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“DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY - WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY!!”

written by cecipellegrini on 27/07/2014

I booked a car to collect in Riva del Garda, Italy which I needed at short notice for an urgent journey. I received 2 emails confirming my reservation and explaining what documents to bring. When I arrived to collect the car I was told no cars were available. The franchise that hire cars in Riva del Garda under the SIXT name explained that they only have 2 cars for hire and are constantly sent reservations by SIXT that they cannot honour. They were expecting another 4 people turning up the same day as me who had booked cars but would soon find out none were actually available. They said that SIXT won't even give them the number of these clients so that they can be warned not to come, so if someone has to make an urgent journey or is short of time , e.g they have hired the car to get to the airport to catch a plane, they risk being left stuck without any transport and the extra cost, stress and waste of time that this involves. I personally had paid for a €40 taxi to take me to pick up the car and was left in the middle of an industrial estate in Riva del Garda, in the pouring rain, with luggage to load and all this at 8 months pregnant. I was told by the franchise that the only thing to do was call the central number in Rome to complain. I did this only to be told that I should read the small print of the terms and conditions which will warn you that the reservation is not confirmed. Why then did SIXT send me 2 emails saying this exact phrase "Please find attached CONFIRMATION of your RESERVATION".2 emails that contain no reference whatsoever to terms and conditions or the possibility that you can turn up to find that actually you have no car waiting for you. SIXT truly have the worst operations system I have come across in the car hire world ( and I hire a car on average 4 times a year - usually with AVIS who are better value for money and have always been really efficient). Their customer service is a sorry excuse for a bunch of apologists who really don't care a dot whether the one service they are supposed to provide actually functions or not. You only have to go online and type in reviews for SIXT to see that their "quality" of service is equally dismal the world over. They are a company that deserve to go under.