Sixt charging £950 for minor scratch

sazman

Hello everyone,

I had recently rented a car from Sixt and I have caused no damages or accident but while returning the car it was noticed there were minor scratches, it was only noticeable when the guy who was checking was feeling it with his hands at that point. We couldn't see it before as the car was on the basement car park at Heathrow as it was a bit dark in the area. 
Now they emailed me about this 2 scratches and also there are few existing damage which are much more bigger than theses 2 scratch. And they are asking me to pay £950 for these minor scratches. 
Can they even do this as there is no way it would cost this much for a small scratch. I am a platinum member and this way sixt treats customers makes me I would never go back to them. 

New damage

• (3) Bumper, front Passenger side scratch < 5 cm (down to primer)
• (4) Wing / Fender, front Passenger side scratch > 10 cm (down to primer)

Existing damages

• (2) Aluminium rim front Passenger side scratch 5-10 cm (down to primer)
• (1) Bumper loading strip middle scratch < 5 cm superficial
• (5) Door, front edge Driver side scratch < 5 cm superficial
• (6) Wing / Fender, rear Driver side scratch > 10 cm (down to primer)

Any advice or assistance is greatly appreciated.

mapryan

I know this isn’t much help to you, but I would encourage everyone to get car hire excess insurance. It’s <£30 for a whole year and given the general level of scumbaggery of car hire firms these days it’s great for putting your mind at rest when hiring a car. 

tacpot12

It seems unusual that they are asking you to pay to repair existing damage, and if they agree that it is existing damage, asked them to show you where in the contract you agreed to pay to repair existing damage.

You need a way to assess the cost of the repairs to all the damage. If they are going to use an external supplier to do the repairs, and have a quote from the supplier for all the repairs, I suggest you offer to pay 40% of the quote. You might get quotes from a couple of "Chip Away"-type operators for all repairs based on the description you have given above and offer 50% of their estimates.

[Deleted User]

I’d do some research on what the repair cost is (from places that you could access and from other hire car companies) and takes this - as a complaint to Sixt.

Mambosteve

It's funny, I was had by a similar claim where I had caused no damage, and the charge for mine was £952.52.  That's a fair chunk of the average salary and whilst it hasn't crippled me it could well cripple someone else, for that reason I won't use them again.  The charge was sneakily made against a Debit Card I had used on a previous, unrelated transaction also.  My bank tell me they are exploiting an ability to charge your card on the basis of "Precompliance" and the only hope I have now is that my bank will take it on the chin and refund me.  I have since used a hire company for a van Green Motion and you can get full damage waiver included in the day's hire cost of £60.

DiddyDavies

Mambosteve said:

My bank tell me they are exploiting an ability to charge your card on the basis of "Precompliance" and the only hope I have now is that my bank will take it on the chin and refund me.  I have since used a hire company for a van Green Motion and you can get full damage waiver included in the day's hire cost of £60.

I think that there is next to no chance of the bank taking the loss and refunding you as you agreed to the possibility of charges being taken at a later date when you signed or authorised the rental agreement.
This is a standard clause with any vehicle rental agreement and it's there to cover things such as speeding or parking fines, unpaid tolls and damage to the vehicle that wasn't covered by any insurance or damage waiver.

Mambosteve

DiddyDavies said:

Mambosteve said:

My bank tell me they are exploiting an ability to charge your card on the basis of "Precompliance" and the only hope I have now is that my bank will take it on the chin and refund me.  I have since used a hire company for a van Green Motion and you can get full damage waiver included in the day's hire cost of £60.

I think that there is next to no chance of the bank taking the loss and refunding you as you agreed to the possibility of charges being taken at a later date when you signed or authorised the rental agreement.
This is a standard clause with any vehicle rental agreement and it's there to cover things such as speeding or parking fines, unpaid tolls and damage to the vehicle that wasn't covered by any insurance or damage waiver.

Of course, the hope was based on the bank themselves telling me to send a claim letter in and wait 60 days.  60 days has now elapsed however and I haven't (nor banked on) heard anything.  I was aware of the liability in the contract, but I didn't expect I would be charged for damage I did not cause.  Having looked into the evidence they produced and made a Qualified assessment of the practices, without raking over the detail, I have concluded that the practices upholding these claims and the value is very shady indeed.  Luckily, there are now a variety of alternatives to Sixt.

HereToday

Mambosteve said:

DiddyDavies said:

Mambosteve said:

My bank tell me they are exploiting an ability to charge your card on the basis of "Precompliance" and the only hope I have now is that my bank will take it on the chin and refund me.  I have since used a hire company for a van Green Motion and you can get full damage waiver included in the day's hire cost of £60.

I think that there is next to no chance of the bank taking the loss and refunding you as you agreed to the possibility of charges being taken at a later date when you signed or authorised the rental agreement.
This is a standard clause with any vehicle rental agreement and it's there to cover things such as speeding or parking fines, unpaid tolls and damage to the vehicle that wasn't covered by any insurance or damage waiver.

Of course, the hope was based on the bank themselves telling me to send a claim letter in and wait 60 days.  60 days has now elapsed however and I haven't (nor banked on) heard anything.  I was aware of the liability in the contract, but I didn't expect I would be charged for damage I did not cause.  Having looked into the evidence they produced and made a Qualified assessment of the practices, without raking over the detail, I have concluded that the practices upholding these claims and the value is very shady indeed.  Luckily, there are now a variety of alternatives to Sixt.

GreenMotion an alternative to SIXT? Interesting that you mentioned them and your paying for their damage waiver, as some stand alone insurers refuse to cover Green Motion rentals at all.
So perhaps best if you don't try to recommend them here.
Next time, use reputable companies; for both car hire and car hire excess insurance. If you had car hire excess insurance, as oft recommended here, you would be having to hope your bank will cover your mistakes.