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I’m currently awaiting breakdown recovery in Ljubljana, where my German-rented Sixt car is refusing to start. Already been 3 hours waiting, so I’m likely to have lost half a day at minimum by the time they turn up, even if they can fix it immediately.
What’s the usual recompense to expect for this sort of thing? A day’s rental sound fair? More/ less?
I haven’t yet booked a hotel for tonight, thankfully, so nothing to lose there, but I was planning to be in Austria tonight. If I get stuck here beyond midnight, I’m on the hook for another €16 Slovenian toll sticker.
I don’t really need the car anymore, so happy to abandon it and continue by train. But I suspect that’s not really possible in another country.
That sounds very unfortunate, I hope the problem is simple and they manage to cure it by the roadside, issues like this usually are. If not, I suspect Sixt will arrange to get you to their nearest depot (by taxi if necessary) and they’ll provide a replacement car which might be German registered and needs to go back to Germany anyway. I don’t think terminating the rental early and getting a pro rata refund will be on the table but you could by all means ask. They could be interested if they’d otherwise end up with a Slovenian registered car in Germany and Sixt is on the hook for the costs of getting it back to Slovenia.
Let us know how you get on and good luck!
@Rich_A – the fees they charge for taking the car to other countries should cover these sort of eventualities, including you potentially leaving the car in Slovenia. I wouldn’t necessarily expect any form of compensation beyond cost specifically incurred by the breakdown. However, they shouldn’t charge any rental fees post breakdown nor any one way fees etc. Unfortunately, car hire firms are a bit of a law unto themselves so it’s all a bit by negotiation. I had a dispute with Sixt some years ago, ultimately resolved by writing to Mr Sixt who paid £700 by return! I was surprised to discover there was such a person.
Be careful because even if they replace the car they expect the current one to have a full tank of fuel!
I think it’s completely unreasonable to expect it to have a full tank and would chargeback anything they try to charge.
Tbh it’s the inherent risk in hire card to have a breakdown unless it was completely under their control ie Urea ran out etc I think it would be extraordinary circumstances and you’d just expect to waive any late fees, further rental fees and as said before one way charges for not refunding to the original destination
@yonasl I can’t work out if that’s tongue in cheek? Time to push the hire car to a petrol station to ensure it’s full!
I hope the OP is not still waiting for assistance to arrive!
Probably the best service we ever had with a rental was with the company we generally use in GCM – we got a call from our hotel reception late one night advising us that we needed to go there to take delivery of the keys to our replacement hire vehicle. We’d parked it in the resort car park several hours earlier so enquired why we needed a new one. The receptionist replied that someone had stolen the wheels from the car that evening; reception staff had become aware and called the rental company who promptly arranged for a replacement vehicle to be delivered to the resort, even though it was 11 pm and on the other side of island from their office!
I hope the OP is not still waiting for assistance to arrive!
Probably the best service we ever had with a rental was with the company we generally use in GCM – we got a call from our hotel reception late one night advising us that we needed to go there to take delivery of the keys to our replacement hire vehicle. We’d parked it in the resort car park several hours earlier so enquired why we needed a new one. The receptionist replied that someone had stolen the wheels from the car that evening; reception staff had become aware and called the rental company who promptly arranged for a replacement vehicle to be delivered to the resort, even though it was 11 pm and on the other side of island from their office!
Wow, that is service!
Thanks for all the replies.
It was all a bit of a pain, and it’s not over yet.
After 5 hours waiting and several phone calls to Sixt assistance, I finally got hold of a number for the local breakdown agent. There I learned that they only received an incomplete job sheet from Sixt, so hadn’t despatched anyone yet!
They also told me that they only tow, and wouldn’t attempt a repair until Monday (even though I suspect only battery).
The rental was due to end the next morning, and I was happy to continue by train, so I agreed with the local agency that I’d leave the key with my hotel.
You can guess what happened next. I’ve received a ‘your rental is overdue’ email, and the hotel tells me nobody has collected the key.
Was the rental due to end in Germany or Slovenia? It’s probably just an automated e-mail pumped out because they haven’t closed the rental on the system. Watch out for any penalties and extra days being automatically charged to your credit card, again, this may not be a manually generated charge. I’m sure you’ll get a prompt refund if you call and explain the circumstances.
I wouldn’t spend any more time worrying about this and just enjoy the rest of your holiday. Their car broke down, you did what was asked of you and it’s over to them to arrange to collect their car.
In light of the breakdown and the length of time it took to be recovered (while also failing to resolve the underlying technical issue), I’d push to have the final day refunded as you didn’t derive the benefit from the car that you’ve paid for.
Rental was due to end in Germany, back at the place I rented from.
Yeah, I guess it’s just an automated email, but my experience with these things is that it’s getting increasingly difficult to fight against automated processes, and it’s better to head them off before the computer says no.
Really, they’ve got off lightly. My alternative transport costs are pretty much 0, as I already have a railpass and was 10 minutes walk from Ljubljana station, so they should be grateful!
I’ll do as you suggest and enjoy my last evening in a (sweltering) Strasbourg.
Well, 6 weeks later, their systems have caught up and they’re trying to bill me for another 6 weeks rental. They claim the rental ended yesterday.
£1800 attempted charge to my credit card was blocked by MBNA. No invoice, no contact from Sixt.
I hate SixT.
When I did a chargeback through Amex, they tried to take that amount again, and when that was blocked by Amex they sent me debt collection agency letters, several actually.I have another negative experience of them regarding no car available when we arrived.
I hate SixT.
When I did a chargeback through Amex, they tried to take that amount again, and when that was blocked by Amex they sent me debt collection agency letters, several actually.I have another negative experience of them regarding no car available when we arrived.
That sounds annoying. What were the consequences of the debt collection letters?
I’ve just started another thread in the credit card section asking the very same thing!
https://www.headforpoints.com/forums/topic/section-75-consequences-of-winning/
Should stick to the one thread to be honest.
I just ignored the letters. They stopped after a few months.
Well, 6 weeks later, their systems have caught up and they’re trying to bill me for another 6 weeks rental. They claim the rental ended yesterday.
£1800 attempted charge to my credit card was blocked by MBNA. No invoice, no contact from Sixt.
This is outrageous. As if it wasn’t enough that their rental car broke down, this is the gratitude you get shown for not demanding a replacement car for your journey back to Germany. You’d think such an ‘odd’ charge (rental charges on a car 6 weeks ‘overdue’, almost certainly vastly in excess of the original rental booking) would go through a human for a sense check. Ordinarily I’d expect a rental firm having not received a car back weeks after the due return date would have protocols to report its absence to the police as suspected theft so it shouldn’t remain outstanding on their system for such a length of time.
I suspect, but obviously have absolutely no evidence, that this is how long it took for the rental station in Germany to get their car back, resulting in them terminating the rental on the system upon its delivery and an automatic invoice getting pumped out for the missing weeks.
I just ignored the letters. They stopped after a few months.
The trouble with this approach is that they might refuse to rent you a car in the future and you’ll only discover this when you arrive at the office to collect it. I appreciate the company might be on your ‘no rent’ list, however.
I just ignored the letters. They stopped after a few months.
The trouble with this approach is that they might refuse to rent you a car in the future and you’ll only discover this when you arrive at the office to collect it. I appreciate the company might be on your ‘no rent’ list, however.
Oh they can definitely go to hell.
I mean they didn’t even have a car for me when I turned up for a previous rental prior to this incident, and still owe me the taxi fare they reckoned they’d reimburse me for going to another branch to pick up an inferior vehicle which they only agreed to as a ‘good will’ gesture after I refused to leave the premises.
Honestly, they can go f themselves.@Aston100 but how do you really feel about SIXT?
I just ignored the letters. They stopped after a few months.
The trouble with this approach is that they might refuse to rent you a car in the future and you’ll only discover this when you arrive at the office to collect it. I appreciate the company might be on your ‘no rent’ list, however.
It’s not even restricted to renting a car. It depends on the enthusiasm of the creditor to pursue the debtor but can have much wider ramifications in the original country or be pursued in the courts here. It’s not a good idea simply to ignore these things. They need to be addressed head on.
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