SIXT Rent a Car New York City Battery Park — Local services in New York

This review is almost TWO YEARS too late. I truly hope people take this as a cautionary tale on what not to settle for.

I rented a "BMW 5 Series or similar" back in 2023, and immediately canceled for financial reasons, and was forced to eat a $100 cancellation fee cause apparently that was their policy when cancelling a rental you book under "pay now". The charge was $115.89, and I was refunded $15 and ate the fee. Fine, whatever. So that's that, right? Nope.

Couple of weeks later, I was hit with a random charge for $115 and change. Upon investigation, I saw that the charge was the exact same amount for the rental that I DID NOT PICK UP. It was CANCELED. At first, I thought my credit card was compromised, so I called my provider and had them send me a new one and dispute the charge. Remember this charge later on. You'd think all was well after that, right?

Couple weeks later, I decided to let bygones be bygones and rented another car with a different credit card. Reserved another "BMW 5 Series or similar" and expected that to be available when I get there. I get there, and there's not ONE car in that class available. So they offered to "upgrade" me to a higher class vehicle as that's what rental agencies usually do, come to find out it's a BMW X1, which was NOT an upgrade. But whatever; it wouldn't cost me more, so I took it. That was a red flag to me, but whatever. Took the car, drove it for a day for my girl's birthday, returned it next morning as planned. Took a picture of the gauge cluster, which showed I had returned it at 9:41 AM, 19 minutes before the return time of 10 AM. Gave them the keys, was on my way.

When I got to work later, I checked my email and saw that I was hit with a higher charge than the agreed upon amount. They claimed I had returned the car at 1:17 PM. This is where things became severely annoying. I reached out to them, with the picture showing I had returned it at 9:41, and this is when things got weird: they said they would honor the chargeback, but once the "hold" on my account had been removed. WHAT HOLD? Come to find out there was a "hold" on my account due to an "unresolved charge". Looking further into it, the amount was the same one I got randomly charged for previously ($115.89). You know, the one I thought was a fraudulent charge since I never even rented the car? The one I immediately canceled after booking?

What followed was an absolute colossal waste of time and effort. I spoke with customer service and explained the situation, and you know what they said to me? That this was on ME; and that I had to resolve the chargeback with my bank (keep in mind, the card I used was no longer valid as I had replaced it after the random charge hit my account). I even escalated this to the regional director Bianca Lederer per my father's recommendation (he's also a Sixt customer), and it went absolutely nowhere. I never got refunded, and she claimed a complaint had been sent to their HQ. To this day, nearly two years later, I have heard NOTHING.

My mind is made up about this place. You will NEVER got money from me again. If I had the pull to keep people from renting from here, I would. If I could give zero stars, I would. I hope people look at this and realize that this place is nothing more than a scummy, scammy, filthy excuse for a business. The Better Business Bureau AND Department of Consumer Affairs WILL be contacted. This is a blatant scam trap of a rental agency. RUN.

Don't even try to write a "corporate apology" as a reply here. Don't tell me to write your little customer service team an email cause I've gone that route and it went nowhere. Spare your half-hearted responses. You people will get what is...

Sixt seemed reliable until I actually needed them. I can see all the five-star reviews, because I never had a problem… until I was handed an unregistered car with an expired license. They continued to rent it out until it became obvious to everyone. When I posted a review mentioning the expired registration, their public response feigned regret but it rang hollow.

I went into their office three times: Each time, staff were rude, negligent, and dismissive. No one would admit the mistake or confirm the registration status. They changed their story repeatedly, blaming the DMV and insisting the expired license was “just a piece of paper.”

This is a serious safety and security issue—especially if they dismiss DMV warnings. I can’t imagine what would happen in an accident. Do yourself a favor: stay away from Sixt until they learn to take accountability.

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Sixt’s Battery Park location rented me a car with an expired registration, even after I clearly stated I needed it for a road test and was told by staff it was fine. I asked to see the license, and they showed me a piece of paper which I trusted, because I never imagined a professional rental company would give me a car that wasn’t road-legal.

As a result, I spent 3 hours on the road with an illegal car, only to be turned away by the DMV officer because the registration was expired. I returned the car immediately. The manager and the staff member who rented me the car (her name was something like Bionny) both confirmed that I would get a refund and even said I wouldn’t be charged for gas.

Then, things changed.

They charged me anyway: • $81.55 for the rental • $12 for insurance • $27.53 for gas (only this part was refunded)

When I returned to the office for the third time, neither the manager nor Bionny would speak to me even though they were the ones who gave the incorrect information. Instead, they sent another employee to tell me that I wouldn’t be refunded, and claimed the DMV officer was wrong for rejecting the car.

This isn’t just about the $93.55 I lost. It’s about the complete lack of respect, accountability, and integrity. I was given incorrect information, misled, ignored, and dismissed after Sixt failed to provide a legal vehicle.

I later contacted customer service and was offered a $100 voucher, but the behavior I experienced at the Battery Park location was unacceptable, and no voucher can make up for how I was treated.

I will be sharing this experience across platforms. Do not trust Sixt with your time, your money, or your...

NEVER EVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY FOR RENTALS. I should have listened to the comments I read but my flight got cancelled and I was in a desperate situation and no other rental had availability.

I had to do a one way rental from NY to FL after my flight got cancelled and I needed to be on a cruise for a planned vacation. Sixt was the one rental I found that was able to do it. The reservation had a total of 500 dollars for the 1 night rental. While driving the rented vehicle we got a flat tire at 1 in the morning in the middle of nowhere in Virginia. The rental did not have a spare tire. We called Sixt for them to send AAA or any company they use to change the tire so we can continue our way to Florida. When we called them they literally told us they couldn't do anything because their locations near by where all closed so for us (2 females and 2 kids) to stay put or to try to drive to a safe location until 8am in the morning that the nearest location (4 hours away) would open for them to send another car to swap the one we had. Granted: we needed to be in Port Canaveral Florida by 12PM. After spending about an hour and a half fighting with them over the phone they hung up on my and didn't pick up again. I called from my partner's phone and there they answered but this time they said the only solution was to sent a tow truck to tow the car and we would need to go with the tow truck to wherever the truck would take the car would go. I asked how long would it be since again it was 1AM in the morning, a completely secluded part of Virginia where there wasn't even pole lights and no traffic passing by and they said they had no idea how long it would take. We waited an hour and 45 minutes before i had to take the reins and drive with a flat tire for over 6 hours to get to a place where they could change our tire. We had to pay 300 dollars for the tire replacement. We got to Orlando at 3PM in the afternoon and because we contacted the cruise line and explained our situation we were able to get to the cruise. Since we were already late I asked a cousin of mine to take the rental to the airport and when I got the bill I got charged over 1K for the rental. Not only i was told the price was 500 dollars but I also had to pay out of pocket 300 dollars to fix a flat tire from THEIR RENTAL THAT IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE HELP ME IN A VERY DANGEROUS AND DISTRESSED SITUATION WITH ONLY 2 WOMEN AND 2 KIDS IN THE VEHICLE.

again: NEVER EVER EVER RENT WITH THIS COMPANY. I have my lawyer getting all the paperwork so we take legal actions...