We rented a car from Sixt for our trip to Curacao from December 10 to December 17 on Rentcars.com. Arriving at the airport, we were given a Kia Picanto that we thought corresponded to the category of car we rented (ECAR - Hyundai i10 or similar). To our surprise, on our way to the hotel, we realized the car didn't have any airbags, which was clearly stated in our reservation. We would not have booked a car without airbags as we were going to drive a lot in this trip and safety is a major concern.
We decided then to go back to Sixt at Curacao airport on the next day to have the car changed. We explained the situation to the lady at the front desk who, after calling her colleague, told us that ALL their cars had airbags, even though they did not show "AIRBAG" engraved on the steering wheel and on the passenger's front panel pad. We found it really odd, as the Owner's Manual clearly stated that airbags were an optional and, IF EXISTING, should be indicated by the letters "AIR BAG" on such places. We then insisted and showed the pages of the Manual with the concerned information, hoping they would understand and abide by what had been agreed on the contract. After much wait, the lady unhappily told us they had another car for us. On the parking lot, we saw the new car: another Kia Picanto without airbags! We then talked to Ms. America Figueroa who was presented to us as the manager on the phone and tried to explain again the situation to which she responded by repeating that all cars had airbags and that even SUVs didn't have "AIR BAG" engraved on them. We then told her that the SUV parked in the lot had it, as a counterargument, at what she LAUGHED (!) and said, "but that's not what you have paid for". After that, we clearly told her we didn't want anything more than what we have paid for and she said she was going to see if she had another car in the same category and, in case not, call Rentcars.com for them to see what they would do for us, simply washing her hands of the problem.
After waiting again for an answer, we had the General Manager on the phone who told us he had called, Rentcars.com and Kia and repeated the same story: all the cars had airbags and the letters were being replaced by digital signs, which showed "ON" only if the airbags had a problem (!). I told him that that didn't make any sense and was contrary to the car Manual (which also depicted an air bag switch for the passenger's front air bag, non-existing in the car, of course). He then blatantly said that they would give us "A CAR WE DID NOT PAY FOR THIS ONE TIME", but for us to know that that would not happen another time (!!!). I have never been so DISRESPECTED in my life by a company, which should be part of a global group and know a little bit about customer service. Sixt definitely doesn't have the minimum quality standards and customer service of a multinational, not even a local company could handle this situation this poorly.
After 2 hours waiting to have our problem solved, we drove away with a Kia Soluto with the front shield shattered and only one airbag on the driver's side not to waste any more time of our trip being disrespected and not listened to.
Apart from the terrible customer service, this experience raised a concern with SECURITY and what is being sold to Sixt's and Rentcars.com customers so we STRONGLY ADVISE NOT TO RENT FROM THEM.
Useful information: for a company that boasts holding new cars on their website ("NEW CARS - ON AVERAGE 3 MONTHS OLD"), they have cars as old as 2017. read more