Sixt has not paid agreed out of pocket expenses. What to do next?

It's difficult to answer your question without knowing the format that you're sending the receipts in and/or the software the Sixt office is using to try and read them. Essentially this is not something that anyone on here is going to be able to answer.

Sixt is a large, reputable organisation and on the face of things I don't believe that this is obfuscation on their part.

Are you able to scan the receipts and save them as a JPG which will likely be easier to open?

Is there not a different format you can use? Spreadsheets means Excel and I suspect that in some places they don't use it. Can you send PDFs as JPGs? Sorry, I feel hampered by lack of knowledge of file extensions, but clearly they just can't use the ones you have been sending, as this is what they keep telling you.

Lavandula

Ah, we were cross-posting - but yes, essentially same advice!

Lavandula

Go 'old fashioned' and mail a copy to them?

You could try

https://www.sixt.com.au/pages/imprint/

This is the kind of question that posting to a forum like this is like searching for a needle
in a haystack.

I would either call a Sixt office in Australia (as I assume this is where you live), or call a
Sixt office in France or Italy.

Sending the same info which they cannot process (for whatever reason) 4-5 times and
expecting a different result is not likely to end happily. If nothing else, as noted, send
PDF's, jpegs, all in the same mail.

I doubt Sixt is being dishonorable here, but, what seems picky to me or you is standard
operating procedure to them.

"Where else can we go/what can we do to be reimbursed in Australia"

Sixt Australia is a franchise owned by a subsidiary of the NRMA - your claim is with an entirely different legal entity.

It's worth going back to Sixt Italy (the entity with which you have the rental agreement) and asking them what format they want the claim documents in.

I´m, sorry to read this, because I have been using SIXT for the past five years or so, on all my European rentals, and they've done the maximum in cases of trouble.....and I've been recommending them on travel forums..

SO, I am very curious as to which insurances you took when you booked...I´m wondering if you took the full insurances and if not, would that have affected the issue you are having...(??)

Sorry to jump in, but I just have to say SIXT customer service is 0 out of 10 based on my experience in France in December. I too have used them many times without issue, but the branch in Carcassone gave me too-small snow chains (actually "socks") which I found out the hard way while driving to a ski area in Andorra 3 days later. What ensued was lengthy WhatsApp messages (frequently bounced around to different agents), calls to customer service (ones to branch office never answered), repeated explanations of the issue, and ultimately having to drive an hour back to Carcassonne to exchange for the proper sized chains. The branch agent was apologetic, and found their database stated what they initially gave me should be the correct size, but visual confirmation it was not. In any event, she noted on the rental agreement what happened, said the office manager was out and she could not grant a refund (this was 24 Dec). My request to be refunded the chains cost (token request to me for the hassle/burden/safety issue) was noted in the rental record. On rental return I asked about the refund request, and a different agent said they had no authority to do so but he would (again) make notes on the rental. Jump to today as I still had no refund. I just spent 2 hours on WhatsApp arguing the case, being denied ("we have no record that you exchanged the socks"), and bounced to 4 different agents before they finally agreed to grant the refund. Funny thing is as I was waiting for the 4th WhatsApp agent today I googled "sixt poor customer service" and my & OP issues came up. AI actually crafted a message for me that I tweaked only slightly and added to the chat - and it worked. At that point the issue had been elevated 4 times, so not sure where the credit goes.

It wasn't so much the mistake made, but the utter incompetence of a distant and disjointed customer service process that was maddening. Interestingly enough, when in the Carcassonne the SIXT branch agent herself said their customer service is poor - they have difficulties themselves.

I wonder if OP ever got paid?

My other question, why not just put the spare tire on ?

I doubt they got paid. We gave up after being assured several times to expect reimbursement from Sixt.

A lot of cars don't have spares, these days. (Like my car).

My other question, why not just put the spare tire on ?

Most newer cars don't come with a spare tyre but rather run flat tyres meaning that you can continue to drive on them in order to reach somewhere for a repair.

As a French resident, I’ll share that France has specific legal rules and procedures for every situation imaginable, very prescribed ways to handle all situations. It’s quite unlike North America where often the customer is king.
So join the closed Facebook group “France Legal Support” and ask your question there. Be sure you state where you are now, so they know you are dealing with an overseas matter. Give the dates. I am sure there is a government body that oversees such matters.
You will find out which expenses are reimbursable and how to proceed. The first thing that will be asked will be about the precise wording of the contract you signed with SIXT, any insurance and what the insurance contract says.
We don’t count on email or phone calls for anything like this here in France. Instead we begin with registered letters that require a signature. Go ask the experts at France Legal Support.
Bonne chance.

Edit to say that I didn’t see that this was a zombie thread resurrected by Brian to share his story until after I took time to answer the OP whose question was months ago.