Picked up a car in Frankfurt the other day that I had reserved online in advance with everything I wanted for a week in Germany. The car wasn't ready. It wasn't even at the correct terminal and I had to waste an hour taking a bus to get the car. Also, The car was filthy.

Anyway, the real issue and I guess shame on me but they charge me almost 200 euro for coverage I didn't order and didn't notice until I left. So after eight hours on a plane overnight, landing in a country I've never been to and not speaking German and I'm told when I contacted customer service... Oh well, I agreed to it. Foolish of me to think that what I actually spend the time to pre-order is what they would charge me for.

Absolutely nothing was explained to me... the extra coverage, that nobody would inspect the car for me, nothing. I've never had such a vague rental experience.

It's a classic example of bait and switch and taking advantage of the customer.

Disappointed in my first experience with Sixt.

Hi ecna,

I am sorry to hear that your first experience with Sixt was a negative one. I'd be happy to investigate into this for you, if you would like to send me a private message with your rental details included.

Many thanks, Louise,

PM sent.

Hi,

Thank you. I have received this and will revert back to you as soon as possible.

Kind regards, Louise.

Hi Louise,

I really need your help here. This situation has become much worse. I just received the invoice and I was charged nearly double the rental rate of the vehicle from what was on the reservation and contract and was charged that I drove almost 9,000 km! I don't think it's possible to have driven that much in that time and the car doesn't even have that many miles on it if I drove it since new. I have a picture of the odometer when the car was handed in. What should have been about 1,000 EUR rental is now over 3,700 EUR. I need this corrected ASAP.

Thanks,
Eric

Hi Eric,

I can advise that I have already raised this issue within the my initial contact with the team, as the charge did look too high for the amount of days you had had the vehicle for. I have chased this with them again today and put an urgency notice on it. I shall revert back to you as soon as possible.

Many thanks, Louise

Thank you.

The car was turned in with 9299 km on the odometer.

So we need the mileage charge adjusted, the rental rate adjusted and I'd like some resolution on the insurance that was added.

Any update on this?

I finally received a reply to my original e-mail to customer service and as a "goodwill gesture", they've agreed to remove the insurance that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

We still need to address the overcharge on the rental and the mileage. I now have a credit card charge of over $5000.

This really shouldn't be a difficult thing to fix. The rate is on the contract and the mileage was obviously recorded incorrectly unless I drove 24 hours a day for a week.

Please let me know where things stand.

I do apologise for the delay. I can assure you I am trying to resolve your issue as quickly as possible. I have chased this again with our team in Germany today and asked that they reply by the end of the day. I assure you I will come back to you as soon as I receive their reply.

Kind regards, Louise.

Hi,

Thank you for your patience at this time. I have now received a reply from our team and can confirm that the mileage charge on your final invoice has now been corrected and refunded.

They have advised that the display was changed from KM to miles and upon return the agent did not change this back, hence the incorrect calculation of the miles driven. The branch manager profusely apologises that this error was not rectified sooner and has caused you great inconvenience. Unfortunately, on occasion a small amount of human errors do occur but I can assure you this issue will be raised with the agent responsible.

Once again please accept our apologies and if you need anything further please let me know.

Many thanks, Louise.

I will admit we're getting closer. I have received my fourth invoice from Sixt, but we're still not there yet. I guess since we started $4,000 off, to be within $200 is good progress.

They have removed the additional coverage that was added.
They have adjusted the rental rate back down to what was on the contract (no explanation as to why they charged me almost double).
They have lowered the amount of the mileage charge, but are still charging me roughly triple what it should be.

My credit card statement is now a mess. It really shouldn't be this complicated.

Trust me, I do appreciate your help though. I'm not sure I would have gotten anywhere on my own.

Having looked into this further I can advise that the mileage allowance for your rental was 2700 KM. The vehicle was checked out with 6235 KM and was returned with 9805 KM, after the correct and conversion of the miles to KM. This shows you have exceeded the mileage allowance by 870 KM. The charges on the latest invoice reflect this and I have been informed by the team in Germany that this final invoice is correct.

If you require anything further, please let me know.

Thanks, Louise.

That is incorrect. The vehicle was returned with 9,299km as the time and date stamped photo that I sent customer service clearly shows. Not that it really matters, but the conversion story is also inaccurate. The picture shows it's set to km. You can't check the mileage a week later and tell me that's how many miles were on the car when I dropped it off. Of course all of this could have been avoided if it wasn't for the ridiculous policy of not providing any documentation regarding mileage or condition when dropping off the car.

If you are done I will continue to dispute with my credit card company as I have clear proof that I am correct. Thanks to this board for the warning that I would need it dealing with Sixt. Unfortunately their predictions were true .

Hi,

At this time the information I have been given has come from our team in Germany and the information I can see on our system. However, I do want to help you if you have documentation that contradicts what I have found. I am going to send you my email address within a private message and ask that you please send me all the documentation you have that will help me dispute this case further.

I hope this is okay. Thanks, Louise

Louise,

I thought I was making progress directly with customer service, but alas I have not. I just sent you the information proving my claim. Thanks for your help.

Eric