moomike

I've returned recently from Switzerland where I hired a car from Sixt.

Car was fine when I dropped it off (early drop off using the key box as office was closed) I checked it over & there was no damage to the bodywork at all. Received a letter today asking me to fill out a damage report as there was a 5-10cm deep scratch (down to primer) in the bumper - not even slightly something I would have missed & I was not contacted until after I had received my summary email to confirm my costs for the hire. I would imaging you'd have to go to quite some careless effort to cause a scratch that deep & noticeable!

I am obviously unsure what I am supposed to say about the fact that there was no damage to the bodywork when I left it - is contacting the airlines regarding the HD CCTV a viable option as I am 100% sure that'd prove I was not responsible for the damage?

Thanks in advance for any advice,

Mike.

SixtCustomerServices

Hi Mike,

If you'd like to send me a private message with your reservation details, I'll be happy to investigate this with the team in Switzerland for you.

Thanks, Jess.

moomike

I'd really appreciate that Jess, many thanks for the reply. PM incoming.

seawolf

I believe the rental contract does states that you are still responsible for the vehicle dropped off after hours until the vehicle is processed by Sixt during the next business day. In other words it would be the same as if during the middle of the rental you parked it and some guy keyed it.

Hopefully Sixt decides to drop the claim.

teeby

THE EXACT SAME THING HAS JUST HAPPENED TO ME!!

I rented a car in Switzerland from Sixt a few weeks ago. Car hire was for 3 days and without any incident. When I returned the car to the Lausanne office, there was one girl working at the desk, I informed her that the car was returned perfectly and with a full tank of fuel.

Today I received a letter identical to that of the original poster! ..
Dear client.. we have noted the following new damage on your rental vehicle ... Aluminium rim rear passenger side scratch > 10 cm deep (down to primer) ...

I DEFINITELY DID NOT DO THIS OR ANY DAMAGE! I am so meticulous with car hire, particularly damage of this size, this is something I would NEVER miss in a condition report.

What do I do?? The letter got sent to my home back in Australia, they were asking for a response by yesterday, my family only got it yesterday and emailed it to me right away.

CFord107

Teeby,

Send a private message to SixtCustomerServices with your rental information and they will help you out. I had a few issues as well, contacted Jess via the SixtCustomerServices screen name, and my problems were quickly resolved. Best of luck to you.

teeby

Hi - thanks cford - I did that and unfortunately, as Jess informed me - she is located in the UK and my car hire was in Switzerland so she is unable to help me much further.

Im a bit upset about this, as I said, damage that I am 100% sure I did not cause. Not sure what to do. I am currently backpacking with my wife on a tight budget - this could mean we cut our holiday short because of a bad experience with Sixt - My wife is a witness to the fact that I did not damage the car at all.
I regret using Sixt so much now! Infact, the only reason we hired a car is because our friend was going to leave us with his car for a few days, but it broke down at the airport. So we hired a car, as we had no other option, and pretty much drove it to our friends house, which is in a remote location. Returned to the Sixt drop-off location a few days later without any hiccups! Until now...

Totally different to a recent experience - I hired a car with Europcar in Ireland last week - best car hire experience ever. Originally the car they gave me was scratched all over, so before taking the hire car, I checked it thoroughly and went back inside and informed the attendant of the damage. They apologised profusely and offered me a brand new mini cooper instead, no extra charge! We were so happy!
When we returned the car, a Europcar attendant immediately checked the car all over, inside and out, and was happy that we had caused no damage. So she signed us off then and there - no damage. THIS IS THE WAY IT SHOULD BE DONE! NOT 4 WEEKS LATER WHEN YOU'RE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.

Just for the record - if I caused the damage, I would be man enough to front up and pay for what I had done. I wouldn't sign up to a forum and lie.
In this case, I am feeling sick and targeted by Sixt as a foreigner who they are trying to make easy money out of.

I have written back to Sixt and informed them that I did not do the damage. I will keep you all posted on how it goes.

moomike

Sorry for the late reply Teeby.
Could you please send me a quick PM with the details of the car that you hired - am just wondering if it's the same car as I hired.

Even after emailing them I have received a letter in the post today saying that I now had a new deadline to get the incident report in otherwise I would be charged! Ridiculous. They sent me over photos of the damage I'd supposedly caused & as I said before & in all correspondence with them, there is no way I caused the damage (I'd suggest you request photos of the damage too Teeby)

I'll let you know what they say this time but this is the worst customer service I've ever received from any company I've dealt with. They have just chosen to completely ignore my email.

Often1

There are tens if not dozens of posts here on FT alone about poor customer service experiences with Sixt which are only rectified after being posted publicly and Sixt then asking for a PM with the details.

This suggests an organization which does not react to complaints until they become an embarassment and then deals with the tiny % who do make a public fuss.

While it is nice that Sixt can be responsive through social media, it is the wrong way to go. A better move here is to take your business elsewhere and let Sixt fix itself.

RTW1

Car rentals are prone to complaints, I see plenty of valid (and not so valid) complaint for all of them......

And people claiming they didn't cause any damage... Really not very relevant if there is damage when the car is processed. You are setting yourself up for problems when not getting a receipt that shows no damage was found on return. And if you need to use that key drop off you better make sure you document the state of the car. Not so difficult to do these days when everybody has got a mobile with a camera.

TWA884

Sixt is paperless. Yes, I received a copy of the contract when I picked up the car, because in case of an accident or if stopped by the police one must be able to show that he or she is in legal possession of the car.

However, when I returned the car on a Sunday in Paris, I was asked to sign an acknowledgment that I did not understand (in French) on an iPhone after the vehicle was inspected and I was verbally assured that it was free of damage. When I asked for something in writing to show that I returned the car and that it was in good condition, the agent told me that she did not have the ability to print anything and that I'd receive an email receipt the next day because their data system is not capable of generating emails on a Sunday.

Well, three days later, I had to call and inquire where it was. Only after that I received the emailed receipt from customer relations. Another receipt, from the office where I rented and returned the car, arrived a day later.

seawolf

Echoing what TWA884 mentioned, I have yet to see Sixt Germany to close out a contract on the spot. It always take them 3-5 days just to close it out even at an airport location in the middle of the day whereas Sixt US closes out on the spot.

Camera shots does not really prove anything if it comes down to that as you can't prove when the pictures were taken. On top of that unless you are planning to spend the time to take a high res photo of every square inch, it won't document enough to suggest no damage. Half the time Sixt Germany marked down damages during pickup that quite frankly you needed a microscope to spot.

Hertz Germany closes out contract on the spot at airport locations.

Sixt Germany needs to take page from their US franchise and close the contract on the spot in the presence of the renter.

moomike

I'd probably not have been so outraged if this was what had happened but the damage to the car is not something that could have been missed by anyone checking the car before leaving it.

Think that everyone that regularly rents cars seems to know that this kind of stuff happens all of the time, are prepared for it, and know how to deal with it. This was my first time hiring a car & I had no idea I should have taken photographs of areas I had not damaged just so as I could prove I had not damaged them at a later date - Not something I would have expected from a reputable/professional company at all.

I have sent Jess (sixt customer services on here) another PM & am waiting to see what she says.

LLC2009

Hello there,

Exact same thing happened to me as well! I rented a car from Sixt in Germany last month for less than a day and properly returned it with a full tank. There were no visible damage to the vehicle and I asked the person in the garage as well as the girl at the counter if I needed to sign any document before I check out but was told no need.

Fast forward to this week. I have just received a letter from Sixt asking me to fill out a damage report due to an accident occurred while driving the car. The letter didn't state nor show the damage. It stated there was a first letter sent to me, which I have never received.

There were NO ACCIDENT occurred during my 6 hours with the car and I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT CAUSE THE DAMAGE.

What can I do??

SixtCustomerServices

HI LLC2009,

Please send me a private message with your hire details included and I'll be happy to take a look into this for you.

Many thanks,

Louise.