Sixt
Reviews and Complaints

I recently went on a ski trip to Austria with my family, which included my 15-month old daughter. All was fine with the rental car on the way there. However upon checking out of the hotel I discovered that the front offside tyre was flat due to a nail.

At this point, the time was 10:30, and our flight left Munich Airport (c. 100 miles / 2 hours' drive away) at 15:30. The rental car had one of the 'temporary' spacer wheels in the boot, which had a maximum speed of 80kph. However for time and safety reasons (mountain roads, autobahn, young child, long distance), I didn't want to risk the spacer.

We phoned the car rental helpline several times, but two hours later we were still stuck in limbo at the hotel. We were never given straight answers by the helpline, and weren't even given an indication of when someone might come to help us.

At one stage we were told that someone was actually on their way with a replacement tyre, and would be there in 40 minutes. When this person didn't arrive, we were then told that there wasn't actually a tyre available.

At 12:25 we were told in a phone call with the car rental company to get a taxi to Munich Airport and they would reimburse the cost. At 12:45 the taxi arrived and the journey cost 280Euros. Because we were so late for the flight, I didn't have time to go to the car rental desk at Munich Airport.

*****Now that I've returned home the rental company is refusing to reimburse the cost of the taxi, and has even quoted that I was 'personally negligent' for driving over a nail! They have also denied knowledge of the phone calls that I placed with them on the morning of the incident. On returning home I have also spoken to two different customer service personnel, who advised me to send the taxi receipt then the cost could be reimbursed. However, these calls are now also being denied. Unfortunately I don't have this in writing

I rented a car from SIxt in June 2012 at Munich airport (booked by OAMTC for me as I locked my car key inside my car at Munich Airport and need to travel Salzburg urgently). I traveled to Salzburg, and next day morning took my another key of car, drove straight to Munich airport and returned the car. During inspection the fellow came, checked my papers, and then stand on the side platform to reach high enough to see the top of the car and told me that I made the damage on the roof of the car. I was shocked to see that minor scratch which obviously looked pretty old (atleast from the scratch you can roughly guess if this is all new), and immediately went to SIXT desk for clarification and told them about this. The lady sitting over there checked all papers and told that this was already in their system, and I need not to worry. I asked several times, because I don't want any inconvenience at later point of time, and I was firmly assured that the damage was there and I was cleared from any liabilities. Now after 6 months, I received a bill for damage payment!
I have to say that this is highly unprofessional from SIXT point to expect me to do micro-scopic analysis of the car before taking out on rent. Not sure if SIXT expect from their customer to spend hours on checking cars.
I never rent a car from SIXT (having corporate account with HERTZ), but it was from OAMTC so did. And I think this is very common practice in SIXT to charge for the damage from customers, atleast I while google, I found numerous similar incidents.
Would never recommend SIXT at any cost, even if they offer car for free.

I rented a car with Sixt for a couple of days though the hotwire website while in vienna. Upon returning the car and checking out at the front desk, the agency said that there were some "scratches under the bumper" which obviously were not visible to us when we first got the car. Since we were covered by insurance, the agent, who was quite crass, told us it probably doesn't matter. Months later, after returning back to the states, I got the notice in the mail to fill out the accident report, which we didnt have, since there were no accidents. After which, a bill requesting to pay for the damages of EUR 622 came, which is now escalated to EUR 955! I cannot believe the audacity of their blatant shady business conduct! I have not seen picture or any evidence that the car was damaged, and the number that they bill seems completely arbitrary! I will continue to fight the claim. Do not rent from sixt!

We rented a car from Sixt Italy at Pisa Airport in September 2012. We returned the car in full working order and undamaged. One month later a claim arrived for 250 Euros for 'theft-damage' penalty. There was no theft or damage. A letter we sent stating these facts went by return to Sixt UK and Sixt Italy and, 3 months later, no response has been received. An email to Sixt UK went unanswered for a month until I phoned to complain. I have disputed the claim with the credit card company.
Is this a common scam for those that don't take out the additional insurance offered by Sixt?

Last Summer we rented a car from Sixt in Cologne, Germany for my family that came over from Israel. The car was rented from the 17 of July 2012, reservation number [protected].
When picking up the car, the troubles with Sixt service started:
The car was reserved at 5 AM. Since it was before the opening time of the customer service desk, we paid extra for pickup the keys at the fast key pickup. Sixt customer service was present at the desk, but didn't accept customers yet. They sent us to the parking lot to a vague location, which we couldn't find. We had to go back to the desk, where we received a map with which we could find the car pickup point. By then it was already after 6, the keys were now located at the desk. The people at the quick pickup didn't speak a word in English, and were shouting at us in German (not really nice if you are Israeli). My parents are old, my father is disabled, next to that, there were also 3 young children after a long night flight with us. They refused to bring us the key (we paid for this extra service) and had to go back to the CS desk, where we got the key (after 2 hours of walking back and forth). As all the papers were already signed before (because of the quick pickup) there was no check of the car and we were only given the key with the comment to fuel Benzin 95 (not E10).
We then started our trip to the Mosel area. Eventually we had to fuel on the 22nd of July and fuelled Benzin 95. The car broke down, since it needed Diesel. There was no such indication in the fuel cap and based on the information we had, we didn't even think about checking it in the paper work.
The car was towed, and we could pickup the car replacement in the airport, the taxi costs for the way to the airport (Frankfurt Hahn) would be covered according to Sixt customer service. When we sent the receipt, they broke their promise and told us they were not going to pay this bill of EUR 46, 00 After we returned from our trip, we received an invoice from Sixt, for the additional insurance we didn't take. We had to call few times in order to get this additional insurance undone.
Finally we thought we were done with this car rental story. But no, on the 22nd of November we received a reminder for a damage claim (because of the wrong fuelling) without receiving a first letter, to pay the amount of EUR 871.12 before the 30est of November, damage number [protected]. We immediately took action, called them and send emails about this damage. The only response is that Sixt is not obliged to give us information on the fuel type, and of course they didn't say it needed Benzin (and how can we ever prove otherwise).

Needless to say that we are totally not happy with the service provided by Sixt. Cannot advise anybody to rent a car from them. The customer service, at least the German one, is very bad (and this is an understatement).

It is extremely uncomfortable for me to write down this lines, as I cannot explain how furious I am at this point.
I rented a car from Sixt for the fifth time but now in Mexico City, as always, I prepaid online and charged it to my credit card, and as always, I purchased all protections even when you include a basic insurance, for the first four times I rented, everything was great, great service and enjoyed a lot, but this time, let me tell you that I was treated like dirt, after booking and paying, I called the Mexico offices to find out where is Sixt located at the airport and some other doubts, the lady who answered told me that even with all the insurances bought, tires, mirrors and windows were not covered (what kind of false confirmations you are sending out where you missed to mention that), but at the end I drive carefully and had no further issues with that, she explained to me that I had to go to your counter, then accompany someone to see the car and then accompany somebody else to the counter and then they will hand over the car (at night, sorry but I don´t trust you to drive me around in that city). I booked a GPS, as Mexico City is one of the most dangerous cities in the world and wouldn´t want to get lost and finally when I arrived, located the counter and the person told me that you ran out of GPS (terrible for someone who prepaid) but it seemed not to bother so much the clerk so I asked the clerk to cancel the reservation and refund me my money, he just told me ok, but I needed a proof that you were going to do that, but he didn´t know how to do that so asked me my copy of the reservation and wrote whatever needed to make that. At this point I haven´t received my reimbursment.

Rented a car from SIXT at Munich airport from 26.12.2011 to 11.01.2012. On 14th of September (!) I've received a letter from Sixt offering to pay 7900 EURO (seven thousand nine hundred) by 9th of August or they "will be compelled to initiate legal proceedings".
No information regarding damage except damage No. was mentioned in the letter. I have no idea what it is about, moreover I had full damage cover.
Nine months, no info, offer to pay 8k Euro. Cool way of doing business.

I was attracted by an attractive rate for a car rental at Sixt at Kastrup International Airport Copenhagen. I used the car for a few days and returned the car without any damage whatsoever at the airport. The car was actually ok, no problems. However, without any pre- warning or any proof my credit card was charged with DKK 2813 (EUR 378, -) for "damage compensation". SIXT did not provide any details on the nature of the damage or anything. I am a typical business traveller holding multiple frequent flyer cards with the major airlines and I am using rental cars almost on a weekly basis accross Europe. I never had any bad experiences with the other major car rental companies at prime locations. My lessons are two fold: (1) be very carefull when offered attractive rates by SIXT, apparently they are making their money by claiming damages and (2) Never use SIXT. I cancelled my other reservations with SIXT, happy to pay a bit more to one of the other car rental companies. If you have any questions on my experience with SIXT, please contact me on [protected]@hotmail.com.

I am not a disgruntled former employee as was suggested in one of the comments, just a disgruntled customer. I rent cars privately very regularly and Sixt are the only agency who consistently keep putting on charges after the fact that are simply incorrect. Without warning we were charged with petrol costs even when we handed in the car with a full tank. When I used them again two months later, they had the audacity to claim that we had not handed in a GPS when we never rented one to begin with. Staff at the Sixt counters are nice enough, but I am pretty sick and tired of having to waste time correcting their mistakes. Just be ware, and hand on to your paperwork for a few weeks. Or just simply avoid Sixt altogether.

I rented a car from the Florence airport location for a two day trip to a villa in Tuscany. After a 45 minute drive, the clutch became stuck to the floor of the car and the car began smoking. We pulled the car over and called the company to report the incident. After 30 minutes of transfers, we finally reached an English speaking representative who was able to get in touch with the tow service. They informed us that we should wait with the car and would be responsible for our own transportation if we wanted to obtain a new car back at the Sixt location we had just come from. Given that it would cost at least 90 Euros to get back to the airport, we decided to just go to the villa and pay a cab fare to reach our next destination. We ended up spending 110 Euros in cab fares.

About a week after our return to the US, over $2, 000 in charges from Sixt showed up on my American Express with zero notice or communication. It's a long story, but essentially, their call center is useless and could not provide relevant information on the charges, sent invoices in Italian after I requested documentation, and has never (in several attempts) been able to produce a supervisor or manager for escalation (each time, a different excuse, they were sick, they're not there until 10am, not here this Saturday, etc.). I disputed the charges with American Express, and they are still attempting negotiations two months later.

I hired a car from this company. On arrival at Edinburgh Airport we found the SixT desk and got our keys. After a 15 minute walk with out suitcases we found our car. We looked around it in the rain and waited for half and hour for someone from the company to arrive and take us over the inspection out process. No one came. On dropping the car off it was a different story. A lady practically jumped on us and having looked around the car pronounced that there was a scratch on the rear passenger door and a scuff on the front passenger alloy. This was wear and tear that was on the car when we rented it. However I have now received a bill for £400 for damage to these parts. What a scam. NEVER, EVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY. I have rented from many decent companies all over the World and never had a problem like this. Appauling.

I hired a car from SixT recently from Edinburgh Airport. There is a 15 minute walk from the key pick up point and after finding the car we waited half an hour to see a representative and report any damage. No one came. Keen to get on with our holiday we inspected the car and could see no damage. We returned the car and the representative recorded that there was a scuff on the rear driver door and a scuff on the front passenger wheel. You could barely see them. Weeks later they are hitting me with a £400 bill for paint work etc. NEVER RENT FROM THIS COMPANY.

I rented a car for three days from Sixt Rent-a-Car out of the Miami airport. Two months after the rental, an additional, unexplained charge of $38.05 appeared on my American Express bill. After a complaint, they furnished documentation that $9.55 of that amount was for turnpike tolls and a service charge. However, Sixt then imposed an outrageous $5/infraction service charge of their own. I could have avoided this, the tiny print in the contract reads, if I'd elected a TX plan; however no such plan was ever offered. This deceptive practice and exorbitant fee takes advantage of tourists.

Accident report number 2070164 December 2009
Unfortunately I´m here to report the same and exactly situation occured another guy, reported on his complaint posted on 2011.11.02. I rented a car from Sixt Car Rental at Ben Gurion International Airport of Tel Aviv, Israel, beginning of December 2009. few days later while driving in Jerusalem, I was involved in a very light car accident: my car reported a very minor scratches, hardly visibile, to the rear bumber. I had no responsability and the other driver was totally responsable for what happened. As Nick did, I reported this to the Sixt office and was charged $400 against my visa by Sixt as excess whilst the case was being handled and until it was resolved and I obtain a reimbursement of the $400.
All the time they replied to my emails sayng that the case was still in process handled by the legal department and the reimbursement will be provided once the case was closed.
Now, I´m still waiting the reimbursement of my amount since ending 2009 even if I hve been following up continuously with Sixt trohough emails. I tried to get in touch by telephone with the manager of Sixt in Israel in charge for my case but no chance, she doesnt answer to the phone. In addition, since last year, she doesn´t respond to my emails too.
Whel I returned back the car at the airport I filled to Sixt the accident report properly with all my details and contact numbers. I have taken some pictures about the car hired and the scratches of the rear bumber.
Of course I have also the entire email correspondence beetwen me and Sixt concerning my case.
I consider such situation unbeleiveble and unacceptable!
Daniele Carbone, Italy
[protected]@yahoo.it

It can be a daunting task trying to rent a car, but when you find a website that looks honest and appears to list all the costs upfront before you make your reservation, you feel like you want to do business. But don't make that mistake with Sixt Car Rentals, especially if their website tells you the third party insurance is included in the total price of your car rental.
When you get suckered in to pick up your car (as I was) you'll find the third party insurance is NOT included as promised on the website and will in reality more than double the price of the entire rental! In my case they wanted $1200.00 more for the insurance alone on top of the $588.00 they listed on the website! Rip-off grande in Tijuana!
There was a very nice lady at the counter who took quite a bit of time placing a number of calls in an effort to get her supervisors to honor the sales pitch on their website - but to no avail! I actually felt sorry for her having to face customers who are lured in under false pretenses as I was, but I'm afraid that's her lot in life as long as she works for SIXT - a company that clearly lacks the integrity to advertise honestly or keep its word to potential customers.
If you're tempted to do business with Sixt Car Rentals as I was, do yourself a favor: stick out your thumb and catch a reliable ride!

Rented a four person sedan from Sixt in Dusseldorf, Germany. Passenger side front window was smashed out in a theft attempt in a small town in France. Sixt was good at getting us a comparable SUV from the Stuttgart rental site to use for the rest of our trip. Turned the SUV in at the Dusseldorf airport a week later. Vehicle was inspected and we flew back to the US. One month later a bill comes in the mail for $127 euros for the broken window. Not a problem, as we knew this was happening. HOWEVER, received a second bill for damage to the SUV for 683 euros. Scratches on ALL SIDES OF THE VEHICLE, including a broken windshield. Go figure. You think you would see a broken windshield after driving all over Europe...

First of all, if there was that amount of damage to the vehicle, we all would have noticed upon turning the vehicle in. Secondly, here we are in the US wondering what the heck is going on. Now we've just received a special "if you don't pay in 30 days we are compelled to initiate legal proceedings."

THIS is just plain wrong.

In July 2010 I rented a car from Sixt Car Rental in Israel under reservation Sixt [protected]; 11.07.2010; Tel Aviv Airport International. The vehicle was involved in a collision with the fault of the other driver.The damage was minimal and hardly visible. I reported this to the Sixt office and was charged $400 against my visa by Sixt as excess whilst the case was being handled and until it was resolved and I obtain a reimbursement of the $400.

I have been following up continuously with Sixt for my reimbursement with no success. On 4 April 2011 I was told the case was settled and I would be getting a refund within the week. When I followed up because no refund was made I was told the case is still pending. I am not getting any answers and the manager refuses to speak to me on the phone (she puts the phone down on me and does not answer my emails).

All I want is my $400 back, I followed due process and am now being penalised for it. I provided them all the details of the accident including a witness contacts who could testify the accident was not my fault. The damage was so minimal I doubt the car company even had the car fixed (minor scratches.)

I have a long string of emails with Sixt (mainly me following up with no response), including where they advised I was to be reimbursed within days (5 months ago...)

NEVER USE THIS COMPANY - THEY WILL SCAM YOU, I rented a car from them for over a month and at considerable cost, on delivery it appeared to have a scratch across 2 doors, i was assured that this was recorded in the paperwork and wouldnt be a problem and after a 30 hour journey from NZ foolishly accepted this. Of course on the cars safe and accident free return they accused me of the damage and charged 560 GBP to my credit card. Dont bother trying to complain either as thery're not interested whatsoever, and all your get back if anything is bland corporate speak. You may as well use a back street operation as these people are operating on the same level. If I can stop one of you out there being ripped off by these scamsters it will be worth it!