Sixt Bringing Customer Service To Social Media

Hi Gary, Welcome to the blog!

I think it is really great to see the customer service team getting more involved with the online world and I am sure our customers will appreciate the interaction.

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Sam Geary Reply:
October 11th, 2010 at 10:41 am

Gary please can you help me? Your franchise at Bordeaux stole 300 euros from our credit card after we rented a car from them. We returned it in perfect condition and were then sent a letter telling us the car was damaged and that they had takedn 300 euros out of our account! We had paid a damage ecess and coollision waiver and we had not caused any damage to the car yet we have had this money taken from us and no-one in customer services in this country or in france can help us. I have had an horrendous experience with customer sevices for SIXT and I implore you to help me. Please use the email address enclosed and restore my faith in your company and your department. You are my only hope. S. Geary.

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Andy Aspden Reply:
October 12th, 2010 at 10:05 am

Hi there Sam,

I’ve asked Gary to look into this for you and he will be responding back to you as soon as possible.

Please be patient, but be assured that we are definitely looking into your query.

Andy
Sixt Online Team

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Gary Coughlan Reply:
October 28th, 2010 at 7:55 am

Hi Sam,

My colleague Eric Gutwiller responsible for the damage department for Sixt in France checked personally your damage claim, Eric confirmed that the damage logged against your rental has now been cancelled.

Please accept my apologies for the inconvenience caused.

I will reply in a little more detail to your e-mail.

Best regards
Gary

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Patti Nelsen Reply:
April 7th, 2011 at 1:44 am

I will be traveling in Ireland this June and have a rental car setup through AuroEurope with Murray’s-Sixt at Shannon. As you may know, when you rent thru Auto Europe you don’t get to choose which rental company they use. I was very concerned when I found that they had selected Sixt because I have read so many bad reviews about SIxt. I do realize that most reviews are written by disgruntled customers but, I was still concerned……until I found this blog! I do hope that this customer service extends to your locations in Ireland and that, if I do have a problem, I can come to you for help? Will I get the same help even though I booked thru Auto Europe and not the SIxt site? I think this blog is a great idea and I do hope that my experience will let me post some positive feedback for you!!!

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Patti Nelsen Reply:
March 29th, 2011 at 2:18 am

so sorry, it appears I put this in the wrong spot!

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Gary Coughlan Reply:
April 8th, 2011 at 1:12 pm

Thanks for posting here on our blog.

You will of course receive the same Customer service from us even though you booked through an agent with our Franchisee in Ireland. You are still a Sixt Customer and it’s our job to make sure you are a happy one

I’m glad you were reassured by our Customer Service support provided on our blog. I know exactly what you mean about review sites often only attracting negative comments, but even so…it is crazy for a company not to pro actively look for these comments to listen to it’s customer’s and learn from their experiences. Without you, there is no us and that’s not a sound-bite, it’s a business reality.

We wrote on our blog last year about review sites and their impact, I included the link below, you may find it interesting reading.

http://www.sixtblog.co.uk/customer-service/online-review-sites-curse-or-cure/

I hope the sun is out in June and that you have a great trip, I’d love to hear back from you after your rental. Perhaps if you have the time you can tell us a little about the places you visited.

Best regards
Gary

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Patti Nelsen Reply:
April 15th, 2011 at 7:37 am

Thanks Gary,
I can’t tell you how reassuring it was to read your response! I will most definetly let you know how things go…..even if it goes well )
Keep up the good work! The interenet is a wonderful thing but, it can be very one sided sometimes…..I’m personally going to make more of an effort to post those “good” comments more often!!
Thanks again,
Patti

Just wanted to say thank you to Sixt. I recently used the online booking system via a smart phone and failed to identify that the insurance excess could be reduced from its usual level. Sure enough, a stone thrown up on the motorway left me with a chipped windscreen which needed replacing (just over £300)!

This was an unexpected pleasure especially as I’d volunteered my services to help someone move. I would like to thank Sixt for the way in which my problem was handled and highlight to other potential hirers the potential pitfalls. Paying extra to reduce excess does create a revenue stream for the hire company. The cost however is around 10% of the daily charge which more than compensates for what might be charged should damage occur. I’d been mistaken in assuming that windscreen chips and replacement would be covered under Sixt’s insurance and therefore would not incur excess charge. Needless to say I was wrong.

Overall I found the booking service easy to use but would recommend that the excess reduction element be brought onto the front page of the online booking (iPhone application) with a comment identifying that windscreen repair or replacement is the hirers responsibility.

Customer service was prompt, considered and helpful. Despite ending up a couple of hundred pounds lighter I felt that Sixt did go out of their way to both understand and mitigate what had happened.

In summary, I will be happy to use Sixt again and find them professional, courteous and customer focused.

Kevin

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
April 9th, 2010 at 10:32 pm

Hi Kevin,

Thanks for sharing you experience with us.

Best Regards
Gary

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2 things.

First I have used the online check in system twice for arrival at Nice Airport and it has worked brilliantly and had the car ready for me at the arrival terminal rather than the other terminal where hire cars are.

Secondly I had a problem after returning from a recent French trip over a bill for my car hire where I was being charged for things I felt I shouldn’t be. I called customer care in the UK and spoke to Stuart Branscome who was understanding and totally helpful. It was an example of perfect customer care – he sorted my problem promptly and professioanlly and left me feeling good about the experience.

I certainly feel happy about using Sixt again knowing that there is such good customer after care.

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I just wanted to say a BIG Thank You to Gary Coughlan who has been very helpful.
We booked a hire van through a second party who ended up quoting us wrongly and have been a nightmare to deal with since. I would recommend and book directly through Sixt in future.
Thanks again.

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Cat Reply:
May 27th, 2010 at 2:30 pm

Thank you for taking the time to pass on positive feedback Natalie. I am pleased that Gary and Sixt were able to help you out, we look forwarding to seeing you in a Sixt branch the next time you need to rent!

Kind regards
Catherine Hope
PA to Directors

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Hello Gary

I have experienced shockingly bad customer service by Sixt/Sixti so far and now that I discovered this blog I sincerely hope you can help me. I cannot believe that a reputable service company is behaving like this…

I booked a car rental for Paris (booking 6043806052) . I selected a certain car (Ford Ka) category and cost on the online form. The confirmation I received was for a different car category altogether (a 2-seater Smart). I contacted reservations to rectify this and they have informed me that I have to:
1. Cancel the booking and lose 100% of the payment
2. Change the booking to Ford Ka/Renault Twingo for £73.98

This is outrageous! The error was not mine, it was the clearly the booking form. The agent in reservations (Catherine) was sorry for their error but was not willing to refund out money.

Please tell me that you can rectify this. It would be a shame to know that Sixt tricks people out of their money by an erroneous booking form!

The agent I corresponded with was Catherine
at Sixt Kenning Ltd, t/a Sixt rent a car, Durrant
House, 47 Holywell Street, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, S41 7SJ.
Registered in England No. 440897

I can provide more detail about the booking if needed. Thank you in advance for your assistance. I do hope this gets resolved and our family and friends can continue to rent cars from Sixt in the future

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Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 16th, 2010 at 5:59 pm

Hi Boris,

The confirmation that you sent to me does state that group EBMN Smart for 2 was booked and either you made an innocent mistake or there was a system error.

Amendments and cancellations to Sixti bookings are administratively extremely difficult to process without automatically incurring charges. This is intentional, the Sixti product is our cheapest available price and as such there is very little flexibility with the product. Amendment fees, cancellations fees are all charged automatically by our computer system as they are chargeable according to the terms and conditions. I guess this is what the reservation agent had failed to explain correctly, Catherine’s computer system simply prohibits the cancellation of the booking.

In your case we did manage to change the type of reservation and cancel the booking. There remains the possibility that a cancellation fee is still raised, although this is extremely unlikely. Should you notice any transaction on your card I will refund the amount immediately on receipt of your statement.

It must be stated that if a system error did occur this is extremely rare, I have never had evidence of one concerning the vehicle groups prior. I can reassure you that Sixt is an International Company, very well respected and very well known for the quality of it’s fleet and Service. We are certainly not in the business of tricking money from our customers.

We value very much your business, please do not hesitate to contact me directly should you wish to book a vehicle from us at any point in the future. I hope you do.

Best regards
Gary

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Boris Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 6:21 pm

This matter has now been resolved at my satisfaction. Many thanks to Gary Coughlan who handled it in the most helpful and efficient way.

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Cat Reply:
June 18th, 2010 at 10:08 am

Good morning Mr Nester

I am pleased that your issue has been resolved in a timely manner by Gary, however I would have obviously have preferred for your rental to have gone smoothly, without the need to contact our Customer Service Manager.

Sixt UK places a strong focus on service – it should be excellent every time. In some instances, yes things do go wrong, but as Gary has done I would expect the team to recover the situation in a timely manner and completely to the customer’s satisfaction.

I do hope that you will rent from Sixt in the future and should you have any questions or queries you can always come back to myself or Gary directly at any time.

Kind regards
Catherine Hope
PA to Directors

Hi, my experience is with the website and I am confused and wonder if you can help? I want to book a car for Spain in August for one week but wanted to know what is and is not covered in the insurance and what excess etc we may have. I looked on your website and can find some info but its a bit confusing for customers as its say some stuff is included but doesn’t give enough detail about damage or charges. I always prefer to know we wont have any extra charges in case of any damage. I note the prices on Sixt are higher than competitors so wanted to know what was included as it may well be that overall…. you are the much better option! We hire abroad many times a year and often get offered insurance when we collect the car that allows us to be excess free but is that already in your price with the holiday rentals? Thanks Louisa
ps. if we do book i will come back here and add my feedback as its a great idea to have this area.

[Reply]

Mike Osolinski Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:27 am

Hi Louisa,

Thanks for taking the time to comment I am sure one of our customer service guys will be along to respond to you shortly

I will also pass your feedback along to our web design team for them to look at how we could potentially make the kind of vital information that you mention more clear to our visitors.

Thanks again, and I hope we are able to help you out with your next rental!

Kind Regards

Mike

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Donna Preece Reply:
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 pm

Hi Louisa,

I am Donna and I work in the Reservations department at Sixt. I hope the information below will answer your queries regarding insurance coverage.

Sixt have 2 products on our website, Holiday Cars and the general car rental. The Holiday cars is designed for holiday makers wanting an all inclusive product that is paid for 3 weeks before the pick-up date.

The all inclusive package includes a refundable excess, so what this means is if the vehicle is damaged at all during your rental you will initially pay the excess and then as long as you follow the procedures stated below you will receive a full refund of the excess:

In case of damage, you must follow these instructions on the spot:
immediately inform the rental station
call the police and have an accident report drawn up
when you return the vehicle, have the station write and sign a damage report

The only insurance that is not included in the price is for the Tyre and Windscreen cover which is payable locally at the price of 21.87 Euro per month.

I hope I have been of assistance and if you require any further information please don’t hesitate to contact us further.

Kind Regards
Donna

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Hi there – I’m going to be hiring a sixt car from Palma Airport – the booking system tells me LDW and Extended LDW are covered in the quote. Will I have to purchase additional insurance prior to picking up the car at the airport (i.e. Super LDW?).

The terms and conditions mention LDW, Top LDW and Super Top LDW but don’t tell you what the extended LDW covers, which is included in the price covers? Very confusing. (the car group I’m after is EDMR)

Thanks in advance for any assistance you can provide.

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Just curious as to why my comment was under moderation for 3 weeks only to be ignored entirely. I thought the whole point of this blog was for customers to air their concerns as they relate to customer service with Sixt. It seems to me that perhaps you’re only posting comments that have a positive outcome?

I would appreciate it if someone could respond, as the issue I’m trying to resolve dates back to October 2010.

Kelsey Fuller
Cambridge, Ontario

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 13th, 2011 at 6:23 pm

Dear Kelsey,

Thank you for posting on the Sixt blog.

Please accept my apologies that your earlier post was not published. David and Mike our Sixt Blog Guru’s have checked retrospectively for you comment but are unable to locate it.

Please could you post your comment again and additionally e-mail a copy direct to me at gary.coughlan@sixt.com

I want to reassure you that we publish every post whether the feedback be positive or negative, we want to have an honest and open discussion with our customers. You will see that the previous posts were not in every case to thank us for the service but in some cases to give feedback regarding a negative experience.

I look forward to receiving the details from you and I will do all that I can to help.

Best regards
Gary Coughlan CS Manager U.K

[Reply]

I’m relating the details of an unresolved issue arising from charges
applied to my credit card for “damage compensation”.
RE: Reservation # 3532140552

My wife and I booked a rental car through TD Travel Rewards for our
vacation in Portugal.
We picked up our car at the Lisbon airport branch on October 6th. We
were traveling north as far as Porto and returning to Lisbon on the
12th of October stopping here and there along the way. On the
morning of October 9th we were to drive from a small town near
Coimbra to Porto, however when we got under way I started to notice
shifting gears was becoming more difficult. As with 90% or more of
our driving in Portugal we would be on the highway for our short drive
to Porto, so confirming that there was indeed a Sixt branch at the
Porto airport, we headed there to see if we needed to exchange
vehicles. When we got to our exit from the motorway I downshifted
through to 2nd gear and then nothing. After we had driven the car for
a mere 625km the clutch was completely gone. We were now stranded
on the off-ramp in our rental car. My wife got into the driver seat
and I proceeded to push our car off the side of the road. We manageed
to make contact with the Porto airport branch and they had someone
come out and pick us up. We were given a new rental vehicle and sent
on our way. While at the branch I voiced my displeasure at having
been stranded on the side of the road in a foreign country, wasting
the better part of a sunny afternoon dealing with our malfunctioning
car. I also voiced concern over being charged to refuel our broken
down car as it was impossible for us to refuel it. The agent we dealt
with explained that there would be no such charged applied to our bill.

We enjoyed the rest of our vacation and the car we picked up in Porto
was lovely and problem free. We returned it to the Lisbon branch as
planned on the 12th of October and departed for home in Cambridge,
Ontario.

Then the true problems began. When we received our credit card
statement the charge from Sixt was for the amount of $2771.33 cdn.
Our rental agreement with Sixt was for the amount of $371.51 cdn. so
you can imagine the bewilderment that we felt. On October the 20th we
were credited back $1676.61 cdn. but this still left us with an
excess charge of $719.21 cdn.

We have tried numerous channels of customer service over the past few
weeks, and have wasted countless hours and funds on overseas calls.
We have gotten absolutely nowhere with this issue. We were directed
to send an e-mail to the customerservice.pt team but have been flat
our ignored by them. The offices in Portugal direct you to a
different telephone number where no one is able to help and they
suggest you write to the customer service department. We thought we
might finally be getting somewhere when we had some positive response
from an agent named Lauren Ferguson in the Derbyshire office but after
numerous e-mails back and forth we’ve lost hope there as well.

In summary I would like to say that my wife and I are absolutely
appalled by the way this entire issue has been handled thus far and I
hope that someone within the Sixt team is able to contact us to
correct this. Not so much as an apology for the inconvenience was offered to us in Portugal.

I would also like to point out that at the mileage on the vehicle at the time we picked it up was 64711 km. and when it was retrieved from the side of the road it had 65341 km. The overall condition of the rental car was fairly rough, with more dings and dents than could be noted on a single page. It is absolutely absurd to attempt to charge a client for the repair of a wear component on a vehicle with well over 60 thousand kilometres on it. Especially when the client is only responsible for the last 600km. and just happened to have the bad fortune of being behind the wheel when the clutch went.

Thank you for reading my long winded note and I sincerely hope to hear from someone within your organization that is empowered to resolve this issue.

***As an update to this note, we have since received a refund for the amount of the fuel surcharge. This still leaves us paying over $700 for the repair of a vehicle belonging to you which we drove for a mere 600km. The car that I drive on a daily basis has a manual transmission and I have driven it a problem free 230,000k without replacing the clutch. This tells me that either Sixt Portugal is accusing me of abusing/mistreating their car or accusing me of being a terrible driver. Either way this whole situation smacks of ineptitude and I’m getting more frustrated than I ever thought possible. I implore you to please, either take a good luck at this issue yourself, or pass this on to someone who may be able to find some reasonable resolution. ***

Anxiously awaiting a response.

Kelsey Fuller
Cambridge, Ontario
Canada

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 21st, 2011 at 5:16 pm

Hi Kelsey,

I contacted my colleagues in Portugal to discuss the damage charge.

It is possible through poor use that the clutch could be damaged within 600 km. However, I do understand completely your point of view and that you felt this was an erroneous charge.

I hope that you are happy with the resolution detailed in my e-mail direct to you.

Please do not hesitate to contact me directly if you have any questions.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Kelsey Fuller Reply:
January 27th, 2011 at 4:40 am

Gary,

High praise for you and your colleagues in the UK office. I am very pleased with the level of customer service I have received when dealing with your office. Unfortunately your colleagues at the Portugal office have a lot to learn.

Overall, a nightmarish ordeal with a satisfactory resolution.

Thank you for your help, I truly appreciate it.

Sincerely,
Kelsey

[Reply]

Gary,
We are being robbed by your company.
We requested an automatic transmission vehicle from your Paris – Saxe location during holiday this summer. When we arrived (Aug 5, 2010), an automatic car was not available despite the fact that we had placed our order well in advance. There was no attempt to contact us prior to our arrival so that other arrangements could be made. There were however automatic transmission cars on the lot that the attendant said were “reserved” for other customers – I have no idea why those customers reservations were honored and mine was not. I had pre-paid for the car online. Before being told that a car was not available, we gave another credit card for “incidentals”. After wasting most of our day trying to rectify the situation, we eventually were told that we would be refunded. No apology was ever given. When we got back from holiday and checked our billing statements, the first card had been refunded, but the second card had been charged the full amount of the rental $596.19 USD (450.94EUR).
We have tried contacting our credit card company to dispute the charge, but they have told us the Sixt will not remove it. I have never had such a bad experience with a company before.
Any help would be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michael Isaacson, MD

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 20th, 2011 at 7:40 pm

Hi Michael,

I will check this an respond in detail tomorrow.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 21st, 2011 at 4:33 pm

Dear Mr Isaacson,

Thank you for posting on our blog.

The reservation that you placed with us was pre paid on your MasterCard 450.94 Euros. When you arrived at our branch a different credit card was provided by you and entered into our system. This credit provided card was a Visa card. On the 18th of August, the same day that the rental was due to start we cancelled the invoice. This meant that the refund of 450.94 Euros was then made to the Visa card that was supplied at the branch. Therefore the pre paid amount has been refunded not to the Master card that was used for payment but to the Visa card that was supplied in the rental branch. Please check the Visa statement and let me know if the refund does not appear in the August/ September statement.

I am very sorry that we had no automatics available for the booked rental start, on very rare occasions due to unusual spikes in late returns, damages or rental extensions, the reserved vehicle group can be unavailable. Our branch staff will always try their best to arrange an alternative vehicle, usually an upgrade to enable you to proceed with your vehicle hire.

Once again, please accept my apologies for the inconvenience we caused you.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of any further help.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Hi there

wonder can you help me.

I am booking a car from belfast int airport next week. Monday – Weds. The prices are great but the LDW excess is stating £1200. However when I look at your T&C’s it states a different number.

Please can you let me know what the LDW will be.

Loss Damage Waiver (LDW)

Loss Damage Waiver removes the drivers responsibility to a part of the vehicle in case of damage or theft. LDW is mandatory in Great Britain unless the customer is from the US or Canada and has insurance cover through their own credit card.

If LDW is not accepted the customer will be held liable for the full value of the car.
If LDW is accepted, customer is only responsible for the following amounts:
£1,000.- (M***,E***,C***,I***,S***, CNMN, COMN)or £1,500.- for the groups F***, L***, P***, X***.
Northern Ireland: £750.- (M***, E***, C***, I***); £950.- (all other car groups)

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paul mcloughlin Reply:
January 20th, 2011 at 7:16 pm

can you someone get back to me asap!!

[Reply]

Adam Wilkes Reply:
January 20th, 2011 at 7:38 pm

Hi Paul

I hope you are well

Many thanks for your blog post

My names Adam and I’m the reservations manager for Sixt in the UK

If you could possibly send me the details of your booking request including the vehicle group you wish to hire I will look into this for you and take care of it

Please send these to adam.wilkes@sixt.com

Look forward to hearing from you and thanks again for feedback on our blog

[Reply]

Lee Cousins Reply:
January 21st, 2011 at 2:23 pm

Hi Paul,

Just to let you know I have replied to your e-mail query regarding the excess on the vehicle you are renting.

I have contacted our internet team in Germany and they have confirmed that the excess on the vehicle you have booked is £750.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention and this will be be corrected on our website.

Hope you have a great weekend and if you have any other issues then please feel free to contact me at any time.

Many Thanks

Lee

[Reply]

paul mcloughlin Reply:
January 24th, 2011 at 11:06 am

Lee

Thanks.

If I need to change my pick up on my reservation from 5pm (thats what I stated) to 6.30pm, how do I do that? Is there a number or can I do it online? Reservation number: 6046329273

Brace yourself because this my friend is amazing

I rented a car from Sixt at Cagliari airport Sardinia on the 20th-22nd jan. On being given the keys to the car i was advised that there is damage to the right handside of the vehicle but that it was noted in the paperwork. There was also a number of scuffs on the right side of the bumper but it was clear that the damage was all part of the previous incident

On handing the car back an inspection was done with myself present. The man pointed out the damage to the wing mirror which was already marked on the paperwork. He said that it was fresh, i explained that it wansn’t and after a short amount of time he agreed, he then focussed on the scuff on the bumper which was clearly old damage. Again he agreed but asked if i write down “this car has not been involved in an accident and sign”, i did this can confirmed that there wasn’t a problem and he said “its fine its all old damage”.
I then went to the terminal to wait for my flight. After an hour or so i decided to double check my paperwork before I left the country, i noticed that the amount payable (48 Euros) was an estimate so i decided to go back to the office and double check.
At the desk i spoke to a lady (Debra) who said there was a problem as she wouldn’t know how much i would have to pay due to the damage. I was gobsmacked, i asked what she was talking about and she referred me to the scuff that had been found on the bumper. I again explained that it was already there and the gentleman who did the inspection agreed with this.
I then went with the lady to take pictures of the damage for my own protection and whilst at the vehicle she said “it’s a scuff and you probably wont have to pay anything but they’ll be in touch”. I explained that i won’t be paying a thing as i’ve not damaged the car but again confirmed that she is to contact me if there are any further developments.
Having arrived back in london i stopped off for petrol but my card was declined? I phoned my bank to find out that SIXT had debited my account for £843!!!!! I also found out that they had initially tried to debit my account for £1200 twice then £1100 then £950 and finally being succesfull at £843. The most AMAZING thing about this is that the first transaction was done by the girl who had been at the car when i was taking photos 10 minutes after i left their office!!!!! at 15:00. She obviously waited until i had gone and tried to see what she could get out of my account, criminal!!. How can you abuse my bank account details in this way, and how can you knowingly misinform me.
I’ve been contacted with the sixt cagliari airport office today and spoke to the girl (debra) who was there when i took photos and she admitted that it was her who put the transaction through, i asked how and why she did this without informing me. her answer was “read the small print”, i’ve also been told its their office in Rome that i need to speak to, however i’ve had no success with the number. This whole situation is outrages and i believe to be a police matter, your company has stolen money from my account! I also took the pictures to a Garage today who said a new bumper would cost just over £200 in any case. what is your company playing at? can you contact your office in cagliari and provide me with some answers

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 26th, 2011 at 12:47 pm

Hi Dion,

Thank you for your post.
I will check the information with my colleagues.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 27th, 2011 at 4:38 pm

Hi Dion,

The customer service Team in Italy have confirmed that no money was taken on your credit card for damage.

At the start of your rental an approval was obtained on your credit card to ensure that funds were available for your damage excess, missing fuel or any other non reserved additional extras.

The approval amount only reserves the money and has been automatically cancelled now that an invoice has been raised.

To clarify, Sixt in Italy have not charged your card for any damages, the money blocked on your credit card at the start of your hire will become available again in approximately 5-7 working days.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused, as always if you have any questions please feel free to post additional comments or forward an e-mail to gary.coughlan@sixt.com

I have also forwarded the above by e-mail to you.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Hi Dion,

Thank you for your post.
I will check the information with my colleagues.

Best regards
Gary….

[Reply]

Hi,

I have reserved a CLMR car with pick up in Sarajevo downtown via the Sixt website. I have a sixt platinum card, and I expected a smooth and efortless transaction. Was I in for a surprise.
First, I receive an sms 15 mins before pickup time that downtown office is closed. So, I take a taxi accros town to get to the airport office. There, a not-happy-to-serve-you agent tells me they will downgrade my reservation. No discussion. Had to wait for the car to be prepared. Had to suffer through a confusing discussion between the agent and his boss about how much they will charge me. The agent charged my cc twice, aparently also recredited one of the two charges. My luggage couldn’t fit into the small car, so I had to repack. Stone age customer service from Sixt. My question is why is Sixt running a reservation service when a Sixt reservation is not worth the paper it’s written on.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
April 18th, 2011 at 3:24 pm

Hi Darko,

I’m very sorry to read about your poor experience with us in Sarajevo.

I can see that you booked a CLMR with us and you are of course right to expect to receive a vehicle within the group or higher and at the branch you booked. I’m sorry that we failed to service your reservation and I accept that your disappointment in our Service on this occasion is completely justified..

My colleague Anke from our Customer Service Team in Germany already contacted the branch and I understand replied to your e-mail with an explanation and apology. Anke was not aware that you had paid additionally for a Taxi and naturally would like to take care of this additional cost for you.

Can you let me know how much the taxi was as at the very least we’ll arrange to refund this back to you, we certainly don’t expect our customer to be out of pocket as a result of our mistake.

Whilst I am very sad to read of your experience I am glad that you found our blog and shared your experience with us here.

For your information I have forwarded some additional detail to your personal e-mail address I hope that you will be happy with my suggestion.

Best regards
Gary Coughlan

[Reply]

Darko Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 11:19 am

Thanks Gary,
My second Sixt rental in Bosnia was a positive experience. Sixt staff in Tuzla and in Sarajevo were professional and attentive. I also wish to thank you for running this customer service. In this time of online transactions, it is very encouraging to have an opportunity to complain and receive a fast and personalized response when something goes wrong.
Best regards.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 11:28 am

I’m very glad to hear from you again especially on a positive note and thanks for your feedback about our on line Customer Service Support.

Please do feel free to contact me if you need any help arranging your next hire.

Gary

Ok, this one has dragged on and I need it sorted.

Last november, I rented with Sixt, from Madrid for two weeks. I am a professional golfer and have rented with Sixt before and never ever had an issue. So i arrived in Madrid, collected the car which was very good, no issues, everything ran like clockwork. On returning the car I was alone, my girlfriend was staying in Southern Spain for another week. I checked the car and left. The next day my girlfriend realised she had left some jewelry in a small black bag in the car, I had missed it. I realise this is my fault, not complaining at that. So I emailed Sixt in Madrid, wondered maybe they had found it and could send it to me. They replied promptly describing the articles perfectly and said they had phoned me asap when they discovered it but my phone was already off. So they agreed to send it to me. Thing is it never arrived. I email back, and get nothing. Basically I think someone decided they should just keep it. I asked for the courier information and they still never reply. I took this up with your office, and a lady got back to me and said she would investigate but that was two months ago. I have had no reply or update. I accept its my responsibility but was happy to pick up the cost of return. The value of the jewelry is quite significant. Just dont know what to do anymore, I have been very tempted to fly to Madrid to try and sort this myself.

Hopefully someone can shed some light, thanks

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
May 4th, 2011 at 11:48 am

Hi Gavin,

Thank you for posting about your experiences here on our blog and for taking the time to speak on the telephone with me earlier today.

I’m very sorry for the delay in obtaining the information after you raised your query, as discussed I will speak to all relevant parties to find a solution.

Many thanks for your patience whilst I investigate, I will keep you updated throughout.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Thanks Gary,

I wish to thank you for running this customer service. In this time of online transactions, it is very encouraging to have an opportunity to complain and receive a fast and personalized response when something goes wrong.

Best regards.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
May 24th, 2011 at 12:41 pm

Many Thanks for your post.

We have noticed that more and more our Customer’s conversations about Sixt are moving onto Social Platforms such as Facebook http://www.facebook.com/sixt Twitter and even here on our blog. We will quite happily go where ever you guys are having the conversation and we always try to join in on that conversation where we can with offers to help or simply answer questions.

It is also equally important for us to maintain our traditional methods of customer engagement. We therefore have a dedicated Team of Customer Service Agents to answer our customer’s queries by telephone, letter or via our bespoke e-mail system.

From top to bottom we are passionate about providing our Customer’s with our best Sixt Welcome and Service. We sometimes make mistakes but we are equally committed both in resources and passion to make good the error and restore your trust in us.

We love to receive your feedback, I hope you will also have time to share your rental experiences with us here on our blog.

Gary

[Reply]

Dear Gary,

I´ve tried to contact sixt via email and had no luck so I am trying your blog. I rented a car from you in march. All was fine except you failed to return my 1100GBP deposit until you looked into it and realised that someone at Heathrow forgot to action it.

Last week I realised that you took 156.88GBP from my account on 5th May.

This, coincidentally is the same amount I paid to rent the car 2 months earlier.

How can I confirm that you will no longer take money from my account without asking?

I need to rent a car later this month. Is it safe to use Sixt, or am I better off cancelling my card with you and trying to build up customer loyalty elsewhere from scratch. (this was the reason I used sixt in the first place – your offer of upgrades to repeat customers)

What do I have to do to get a response?

Andy

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 10:37 am

Dear Andy,

Thank you for posting here on our blog, although I am very unhappy to read about the problems you experienced.

Our Treasury Manager checked the charges with me this morning, a detailed explanation of the transactions has been e-mailed to you.

I hope we can arrange a time for me to call you to explain the charging and to apologise in person for our mistake.

It is of course very safe to use Sixt, we made a mistake with this rental, refunded too much and then charged the correct amount later. This was very confusing for you and not good practice for us. We are truly very sorry for the mistake, the confusion and inconvenience this caused.

Gary

[Reply]

12 May 2011. Arrived international terminal 2, Manchester UK. Arrive at Sixt terminal rental office at about 1000. Hand letered sign on door “BACK IN 10 MINUTES.” Time starts when? Second rental party arrives. Third renting party arrives. We’re all standing outside dark office with piles of luggage. 1040. Unmarked sedan parks nearby. Driver with eastern European accent calls someone on cell phone. Then inquires if we’re all waiting for Sixt rentals. “Oh, you should have gone to Terminal 1.” No explanation as to why we all should have dragged our luggage to a different terminal, as we had arranged to rent at the Terminal 2 office. Driver begins ferrying one party at a time to Terminal 1.

We get a Mercedes C-class, sized for 4-5 people and all their luggage, not a VW Golf sized automobile we wanted for two people, traveling light (and the narrow, winding roads of the Lake District). Well, Sixt doesn’t guarantee you’ll get what you reserve.

22 May. Edinburgh, blinding rainstorm. Fender-bender accident! Fortunately, Sixt has a large, circular adhesive medallion on the lower left windshield with an emergency number for any possible problem. 1105, call the Sixt number, 0800 587 4858. Presented with options menu. Press #1 for road service, #2 for everything else (ah, that’s us). Press #2. “This number is not in operation.” Great service; just what you want when you have problems! Try #2 again, same message. Try menu option #1, get Automobile Association rep who apparently have road service contract with Sixt. AA rep says he will try to get a connection; am eventually connected to Sixt representative, but only through the efforts of AA. Phone number posted in car useless if it “. . is not in operation.”

25 May. 1000; returning car to Manchester Airport. Original Sixt agent aon the 12th, and rental recipt indicate return to terminals 1, 2 or 3. Agent even said to return it to the top parking garage deck at terminal 2. Arrive on top deck and find gated lot for rental car returns; signs for all the rental companies, Avis, Budget, Europecar, Sixt, etc. Enter lot and drive around. Assigned and marked parking spaces for all the rental companies EXCEPT Sixt. Make a second pass — nothing for Sixt. Park anywhere and go down to the lower level rental car offices. Sixt office still dark and unattended — not even the “BACK IN 10 MINUTES” sign. Get wife and luggage into terminal 2 and walk to Terminal 1 Sixt office to turn in key. “Oh, you could have just dropped the key in the mailbox (at Terminal 2).” Question as to how they would know when the car is turned in left unanswered, as well as why there are no Sixt parking spaces in the rental car return lot. Walk back to Terminal 2.

Note to Sixt. Cheap computer, simple laser printer and a single sheet of paper, and you could put these instructions in the window of your abandoned Terminal 2 office. Maybe an arrow pointing at the “mailbox” too. There’s supposed to be one somewhere, I guess.

Sixt? Never again. Will spend an extra couple of Euros or Pounds and use a real car hire company. Sixt is obviously run by a bunch of incompetents.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 7:17 pm

Hi Lee,

Thank you for taking the time to provide your feedback on our blog.

I just wanted to post a quick note to let you know how sorry we are that you did not receive a good service from us. We are looking into what has gone wrong and why and will provide you with a full explanation.

Once we have completed our investigation I will post both here on our blog and by reply to your e-mail.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 8th, 2011 at 12:28 pm

Hi Lee,

We are very sorry for the inconvenience we caused you, our terminal should have been manned for your arrival as it normally is, but at very short notice we had a problem to staff this section. This was our problem, not your problem and we should have reacted better to these circumstances so that you received the professional service you expect and pay for.

The signage at Terminal 2 should have had some instructions for collecting and returning vehicles, unfortunately the wrong signage was left on display.

Mr. McLoughlin, our Managing Director reads our customer’s comments here on our blog and having read your constructive feedback we are now currently undertaking a full review of our processes at Terminal 2. Your experience is simply unacceptable, should not have happened and we will learn and make the necessary improvements to make sure that it does not happen again. This includes the signage when returning vehicles.

The breakdown number option 1 is for reporting breakdowns or calling roadside assistance. Option 2 is currently “out of service” we are currently looking into this and problem will be rectified as a priority.

We are sorry that you were unhappy with the vehicle provided, the Mercedes C Class was an upgrade on the model booked and not the size.

Please accept our sincerest apologies, I have replied also to your e-mail address. I hope you are happy with my suggestion.

Best regards

Gary

[Reply]

Good customer services???
I’ve been waiting almost 2 weeks now for a reply to my email regarding my bad experience with sixt.Still no refund as promised. Next step….

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 10th, 2011 at 12:05 pm

Hi Michael,

Sorry about the wait. I have a copy of your e-mail and will respond directly this morning.

Gary

[Reply]

Good day!
This is e-mail was send your on 2 June 2011….Today 16 June….No answer….

“”Dear Sir/Madame,
Could you please check situation with deposit in amount EUR 300 which have been blocked in my credit card? We have returned car according to contract on 22.05.11. and have been provided with the Invoice in amount EUR 80.35. As it has been explained us at the drop-off station in Munich block should be declined within 3-5 days after returning car and EUR
80.35 would be credited.
10 days has been passed but deposit in amount EUR 300 is still blocked and sum according to the Invoice has not been tacken from credit card.
How long would it take to decline this block and withdrow EUR 80.35?”.

I would like to add that this deposit is counted by my bank as a credit and if it would not be returned to my account till 10.06.11 I will have to pay interest for using this sum according to the bank policy.
That’s why I would like to get answer to my request as soon as it would be possible.

Thank you in advance.”

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 16th, 2011 at 2:31 pm

Thank you for posting on our blog.

I checked with Concardis who handle the credit card approvals. Concardis inform me that there is no approval on your card and hasn’t been for some time. Please check again with your credit card company and let me know if a problem remains.

I have also replied by e-mail.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Thank you for asking for feedback. I rented a car on April 29th at Kerry airport in Ireland. Upon returning it at 3 PM on Thursday, May 5, I wanted to share feedback that we had several problems with the car, however there was no one at the counter. We tried calling the phone number at the desk, got no answer and left a message. Another man working at another car hire let us know that because Sixt didn’t have any bookings that day, no one would be in the office.

I wrote a long note about the concerns with the car, left the keys and couldn’t get a receipt. I did get a call back 3 days later and here is how the concerns were addressed.

1.- The road tax on the car had expired. The person who called me back said the road tax had been paid but they hadn’t updated the sticker on the car yet

2. The fan belt on the Air Conditioning made a loud noise and you could not turn on the fan. When my call was addressed they said they would look in to this.

3. The shocks in the car were very bad. The person told me that is just the roads in Ireland. I’m Irish. I know the roads in ireland and have driven in the country for 20+ years… this was a shocks problem, not a road problem.

I rent cars in Ireland each year, however will not be renting from Sixt again. I know cars can have issues, however this is more about very poor customer service. The man running the Kerry airport counter needs some help and service training.

Glenna Palazzo
Harvard Business School
gpalazzo@harvardbusiness.org

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 2:29 pm

Hi Glenna,

Please accept my apologies for the problems you have reported here on our blog and thank you for sharing this feedback with us.

I will contact the branch for an explanation and report my findings to you both by reply to your e-mail and also on the blog.

Gary

[Reply]

Hi Gary,

well, i guess i am one of the many guys to have been ripped off by one of your rogue offices. I rented a van from a Hamburg outlet over 7 weeks ago – took it back in pristine condition (Sunday night so i dropped it off when the office was closed) only to receive a bill for 500 Euro from a windscreen company 6 weeks later. Now if you guys would have called me the next day so that i could have at least looked at the problem, i guess i would not be writing this. But no,i hear nothing and get stuffed with this – it stinks. What really bugs me is that i have rented from the same outlet in the past and intended to rent for a further two weeks in Greece with my family this year. So i am without a trustworthy car rental company and you are less one more customer. I will be taking all the advice i can get because i am dammed if i am going to be rolled by these underhand tactics.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 29th, 2011 at 2:13 pm

Hi Tony,

I hope you have received my e-mail today in which I have requested some further details from you to allow me to investigate and clarify the damage charge with my colleagues in Hamburg.

I understand that you are disappointed to receive a damage 7 weeks following your rental. As I said in my e-mail, I will do all that I can to clear up any misunderstanding.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
June 29th, 2011 at 3:40 pm

Thank you for forwarding the details to me.

I discussed your feedback with my colleague in Germany who explained that we had contacted you for an explanation after new damage was recorded following your rental.

We of course accept your clarification that the damage had not been caused by you. We therefore closed the damage file and have e-mailed you a confirmation to that effect. Please be reassured that whilst we try our best to minimise any mistakes, they can and do still happen. I hope you can see that mistakes like this whilst occasional are not intentional and that we have a Customer Service Team who is committed to resolving such misunderstandings when they do occur.

As I said I am extremely sorry for the inconvenience, if you need any help arranging your next hire in Greece, please contact me directly and I’ll personally take care of your request.

Best regards
Gary

[Reply]

Tony Phillips Reply:
June 29th, 2011 at 5:19 pm

Hi Gary,

I wasn’t contacted for an explanation after the new damage was recorded – and that is my main point. But anyway, thank you so much for sorting this out so effectively. My faith is completely restored in Sixt thanks to your work. As for Greece, i will gladly choose a Sixt car and book tonight for the 2 weeks we are on holiday. THANKS FOR THE UPGRADE AND KID’S SEAT OFFER!

PS: Regarding the civil unrest in Greece right now, do you offer anything like a Humvee?

Hi,

I recently used one of your hire car’s in Italy, I was very happy with it. The deposit that was taken from my bank account was 450E, this has still not been returned. There was no damage on the car and the tank was full upon returning. I returned on the 22nd of July. How long does it take for this money to be returned?

Thanks

Alex Horne

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
July 28th, 2011 at 10:24 am

Hi Alex,

I don’t see the reservation on our system. Maybe you booked with an Agent direct with our Franchisee?

Would you mind forwarding the reservation confirmation or rental agreement to gary.coughlan@sixt.com I’ll speak to Italy to se whether we can hurry things up for you. Typically it can take up to 10 working days for the approval to return to your card, this amount of time can vary depending on your bank and banking processes generally.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
July 29th, 2011 at 10:35 am

Alex,

My colleague in Italy confirmed that she cancelled the approval, it may still take some days to show as available on your account but we have done what we can to speed this up and now must wait for the banking processes.

Hopefully you will have the funds available again soon.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Alex Horne Reply:
July 29th, 2011 at 4:07 pm

Thankyou for the help

Hi Gary,

in your email you say that you are ” a little bit disappointed not to have had a more restrained exchange regarding this issue, you know we don’t disappoint you intentionally.”
My point is that you do disappoint on a regular basis – just pay my money back.
No excuses! Pay it simple.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
August 5th, 2011 at 4:58 pm

Hi Tony,

Sorry, I had to delete your previous comment due to the bad language. We are checking the refund and will advise latest on Monday.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Hi,
I’m at the point of rapidly losing confidence in Sixt, so I’d be grateful if you could please help me. I have made a booking for this coming September…unfortunately I booked the car for a day later than I needed to. I just want to collect the car on the Saturday not the Sunday as booked…and so to extend the booking by one day! Payment has already been deducted from my account for the car hire. I don’t want to cancel the booking, just add one extra day!

When I try to log into the site to do this (using booking number and security code provided) , nothing happens. When I tried to telephone Sixt here in Australia, I am told the service is no longer connected…I’ve sent heaps of emails, but get no answers! I need to know what is going on!

Please help!

Virginia

[Reply]

Hi Virginia,

I’m very sorry to hear about your issue. My colleague Sabine has sent you an email regarding this problem.

Kind regards,
David

[Reply]

Dear Sir/Madam,

Like many persons above, i have also been falsely charged as after returning my hire vehicle 6 weeks later i have recieved a further charge of £32.40 according to my bank statement, why is this? How can this happen?

Why was i not informed either in person when returning the vehicle or when i recieved the final total invoice about this additional charge?

This is completely unacceptable and in many persons eyes a fraudulent activity and payment.

I am so concerned about the matter and the fact that this payment was made 6 weeks after returning the car that i feel an employee at Sixt may be carrying out and behaving in an unauthorised and fraudulent manner.

Please can you look into this matter, my reservation number was: 1213329873.

Chris Demetriou

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
November 29th, 2011 at 3:44 pm

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your post.

You have no reason to worry about Fraudulent activity on your card, I can confirm that the charge is correct. In order to protect your privacy I will reply with a full explanation to your e-mail address.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Just read your latest email. What are the dates to book to receive the Golf rate of £20 per day and which locations?

[Reply]

charlotte.scheggia Reply:
January 3rd, 2012 at 5:15 pm

Hi Saulio,

we have replied to your query on the UK facebook page http://www.facebook.com/sixtrentacaruk

I hope this helps, if you have anymore questions please dont hesitate to ask

Charlotte

[Reply]

Hi Gary,

I received an invoice from sixt stating that it was a charge for damaging the handbrake , and the incident time was 30 min right after I pick up the car. I totally disagree to the charges.

I rented a car from your London Heathrow outlet on dec 12 and after 5 min driving the car, I realized the car could not accelerate. I called your help center and told them that it might be a handbrake issue. After 30min, a guy came and eventually found out that the problem was due to the cruise control setting of the car.

The feature was not explained by the rental office staff when I picked up the car. And now, I AM PENALIZED for your unprofessional service??!! What’s more, the handbrake was not damaged. It was the auto-cruise setting.

I really appreciate your kind help to look into this matter.

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 23rd, 2012 at 2:46 pm

Thanks for leaving your here on our blog.

I will check with colleagues and come back to you as soon as possible.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 3:00 pm

We received a report from our breakdown service regarding a call out that they attended during your hire. It was concluded that driver error was the cause, this meant that the call out costs were then chargeable and your responsibility. We apologise that the correspondence suggested that the vehicle was damaged and we will of course look at the wording of this letter as a consequence of your feedback.

Of course we rely on the diagnosis of the expert attending the breakdown but we are happy to accept your explanation regarding the cause.

We have therefore cancelled the call out invoice and would like to apologise for any inconvenience.

Gary – Customer Service Team

[Reply]

Xu Jia Teng Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 5:11 pm

Hi Gary, thanks for your prompt response and action on resolving the issue !

[Reply]

Gary Coughlan Reply:
January 27th, 2012 at 5:16 pm

You are more than welcome.

Please get in touch with me for your next hire, I’ll make sure you have our best Sixt welcome.

Gary – Customer Service Team