es80

In 2017 my wife, 2 young children and me rented a small family car for 1 week whilst on a camping holiday in Spain. On arrival they provided a different car than advertised though this was fine as we didn't need anything special as it would be rarely used. The handover was somewhat chaotic with translation issues, different car provision and that they did not have the appropriate sized Car seat that we requested. However, Unfortunately, in hindsight, the Sixt representative did not advice regarding checking the vehicle or give me a list of known or previous damages to the car and I forgot to ask for one. There were quite a few dints and marks on the car and I took a picture of a larger one only unfortunately. On return of the vehicle having had no issues/ bumps etc we returned the vehicle one week later somewhat rushed to get to our departure flight. On handing the keys back at the kiosk the representative booked our shuttle bus and went off to check the car. She came back and told that she found two 'small scratches' on the bumper. I had advised that we had no known bump/ knock etc and that this could not of been any incident of our own causing. The representative asked me to sign the electronic document anyway, I asked her if this would then mean we would have to pay for the reported damages to which she replied in front of my wife and me that 'there would be no charges from Sixt and that she has to mark it on the electronic system for the next customer who uses the vehicle'. As we were waiting for the booked shuttle bus with little time before the flight I was apprehensive that if I went to check the vehicle and argue the situation we would miss our flight. With 2 young children 2+7 you can imagine the instant horror of that situation. So I signed the electronic form!
Of course, 1 months later an email is received declaring we owe 430 Euro's for damage repairs. I have tried to highlight our situation and that I feel we have been cornered into a situation of providing a signature given incorrect and unclear information as to what I was signing for both on pick up and drop off of the vehicle.
Sixt T damage and claim department have blankly told me on reply that I have signed the electronic document to say that there were no damages on collection of the vehicle and that there were the two scratches on delivery of the vehicle. Both of these points I believe are either untrue or of no fault of our own and we have yet seen any evidence of the reported scratches.
To make matters worse Whilst awaiting a reply from Sixt from my dispute I have now received charges from a German debt Collectors for the original amount + interest and administration fees and have a deadline of 11.5.18 to make a payment.
If there is anyone with a Spanish Law background or representative from Sixt who sees this thread and feels We have been treated unfairly or have no case for dispute I would be really grateful to know. I feel like we have been trapped but then it is very hard to remain unbiased obviously and am very conscious that we are now going to get extra charges from this company Profaktura Auslandsinkasso GmbH. Kind regards.

LondonElite

I think this is going be a difficult one for you. I don't know what country you are in and what your mother tongue is, but a negotiation with Sixt would probably have been the only way to clear this up. Sixt has now handed this over to a debt collector so I expect they'll not want to talk to you any further. You could try to take Sixt to court and fight this, but it is unlikely to make financial sense to do so.

The problem is that you have no evidence that you didn't make those scratches, and signed a form that confirmed the state of the car was reflected in the original handover slip. I know it's great to say all this in hindsight, but I don't know what else to tell you.

There is a Sixt representative here whom you could PM.

es80

thank you for your opinion. I had the same sinking feeling once a letter came from the debt collectors. Its pride I know but I just feel we have be tricked to signing for something that we did not understand. We work hard for our money and try to save and keep costs low but big companies can pull such power over you! Anyway, rant over. How do I PM the SIXT representative? Thanks again

LondonElite

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/memb...rservices.html

I don't think he has posted in a while, though.

Do you have any travel or car insurance through your credit card that would cover this? Again, a lack of evidence is going to be tricky.

FLYMSY

It’s pretty much understood that the Sixt rep has flown the coop. It’s probably been close to a couple of years. Unfortunately, the OP has learned a valuable lesson when it comes to rental cars and not just with Sixt.

Often1

The issue is not whether OP caused the damage, but whether the damage occurred while he was responsible for the vehicle, e.g. during the rental period. The problem here is that OP did not inspect or photograph the vehicle when he picked it up (other than the larger obvious dent). Without that, it is his responsibility. Unless the local representative fabricated the damage, the inspection at drop off would not likely have yielded much.

Turn this over to your insurer. Immediately if not sooner. It should have been turned over the second Sixt first contacted you.

If you do not have insurance, at this point, you have a few choices:

1. Pay the EUR 430 immediately and put an end to the risk to your credit.
2. Negotiate with the debt collector. The debt collector has an incentive to obtain immediate payment and will often take a lot less than the full amount in return for an immediate payment. The underlying issues of how much of a hurry you were in won't be of any interest.
3. Let the debt collector sue you and tell the debt collector that. Do bear in mind that there are both credit consequences for you and DNR risks, although you may not want to deal with Sixt again.

LondonElite

I think there are nuances to those suggestions based on the OP’s country of residence, which we don’t know.

Stranger

Quite.

Not sure I would care too much for a German debt collector, being in Canada, I would just ignore it.

Plu, I doubt a debt collector would sue for sucj=h a miserable amount. More like, playing intimidation.