BritBoyInFL

Good Day,

I am pleased that common sense has prevailed and that you have decided not to pursue such a misguided claim. And no matter how many times you want to write “the new damage was not present at the start of your hire”, I firmly disagree. Damage of the size indicated can’t be guaranteed to be noted by Sixt or any renter prior to the start of the hire.

Best Regards,

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Good morning

Thank you for your e-mail.

We have agreed to close this claim as a gesture of goodwill, but please be advised you have signed your rental agreement agreeing to the condition of the vehicle and the new damage was not present at the start of your hire.

Best regards

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Dear Sixt,

As you wish to repeat what you’ve already said, let me repeat myself.

I am willing to argue, in court, that the size of the damage could not reasonably be expected to be observed when collecting the vehicle and as I can confirm it did not happen during the rental, I do not believe I am liable for Sixt’s claim.

In regard your ‘goodwill’ offer. I will not make the decision to accept your offer, but will let YOU make that decision for me.

Upon receipt of an invoice showing the amount Sixt paid for the repair, photographic evidence showing before and after the repair, and your request for payment, I will forward the amount of £39.00 within 48 hours, with your understanding and acknowledgment that I WILL cancel all my current Sixt reservations, close my Sixt renters account and will not rent again from Sixt, EVER. This statement does not act as an admission of liability but instead is offered as a ‘goodwill’ solution to this issue.

Any subsequent request for payment, with the requested documentation and photographic proof, will act as Sixt’s understanding of my conditions of payment. Alternatively, you may waive your ‘misguided’ claim and have the opportunity to maintain further business from me.

I await your final thoughts on this matter,

Yours Sincerely,
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Good afternoon

Thank you for your e-mail.

You signed your rental contract at the start of your hire to agree to the condition of the vehicle, As a gesture of goodwill we are willing to offer 50/50 on the above claim with the amount payable being £39.00

Best regards

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LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR … I am willing to argue in court that the ‘damage’ was/is of such a small nature it could not have been expected to have been picked up during prior inspection by Sixt or me.

I am telling you it did not occur whilst I was driving it and I was not aware of it whilst driving. Because of these reasons I do not accept liability. Now, are you calling me a liar ?

It is now up to you what direction you would like to take, keeping in mind; my statement above, the cost of the damage, the impact your pursuit will have on a Platinum renter, the cost of your pursuit and the exposure you will gain via the multiple online travel forums.

Regards,

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Good morning

Thank you for your e-mail.

It is the renters responsibility to check the vehicle fully for any pre-existing damage prior to rental and note this on your rental agreement, from looking at the file the new damage is not noted on your signed rental agreement.

Therefore I can only assume that this damage has been picked up during your rental period and we would look to you for the costs for the damage caused.

Best regards

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LET ME MAKE THIS CLEAR … I am willing to argue in court that the ‘damage’ was/is of such a small nature it could not have been expected to have been picked up during prior inspection by Sixt or me.

I am telling you it did not occur whilst I was driving it and I was not aware of it whilst driving. Because of these reasons I do not accept liability. Now, are you calling me a liar ?

It is now up to you what direction you would like to take, keeping in mind; my statement above, the cost of the damage, the impact your pursuit will have on a Platinum renter, the cost of your pursuit and the exposure you will gain via the multiple online travel forums.

Regards,

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Good morning

Thank you for your e-mail.

I can confirm there was no pre-existing damage to the windscreen prior to your rental, it is the renters responsibility to check the vehicle prior to your rental for any pre-existing damage and to note this down on your rental agreement at the start of your hire. The damage to the windscreen has not been noted down on your rental agreement which can only lead me to believe that this has been picked up during your rental period, with this said we would look to you for the costs for the damage caused.

Best regards

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My position remains the same. The damage you claim I am responsible for is so small(in size) it could easily have been missed during previous inspections. And as I know it did not occur whilst I was driving, nor did I see it while driving, then I will argue that it was not identified during a previous inspection. Thus it is not my responsibility and I will argue the same.

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Good morning

Thank you for your e-mail.

All vehicles are checked prior to any hire and any pre-existing damage is recorded on your rental contract, it clearly states on this document that the hirer needs to check they are in agreement with the condition of the vehicle before leaving the branch, I note from our file you have signed your contract and therefore agreed to the condition of the vehicle at the start of your hire. On return of your vehicle a further damage check will be done and any change in condition noted.

Best regards

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Dear Sirs,

As I informed your representative when returning the car, this 'damage' was
not incurred during my rental and was of such insignificance it did not
affect my driving visibility, as such, it was not noticed nor reported when
initially picking up the vehicle.

Further, I informed your representative that I would not accept any claim
for 'repair' charged to me.

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Colin Bruhn Mannion

I recently hired a car from Sixt in Heathrow. Picked the car up, used it for 3 days with no issue at all and returned it fully tanked up and with no damage at all. The car was checked over and signed for by an employee of Sixt who confirmed the car was not damaged in any way and was filled up with fuel.
1 week later I received an email from Sixt telling me they had "discovered" damage to the car after I had returned it and they asked me to complete an "Incident" report.
As I was not involved in any incident at any time during the rental period I could not complete this form. Plus as I had not damaged the car whatsoever and had returned the car and had it checked over and signed in by a member of the Sixt Heathrow team I clearly thought Sixt had just made a clerical error.
However, this morning I received another email from Sixt saying that if I do not complete this incident form then I will be held fully responsible for the damages.
Exactly how am I supposed to complete an incident form when I have not been involved in an incident? And more to the point, why should I spend my time and energy responding to this harassment when the car was returned in perfect working order.
I travel through Heathrow about 20 times a year and I had been using Europcar each time with no issues. I thought I would give Sixt a go this time to see if I was missing out on something (I used to use them a few years ago but I found their customer service was getting worse each time I booked a car with them) It seems like I should have stayed with Europcar!

BritBoyInFL

Hi Colin, as you will see from my 'exchanges' above. You're going to have to enter in to a drawn out proverbial 'pissing contest'. As you have a completed return check in, with no damage noted, you're in the clear and they know it. Just keep responding to their communications with the fact that 'upon return their representative confirmed there was no damage and as such any damage identified now must have been caused by their use, or a subsequent renter of the vehicle, both of which you have no liability for'. Eventually they will give up !

mmff

If you have written confirmation of no damage upon return of the vehicle, I would not even reply to their messages. Time is money and I'm not wasting money on bogus claims. They know that they'll lose if they take you to court, so they won't.

Bethelgirl

We had a similar problem with Sixt in Munich. There was no one there to check us in (it was 6 am) and then two weeks later (and now we are 5000 miles away) I get an email to fill out an accident report. What accident? We returned the car in perfect condition. Also I received an additional email charging us over 100 euros on top of our original (agreed upon) price. No explanation. When I emailed Sixt they stated that the gas tank wasn't full. True we couldn't find a gas station so okay. (3,20 euros per liter for 14 liters of diesel. Excessive but okay we'll pay it.). Then an extra 50 euros because the car was "soiled." What? We had it for two weeks, so normal in and out dirt. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. I will be disputing that charge with my credit card company. I have rented from Sixt in the past and never had any problems. Guess I should have realized this time would be different when the clerk tried to tell me they didn't have the car I reserved and would upgrade me for 90 euros a day. When I balked he said ok 20 euros a day. Really how about you just give me the car I requested 4 months ago? Oh surprise they found one. Wow sleazy much?

mikkel

Just chiming in with my recent experience. I had a rental for one day out of the downtown Copenhagen branch with dropoff at the airport, and when we returned the car the guy at the airport noted some pretty severe damage to the front bumper that we hadn't seen and thought might have happened in the hotel car park overnight. We were about set to eat the $600 deductible charge when I checked my phone on a whim and found that I had taken pictures of the car in the pickup garage. The garage was way dark and I couldn't see the bumper damage which turned out to be pre-existing, but the flash on the camera caught it. I showed the pictures to the rental return guy and he accepted it, noted it in the file, and didn't make us sign for the damages. The damage charges did show up on the first invoice, but a quick call and a follow-up email with the pictures attached got those charges removed.

Moral of the story: never trust that a car is in the condition that the rental company claims, and ALWAYS take pictures. One quick cell phone picture saved me $600.

I had the exact opposite experience at MUC the other week. I had an IDAR booked and they offered me a 3-series or an A4 Quattro upgrade for free right off the bat even though I have no status with Sixt. I decided to step down to an A180d which my credit card insurance would cover so I could save on the CDW. I didn't have time to clean the outside or the inside, and it was noted as having a light mess on the inside and being heavily soiled on the outside after 8 days of driving 1,800 miles through the Alps instigating a bugpocalypse that surely will be felt in the local population for years to come. No extra charges for me.

FYI, if you're headed to MUC from the city, there's an exit on the highway just before the one towards the airport that takes you towards Industrieweg where the IKEA is. There's an Eni station in there that had the cheapest diesel I'd bought on the entire trip, and it's close enough to the airport to not move the needle at all.

Cheesheng

I have had the same exact "damage" as reported by Sixt!

My rented car in the Netherlands had the same description of damage as mentioned in this thread – passenger rim scratch >10cm

I certainly did not cause this damage, but Sixt team is not replying me and has been witholding my deposit (quite a large sum of money for me) for a while now. This is extremely frustrating! It is my first time with Sixt and definitely my last, with this terrible customer service.

Redwood839

Wow, I thought I was solo, but here is my experience from EDI this week, re post from another thread:

I just have my first rental with SIXT and it was an absolutely disgusting experience.

Picked up the car at EDI Airport through a corporate rental, this was my first time with SIXT since we have contracts with AVIS everywhere else, so I was not sure what to expect. I was given a Infiniti Q30 as a downgrade because my rented car (an A4) was not available, and I would have to pay to get a bigger car.

I went over the car and it was spotless, no issues. I did however see that the wheels (rims) had curve damage, but thought nothing of it, as after all it's a rental car and they always have damage there. The wheels were good, so I was off.

Upon return, I'm left standing in the rain for a good 10 minutes while someone checks the car, and then leaves without saying anything. I follow her back to the little dump of an office they have outside and ask her for my receipt. To which she turns around and says to sign on the machine, to which I inquire what the signature is for? She says there is damage to one of the wheels and I am responsible for it, so to please sign so she could give me my receipt.

I absolutely deny causing damage and ask her to show me, to which she shows the curb damage on the wheel and I tell her it was already there. She says it wasn't reported so I am responsible for it. I explain that its a rental car, and that all of them have them (and point to the A4 next to the car to show it has them) and she says that's not my case and I need to sign. I refuse to, to which she says ok but says she can't give me my receipt then? Seriously?

I ask for her manager, and she tells me he has already left and could come back Monday (RIGHT, I was about to leave EDI). And so I ask for someone else, she sends me to the main counter to speak to someone and when I was grabbing my paperwork I tell her that she should note she is trying to scam a company and not me as a renter, and that I would bring this up to Corp Travel as it was obviously a cham to lay it on me. To which she says don't care sir, but you're welcome! Bye! <- WOW

I go inside, the guy I was supposed to talk to is not there, but I find the guy who gave me the car initially. I show him pictures of the car I took at the McDonalds outside the airport with the date and time encrypted showing the damage to which he says "dont worry mate, you have corp insurance, they'll pay for it, just let it go".

About to lose my flight, I tell him that I might have insurance, but I won't let my corp be scammed for it and leave.

Worst Customer Service ever, absolutely disgusted.

seawolf

You noticed the rim damage at pickup and didn't report it?

Redwood839

In the US I've never reported curb damage to a rim. Every single car I've ever had on a rental has had it (unless it's new). Rental cars are used abusively and it would be surreal to pretend the rims are not going to hit curbs when parking.

The only reason this one was visible was because the rim was dark grey and you could see where the paint has been stripped.

seawolf

That is the heart of the issue. US and European rental car industry work very differently. In Europe, they check for damages with a fine tooth comb, so to speak. Often times I get the vehicle damage report at pickup at a European location listing damages I couldn't find without slowly and closely inspecting the vehicle.

In Germany every damage is documented. When I rented from Sixt US and noticed scratches in the trunk area and insisted they document it, they insist that they don't care about them as they expect damage in that area due to baggage being loaded/unloaded.

Good luck

GUWonder

A car I rented from SIXT recently in the US had rooftop blemish scruffs on it, probably from tree branches. I told the agent at time of pick up about the scruffs and the guy said not to worry about it. I took photos anyway so that I had evidence of the scruffs being there in the parking lot before I had gotten in the car to drive off. Interestingly enough, someone else who had rented the very same car before me had been hit up with a demand about those same roof scruffs months earlier and had the same kind of issues as I did. I am curious if this is just an anomaly with Sixt or a pattern of behavior with the company. But since I've never had Avis, Budget, Dollar, Enterprise, Hertz, or National try to do this to me, it seems to be Sixt that is ultra-aggressive.

seawolf

Ultra-aggressive within the confines of the agreement maybe. The Sixt rental agreement list out the damages at pickup. It would be prudent to report any damages not listed regardless of how small. It is for your own protection from headaches after return.

Majority if not all the car damage "scams" I'm reading seems to be a case of "cultural" differences between how car rental companies operate in US and in Europe with US being more forgiving. Every single rental I have in Europe comes with a vehicle condition report at pickup. I rarely get one on US rentals.

GUWonder

Maybe ultra-aggressive beyond the confines of a legal agreement, when it comes to justice.

seawolf

You lost me.