SIXT Portugal - Make sure you have full insurance
Mar 27, 2016, 8:52 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 19
SIXT Portugal - UPDATED: Responsive Customer Serivce
--------------------------UPDATE MAY 21st 2016------------------------------
The Original post below was written after my travel. However, I have to credit SIXT with the fact that after making it clear on this forum (and in customer feedback) that I was not happy, SIXT investigated the situation - and wrote a nice reply to me with an apology and decided to refund the charges below.
So essentially I have now got the rental without any charges for damages to the car (as I believe is fair as I did not damage the car). I think this shows excellent SIXT customer service on a central level - and the fact that they are aware of an issue.
I did not delete the post below as this is a factual experience - and as I have not gone back to Portugal and rented from SIXT again I don't know if there has been an improvement; however personally my position will be that I will continue to use SIXT as my preferred car rental agency.
-------------------------------------ORIGINAL POST------------------------------------
I got a nice car (200€ for a BMW 3-series for 10 days) - but what you save in rental fee, you pay in damages if you don't have full insurance.
Basically got the car late evening, with a long list of damages (10+ damages) already. Tried to check most of them - but seems I overlooked at least 2. After 10 days (and around 1000 km driving) returning the car and getting told
a) A small scratch (clearly due to the colour, and older scracth) would cost arond 150€
b) A small chip in the window - as the chip was is outside the visible field ("in the black of the frame") they charged me for a full window replacement.
The only reason I do not call this out as a scam is that yes by the law they are allowed to do so - if there are scratches on the car that was not marked when taking the car out it is by definition the renters problem; but it does mean you have to either check every inch of the car - or have full insurance.
However, as a very careful driver I am 100% sure that I did not have any damages. Now the scratch (150€) may have happened while parked (although unlikely due to the color of the scratch) - but claiming 650-700€ for a minor scratch in the window of the car outside the field visible from the inside is simply not OK. Funny thing was that they noted that there was several scratches in the window but they only claimed this one on me (the other was not noted when I took the car out).
So what you have is a car with 25000 km on the clock and a long list of scratches - including small scratches in the window. Now I rent the car, drive it for 1000 km and suddenly the one scratch in the window that (in the black part) is my responsibility and I will be charged for the full price of replacing the window - while the other scratches in the window is not noted neither when I took out the car nor when I brought it in.
Now I do have insurance (from my credit card) so I am not personally going to have any damages on this - however, I am just annoyed with the fact that they offer low prices and then seemingly make up for the low rental fee by very relaxed attitude when handing out the car and a very careful charging of any dent or scratch by return.
So in short: if you rent here make sure you are insured. FULLY.
Let me also add a final observation: when getting the car the very nice lady in the rental counter mentioned that they had only recently started again due to problems with the Franchise and consequently SIXT Portugal had closed and now started up again. I can only say that unless the strategy with the returns are changed I suspect that it will have to change again - I do not understand how SIXT (who is generally my preferred rental company) can have such an operation under it's name in Portugal.
The Original post below was written after my travel. However, I have to credit SIXT with the fact that after making it clear on this forum (and in customer feedback) that I was not happy, SIXT investigated the situation - and wrote a nice reply to me with an apology and decided to refund the charges below.
So essentially I have now got the rental without any charges for damages to the car (as I believe is fair as I did not damage the car). I think this shows excellent SIXT customer service on a central level - and the fact that they are aware of an issue.
I did not delete the post below as this is a factual experience - and as I have not gone back to Portugal and rented from SIXT again I don't know if there has been an improvement; however personally my position will be that I will continue to use SIXT as my preferred car rental agency.
-------------------------------------ORIGINAL POST------------------------------------
I got a nice car (200€ for a BMW 3-series for 10 days) - but what you save in rental fee, you pay in damages if you don't have full insurance.
Basically got the car late evening, with a long list of damages (10+ damages) already. Tried to check most of them - but seems I overlooked at least 2. After 10 days (and around 1000 km driving) returning the car and getting told
a) A small scratch (clearly due to the colour, and older scracth) would cost arond 150€
b) A small chip in the window - as the chip was is outside the visible field ("in the black of the frame") they charged me for a full window replacement.
The only reason I do not call this out as a scam is that yes by the law they are allowed to do so - if there are scratches on the car that was not marked when taking the car out it is by definition the renters problem; but it does mean you have to either check every inch of the car - or have full insurance.
However, as a very careful driver I am 100% sure that I did not have any damages. Now the scratch (150€) may have happened while parked (although unlikely due to the color of the scratch) - but claiming 650-700€ for a minor scratch in the window of the car outside the field visible from the inside is simply not OK. Funny thing was that they noted that there was several scratches in the window but they only claimed this one on me (the other was not noted when I took the car out).
So what you have is a car with 25000 km on the clock and a long list of scratches - including small scratches in the window. Now I rent the car, drive it for 1000 km and suddenly the one scratch in the window that (in the black part) is my responsibility and I will be charged for the full price of replacing the window - while the other scratches in the window is not noted neither when I took out the car nor when I brought it in.
Now I do have insurance (from my credit card) so I am not personally going to have any damages on this - however, I am just annoyed with the fact that they offer low prices and then seemingly make up for the low rental fee by very relaxed attitude when handing out the car and a very careful charging of any dent or scratch by return.
So in short: if you rent here make sure you are insured. FULLY.
Let me also add a final observation: when getting the car the very nice lady in the rental counter mentioned that they had only recently started again due to problems with the Franchise and consequently SIXT Portugal had closed and now started up again. I can only say that unless the strategy with the returns are changed I suspect that it will have to change again - I do not understand how SIXT (who is generally my preferred rental company) can have such an operation under it's name in Portugal.
Last edited by THN; May 20, 2016 at 9:51 pm Reason: -
Mar 28, 2016, 2:43 am
#2
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 201
The only reason I do not call this out as a scam is that yes by the law they are allowed to do so - if there are scratches on the car that was not marked when taking the car out it is by definition the renters problem; but it does mean you have to either check every inch of the car - or have full insurance.
Some things for people to ponder instead of accepting something "by law" all the time:
It's contract law. I'm not a lawyer but it's important to know the area of law if you wish to fight the contract. We're not talking criminal law.
Is it wholly the renters 'problem' if:
- you are only given the option to inspect the car in a badly-lit garage
- you are coerced by agent in to signing a contract because they emphatically state that there's no damage (i.e. deception/fraud) and there's no reason to check it "because it's new"
- they state they only care about a certain size of damage at the beginning and change their mind at the end
- the company refuses to give you a receipt for the return of the vehicle (thus having some evidence in the cases where damage happens after the return)?
- the vehicle is dripping wet and damage is not visible?
There is a big push by many big companies to get you to agree to the state of the vehicle on the same contract without viewing the vehicle.
I like to call things what they are. If someone deceives me about the state of the vehicle in order to profit from the deductible, I'm going to call it fraud.
Mar 30, 2016, 3:23 am
#3
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: LIS/ATL/other
Programs: UA 1K, Avis PC, Hertz PC, Sixt Plat, Marriott Gold, HH Silver
Posts: 1,983
I have rented twice from Sixt in Portugal, and I was amazed at the small blemishes they marked when I took out the car. Small scratches in obscure places that I never would have seen, and had to look hard just to identify what they had marked when taking out the car. I only looked for those scratches because they were explicitly marked. Surface scratches less than 1 cm in the wheel rims? Wow. I can't even begin to imagine what I missed.
If their computer had those scratches recorded, it's because someone had noted them upon closing some previous contract. That is some meticulous inspection on return. I was a little leery of what they would find upon my return (as I did not take their insurance) but both times the return inspection was very cursory and they did not charge me any damage (not that I caused any).
In both cases I rented from off-airport locations. One was returned off-airport, the other was returned to LIS airport. Both pickup and return experiences were similar: thorough record of damage on pickup, cursory look at return. Strange, but consistently strange.
If their computer had those scratches recorded, it's because someone had noted them upon closing some previous contract. That is some meticulous inspection on return. I was a little leery of what they would find upon my return (as I did not take their insurance) but both times the return inspection was very cursory and they did not charge me any damage (not that I caused any).
In both cases I rented from off-airport locations. One was returned off-airport, the other was returned to LIS airport. Both pickup and return experiences were similar: thorough record of damage on pickup, cursory look at return. Strange, but consistently strange.
Mar 30, 2016, 3:37 am
#4
Company Representative, Sixt Customer Service
Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 469
Hi,
If you would like to private message me with your reservation details I would be more than happy to review your claim and assist in any way that I can.
Best Regards
Pete
If you would like to private message me with your reservation details I would be more than happy to review your claim and assist in any way that I can.
Best Regards
Pete
I got a ice car (200€ for a BMW 3-series for 10 days) - but what you save in rental fee, you pay in damages if you don't have full insurance.
Basically got the car late evening, with a long list of damages (10+ damages) already. Tried to check most of them - but seems I overlooked at least 2. After 10 days (and around 1000 km driving) returning the car and getting told
a) A small scratch (clearly due to the colour, and older scracth) would cost arond 150€
b) A small chip in the window - as the chip was is outside the visible field ("in the black of the frame") they charged me for a full window replacement.
The only reason I do not call this out as a scam is that yes by the law they are allowed to do so - if there are scratches on the car that was not marked when taking the car out it is by definition the renters problem; but it does mean you have to either check every inch of the car - or have full insurance.
However, as a very careful driver I am 100% sure that I did not have any damages. Now the scratch (150€) may have happened while parked (although unlikely due to the color of the scratch) - but claiming 650-700€ for a minor scratch in the window of the car outside the field visible from the inside is simply not OK. Funny thing was that they noted that there was several scratches in the window but they only claimed this one on me (the other was not noted when I took the car out).
So what you have is a car with 25000 km on the clock and a long list of scratches - including small scratches in the window. Now I rent the car, drive it for 1000 km and suddenly the one scratch in the window that (in the black part) is my responsibility and I will be charged for the full price of replacing the window - while the other scratches in the window is not noted neither when I took out the car nor when I brought it in.
Now I do have insurance (from my credit card) so I am not personally going to have any damages on this - however, I am just annoyed with the fact that they offer low prices and then seemingly make up for the low rental fee by very relaxed attitude when handing out the car and a very careful charging of any dent or scratch by return.
So in short: if you rent here make sure you are insured. FULLY.
Let me also add a final observation: when getting the car the very nice lady in the rental counter mentioned that they had only recently started again due to problems with the Franchise and consequently SIXT Portugal had closed and now started up again. I can only say that unless the strategy with the returns are changed I suspect that it will have to change again - I do not understand how SIXT (who is generally my preferred rental company) can have such an operation under it's name in Portugal.
Basically got the car late evening, with a long list of damages (10+ damages) already. Tried to check most of them - but seems I overlooked at least 2. After 10 days (and around 1000 km driving) returning the car and getting told
a) A small scratch (clearly due to the colour, and older scracth) would cost arond 150€
b) A small chip in the window - as the chip was is outside the visible field ("in the black of the frame") they charged me for a full window replacement.
The only reason I do not call this out as a scam is that yes by the law they are allowed to do so - if there are scratches on the car that was not marked when taking the car out it is by definition the renters problem; but it does mean you have to either check every inch of the car - or have full insurance.
However, as a very careful driver I am 100% sure that I did not have any damages. Now the scratch (150€) may have happened while parked (although unlikely due to the color of the scratch) - but claiming 650-700€ for a minor scratch in the window of the car outside the field visible from the inside is simply not OK. Funny thing was that they noted that there was several scratches in the window but they only claimed this one on me (the other was not noted when I took the car out).
So what you have is a car with 25000 km on the clock and a long list of scratches - including small scratches in the window. Now I rent the car, drive it for 1000 km and suddenly the one scratch in the window that (in the black part) is my responsibility and I will be charged for the full price of replacing the window - while the other scratches in the window is not noted neither when I took out the car nor when I brought it in.
Now I do have insurance (from my credit card) so I am not personally going to have any damages on this - however, I am just annoyed with the fact that they offer low prices and then seemingly make up for the low rental fee by very relaxed attitude when handing out the car and a very careful charging of any dent or scratch by return.
So in short: if you rent here make sure you are insured. FULLY.
Let me also add a final observation: when getting the car the very nice lady in the rental counter mentioned that they had only recently started again due to problems with the Franchise and consequently SIXT Portugal had closed and now started up again. I can only say that unless the strategy with the returns are changed I suspect that it will have to change again - I do not understand how SIXT (who is generally my preferred rental company) can have such an operation under it's name in Portugal.