Sixt winter rentals...

Complaints Corner
1
So, we rent a car for the ski trip: winter tires, chains, ski rack. All good, except...

...the ski rack is magnetic. The car roof is glass.

...the chains are too big. This we notice, of course, up in the mountains, where the closest Sixt office is over an hour's drive away. This is confirmed by not just a bystander, but a nice car mechanic helpful enough to have a look.

Select tidbits from the company rep on phone:

"They are the right size. It says so in the papers and on the package."

"This is not our problem."

"We have never heard of this kind of problem." (But when calling the reclamation line afterward: "This is quite usual.")

Perhaps suggesting the rental company fulfill their part of the contract by subsidizing a suitable set of chains was a bit too much and put the rep on the defensive, but that wasn't first on our minds as one chain slipped of during the ascent. Fortunately the 2-3 hours spent calling and trying to find a solution saw the other party safely arriving; they walked down the hill, and their smaller chains saved the day.

Note to self: fit the chains at the rental lot. Oh, and avoid these guys. It being quite usual and all.

//ata

2
Hi,

I'm Gary Coughlan, the Customer Service Manager for Sixt in the U.K.

I am really sorry to learn of your experience here in this forum. I would love to have the opportunity to look into this for you. Please could you forward some details to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) and I will report back to you both privately ( to protrect your personal details ) and of course I will post a reply here directly in the forum.

Best regards

Gary Coughlan

3
Search engine optimisation in full effect!

Funny how it takes a UK service oriented person to step in where Swiss customer service is lacking.

On a personal note, I've always found Sixt to be a decent rental agency. They have some unusual, fun cars at fair prices.

(Dear Gary'll Fix It,

Please can you fix it for me to have an upgrade to a cabrio or somesuch next time ...)

4
Hi Uncle Max,

I'm glad you like the cars!! Why don't you drop me an e-mail when arranging your next hire.

Best regards

Gary

5
Appreciate the responsiveness; dropped an email.

Cheers,

//ata

6
Thank you.

7
I'm normally a Europcar man, but next time I'm in London I'll give Sixt a go (not in Switzerland though). Well done Gary.

8
A very nice, helpful and professional response Gary, and so good to see it coming from the English quarter!!!

One word of warning ... do you know what you may have let yourself in for here???!!!

9

So true. He could just mock the OP (like other business owners) but with this reply he probably attracted more customers.

Im looking forward to hear how this is resolved

10
In all fairness to my colleagues in Switzerland, our honest opinion is that they are very good, they are a small team dealing with queries in German, French and sometimes Italian and I only need to worry about speaking the Queens. Not looking for any excuses here, all customer contacts should be responded to, things can go wrong. I can certainly speak on behalf of my own Team in the U.K, there will always be times where you drop the ball or could have done something better. We are lucky in this instance that we still get the opportunity to put things right.

We have a very good relationship with our collegues in Switzerland, if you have any questions for hires in Switzerland, I'll be happy to help, and yes Nicholaschultz, I do know what I am letting myself in for.

Best regards

Gary

11
Actually Gary, I'm sure your Sixt team in Switzerland is exactly as good as any car rental company here, perhaps even better. It's the Swiss customer service that's catastrophically low. Search the forum and you'll find out. I really think international retail and service companies should do regular staff exchanges to learn about what real service is.

12
Hat's off an amazing response.

Sixt in Bristol were amazing when I used them last time to move my stuff from NL to the UK. (Large van hire) Looks like I'll be using them again...

Plus they are one of the few hire companies who allow you to drive into continental Europe from the UK with a van.

13
Hi atamar,

I'm very sorry for the problems during your hire and for the delay posting our response. I contacted the customer service team in Switzerland for some additional details and received their feedback yesterday.

As you can expect, every Swiss branch is equipped with sufficient snow chains in order to satisfy the needs of our customers. Our branches have lists indicating the available car groups and their matching snow chains.

The branch gave you a box with the corresponding snow chains for the vehicle that you hired. ( or at least they should have been ) We were contacted by you from the garage and you reported that the snow chains provided were not the right size. Our branch manager contacted the garage herself in order to find out the problem. She was told that the garage is not able to fit the snow chains, but I am told that they were the right size.

At this point I think the Branch Manager suggested that the chains could be changed at our branch in Zug, which was declined.

The fact that you were sat in a garage, with a vehicle parked that you'd rather be driving suggests very strongly to me that there was a problem, whether it be that the chains were incorrect size or not. I think it would have been very good service to get you moving again with out too much fuss for you. If this meant to buy new snow chains and refund you afterwards then I think this would have been a good solution. We don't want our customers to be parked in garages worrying about driving the car. I think it is fair to say that the Branch Manager did want to find a solution also and made contact with the garage to try and resolve the problem for you. I do understand your point of view completely that the communication and support from us on this occasion fell short and we are very sorry for that.

We are also truly sorry for the ski rack: The ski rack did not fit indeed. (Why do these things come in twos) I apologise for this oversight, I can't really explain it. Mistakes do happen, believe me none are intentional and that's why we have Customer Service, to put things right when we get things wrong.

In order to compensate you for the inconveniences and time loss, the branch refunded both the ski rack and the snow chain charges. Additionally, your feedback has been forwarded to both the Branch Manager and Customer Service Team, we do want to learn from the experience.

I'd like to thank you taking the time to forwarding the details to me by e-mail, I really appreciate having the opportunity to answer your concerns. Please be reassured, whilst we are a human industry and inevitably will occasionally make mistakes we are always striving to provide our customers with the best service, for Sixt, excellence in Customer Service is everything.

I will reply also to your e-mail, I hope you like my suggestion and will use us again for your next rental.

Best regards

Gary

14
Hi Gary - I seem unable to go back to the first page of this thread- where I posted my problems with a 'special Geneva offer' which turned out for French side of airport = no vignette and no snow tyres.

This was about 5 years ago- so I am not looking for redress here. My complaint was very badly dealt with at the time by EasyCar customer service who had booked via Sixth, and in the end was published in WHICH magazine in the UK, I had a refund, but no compensation for not being able to use the car for most of the week as police told me NOT to use it, as I would have been liable in case of an accident. The reason I am posting here is just as a warning- about the difference between hiring form French or Swiss side of airport in Geneva. The French side often comes out cheaper - and is thus chosen by many, totally oblivious to the fact that there will be no vignette, nor snow tyres on French side unless booked specifically whereas on Swiss side this is part of the rental in winter time. In my case, I had rented for decades several times a year, often in winter- and expected the hire car to include both. My life and that of others could have been seriously in danger, and of course I could have been fined heavily for no vignette. Thanks.

15
Hi,

The thread moved to "commercial"

Car hire / Sixt - Any Questions

I've seen your orginal post. I will post a reply latest Monday.

Best regards

Gary

16
On the Sixt website we separate very clearly the French/Swiss side at Geneva. In order to book the French side you have to select France as the renting country, if you want to rent on the Swiss side then you have to select Switzerland as the rental country.

I can't speak for Easycar and the promotion they ran but in this instance I don't think it is applicable to make the comparison with Sixt and to apply your disappointment in this case also to Sixt.

I think the general trend for 2010/11 is an increase in bookings on the French side and this may have something to do with the prices. The prices are often structured by regions, and this may make the French side more attractive to book. But there is no big conspiracy to lure unsuspecting customers into trouble, accidents and fines that cost us time and money, we don't want the hassle, we don't want our customer's to have the hassle.

I would strongly recommend that you book winter tyres to ensure availability if you know that you are driving in a region where the law or the conditions require it.

I will forward your feedback to both the Operations Managers for both the Swiss and French side to see what information is provided at the start of the hire and to make considerations for improvements.

Whilst it remains always that the driver who is responsible to adhere to the rules of the land, I think as rental companies we can give the information to provide the best service. I do know that our colleagues are normally providing a very good service and I suspect the norm is that they do provide the information but lets see if we can improve this and make the customer's experience a memorable one for the right reasons.

Thanks for your post.

Best regards

Gary

17
i have overall positive experience with Sixt...

although i always booked last minute and the fares were far from being fair

once i was charged for the 2nd day after returning the car 10mins later announced time

called their toll customer service which spoke English (thankgod) and the money was returned to me

18
Hi,

Glad you liked the service overall.......re the extra day charge. Without seeing the details I will make a few assumptions but based on my experience our rental system automatically bills the customer in 24 hour periods or part there of. The bill is calculated according to when the vehicle checks in on the system.

Sixt has a customer focused approach and that is why you received a refund for the additional day. I hope you can appreciate that the agent didn't charge the extra day to be mean spirited but that our system recognised that according to the time parameters of the rental, an extra day was chargeable.

Best regards

Gary Coughlan - Customer Service Manager Sixt U.K

19
Hey, no prob But thanks for explaining anyway

20
Thanks Gary. As you say, the problem lay with EasyCar's special offer for Geneva, which made NO mention at all that it was for French side, with all the (dangerous) disadvantages mentioned above. So apologies if my complaint seemed aimed at Sixt- and indeed the WHICH report clearly highlighted EasyCar for the problem.

The warning still stand though to all renting from Geneva in Winter - prices on French seem cheaper - but for good reasons. Getting caught without a vignette in CH will cost you CHF500 I believe - but getting caught in heavy snow and ice without snowtyres can cost you an awful lot more.