DO NOT RENT FROM SIXT/AUTO EUROPE
Nov 13th, 2009, 05:59 AM
#1
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DO NOT RENT FROM SIXT/AUTO EUROPE
I paid up front $410.79 for a 3 day car rental pick up in Zagreb, Croatia, drop off in Dubrovnik. They sent me an email shortly before I left re-confirming. I called the day before the pick up to reconfirm. The person who answered the phone said they do not have a car for me. The front desk personnel of the hotel I stayed at and I searched for 1/2 day for an auto that would seat 5 adults comfortably. There was one auto left---through Dollar--but I couldn't pick up until the next day. This ruined our plans for a leisurely trip through Plitivice National Park. We raced through it. The charge from Dollar for a 2 day car rental was $785.00. I fought with Auto Europe from the day I returned to the states - 9/19/09 to date. They finally put my rental money back on my charge card (on 11/9), but not for $410.79. They held back approx. $29. because they charge in Pounds and the dollar had dropped since I paid for it. I've also been arguiing with them too give me the difference between $785. and the $410.79 I paid. Hah! "They are doing their best to hear back from Sixt".
DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY! I expended approximately $1200. and so far, they returned around $380.
DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY! I expended approximately $1200. and so far, they returned around $380.
Nov 13th, 2009, 06:31 AM
#3
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I take it you rented through the AutoEurope UK site and not the AutoEurope US site. That is the only reason I can think of that you would get a refund in dollars, but have a differential in pounds. That being the case, I can understand a fluctuation in currency exchange, it could have just as easily gone the other way.
Now, if the car was not available, then AutoEurope should have refunded the full amount, which it seems they did. I do not think they should be liable for you paying $785, but they should have tried to do something to arrange for a car for you.
However, remember that AutoEurope is only a broker. Sixt is the car company and that is who I'd be raising H*** with.
Now, if the car was not available, then AutoEurope should have refunded the full amount, which it seems they did. I do not think they should be liable for you paying $785, but they should have tried to do something to arrange for a car for you.
However, remember that AutoEurope is only a broker. Sixt is the car company and that is who I'd be raising H*** with.
Nov 13th, 2009, 10:55 AM
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Yes, I contacted my c.c. co. and I'm faxing documentation to them on Monday.
I did not know when I booked that I was booking through an England company. I went to Auto Europe web site and searched and that is what I came up with.
Auto Europe has tried, they said, repeatedly to get an answer out of Sixt. They are not responding.
Stu, we telephoned Auto Europe the day before the car was to be available to us. They said, "sorry, we have no car for you". I have the agent's name.
It is because of Sixt's negligence that I had to pay an additional $400. to rent a car, miss 1 day of my vacation, and put up with a lot of aggravation.
I did not know when I booked that I was booking through an England company. I went to Auto Europe web site and searched and that is what I came up with.
Auto Europe has tried, they said, repeatedly to get an answer out of Sixt. They are not responding.
Stu, we telephoned Auto Europe the day before the car was to be available to us. They said, "sorry, we have no car for you". I have the agent's name.
It is because of Sixt's negligence that I had to pay an additional $400. to rent a car, miss 1 day of my vacation, and put up with a lot of aggravation.
Nov 13th, 2009, 12:48 PM
#6
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My comment is this. Auto Europe has some responsibility to place people with companies that can be relied on.
After all, when you rent through them, you have certain expectations of service.
They should be able to sanction Sixt for breaking the contract. If they do not than Sixt could continue to over sell rentals with no concern that someone will call them on it.
Everyone is aware that last minute rentals are usually more expensive and difficult to obtain when you are in a foreign country.
But when you arrive and are depending on a car then it should be there.
With the clout that Auto Europe is supposed to have, I would think that they could negotiate with another company to be able to obtain a car at a more reasonable price for you.
I do not think that their responsibility should end with the reservation because they should be more able to negotiate on your behave, being the giant company they are, than you could do in this situation.
After all, when you rent through them, you have certain expectations of service.
They should be able to sanction Sixt for breaking the contract. If they do not than Sixt could continue to over sell rentals with no concern that someone will call them on it.
Everyone is aware that last minute rentals are usually more expensive and difficult to obtain when you are in a foreign country.
But when you arrive and are depending on a car then it should be there.
With the clout that Auto Europe is supposed to have, I would think that they could negotiate with another company to be able to obtain a car at a more reasonable price for you.
I do not think that their responsibility should end with the reservation because they should be more able to negotiate on your behave, being the giant company they are, than you could do in this situation.
Nov 13th, 2009, 01:41 PM
#7
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I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. We used Sixt in France last December after years of AutoEurope/Europcar and were very pleased with the service. AutoEurope should certainly have been able to get you a car at another agency.
Nov 13th, 2009, 04:04 PM
#8
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I have no experience renting a car let me say up front. But aren't there some documents from your original rental agreement? If so, they might specify AE's responsibility....forgive me if this is really stupid. Sometimes the small print rules.
Good luck!
Good luck!
Nov 13th, 2009, 05:26 PM
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Sorry for your experience. Here is ours.
We just used Sixt in Holland, picking up at Schiphol and dropping in Sneek. We had absolutely no problems from booking on line to drop off. We would use them again.
We just used Sixt in Holland, picking up at Schiphol and dropping in Sneek. We had absolutely no problems from booking on line to drop off. We would use them again.
Nov 13th, 2009, 05:57 PM
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I'm don't completely understand WHO you called to confirm the day before you were to pick up the car.
- AutoEurope in Portland Maine (no England office - unless they have opened one up in the last 9 months)???
- Sixt in Zagreb Croatia???
- Both ???
I've rented from AutoEurope for over 30 years. Perhaps 75 different cars. I've had lots of problems with the actual car rental companies (Avis, Hertz, EuropCar) charging me for stuff that they should not charge me for. AutoEurope has always resolved things in my favor when the problem was not an "error" by me. Sometimes, however, you have to be persistant and I've had to write up long expanations that I've FAXed to them (FAXes seem to work better than e-mails).
My wife worked for Visa for around 20 years, and she's said that car rentals are the most "disputed" commodity. I would not hold out too much hope that your CC company will solve your problem.
Let me know what info you obtained from who, & perhaps I can offer some "avenues".
Stu Dudley
- AutoEurope in Portland Maine (no England office - unless they have opened one up in the last 9 months)???
- Sixt in Zagreb Croatia???
- Both ???
I've rented from AutoEurope for over 30 years. Perhaps 75 different cars. I've had lots of problems with the actual car rental companies (Avis, Hertz, EuropCar) charging me for stuff that they should not charge me for. AutoEurope has always resolved things in my favor when the problem was not an "error" by me. Sometimes, however, you have to be persistant and I've had to write up long expanations that I've FAXed to them (FAXes seem to work better than e-mails).
My wife worked for Visa for around 20 years, and she's said that car rentals are the most "disputed" commodity. I would not hold out too much hope that your CC company will solve your problem.
Let me know what info you obtained from who, & perhaps I can offer some "avenues".
Stu Dudley
Nov 16th, 2009, 10:55 AM
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Hi Stu, daveesl & Others
Thank you all for your comments. Stu, I called the local Auto Europe office the day before I was to pick up the car to verify that it would be there, waiting for me.
Last Friday, I took "daveesl's" suggestion of raising *&^%$$^^* with Sixt, not Auto Europe. I never thought of that---thinking they were one and the same company and Auto Europe could handle it. Auto Europe could not get a response from them, but I did--this morning. They offered to pay me the difference between what we paid Dollar $765.84 and what they charged us - $410.79.
The outcome was great and I want to thank you all for your comments, support and input. I hope this never happens to any of you.
Marge
Thank you all for your comments. Stu, I called the local Auto Europe office the day before I was to pick up the car to verify that it would be there, waiting for me.
Last Friday, I took "daveesl's" suggestion of raising *&^%$$^^* with Sixt, not Auto Europe. I never thought of that---thinking they were one and the same company and Auto Europe could handle it. Auto Europe could not get a response from them, but I did--this morning. They offered to pay me the difference between what we paid Dollar $765.84 and what they charged us - $410.79.
The outcome was great and I want to thank you all for your comments, support and input. I hope this never happens to any of you.
Marge
Nov 16th, 2009, 01:23 PM
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It is absoltely ridiculous to state "DO NOT HIRE FROM THIS COMPANY" - over 25 years I must have hired 150 plus cars and had run-ins over every conceivable issue I can think of with all of them - I think the idea is cover your back and damage limitation.
I could spend an hour listing all the attempted and achieved scams that I have been subjested to but I am not getting any younger - try
1. Being charged 140 canadian (2 weeks hire) for a bloody childs car seat that cost 80 to buy. Thrifty knew I could not drive out of the airport without one to buy one!
2. Try not being able to have a car seat in Olbia unless I bribed to clerk.
3. Try being hired a car in Palma that did not exist - had sold them at the end of the summer season due to the recession.
4. try..... no I can't be bother most of them are as bad as one another and besides most of them are locally run franchises who are only as good as the people that run them.
5. When Dyson invents a fold up car that I don't have to check in I will be first in the queue.
I could spend an hour listing all the attempted and achieved scams that I have been subjested to but I am not getting any younger - try
1. Being charged 140 canadian (2 weeks hire) for a bloody childs car seat that cost 80 to buy. Thrifty knew I could not drive out of the airport without one to buy one!
2. Try not being able to have a car seat in Olbia unless I bribed to clerk.
3. Try being hired a car in Palma that did not exist - had sold them at the end of the summer season due to the recession.
4. try..... no I can't be bother most of them are as bad as one another and besides most of them are locally run franchises who are only as good as the people that run them.
5. When Dyson invents a fold up car that I don't have to check in I will be first in the queue.
Nov 16th, 2009, 03:36 PM
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Yes, I see that she got the car fixed, but the facts are still skewed. There is no AutoEurope office that she could have called - never has been. So the facts of the story were misrepresented. She may have called her cc company; she may have called Sixt; but unless she called Maine, she did NOT call AutoEurope (a company, by the way, that I have made auto rental arrangements with in Europe more than 100 times and have never had them let me down - but sometimes you DO need to call them in MAINE).
It's useful for future renters to have accurate information.
It's useful for future renters to have accurate information.
Nov 18th, 2009, 02:57 AM
#18
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Everybody,
I rented the auto from Auto Europe. They are a broker for Sixt. I called the phone # listed on my rental car voucher. Auto Europe has responsibility because they rented the car to me. They contracted with Sixt in Zagreb, Croatia to rent a car to me. Neither company lived up to their obligation.
The name on my voucher states: Sixt/Auto Europe. If you want to be picky, you can say that I called Sixt in Zagreb. As far as I am concerned, they are one in the same.
I, too, have rented from Auto Europe in the past and have never had a problem. You all can rent from whomever you want, but after what they put me through, I will NOT rent from them again. Not only did we lose valuable vacation time, but I have spent about 30 hrs. working on this at home.
This case is settled. Thank you all.
I rented the auto from Auto Europe. They are a broker for Sixt. I called the phone # listed on my rental car voucher. Auto Europe has responsibility because they rented the car to me. They contracted with Sixt in Zagreb, Croatia to rent a car to me. Neither company lived up to their obligation.
The name on my voucher states: Sixt/Auto Europe. If you want to be picky, you can say that I called Sixt in Zagreb. As far as I am concerned, they are one in the same.
I, too, have rented from Auto Europe in the past and have never had a problem. You all can rent from whomever you want, but after what they put me through, I will NOT rent from them again. Not only did we lose valuable vacation time, but I have spent about 30 hrs. working on this at home.
This case is settled. Thank you all.
Nov 18th, 2009, 04:09 AM
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mar35-- after more than 20 years renting from AutoEurope (more recently with their Portland, ME office), I started to notice a negative trend in their service. After two times of overcharges, we entered a complaint into the Better Business Bureau process and were compensated after evidence of Bait & Switch practice was presented and confirmed. I was very saddened by this as I had been a very, very loyal customer. I have been using HERTZ for the last three years; they have been great beyond expectations. Just presenting my experience, take it for what is worth to you. If is any consolation, if you travel frequently you will find that NO COMPANY EVER is good all the time to everybody. I am surprised that some people will take a complaint about a company as a personal affrent; dumb beyond belief.
Nov 18th, 2009, 04:27 AM
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That settles it, from now on I'm putting a pair of pontoons on my Camry and driving to Europe. (I saw the guys from Top Gear try it, sort of)
I can even add a pair to my pop-up camper and tow it along, you know in case I get tired.
Now the only problem is trailing along those 55 gallon barrels of gasoline.
dave
I can even add a pair to my pop-up camper and tow it along, you know in case I get tired.
Now the only problem is trailing along those 55 gallon barrels of gasoline.
dave
