Sixt Car Rental Company

It is not fair then. Sixt once charged me for a 50 Euro extra cleaning fee which was pretty bogus.
I had problems with Europcar that once dismissed my report of a dent as irrelevant and too small to write down on the damage form when I picked up the car. When I returned the car, the same dent was noticed and the once "irrelevant dent" was reported and charged to my account.

Did you get a BMW sedan instead of a station wagon? This is not clear to me. The BMW Touring (station wagon) comes in 2 flavors: the BMW 3 series Touring and the BMW 5 series touring. If you got the BMW 3 series station wagon, it is indeed a proper Touring and you got the vehicle you requested. If they gave you a 3 series 4-door sedan instead then they should have discounted the vehicle. Regarding damage to the car, I always spend a good 10 minutes going over the vehicle (in Europe particularly). I insist that the issues I find are indeed entered in their computer before I leave the rental place.

Is this just a rant or do you have a question? Are you looking for ideas to get a resolution? Do you want to know where and how you might have screwed up so you can prevent it from happening again? Who were you actually complaining to? Sixt is a pretty good outfit. If you were fussing at the gas station crowd ....

I'm saying that I rented and paid for a BMW series 3 Touring and got the BMW series 3 sedan 4 dours which does not have as much cargo space. And no, they refused to refund the difference. As far as the false accident claim, it was canceled after we indicated we have the drop off receipt with no issues listed. To me, they cheated and deceived us on many fronts.

Sixt don't trade in the US. Ed is never home long enough to hold down a job. Answer to question: Ed doesn't work for Sixt.

Henry may have a legitimate complaint, but attacking someone who dares challenge him is not a good way to win friends and influence people. The criticism of Ed is especially ironic because Sixt is one company Ed, himself, has criticized by name in the past for using a bait-and-switch routine. Even if every detail of the OP's account is, in fact, true, every rental company out there gets the same type complaints from time to time. Most of the time it seems that the problem is with the local office, not at the company level.

I just asked him if he works for Sixt, nothing more or less. Sixt compnay is responsible for all its offices. I rented a car from their main website. I can care less who provides their bad service or who writes their manipulating and distorted emails to their customers. We just want our money back for giving us the wrong and less expensive car. But they continue their path of denial and shifting the blame. They also have great public relations guys to fight customers like me online which is pathetic since they can spend their money to improve customer service.

Sixt is coming to America in a small way. I think they may have some offices in Central and South Florida.
This is not good news of how a rental operation should work.

Thank you Henry for the warning.. duly noted for future reference. I would like to know from Ed how to prevent this from happening in the future with any company, cuz I think they're all capable of this.

I cannot read minds, but post no. 4 does not seem like an innocent question to me.

Roy, there was no criticism or attack. I think you were having a bad day.

Sixt still refuses to admit the error and refund my money for the price difference. I am taking my awareness campaign against Sixt to other websites and BBB if they are doing or planning to do business in the US. Thanks everyone for your support.

I have enjoyed this website so much and all the great advice people give,but I have found that certain people behave arrogantly in their replies to people - not politely. Yes, they are well traveled, but it doesn't mean they should be sarcastic....please behave GENTLEMAN. Sometiems people think sarcasm is humor, but not really.....
Treat others as you want to be treated.

I read Henry's response the same way that Roy did. It seemed to me, too, that Henry was questioning Ed's motives in his attempt to clarify Henry's question. After all, this is a website for questions, not experiences (except in the Trip Reports section). What was the reason, or the relevance, of Henry "suspecting" that Ed works for Sixt, other than to suggest than Ed might be biased?

Absolutely no sarcasm intended, at least on my part. It was simply an honest observation of what appeared to me as a hostile response to legitimate questions from another poster who happens to be well-respected on this site.

The line in question is an ad hominem argument that, by definition, is an attack line used to deflect attention from the speaker and discredit the other person. From some of the comments here, it worked. And attacking me personally is the same type argument. It is enough just to say you disagree and state the reasons.

For the record, I've used Sixt several times and found their service to be top-notch. They even sent a representative to meet me and provide a car at a small airport in northern Sweden long after their normal business hours. And no, I don't work for Sixt or have any financial interest in the company. Just a satisfied customer.

I had a similar experience with a European rental company years ago. The lesson learned was to deal with US companies who want to keep me as a customer here at home. If that costs an extra dollar or two then so be it.

SIXT is at the Charlotte airport now.

I also rented and prepaid a car from Sixt this summer, picking up from Nice and returning there. I turned down the usual CDW/LDW coverage from Sixt, as it was covered by my credit card and insurance. Curiously, midway through my three-week rental, I received an e-mail asking me to provide the details of damages to my rental car that I had supposedly already returned. I replied to the company's e-mail explaining that I still had the car and that there was no accident or any damage to it; I also requested that the erroneous information be corrected. I did receive an e-mail acknowledging my input to the accident report request, but no further explanation. I had no complaint with the rental car or the flawless service at the Nice rental facility. I did, however, make a video of the car upon returning it.

We rented a car from Sixt at CDG Airport, Paris. The service was horribly slow. Although Sixt staff was not busy, it took 2 hours to complete the rental. They did not have the type of car we had reserved several weeks in advance and we were forced to upgrade to a convertible which feature we did not want or use. The first car which was offered to us was extremely dirty and far too big to navigate through the historic towns of Normandy. The car that we "accepted" did not have a full gas tank and there was no washer fluid. We were also told it would take an additional 40 minutes to have the car washed. Further the car had a major dent in the rocker panel as if it had been driven off a curb which caused us some concern about the vehicle's safety. Upon our return home, we attempted to receive some resolution of our complaint with Sixt and were told that we had signed for this car and that there was nothing they were prepared to do. I would never rent another car from Sixt. With this kind of service, I honestly don't know how they stay in business. From Henry's description it sounds as if Sixt engages in misleading practices in which they accept a reservation which they have no intention of fulfilling. This leaves the renter with few options other than to accept whatever Sixt dictates. The reason I suggest this might be a company practice is that another couple from the UK were at the counter complaining about the very car which was subsequently offered to us.

Nice things have been noted about Sixt online, and I've also seen some negative. Strife is in the general nature of the car rental business. But how the people behind the desk handle issues separates the good from the bad.

There are some rental agencies in Europe with famous American car rental brand names, however they're actually franchise operations that are European owned. And some of them have horrendous reputations in some countries.

I try to rent when overseas from companies that are "company owned" by U.S. rental firms. They seem to communicate better and respond better to issues.

Our son and daughter once accompanied my wife and I to Europe for one of my 2,000 mile blow and go trips. They lived by our family travel rule of only taking one 22" rolling bag and a small backpack. We didn't have one more inch in the trunk of a mid size car. The other rule is that everyone handles their own luggage.

Sixt is a German car rental company I'd never heard of until traveling to Scotland in September 2012. I was looking to use my Hilton Hhonorrs points to rent ca car in Edinburgh and the were a partner of Hilton. They told me that because I am a Diamond member I would get a 15% discount and a one car upgrade, I i decided to pay and save the points. I received the car I ordered and was upgraded to a BMW, then received about 15 minutes of invaluable coaching on driving there. It was equally as easy retuning the car. This past September I was in France for two weeks, one in Normandy and the other in Provence where we used Sixt. I received the car I rented and had no problems checking out or retuning it. We used Hertz in Normandy with similar success because Sixt didn't have an office in Bayeux. I can understand how someone might have a problem with a European company, but contrary to what was stated above, Sixt DOES do business in the US, with offices in Ft. Lauderdale and at the Orlando International Airport. I found it helpful to call the Orlando office several times in my planning process for France when I couldn't get to the 800 phone number. Hertz was also very good and less expensive because they had a deal going on at the time, but I'm going back to Europe alone next year for 30 days and will probably use both as needed. No...I don't work for Sixt either.

Jim

So sorry to hear about your problem with Sixt. We have rented cars from them on 5 different occasions... 4 times in France once in Germany and been more than satisfied each time. So I am hoping your experience was atypical.

Henry, any resolution?

I have rented from Sixt in Germany and was very pleased with the service. I have also rented several times in Orlando and found them to be cheaper then the in airport rental companies. They are located a short ride from the airport and their pickup and dropoff was very efficient.