Absurd Sixt Claims!
This is a sad post to write given my prior experiences with Sixt have all been great but this is just absurd to the point that I think someone is playing a joke on me!
So I was in Munich in September with my father and I figured we would rent a fun sport car. I always opt out of the rental insurance and use my credit card however since this car's value was more than $100k (the limit for my credit card), I figured I'll get the provided insurance. The first issue was that for this specific car, it never gave me a $0 deductible, the lowest deductible was 2250 euros.
Fast forward, I rent the car, pretty uneventful however in my return summary a stone chip is noted! I then receive a damage report request which I fill out and then they hit me with a 2250 euro charge for fixing the windshield. What was the chip?
That's it. That's the chip. If you don't see it, I don't blame you, I assume it's the tiny dot that someone tried to clean by robbing it away.
Their own return summary: "Windscreen Driver side stone chip not in driver's vision."
The damage claim: "Windscreen Driver side Crack." How that went from a chip to a crack, I got no idea!
Under §538 BGB of the German Civil code which applies to rental cars, a stone chip is a normal wear and tear and multiple German courts have also ruled on this. So it's interesting Sixt going beyond the law with this one!
I bet you thought this was it but then it got better. Three days after I returned the car I got a second claim: "Bumper, front (Car body) Passenger side scratch > 10 cm (down to primer)." And This one wasn't in the return summary!
Here is what they sent:
I can make out faint marks at the edge of the bumper. I cannot make out a 10 cm scratch down to primer.
Some details I'm having trouble with:
- The rental was returned at 8pm on 14 September.
- The return check recorded only the windscreen chip. The photo for the bumper damage is timestamped 16 September! That's 2 days after I returned the car, 2 days that the car wasn't in my possession and I have no idea what they did with the car.
The funny thing is that I got photos of the front bumper when I returned the car and it shows no scratches
Now it has been 10 days since I sent them an email and I haven't heard anything back. We'll see how far this goes but I've fully done my research and know my options legally.