So much for Sixti.de, "the discount car rental". In my review of the Smart car we rented from Sixti, I finished by noting the various ways that their "from 5 Euro/day" rental could end up costing much more than that.
It turned out that there was one more potential hidden cost that I overlooked.
On my way out the door this morning, I checked the mailbox, and found the official receipt for the car I'd rented on Friday to drop Scout off at the Hundehotel. I'd brought the car back 70 minutes later than I'd reserved for (2:10 PM instead of 1 PM), and so they charged me a "late return" fee of 38.75 Euro!
Yesterday, I turned in the car about 45 minutes later than my scheduled return time. If they apply the same fee, then my "low cost" rental odyssey -- once you include the original rental fees, late fees, topping off the tank, and going to the car wash -- could end up costing me almost $200! For that price, I could have rented a Mercedes convertible (or two) for the weekend, and not had to worry about going to the car wash afterwards.
I turned the car in later than I originally said I would; I can't deny that. Still, whenever I've rented a car before, a matter of a few hours has never been a cause for concern, unless the delay was enough to push me into renting for an additional day. I notice that in Sixti's FAQ, they state that the minimum rental period is one day. I'll send an email to their customer-service people this afternoon, and see what they have to say on the matter . . .
Posted by Kevin at April 6, 2004 10:53 AM