SIXT Rent a Car San Francisco Fishermans Wharf — Local services in San Francisco

No person is present when/where you return the car in the garage unlike other rental car companies or at the airports. I returned it between 8:30-8:45 am. You need to press for a ticket to open the garage gate (the QR code function did not work to open the gate, multiple texts stating “Car not detected in front of gate. Ensure your vehicle is properly positioned as we try again.”)

The staff at the Sixt front desk were professional upon check in and check out; however it felt like taking photos of car upon pickup were dismissed as not necessary as they are the ones who checked for damages from last renter. If you go into the garage G3 you will see how narrow it is and how they may even scratch the car getting it out for you. The car I got was larger than what I wanted but that is not my complaint as they did not charge me more in the moment. The Mazda CX90 9PBX020 had trouble connecting to Apple CarPlay. Matt noticed I was not moving the car from the front for 10 minutes and he helped delete the other accounts to connect, it was finicky. Midway during the drive it disconnected. I had a usb C charger that plugged into the console but that did not connect the CarPlay. This was problematic during the 4 days. defaults to parking brake turning on when you fill the tank if it is more than 4/5 full, it does not register the last ~0.75 gallon filled. I stopped and restarted the car 3x, drove half a mile to let it reset to no avail, went to 2nd gas station and filled a small amt again prior to drop off. I kept receipts and the desk agent said if it gets too full it does not register the latest gas (the pump automatically stops this though?) and he would count it as full. He did.

TAKE HIGH RESOLUTION PHOTOS OF EVERY ANGLE OF THE VEHICLE upon pickup AND drop off (despite its busy location & not much space to do that where you drop off in the narrow garage 3 floors down), and enter all scratches into their website before you depart. The car had 2 very large dents and paint damage before I picked it up plus multiple listed damages and scratches already in their system (see photo).

No email upon key return. I walked 1.5 hours away. Few hours after I returned the car (early), I get an email that appears standard BUT the attachment had a claim for a scratch and a reported dent that was not noticeable even in the (low resolution) blurred photo an agent named in report “C.C.” took after drop off. Also, the car was backed into a spot in the photo they took, but I had parked front in, so this reported damage could have been done by someone else trying to repark in narrow garage spaces with many structural poles. The first damage dept agent I spoke to was not helpful and said they are a “self service” rental company, to not expect anyone at the drop off to review the vehicle with you, then stated in an accusatory tone that I would have to pay for the damages I caused and to look for an email to make a report. After speaking to a 2nd damage dept agent, they reviewed the photos and spoke to their manager agreeing it appears insignificant/superficial-I got an email closing the case without a claim against me.

This feels like a contrast to most rental car companies that do not count such minor scratches nor require this much back and forth. Negative of this location is such a narrow garage when inventory had only large 7+ seater SUVs (I reserved a compact sedan). sixt photos claiming damage are not clear likely due to how little of space there is between cars to take a good image. I think the system for Sixt damage report is cumbersome, when there are so many damages already for a vehicle, to look for more minor scratches & add to the website is difficult b/c it already appears full of markings -when you’re just trying to get to your destination.

Will update review if $200 deposit is returned. My other Google reviews are 5 ⭐️, rarely post negative reviews but I do not want others to run into similar issues. I’ve never had this issue with other...

I wish I read a review like this before I rent a car from this company and this branch (SF's fisherman's wharf). I usually don't write reviews but I think I owe it to other people to know what they are getting themselves into.

Summary: The most terrible customer service you can imagine. I've never had any problems with rental cars. But now I learned it the hard way, how important it is when traveling with rental cars.

In details:

I reserved a car based on a friend's recommendation. I picked it up from Sf on saturday (9/2 at 10 am) and start driving to LA. I had to get to a friend's wedding by 7 pm and was on a tight schedule to get to LA, get ready and go to the wedding. After a couple of hours driving, I noticed the AC is broken. We rolled down the windows for a while but the temperature outsides reached 94 degrees. It was like hell inside the car in the slow traffic of 5 highway. I called the customer service and I told them I need to exchange my car. Once they've heard it, they hung up. I thought the signal went bad. I called again and this time someone else picked up. I explained the situation and they told me I need to get back to SF to change my car. I told them I can't since I drove about 3 hours from SF. I asked if they can exchange it for me from other rental cars. Once one of my friend's car (got it from enterprise) broke down and they found him a car from another company. They said we can't do that we have to contract with any other companies. The other option is for you to go to pep boys and fix it yourself. I was speechless about how unprofessional they are about their customer service. I asked to talk to a manager and they said we don't have a manager here. I settled down on LA car exchange as the only option. They told me they get me a car in West Hollywood branch and ask the SF branch to call me. After an hour I called the West Hollywood branch to confirm. They told me nobody called us and we don't have a car. I asked what about other branches and they said call SF and ask them to find you one. So I called the SF branch and explained my situation. They told me to go to the LAX branch, they should have a car. I asked them to contact them and confirm. They said it's not our responsibility. Can you believe it? It's my responsibility to call and find an exchange car in the middle of the road while sitting in a car at 94 degrees. I asked to talk to a manager, they said there is no manager I can talk to. I insist and she gave me a fake number!! I called again and they never picked up my call again. Like there is some blacklist that they put my number in it or something. In the end, I went to LAX and change my car. They told me the branch manager must call you since you were not happy about the experience but I returned the car today and no one contacted me yet. I got to the wedding at 650 and had to shower/get ready in 10 minutes.

This was the worst experience I've had with any rental car company. My family and I got tortured driving 5 hours in 94 degrees. I can't believe how rude and inappropriate they've treated us. Save yourself and your family from a similar experience and rent a car from one the big ones. Sixt' customer service is a...

Beware, you have been warned. This place is a complete disaster.

I had booked a BMW 3 series car for Sunday morning at 8.30 which was paid months in advance. When I reached there, they told me that they are not able to provide me any car for 2 hours. We had reserved Whale Watching Boat at Monterey Bay at 11. It was not possible to reach there and that money was lost. When I came back there at 10.30, they still had no car. Then at 11, they gave me a Toyota instead of BMW. When I wanted to drive out, the car gave check engine alarm. They had given me a defective car. Then I returned the key and asked for another car. Finally at 1pm, they gave a BMW. But by then, I had lost 5 hours and practically my whole day's schedule was gone up in air. To compensate, they told me that they will give tank of gas for free and waive 1 day's rental.

Is I was in hurry, I did not check the contract documents. They are sent by email and takes lot of time to read on little screen of phone. This was my mistake. Though the car was given at 1pm, they had mentioned delivery time as 11am. Also, there was no mention of free tank of fuel. They had only credited one days rental.

Before returning the car, I wrote to customerservice-usa by email and asked for clarification if I have to return with full tank or empty and reminded them of their promis. They purposefully waited till the rental period is over. Because of no reply, I had to return with full tank of gas. After the return, the customerservice-usa replied that since the car is already returned, the reply is not required.

Several subsequent emails to customerservice-usa also have been complete waste of time. After giving them several opportunities to correct themselves, I am writing this review.

To summarise They know at least 18 hours before my collection time that they did not have my car. They had plenty of time to do alternative arrangement but did nothing. It takes only 45 min to bring car from airport and 10 minutes from other city locations. They had other cars to give but did not give. They gave defective car without proper checking. Put wrong collection time contract Made knowingly false promises, promises which they had no intension to keep customerservice-usa email is useless.

Normally, I never write such long reviews. But this place is so horribly mismanaged, I though that people must me warned to avoid similar experience. They do not value customer's time. You might end up missing flights or important meetings if you depend on them. Therefore, stay away. There are several other car rental companies nearby. Nothing can be worse...