Sixt van hire scam

[des8]

Well that's nice to know isn't it?

Interesting to see what FB come back with.
If the vehicle has been disposed off without repair they can only claim loss of value.
In view of the existing damages prior to your hire, your scratch will make no difference so you can tell them go whistle!

[Bane]

Just a quick message—well done for standing your ground and not giving in.

[Minxi]

DES8

ROB

Thanks guys.

At some point, probably quite soon, I'll need to know with some certainty what they can claim under the two scenarios, i.e. they did/ didn't repair the van. (In real life I'm sure they wouldn't have bothered, principally because it makes zero business sense. Why pay to tart up a van that has only very superficial damage anyway, and which due to age is being sold on, with the money generated going to someone else. It would be ridiculous.)

Anyway, on this, DES8 said something back in 2017: if the scratch is not repaired they are only entitled as damages to the amount the vehicle's sale value has been diminished by the scratch. If the scratch is actually repaired they would be entitled to claim the cost of the repair, but that wouldn't necessarily be the cost of a complete respray.

In the first case fine, there's no way another small scratch could contribute to loss of value where there are nearly 40 other instances of similar damage pre-existing on the van. The extra loss would have to be Ł0. That's unless ROB has anything to add, as he was implying there might be some precedent on this to the contrary a post or two ago.

In the second, I'm assuming that I could ask to see a repair bill or something to prove they have repaired the van. Right?

Thanks for your continuing advice btw. It's brilliant to have such support (especially when you're being scammed).

Minxi.

[des8]

You're doing quite well standing up to them

There's no point in trying to second guess what they will do next, if they do anything other than threaten.
Just relax (if you can) and we will deal with whatever they come up with as and when

[Minxi]

DES8

Cheers. Yes I'm getting a bit up an' at 'em aren't I.

Nothing in t'post today from them.

MInxworth.

[Minxi]

DES8

ROB

Morning all.

Letter from Bint Flishop today. I haven't heard a dicky bird out of Sixt customer services:

Further to the above matter, we are currently investigating this matter with our client and will be in further contact with you in due course.

Should you have any queries in the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact us.

YF Flint Bishop

So they are still alive up there. However, I think this is harassment. The complaint put in is with Sixt Customer Services, not with FB or Sixt Damage, and any response (if it ever materialises) should come from Customer Services and not from anyone else. We then have the option of escalating the complaint to BVRLA if we're not happy with their answers.

Flint Bishop should absolutely not be writing to us at this stage, especially not with the implication that they are somehow involved, as their intervention continues to be premature and irrelevant.

I think I should bang one back to them and give them a bollocking. What say you?

Cheers
Minxi

[des8]

I'd ignore...why waste money on a stamp.

FB are acting on behalf of Sixt and all they have said is "we ain't gone away ...yet"
So..............

[Minxi]

DES8 and ROB

Hope you guys are well.

It's now a full year (without response) since I complained to Sixt, so I thought I'd advise BVRLA as to that. They've come back and said they'll action my complaint now even though Sixt haven't responded. They say I'll get something back in 30 days.

Cheers Minxi

[Minxi]

DES 8 and ROB

I received this as part of a response from the BVRLA:

After the discussions you had with Sixt, it has been confirmed by them that they dropped their claim for the damage charge. The BVRLA’s role in our ADR service is to ensure that any incorrectly charged claims are refunded or removed. As it has already been confirmed that the charge was removed, we cannot request further action from Sixt.

From that I guess that I'm now in the clear, but there's no official confirmation, i.e. no letter from Sixt to advise anything, nor anything from Sixt's legal team at Flint Bishop either. The last letter I had from those sharks was dated 1 October and contained their vague threat that they would get back to me at some future point based on Sixt's response to my complaint. According to BVRLA Sixt dropped the claim some time in October 2019.

So, in fact, I don't officially know where I stand, even though it looks encouraging. I've repeatedly asked BVRLA to facilitate proper clarification, but they have refused to provide anything apart from the quote above, and they won't force Sixt to give confirmation either. Also Sixt, whilst they may have had a chat with their leash-holders BVRLA, have still not officially replied to my complaint.

So where does this leave me?

Any advice gratefully received as ever.

Cheers
Minxton.

[des8]

Leaves you free to forget them.
Keep the paperwork safe just in case.

Well done for standing up to them

[Minxi]

DES8

Thanks Des. I pestered them some more, and got the following. At least in this one there's the implication that BVRLA has made some sort of decision.

But I will now forget these SOBs. Thanks to you and everyone on the site. You've been amazing and really supportive the whole way. If only there were some magical way to buy you guys a pint!

Cheers
Minxworth


We have informed you on many occasions that Sixt informed us their legal team removed the claim. It is not possible for us to obtain any further clarification as we do not have access to their systems.

To be clear, Sixt have stated they are not pursuing the damage claim with you. If Sixt were to then pursue the claim, your case could be re-opened with us (provided you informed us) as this would go against the information in our decision and all members are bound by our decision.

The BVRLA has no regulatory body as our service is free of charge, therefore there is no organisation you can raise a complaint with. An ADR service provides you with an opinion on a case and we found in your favour so we are not able to escalate the matter internally either. We cannot discuss the matter further as there is nothing for us to conciliate, this our final response on the case.

[Nos Ranug]

Hello.

I recently had some bad experience with SIXT, myself, and stumbled upon this thread in my search of ways to deal with them.
I read the whole thing from start to end and it was quite a captivating read. You handled this amazingly and I felt the need to create an account just in order to congratulate you on your (evident) victory in this matter.

Well done.