask why you didn't read the OP?

OP said that he did try the trick/method you are referring to and it failed. Further, he said that multiple people tried to perform the operation and it failed.

May I ask why the Sixt employee did not read the manual?

If there is specific information in the manual regarding a known issue/feature where the car will not start, Sixt should have someone (an agent or call center employee who handles breakdowns/emergency assistance) who would be able to convey the information to a renter who didn't / wouldn't / couldn't read the manual. Further, when someone rents the car, an employee should ask if they are familiar with the model and relay the information, as this is not a common brand of rental car in the USA.

Finally, does Sixt actually put the manuals in the car? If so, kudos to them. I've never driven a rental car that had a manual in the glovebox.

Used SIXT in Miami and never had an issue with them. The car rented, with its exotic systems, seems to be the underlying issue.

There seems to be a huge customer service issue on top of the strange 'quirks' of the car. I am shocked at the difference between the OP's experience and my experience with Hertz when I suffered an electrical system failure in a rental car. :eek: Hertz had a tow truck out to us in an hour, took us to the nearest Hertz location (which was not our original rental location), the location actually stayed open a few minutes late to accommodate us, and there was absolutely no hassle - they just gave us the keys to a similar car, and when we returned it to our original location, is was a perfectly smooth transaction.

Good Afternoon Mr Embrey,

My name is Gemma and I work for Sixt UK Customer Service Team. I am sorry to hear of your disappointment and would love the opportunity to look into your issues further.

Please could you email me (gemma.abdrabou@sixt.com) some further details of your rental. Ideally the reservation number or rental agreement number or if this is not available the date which you collected the vehicle and the full name of the main driver. I will then speak with the branch to get some feedback and come back to you further.

Thank you for posting and giving Sixt the chance to resolve your query. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kind Regards,
Gemma - Sixt UK Customer Service Team

Sounds horrible, they should have sent a tow truck to you and arranged for you to get another car all at their expense especially after AAA couldnt get it to work either. Dont hate German cars though, most of them are great! You have every right to be upset at the rental agency though!