Sixt charged me USD600+ for scratching wheel
 

Sixt Bergen charged me for this scratch..for USD 600+
I don't even know if the scratch was done by me.

I rented a short 2 days car from Sixt.
I checked the car before I took the car and after I returned the car.
I don't really notice anything...Please refer to the attached photo.

I had a similar experience with Sixt in Germany.
They seem to make their profits by grossly overchargin on scracthes and dents
I had dents on two side doors and received a bill for 4500. euros . That is about 40% of the total value of the car:)

FRAUD is the only word I could use to describe it. My insurance eventally took care of it but bad experience.
My company stopped renting from Sixt and everyone who reads this is warned

I had a very similar experience with Europcar in the UK. I received a letter two weeks after I returned my car saying they were going to charge me £115 for an alloy wheel scratch. When I asked for a photo so that I could compare it with my own taken on return, they rapidly withdrew the claim. A few days later the UK press said that Europcar were being investigated for inflated damage claims.

The major rental companies (or their franchisees) seem to have the morals of the gutter when it comes to dealing fairly with customers.

I've found Sixt are far fairer than most others
 

I've used Sixt plenty of times and become a platinum member and had quite the opposite experience, once a small scratch on a bumper I knew had happened in a car park which was ignored and put down as general wear and tear.

Anothet time there was damage to the bumper and a resonable quote of £600 was given for which I paid half towards (50/50) which they then automatically provided me with all the documentation for so I could claim back on my excess insurance.

You can always find stories of people not being happy with damage to hire cars, my tip is to thoroughly check the car and take photos of the car on arrival and then you have the evidence if later needed that damage was there. If it wasn't then they're a business who wouldn't make money if they didn't charge you for damage, if you don't like that take the full excess out.

£600 does sound steep and I'd challenge why that can't be repaired for well under £100 but could be due to the colour/coating.

Gosh i was thinking ib rent a car with sixt!!! Thanks for your post.
Not renting any more!!!

Enterprise is just as bad in the U.S. Charged $1,118 dollars for a small strip of plastic at the very bottom of a grill which could not be seen on a normal walk-around. Insurance company paid but I wonder how many more times Enterprise collected for that same damage from other customers.

I had a similar though consideably less pricy experience with Budget in Las Vegas a couple of years back. The agent walked around and around and around the car for a couple of minutes and then told me I'd have to go inside and fill out an accident report because I'd damaged the car. There was a tiny chip of paint missing on the rear bumper. When I said "well, isn't that what bumpers are for?" she said that damage wasn't there when I took the car so I'm responsible. They only charged me $75, probably put it in the bank and the next person who took the car had better have noticed that nick.

If this is paid by insurance, you may rest assured that unless it is a minor amount, the insurance carrier will insist on details and the rental outfit knows that what different companies require so it either provides that or settles. You, as the consumer are off the hook and not party to this back office stuff.

If you are not insured, you are in a pickle. You ultimately have the immediate upper hand through chargeback, but those are not often successful and some companies place customers who use the process on their Do Not Rent list.

If you are on the hook and regularly (hopefully not too regularly !) do business with a high-end auto repair shop or dealer, ask what the repair ought to cost. A photo is not dispositive, but you may be surprised at what spare parts for some vehicles cost, especially if they require paint matching and other coatings.

It's a shakedown by the franchisee, pure and simple. I rented a Thrifty car in Cozumel for three days and paid the exorbitant fee for the 'total protection package' because I'd been warned up front. Checking in the car they actually got down and started running their hands along the bottom edges of the bumper flaring looking for tiny nicks in the fiberglass. Then they proceeded to tell me how great it was I bought the 'total protection package' because otherwise I'd have to pay $x for damage to the car.

Basically I paid my tourist extortion money up front.

I refuse to rent from Enterprise. Every time I've rented from them they come up with reasons to honor discounts made with the reservation and use aggressive bully tactics to try to get me to buy insurance I don't need.

Original charge was NOK7264.50 (USD900+)
But since I bought SCDW, they charged me to the maximum which capped at NOK5000 (USD600+).

My funniest car rental experience was on Bora Bora. They asked if I wanted the car for 45 minutes or a full hour. I went for the hour but they said they'd only charge me for 45 minutes if I was back early. I then had to sign a paper agreeing to pay for damage from falling coconuts. Next we did a walk-around on an old battered car. By the time all the dents and scratches were noted the car outline was almost solid black. 45 minutes later, having circumnavigated the island and stopping for groceries, we returned the car and did another walk-around. No new damages were discovered and I only paid the 45 minute rate. Luckily the walk-around time isn't included or I would have paid double!

Photo! ...... BEFORE!
 

Have always done a walk around first. Have always taken phone camera pictures of all sides of the car prior to departure.

This is quite the opposite of my experience with Sixt in the US, we collided with a van whilst parking and left a large scratch and dent down the side and we were charged nothing even having declined the enhanced insurance

Taking a picture with a potato?

Based upon what I can see there is a chunk of metal removed in the spoke which can cause a structural failure. Be better if the picture had been taken at a higher resolution and just of the spot. 600 bucks for the rim, about standard for non discounted price.

Avis did rthat to us in New Zealand
 

We had to rent two cars on the North and one on the South island as Avis does not let you take them on the ferry

The rental car on the North Island was new with no damage. The rental car on the South Island had a little damage that was noted on the slip of paper that I fortunately kept.

After returning to the US we had a charge of about $1,000 on the credit card which I disputed. They came down to around $400 because they could fix it in house. When I asked for all the documentation, they sent photos of scratches under the bumper you never would have seen. But the kicker was that that slip of paper I had documenting the damage on the car showed damage there when I received it. They sent the slip of paper for the car on the north island with the damage on the south island but the license plates did not match. They finally sent it back to New Zealand and the charges were removed but I would have been out of luck if I didn't save that paper showing the damage on the car.

It was a hassle with Avis who claimed they were the middle man because it was a franchise. But when I finally got someone to look at it which was difficult they sent it back and the charge was reversed I am sure it was a racket and that many people would pay the $400 as they would be grateful it wasn't the $1,000