Sixt @ AKL
Jan 23, 2017, 3:38 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Smellington, NZ
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, UA 2P, Marriott LTPP
Posts: 1,453
Sixt @ AKL
I rented from Sixt at AKL yesterday and had a below average customer service experience. I share merely in the hopes it may serve to inform others of what to expect should they, too, accidentally choose Sixt’s AKL location for their car rental needs.
On Sunday (e.g. the day before), I booked a one day rental with Sixt at Auckland airport using a pre-paid rate. I arrived at AKL and requested a pick up, per the email instructions. A shuttle arrived bearing the markings of East Coast Car Rentals and, less obviously, Sixt. I was taken to their facility off-airport and signed, as the shuttle had been, predominantly with East Coast Car Rentals and again, less obviously, Sixt. Note that neither Sixt’s website nor any of the email communication make mention of the fact that this a partner facility or an “operated by…” kind of arrangement. Or rather, if it was there, I missed it.
Upon arrival, I was told they couldn’t find my reservation. I was told this, too, when the shuttle driver picked me up. I had showed him my email confirmation and showed it again to the representative at the desk. I produced my NZ driver’s license and bank card, as required. Due to some kind of IT failure, they couldn’t find my reservation in their system (I'm assuming the East Coast Car Rental system), but they eventually found it another system (Sixt?). Not a big deal, but asking me to write down all my contact details again so they could type it into their new system was a bit of an annoyance considering all the info was in the reservation that they claimed to have found. A minor inconvenience, to be sure.
When the time came to discuss rental insurance, I declined their $23 NZD insurance, and this is where things went from mediocre to exceptionally average. Fine, they said, but I would need to let them hold a bond of $1000 NZD on my credit card. No problem. I produce my debit card and proceed to authorise the transaction. Their terminal responds with a message of “Invalid Account”. We try again to no avail. They tell me there must be something wrong with my card and ask if I have another credit card. I do, but it’s an American Express. Like everywhere else in NZ, they don’t take American Express. I ask again if they are sure the problem isn’t on their end. No, they say, and they comment on the fact that I’m using a debit card and question if I really have the money available. I produce my banking app on my phone and show them that yes, availability of funds is not the issue. They try the card again. It fails again. I call the bank. The bank speaks to the representative and says there’s no issue with the account or availability of funds. It begins to look like there may be something physically wrong with the card after all, though whatever the problem is has only manifested itself since I left Wellington 90 minutes previously as I had used the same card at least twice already that morning to check into the parking lot at the airport and buy a coffee. My wife comes over to the counter to try her card. Brilliant, sounds good. But no, her card, too, is now producing the same "Invalid Account" message, a card that she, too, had used with success a mere hour or two before. Is it possible that two separate debit cards have both gone on the fritz at the exact same time? The representatives (there are three of them) all assure me there is nothing wrong with their terminals since they had processed other customers' cards that day. They were not receptive to my applying the same logic when I pointed out my card (and my wife’s) are fine since we, too, used them earlier in the day. That notwithstanding, we tried my card again just for giggles. One terminal couldn’t read it all. Hmm. Another terminal could read it but then said invalid account again. I offer to drive to the bank to get out $1000 in cash. $2000. Whatever. I get nowhere with them as they insist it needs to be paid with a card. At no point do they offer constructive solutions or alternatives.
I will pause for a moment to remind the reader that this is a prepaid rate through Sixt but operated by a third party agency. I prepare to leave to go find another agency but first ask for a refund of my prepaid rate. They tell me I need to take that up with Sixt and that since it’s the middle of the night in Germany, they can’t get hold of anyone or comment on Sixt’s likelihood to provide a refund or what the terms are. I ask for assurance that they will take care of it and am rebuffed. I ask for the name of the guy who I’m dealing with (interestingly, none of them wore name tags). He stands resolute in his determination not to provide anything that looks like good customer service. The guy who claims he is the supervisor introduces himself finally, and the unhelpful individual who was refusing to give his name stands down. Dave, the supervisor, repeats the unhelpful and non-solution-oriented jibber jabber I’ve already heard.
At this point, given that I’m only in town for a day and need to get going, I cave and pay the $23 for their insurance. Luckily I have cash to pay this or I’d probably still be there arguing with the reps. I ask about the refueling situation noting that as I apparently don’t have a functioning card, I will be returning the car below a full tank. They say they will waive the refueling fee and just charge me for the gas. I asked how they would charge me for the gas, noting again, and in the manner of a running gag from Mel Brooks film, that I don’t have a functioning card. They ignore.
We drive off in our car emblazoned as nearly all rentals in NZ are with the branding of the agency – again, East Car Rentals, not Sixt. First stop, the bank to withdraw cash to test if our card works, and if not, we can get it sorted right there. Unsurprisingly, both our card work fine and continue to do so at a myriad of vendors throughout the day. We return the car with a full tank and blissfully ended our brief, tumultuous relationship with Sixt / East Coast Car Rentals.
So basically, we paid for $23 NZD for something we didn’t need, didn’t want, didn't ask for, and didn't use because East Car Rental’s terminals were either not working or alleged to be not working. Not really worth going after $23 NZD, but I would advise others not to deal with this suboptimal car hire operation in the event that they try to rob you of your money as well.
PS - we found $2 in the car, but then my son dropped the coin and lost it again. Otherwise, this might have only been a $21 mistake. Oh well...
On Sunday (e.g. the day before), I booked a one day rental with Sixt at Auckland airport using a pre-paid rate. I arrived at AKL and requested a pick up, per the email instructions. A shuttle arrived bearing the markings of East Coast Car Rentals and, less obviously, Sixt. I was taken to their facility off-airport and signed, as the shuttle had been, predominantly with East Coast Car Rentals and again, less obviously, Sixt. Note that neither Sixt’s website nor any of the email communication make mention of the fact that this a partner facility or an “operated by…” kind of arrangement. Or rather, if it was there, I missed it.
Upon arrival, I was told they couldn’t find my reservation. I was told this, too, when the shuttle driver picked me up. I had showed him my email confirmation and showed it again to the representative at the desk. I produced my NZ driver’s license and bank card, as required. Due to some kind of IT failure, they couldn’t find my reservation in their system (I'm assuming the East Coast Car Rental system), but they eventually found it another system (Sixt?). Not a big deal, but asking me to write down all my contact details again so they could type it into their new system was a bit of an annoyance considering all the info was in the reservation that they claimed to have found. A minor inconvenience, to be sure.
When the time came to discuss rental insurance, I declined their $23 NZD insurance, and this is where things went from mediocre to exceptionally average. Fine, they said, but I would need to let them hold a bond of $1000 NZD on my credit card. No problem. I produce my debit card and proceed to authorise the transaction. Their terminal responds with a message of “Invalid Account”. We try again to no avail. They tell me there must be something wrong with my card and ask if I have another credit card. I do, but it’s an American Express. Like everywhere else in NZ, they don’t take American Express. I ask again if they are sure the problem isn’t on their end. No, they say, and they comment on the fact that I’m using a debit card and question if I really have the money available. I produce my banking app on my phone and show them that yes, availability of funds is not the issue. They try the card again. It fails again. I call the bank. The bank speaks to the representative and says there’s no issue with the account or availability of funds. It begins to look like there may be something physically wrong with the card after all, though whatever the problem is has only manifested itself since I left Wellington 90 minutes previously as I had used the same card at least twice already that morning to check into the parking lot at the airport and buy a coffee. My wife comes over to the counter to try her card. Brilliant, sounds good. But no, her card, too, is now producing the same "Invalid Account" message, a card that she, too, had used with success a mere hour or two before. Is it possible that two separate debit cards have both gone on the fritz at the exact same time? The representatives (there are three of them) all assure me there is nothing wrong with their terminals since they had processed other customers' cards that day. They were not receptive to my applying the same logic when I pointed out my card (and my wife’s) are fine since we, too, used them earlier in the day. That notwithstanding, we tried my card again just for giggles. One terminal couldn’t read it all. Hmm. Another terminal could read it but then said invalid account again. I offer to drive to the bank to get out $1000 in cash. $2000. Whatever. I get nowhere with them as they insist it needs to be paid with a card. At no point do they offer constructive solutions or alternatives.
I will pause for a moment to remind the reader that this is a prepaid rate through Sixt but operated by a third party agency. I prepare to leave to go find another agency but first ask for a refund of my prepaid rate. They tell me I need to take that up with Sixt and that since it’s the middle of the night in Germany, they can’t get hold of anyone or comment on Sixt’s likelihood to provide a refund or what the terms are. I ask for assurance that they will take care of it and am rebuffed. I ask for the name of the guy who I’m dealing with (interestingly, none of them wore name tags). He stands resolute in his determination not to provide anything that looks like good customer service. The guy who claims he is the supervisor introduces himself finally, and the unhelpful individual who was refusing to give his name stands down. Dave, the supervisor, repeats the unhelpful and non-solution-oriented jibber jabber I’ve already heard.
At this point, given that I’m only in town for a day and need to get going, I cave and pay the $23 for their insurance. Luckily I have cash to pay this or I’d probably still be there arguing with the reps. I ask about the refueling situation noting that as I apparently don’t have a functioning card, I will be returning the car below a full tank. They say they will waive the refueling fee and just charge me for the gas. I asked how they would charge me for the gas, noting again, and in the manner of a running gag from Mel Brooks film, that I don’t have a functioning card. They ignore.
We drive off in our car emblazoned as nearly all rentals in NZ are with the branding of the agency – again, East Car Rentals, not Sixt. First stop, the bank to withdraw cash to test if our card works, and if not, we can get it sorted right there. Unsurprisingly, both our card work fine and continue to do so at a myriad of vendors throughout the day. We return the car with a full tank and blissfully ended our brief, tumultuous relationship with Sixt / East Coast Car Rentals.
So basically, we paid for $23 NZD for something we didn’t need, didn’t want, didn't ask for, and didn't use because East Car Rental’s terminals were either not working or alleged to be not working. Not really worth going after $23 NZD, but I would advise others not to deal with this suboptimal car hire operation in the event that they try to rob you of your money as well.
PS - we found $2 in the car, but then my son dropped the coin and lost it again. Otherwise, this might have only been a $21 mistake. Oh well...
Jan 23, 2017, 4:25 pm
#2
Company Representative - AutoSlash and HotelSlash
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: autoslash.com | hotelslash.com
Posts: 5,665
Sounds like a really crappy experience. You might want to contact Sixt's customer support team and point them to this post and see if they would be willing to refund your $23 at least. Then at least you could post a follow-up here to show that they have a commitment to customer service at the corporate level. It would be a win-win for both of you and maybe they'll even try to address the issue with East Coast, but that may be a bit too much to hope for.
You might find this informative:
http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.a...als-down-under
You might find this informative:
http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.com.a...als-down-under
Jan 23, 2017, 7:30 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Smellington, NZ
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, UA 2P, Marriott LTPP
Posts: 1,453
If I contact Sixt to share the details, I will share the outcome.
Jan 23, 2017, 7:41 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Smellington, NZ
Programs: AA EXP 2MM, UA 2P, Marriott LTPP
Posts: 1,453
I've since had a read of some of the terms and conditions on East Coast's website (pasted below). All of the following notwithstanding, given that I contracted with Sixt for service, how would I have known about or be expected to know about any of this third party's policies beforehand is still unclear, especially when their existence as part of this transaction was at best poorly communicated and at worst not disclosed at all. In any case, perhaps they were running the card with the wrong account type selected on their terminals. That seems like the best explanation I can think of, but I'm not sure why three representatives couldn't have figured that out. Is it my fault for assuming they had prior experience running a point of sale terminal? Probably.
From their website:
Holding Deposit
East Coast Car Rentals will pre-authorise an amount up to the chosen excess on the hirers credit card. The pre-authorisation amount will be held by your credit card issuing bank and will automatically be released in approximately 5-7 business days. Debit Cards and International issued Credit Cards may take longer.
Hirers not using the credit card nominated for security as their payment method will automatically have the premium reduction waiver added to their rental at the prevailing rate.
The use of Debit Card as security will incur a 5% surcharge on the full cost of rental.
Credit Card payments will incur a Merchant Service Fee of 3.0% in addition to the total amount payable.
http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.co.nz...nd-conditions/
From their website:
Holding Deposit
East Coast Car Rentals will pre-authorise an amount up to the chosen excess on the hirers credit card. The pre-authorisation amount will be held by your credit card issuing bank and will automatically be released in approximately 5-7 business days. Debit Cards and International issued Credit Cards may take longer.
Hirers not using the credit card nominated for security as their payment method will automatically have the premium reduction waiver added to their rental at the prevailing rate.
The use of Debit Card as security will incur a 5% surcharge on the full cost of rental.
Credit Card payments will incur a Merchant Service Fee of 3.0% in addition to the total amount payable.
http://www.eastcoastcarrentals.co.nz...nd-conditions/
Last edited by bpauker; Jan 23, 2017 at 7:49 pm Reason: Updated to show East Coast's NZ website info