Sixt promises a reimbursement for tires, but where's the money?
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RAY COOK,
Invercargill, New Zealand
A.
This is a classic case of a company giving a customer the runaround. Sixt made a promise to refund you — a promise it should have honored.
Before we figure out what happened to your refund, let's rewind to the national park where you had your flat tires. You called Sixt, which couldn't switch out your vehicle because of your location. Big Bend is beautiful, but it's in the middle of nowhere.
The next best option was to get you to repair the tires and send Sixt the bill, which is what
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What went wrong? As I read between the lines, here's what might have happened: You were renting a car from a German rental company in the United States, but you're based in New Zealand. Somewhere along the way, Sixt might have confused some of your banking codes. It probably should have just credited the money back to your card instead of trying to do a bank transfer.
If you ever run into a problem with Sixt again, you can also escalate your case to a manager. I list the names, numbers, and email addresses of the Sixt customer service executives on my consumer advocacy site, Elliott.org.
I contacted Sixt on your behalf. A representative said they would review the case. A few weeks later, you received an email from Sixt, and after eight months, Sixt finally refunded your $385.
Christopher Elliott is the founder of Elliott Advocacy (elliottadvocacy.org), a nonprofit organization that helps consumers solve their problems. Email him at chris@elliott.org or get help by contacting him at elliottadvocacy.org/help/.
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