SIXT Car Rental, located throughout Germany has been a steadfast and reliable source of car rentals…read morefor us since we have moved here. Although there have been several times that I have made a reservation online and not gotten the car I wanted, it always seemed to work out.
Until recently.
We rented a car online about 4 weeks before our vacation last week.
Here is our cut and paste from our rental reservation:
Your reservation
Reservation number: 9806339986
Vehicle category: VW Touran, Mercedes-Benz B-Klasse, Renault Grand Scenic or similar in category IVMR
Pickup: Friday 21.02.2014 - 12:00 hrs Return: Sunday 02.03.2014 - 09:00 hrs
Ramstein (on Military Base)
KMCC Mall, Building 3336
66877 Ramstein Ramstein (on Military Base)
KMCC Mall, Building 3336
66877 Ramstein
Please note:
If you are unable to keep your reservation, please cancel in time. Otherwise, you may incur charges, when we have the vehicle ready for you at the agreed time. The requested handover time is binding (max. 60 minutes grace period during opening hours).
Change your reservation:
Have your plans changed? Change reservation Cancel reservation
For signing in, your reservation number 9806339986 and security code ac65489500 will be required.
We also chose Diesel as a choice - on the reservation form, as something we required.
I showed up on Friday, February 21st to pick up my vehicle. I actually informed them that I did not need the vehicle immediately but that I would pick it up later that day. I told them I had a reservation for something resembling a small minivan that was diesel. The lady at the desk informed me that they had some kind of Nissan SUV that was regular gas or an Audi Wagon A4 that was diesel.
(cue the crickets)
What? I made a reservation, on the reservation page they showed things that I would have gotten but were displaying as not available. For example I would have gone with a BIGGER wagon that was diesel. Or a Ford SMax Minivan that was diesel. They were all listed as unavailable. So the next best thing that was available was something resembling a VW Touran Diesel - or something in it's class. I looked at their site again and neither the larger Nisaan SUV or the Audi A4 are in this category.
I was stuck. We needed a vehicle. I reserved this online. I showed up. I did not want to be charged for canceling the reservation on the spot. I needed a car and I knew that SIXT has been considerably reliable. So we got the Audi A4 Diesel wagon, as it was the only diesel thing on their lot that wasn't smaller than a Mini Cooper.
We reserved a bigger car because we were going skiing, not because we were two childless adults going on a beach trip and only needed to pack our bikinis. We were going on a SKI TRIP WITH TWO SMALL CHILDREN. Maybe Sixt workers do not have kids? So they think you can pack two small children and their crap load of ski winter clothes into the glovebox of a mini cooper (they are small right? so their stuff is small?).
I used to love SIXT but I can now say I will not be renting from them. After we jam packed into the car and went on a SKI TRIP for a week with TWO KIDS....I will be suggesting everyone take their business elsewhere, even if it costs a few extra dollars. It was not worth the hassle and insanity that we experienced.