Complaint Review: Sixt Car Rental Myrtle Beach

We booked a rental car from SIXT for our 11 days vacation in Myrtle Beach, SC. I compared rental car rates from several companies via Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline.com and chose SIXT car rental based on best price information.

After booking online and prepaying with SIXT.com I was offered a car for $282.43 (vs comparable offers from other rental companies ranging around $290 - $310). After booking online I got a confirmation email from SIXT showing a charge of $307.85 even though I just had booked a car on their website for $282.43.

After closer examination of their website price calculation I discovered in the fine print at the very bottom of the multipager, that SIXT excluded a 9% sales tax in their offer-price calculation, whereas all other rental companies I checked with online did include all applicable charges and taxes. This is IMO at least misleading, as I was let to believe I was comparing quotes from competiting companies on the same basis.

When we picked up our car at the airport in Myrtle Beach I was told there will be no other charges since I pre-paid for the full rental as long as I bring back the car with a full tank before the end of the rental period. They asked for two phone numbers and I left both mine and my wife's cellphones. The transaction went smoothly and the lady assisting us was very professional and friendly. The car was as promised, clean, the tank was 7/8 full and we had no issues with the car during our rental period.

However, within a couple of hours of renting our car both my cellphone and my wife's cellphone got a call from Tel 954 639-4558, a number registered in Hollywood, Florida, calling in spanish about a lottery win, obviously a scam or marketing call. This was at least suspicious, since our both cell phones are registered with the do-not-call list and we have never gotten any marketing calls in years on these numbers. My presumpiton is that SIXT instantly sells the contact info of customers to third parties. I have however to admit that this is only my suspition and not central part of this report/complaint.

As planned we returned the car to SIXT at the Myrtle Beach airport a few hours before the end of our rental period and again were assisted by a friendly person at the SIXT counter. I handed her the keys, a copy of the rental agreement stating mileage and returned the car in perfect condition and a full tank of gas. All was acknowledged by the SIXT rep and she handed me a receipt without further comments about any additional charges and told me since I prepaid I was all set.

After looking closer at the receipt I noticet that once again the amounts on the rental agreement and final receipt did not match once more. The receipt showed a final charge of $319.02 versus an intial online offer of $282.43 and confirmation email of $307.85. No explanations were given for the extra charge, nor did the rental rate change on the final receipt. After returning home I got a follow-up email from SIXT stating the had charged the difference to my CCard on file.

This are all small dollar increments and this report is not about a huge rip-off amount, but rather about simple principles of honest business conduct of reputable firms competing on a level plainfiled. SIXT's choice to offer blurry price calculations and then make undisclosed adjustments along the way sets in my view a bad business example which deserves to be called out, even if the amonts involved are negligible.