The car was fine, but the rest was a total rip-off!!!
I have travelled extensively over the past 30+ years, both for business and leisure. In the process I have rented hundreds and hundreds of cars - in other words: I do know the game! And: in all this time, I only had a similar issue once - this is the second time ... That said, this is how the rip-off works:
- When picking up the car, a station agent offered an option where 'we refuel the car for you at about 2 Euros per liter if it's not completely fuel in case you don't have enough time to fuel up' - which sounded very reasonable. What happened: I was charged a full tank (prepaid fuel option!) despite bringing the car back full anyways ... And, no there was NEVER any mention of me having to pay for the full tank!!
o There is usually a fixed airport fee, but I have NEVER seen a 'premium location fee' (of 22%!) anywhere else on this planet - what's worse: it's added not only to the rental fee but also to the insurance premium and gas - absolutely RIDICULOUS!!
o What's more, I had booked through a 3rd party provider (QEED) under the condition of 'all fees included' - so who was lying here to whom: SIXT to the 3rd party provider? Or the 3rd party provider to me?
o And then we ended up returning the car 2h later than planned (our bad) - surprise: we were not only charged an extra day of rental fee but also a late fee equivalent to a daily fee ....
Bottomline:
- Thanks to SIXT's 'creative' rip-off and fee approach and very limited flexibility I ended up paying about double of what I had expected!
- I will certainly never rent with SIXT or through that 3rd party provider ever again - there are enough choices ... read more