Sixt Munich experience - overcharged for rental vehicle
Jun 24, 2016, 5:51 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 8
Sixt Munich experience - overcharged for rental vehicle
Apologies - this post is very long!
I planned a trip last month starting out from Munich, going around the Austrian Lakes and ending up in Vienna and needed a rental car for pick-up at Munic and drop-off in Vienna.
I had initially reserved a SVMR (Ford Galaxy, VW Sharan, Ford S-Max) for pick-up at Sixt Munich Stachus branch. The expected rental price was EUR 823.88. However our group increased in the number of persons and with the additional adult and extra baggage, I decided to look for a larger vehicle. I found the Mercedes-Benz Vito would be more suitable in size and luggage space and went ahead and made a reservation for Mecedes Vito FVAR group car for the same period and number of days at EUR 1,321,17. Ahead of time I had also filled in all the details to ensure speedy processing of the rental on the day of pick-up.
I received a call on the afternoon before the rental from the Sixt Munich Stachus office who wanted to confirm if I wanted the Mercedes Vito as I had 2 bookings(SVMR & FVAR) on record. I told the agent I definitely wanted the Mercedes and she could go ahead and cancel the other reservation for the SVMR group. I was impressed the office had called me to confirm which car I wanted and was assured it would be ready for me in the morning.
I went early in the morning the next day to pick up the Mercedes Vito and gave the agent the reservation printout. She checked the computer and after 5 minutes told me there was a problem. She said there was no Mercedes Vito available and she was searching the system to see if there is one in any other location in Munich. After another 10 minutes and some calls, she informed me there was no Mercedes Vito available. She asked me if I really required a 9-seater as they only had 7 seater cars available. I explained the passenger and bags situation; the 7 seater would be too small to accommodate all persons and bags. I asked why would they have called me yesterday to confirm and then not have the Mercedes Vito available? She said there is a 9-seater VW but unfortunately it is not permitted to be dropped off in Austria. She checked again and made some more calls and said there is nothing else available. As we had no other choice, we agreed reluctantly. However the agent made another call and then she said her branch Manager had agreed to allow the VW to be dropped off in Austria. I asked her if there is a difference in the rate and she said it is around EUR 1,100. As this had taken quite some time I agreed and was happy there would now be a 9-seater van available.
I received the contract copy for the VW Cavelle for EUR 1,176.22 and the keys and walked to the car park. When I saw the van, I went
it was a VW Caravelle. I had looked at this van online but disregarded hiring it as it seemed too bulky and the interior did not look that comfortable. I had chosen the Mercedes on the basis that it was less bulky and more luxurious for all passengers. However, I did not want to waste any more time and tried to see if it was suitable. My brother questioned if it was really too large and I had to agree with him since we were going on some smaller country roads in Austria. I was not certain if I would be comfortable driving such a big vehicle on smaller roads (I was right not to accept it - it would have been a nightmare navigating the mountain and small back rounds with the VW Carvelle).
We decided to return to the Sixt office and ask them for the 7-seater we would have to do our best and squeeze everything in. I was extremely conscious of the time it had been nearly an hour since we started and the other passengers were waiting for us to pick them up at the hotel. So we rushed back and asked told the agent the VW was way too big and asked her to give us the 7-seater. She said only the Seat Alhambra MP was available. We had no choice but to ask her to give us the keys to that as quickly as possible. She gave me a new contract copy and the keys. I had no time to ask her to recalculate the price again as it took her over 10 minutes last time.
When I returned home I checked the reservation I had made for a SVMR, the cost was EUR 823.88 compared to EUR 1,176.22 I was charged. Therefore I have been overcharged by EUR 352.34. As well has been overcharged, the incident wasted an hour of our time meaning we started much later than expected and the whole journey was very uncomfortable for all the passengers as we had bags on the floor, restricting legroom. The person at the back drew the shortest straw as she had to hold on to the suitcases next to her to stop it from falling on top of her.
I wrote to [email protected] asking them to refund the overcharge and compensation for the inconvenience and wasted time. They replied very quickly offering USD 50 for the inconvenience but they sent me a reservation for the VW saying it matches the invoice of EUR 1,176.22. The issue is they made the reservation after the fact and actually it does not show any amount. Of course you say it costs anything after the fact. I sent Sixt a copy of the SVMR booking EUR 823.88 I had made. They screwed up - they did not promise the Mecedes and overcharged. I have written to them again to ask them to reconsider refunding the overcharged amount.
I took out zero excess insurance as well so was charged the rate of this for a higher class vehicle. I took out the zero excess because I didn't want any hassles at all. No one was there in Munich to inspect the car on pick-up but in Vienna I did ask them to inspect the car for peace of mind and they found 4 very small scratches (which I did not cause) and they probably would have tried to charge me for them if I had not taken out zero excess. I would definitely advise anyone to have someone inspect the car with you on pick-up if possible, or take photos and send to Sixt immediately if you do find any scratches or take out zero excess if you don't want any hassle at all and prepared to pay for it because if you don't they will TRY to charge you for anything they find, however minor.
I planned a trip last month starting out from Munich, going around the Austrian Lakes and ending up in Vienna and needed a rental car for pick-up at Munic and drop-off in Vienna.
I had initially reserved a SVMR (Ford Galaxy, VW Sharan, Ford S-Max) for pick-up at Sixt Munich Stachus branch. The expected rental price was EUR 823.88. However our group increased in the number of persons and with the additional adult and extra baggage, I decided to look for a larger vehicle. I found the Mercedes-Benz Vito would be more suitable in size and luggage space and went ahead and made a reservation for Mecedes Vito FVAR group car for the same period and number of days at EUR 1,321,17. Ahead of time I had also filled in all the details to ensure speedy processing of the rental on the day of pick-up.
I received a call on the afternoon before the rental from the Sixt Munich Stachus office who wanted to confirm if I wanted the Mercedes Vito as I had 2 bookings(SVMR & FVAR) on record. I told the agent I definitely wanted the Mercedes and she could go ahead and cancel the other reservation for the SVMR group. I was impressed the office had called me to confirm which car I wanted and was assured it would be ready for me in the morning.
I went early in the morning the next day to pick up the Mercedes Vito and gave the agent the reservation printout. She checked the computer and after 5 minutes told me there was a problem. She said there was no Mercedes Vito available and she was searching the system to see if there is one in any other location in Munich. After another 10 minutes and some calls, she informed me there was no Mercedes Vito available. She asked me if I really required a 9-seater as they only had 7 seater cars available. I explained the passenger and bags situation; the 7 seater would be too small to accommodate all persons and bags. I asked why would they have called me yesterday to confirm and then not have the Mercedes Vito available? She said there is a 9-seater VW but unfortunately it is not permitted to be dropped off in Austria. She checked again and made some more calls and said there is nothing else available. As we had no other choice, we agreed reluctantly. However the agent made another call and then she said her branch Manager had agreed to allow the VW to be dropped off in Austria. I asked her if there is a difference in the rate and she said it is around EUR 1,100. As this had taken quite some time I agreed and was happy there would now be a 9-seater van available.
I received the contract copy for the VW Cavelle for EUR 1,176.22 and the keys and walked to the car park. When I saw the van, I went
it was a VW Caravelle. I had looked at this van online but disregarded hiring it as it seemed too bulky and the interior did not look that comfortable. I had chosen the Mercedes on the basis that it was less bulky and more luxurious for all passengers. However, I did not want to waste any more time and tried to see if it was suitable. My brother questioned if it was really too large and I had to agree with him since we were going on some smaller country roads in Austria. I was not certain if I would be comfortable driving such a big vehicle on smaller roads (I was right not to accept it - it would have been a nightmare navigating the mountain and small back rounds with the VW Carvelle). We decided to return to the Sixt office and ask them for the 7-seater we would have to do our best and squeeze everything in. I was extremely conscious of the time it had been nearly an hour since we started and the other passengers were waiting for us to pick them up at the hotel. So we rushed back and asked told the agent the VW was way too big and asked her to give us the 7-seater. She said only the Seat Alhambra MP was available. We had no choice but to ask her to give us the keys to that as quickly as possible. She gave me a new contract copy and the keys. I had no time to ask her to recalculate the price again as it took her over 10 minutes last time.
When I returned home I checked the reservation I had made for a SVMR, the cost was EUR 823.88 compared to EUR 1,176.22 I was charged. Therefore I have been overcharged by EUR 352.34. As well has been overcharged, the incident wasted an hour of our time meaning we started much later than expected and the whole journey was very uncomfortable for all the passengers as we had bags on the floor, restricting legroom. The person at the back drew the shortest straw as she had to hold on to the suitcases next to her to stop it from falling on top of her.
I wrote to [email protected] asking them to refund the overcharge and compensation for the inconvenience and wasted time. They replied very quickly offering USD 50 for the inconvenience but they sent me a reservation for the VW saying it matches the invoice of EUR 1,176.22. The issue is they made the reservation after the fact and actually it does not show any amount. Of course you say it costs anything after the fact. I sent Sixt a copy of the SVMR booking EUR 823.88 I had made. They screwed up - they did not promise the Mecedes and overcharged. I have written to them again to ask them to reconsider refunding the overcharged amount.
I took out zero excess insurance as well so was charged the rate of this for a higher class vehicle. I took out the zero excess because I didn't want any hassles at all. No one was there in Munich to inspect the car on pick-up but in Vienna I did ask them to inspect the car for peace of mind and they found 4 very small scratches (which I did not cause) and they probably would have tried to charge me for them if I had not taken out zero excess. I would definitely advise anyone to have someone inspect the car with you on pick-up if possible, or take photos and send to Sixt immediately if you do find any scratches or take out zero excess if you don't want any hassle at all and prepared to pay for it because if you don't they will TRY to charge you for anything they find, however minor.
Jun 27, 2016, 5:54 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2013
Posts: 8
Reply from Sixt
I wrote back to Sixt and requested again they refund the difference. Their response was:
"Thank you for your e-mail.
Sixt provides customers with various options to book their rentals. One of the most cost-effective options is booking online.
Our rental rates, as is customary for the industry, fluctuate based on availability, as well as, demand. Customers are able to review our rates and decide which offer works best for them prior to locking in their rental rate during the reservation process and guaranteeing that rental rate be provided upon pick up (provided no additional changes are made to the reservation). However, once the rental rate is booked and agreed to upon pick up, subsequent changes to the rental rate are no longer possible.
A binding rental agreement provides both Sixt and our customers with the security that both contracting partners require. This allows our customers to benefit from transparent rental charges at all times.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and giving us the opportunity to review it."
Well I would have accepted this if Sixt had provided the car I had reserved or had told me the car was not available earlier on so I could have come to their office earlier to figure out what other options were available and not have to rush to accept what they had available (which had a seat belt buckle missing (didn't find out until we were about to drive off ) on one of the back seats meaning one seat was unusable & hence they should not have actually hired the vehicle out on the first place) because they caused me to be delayed over an hour already.
I am not going to waste anymore time over this and frankly I am not going to waste any more time making any more bookings with Sixt. I don't think I am an unreasonable person and even if they had replied - we were in the wrong - we will give you the refund as vouchers valid for rental within a year (I probably would not have a chance to use) I would have accepted that and continue to book with them and continue to take out zero excess and the extras they make a lot of money on. But fine, I am not important to them and neither are my friends and family who I will advise not to book with Sixt in future.
"Thank you for your e-mail.
Sixt provides customers with various options to book their rentals. One of the most cost-effective options is booking online.
Our rental rates, as is customary for the industry, fluctuate based on availability, as well as, demand. Customers are able to review our rates and decide which offer works best for them prior to locking in their rental rate during the reservation process and guaranteeing that rental rate be provided upon pick up (provided no additional changes are made to the reservation). However, once the rental rate is booked and agreed to upon pick up, subsequent changes to the rental rate are no longer possible.
A binding rental agreement provides both Sixt and our customers with the security that both contracting partners require. This allows our customers to benefit from transparent rental charges at all times.
Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention and giving us the opportunity to review it."
Well I would have accepted this if Sixt had provided the car I had reserved or had told me the car was not available earlier on so I could have come to their office earlier to figure out what other options were available and not have to rush to accept what they had available (which had a seat belt buckle missing (didn't find out until we were about to drive off ) on one of the back seats meaning one seat was unusable & hence they should not have actually hired the vehicle out on the first place) because they caused me to be delayed over an hour already.
I am not going to waste anymore time over this and frankly I am not going to waste any more time making any more bookings with Sixt. I don't think I am an unreasonable person and even if they had replied - we were in the wrong - we will give you the refund as vouchers valid for rental within a year (I probably would not have a chance to use) I would have accepted that and continue to book with them and continue to take out zero excess and the extras they make a lot of money on. But fine, I am not important to them and neither are my friends and family who I will advise not to book with Sixt in future.