Sixt
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Another bad experience with Sixt Italy (Ciampino airport)
Another bad experience with Sixt Italy. This time at Ciampino airport. Apologies for the long review, summary at the bottom. I read general reviews of Sixt and was happy enough, but wished I had looked at the Italian specific reviews first. We booked the car hire with Holiday Autos (based on the many positive reviews). We also booked a stand-alone excess insurance policy (based on advice from the MSE website) with what seemed like a reputable company. So I assumed that everything was in order. Turns out I was wrong. I was immediately suspicious when there were two other customers in front of us that had some kind of trouble paying. One of those customers was Italian and the problem was not clear but he was back and forward several times with different credit cards. I don’t think he was happy. The other customer, who had had declined the additional excess insurance at the desk, had both of his cards declined. The person travelling with him offered to pay using his card, no problem sir, that will be €10 per day extra. They reluctantly agreed. I think they got a smaller car than they expected as well. They were not happy. There was a third person in front of us who I think had included the excess insurance with Sixt at the time of hire got the car in a very short time and was off. So, our turn (after waiting for about 40 mins so far) I was quickly offered a variety of options of additional insurance ranging from €200 to €600. (For info, the total car hire with the broker was €190 up to this point). I declined the additional insurance and explained I had my own policy. The guy from Sixt was polite enough but told me he believed that they would not pay out. Fair enough I said, but still declined. Then my credit card did not work to pay the deposit, tried another card. It did not work either. Phoned the bank, no issues with my card. Everything fine from their end. Start to think there is something that he can do to prevent the card from connecting. Now faced with writing off the original €190 and walking away and using taxis and public transport for the holiday (costing hundreds) or offering to buy the insurance to see if my card magically starts working. After a bit of pondering and some anger at being conned – I offer to buy the insurance. As suspected, my card worked first time this time. I pay about €200 Euros for something I don’t need. We get the car, take a lot of photos of it and drive off, but it put a slight dampener on the holiday every time we used the car. It was in the back of my mind that since we were already conned, we would be accused of damaging the car, even though it was in perfect condition when we gave it back. Car was returned with full tank of fuel and no damage acknowledged (but not in writing). After reading these reviews I am still a bit worried that we will get charged for some spurious cost in a few months. It should be noted we were in the Sixt office for much longer than 1 hour. So lessons learned: 3 out of 4 people had a problem getting the car on the day. You have a high chance of being conned out of some cash if you decline the insurance (probably at least what you originally paid again). Using a broker to hire the car is risky as they are not linked to the hiring company and they will not give any money back on the day if you have an issue. You must cancel at least 24 hours in advance. Sixt in Ciampino appear to have a way of your card not working until you pay for something extra. I assume the broker price is set low to get you hooked then they have you over a barrel to get you up to a minimum charge. Buying your own excess insurance might not be enough (hopefully I will not get a chance to test it now). Expect to pay a lot of money in advance to reduce the chance of any issues. I don’t like being conned, even out of €1. Everyone should avoid using Sixt in Ciampino.