Dedicated customer service"Can you send the refund back to the same card I used for the deposit?" This was one of the messages I sent them after my trip. At that time I was already back in Singapore for a few days, but my mind was still replaying the night I picked up the car in Vienna.
I booked the car on QEEQ. I chose a BMW X5 from Sixt, automatic, four doors, five seats. On April 26 around 8 pm, I was alone with my suitcase, lining up at the Sixt counter in Vienna. I felt pretty excited because it was my first time driving this kind of big car in Europe. When it was my turn, the counter staff told me the car for me was not an X5 but another SUV. I was a bit confused. I checked the car and the condition first and then I just drove away, but in my heart I felt like I might have been downgraded.
The real trouble started around April 30 when I was back at the hotel and finally had time to compare the car model and prices. I felt something was not right, so I contacted customer service and explained what happened. I thought it would be very messy, but they arranged one person to follow my case. After that it was almost always the same person talking to me.
One time I was sitting in a small cafe in Vienna. It was raining outside and I checked my emails on my phone. They asked me if I could send photos of the rental agreement and the final invoice. I sat there with my drink, looking for the papers, taking photos and sending them. It felt a bit like doing homework, but it was okay because the person following my case told me clearly what they needed. I just followed the steps.
A few days passed and I was getting ready to return the car. On around May 3 in the evening, I drove the car back to the Vienna return point, close to 8 pm. The staff checked the car quickly and said everything was fine. I felt that the rental part was finished, but the downgrade question was still open, so I sent another message to ask for an update.
Later they told me they had checked with Sixt and were told the two cars were similar. I did not really accept that. I am just a normal traveler and I do not understand their car group system. I shared my feelings with customer service. They did not brush me off. They checked the prices and showed that there was a difference and then kept talking to the rental company to fight for the price gap.
After some days I got a message saying they had managed to get a partial refund for me. I was in my office in Singapore, almost off work, when I saw it. I felt a small surprise and thought all the emails and chats before were not wasted.
Then it moved to the refund method. For a while, my chat history was full of questions about which card to use and if I needed to give a bank account. I thought I would need to provide many bank details and I felt a bit tired of it. So I asked if they could just send it back to the credit card I used for the deposit at the counter. That would be the easiest for me.
What made me feel calm was that the same person kept following my case. It was not changing from one agent to another. Every time I came back and asked again, it was still the same person and they already knew my story. They then checked with the rental company and came back to ask me to confirm my name, email and country. I answered them while I was on the subway, on my sofa at home and even when I was lining up to buy lunch. I always felt that someone was still watching this case for me.
Not long after that, they told me the rental company had agreed to refund to the card used on this booking, and asked me to watch my statement. I asked again because I was afraid I mixed up the cards. The staff even checked my contract and told me which card it was by the first and last numbers. At that moment I felt quite safe. The whole thing took some time, but at least someone was holding my hand through it and I was not left alone in the middle.
When I look back now, I remember the trip itself, but I also remember this after sales experience. I was traveling alone and getting a different car model and price is not a huge disaster, but it is annoying. If nobody helped me talk to the rental company, I would probably give up that one hundred plus euro difference. The process was not very fast, but having one person follow my problem from start to finish made me feel taken care of and not like a small order that could be easily forgotten. For someone who travels alone like me, that feeling matters quite a lot.
AXA Full CoverageThat day in Vienna it was raining a bit and I was driving the nine seat car I booked on QEEQ. It was a Mercedes Vito and it felt really big and nice. I even told my friend this trip to Austria felt like an upgrade. Later I was backing up at a narrow corner and the car hit something. There was a long scratch on the side. I got scared right away and I thought the rental company would charge me a lot of money. On the return day around May 18 at noon I went to the Avis counter. The staff checked the car and then showed me some papers with several different charges. When I paid with my credit card I only saw a long number on the screen. When I changed it to my own currency in my head it felt really high. I remembered I had added AXA Full Coverage when I booked. At that time I just thought one more insurance was safer and I did not expect I would really need it. After I went back to my place I contacted their customer service and told them about the scratch and the few charges on my card. They asked me to send photos of my passport and the charge slips and so on. When I filled in my bank info it kept showing error and I felt a bit annoyed. But I did not want to just lose this money so I tried again and checked every number. After a while they reached out and asked me to confirm the total of all the charges. I added them up and told them the amount from my credit card and I also confirmed I wanted to get paid in euros. During those days I kept checking my card bill and looking at those tens of thousands of INR. It was a lot of pressure and I was afraid I would only get a small part back. Then they told me the claim was approved and the amount matched what the rental company took. I felt so much lighter in that moment. I thought this accident would ruin my Vienna trip but the car damage was all covered by AXA Full Coverage so it turned into just a scare and a lesson for me.
Price Drop ProtectorI felt pretty relaxed when I booked this car, because I did not have that stress like maybe I am paying too much if the price drops later. I booked through QEEQ and I chose their Price Drop Protector service. When I clicked pay I already thought that if the price goes down later, I will not check it every day by myself, so it felt nice that someone kind of watches the price for me.
That day I picked a car in Vienna on my phone. For this Austria trip I planned to use the car from the evening of May 27 until around June 3. The car was an Opel Mokka with manual gear, a small SUV. I felt it was good for a young driver like me who will drive there for the first time. After I finished the booking I did not think too much. The price already looked okay, so I just moved on with my day.
After some time I saw a new email in my inbox. I noticed the order number was different, but the details were still the same pick up and drop off in Vienna and the same car group. At first I got a bit nervous and thought maybe I did something wrong, so I opened it fast. Then I saw they had helped me make a new booking and the price was a little cheaper than my first one.
I remember it very clearly. The price difference was only a few euros, but when I saw that there was money to be refunded I felt really happy. It was like I suddenly got some extra pocket money. I did nothing special and still I earned a bit for free. I did not ask anyone and I did not send any email. The money was just saved for me automatically.
In that moment I really felt that the Price Drop Protector service is not just a cool name. It was actually working for me in the background and watching the price. I did not need to compare prices again and again. I did not need to worry that I booked today and tomorrow it would be cheaper. I just lived my normal life and when they found a better price, they changed the booking and gave me the difference.
Later when I talked with my friends about this, they thought I had to make many calls or write letters to get the money back. I told them no, it was not like that. I just made a normal booking and one day I found out they were giving me some euros back. This feeling is really nice for young people like us who still think like students. We want to count every euro when we travel, but we also do not want to spend all our time checking prices.
Now when I think that I will go to Vienna soon and pick up the car at the counter, I already feel calm about this booking. The car is the same, the time is the same, only the price became a bit better for me. This kind of easy saving experience makes me more confident to book again and to keep using a service that can help me save money like this.
Price Drop ProtectorWould you believe a car booking can become cheaper by itself? I did not really believe it at first and then my QEEQ order suddenly saved me some money. A few days before my trip I booked a Toyota RAV4 automatic online. I planned to pick it up at Vienna airport around the night of August 4th and return it in Salzburg on the morning of August 13th. When I booked I chose their Price Drop Protector. In my mind I just thought one thing. If the price goes down I win some money. If not I do not lose anything.
Later I did nothing at all. One day I was checking my email and I suddenly saw a new booking confirmation with a different order number. My first thought was I made a mistake and booked twice. I opened it fast and checked. Then I saw the new price was lower than my old one by more than twenty euros. I looked again and then I understood. Price Drop Protector had already rebooked a cheaper deal for me and the price difference was counted in this new order. So I saved money without moving a finger and it felt like I just got a free meal.
In that moment I felt like a student who picked the right answer. I realized it really watches the price for you and it is not only some nice text on a website. For someone like me with a small budget and no patience to check prices every day this feels great. It is like someone stands behind me and guards my wallet. I do not need to talk to customer service or compare many sites by myself. This whole thing left a strong impression on me and next time I book a car I will first look for this kind of auto price drop refund service again.
Price Drop ProtectorThat night I was sitting at my dorm desk. The light was a bit yellow and my laptop screen showed the car I picked on QEEQ. It was the Volkswagen T-ROC in Vienna. I stared at the price for a long time and kept counting my budget for this trip. I was not sure if I should book right away. Then I thought about it. I saw the Price Drop Protector and felt a bit safer, so I clicked confirm.
After that I went back to my normal student life. Classes, homework, reports. My phone was on silent most of the time. In my head I still counted the money for the rental. I wanted to travel through a few countries and the cost for the car and the rooms was a lot for me. I did not want to ask my parents for more money.
One night I was in the library. I was tired of reading so I checked my email for a break. I saw a new message from them. I thought it was just a normal confirmation. When I opened it I found out the price for the same car went down. They had already booked it again for me and sent the price difference back.
I just stared at the numbers for a moment. I read the email two times to make sure it was really my order. My first thought was that it felt like someone was watching the price for me. I did nothing after the first booking. I only chose the Price Drop Protector before. It was like there was an invisible person checking the price when I was busy.
I took a screenshot and sent it to my friend. I told him I kind of earned money for doing nothing. It was not a huge amount but for a student like me it still means a few meals or one more night in a cheap hostel. It felt pretty nice.
Then I realized that without this service I would never know the price dropped. I am not the type who checks prices every day. I would not cancel and book again on my own. I booked the car once and the bill just became cheaper when I was not even looking at it.
When I read the email again I felt this was really good for people with a tight budget. I kept my first plan but my cost went down a bit. My mind felt lighter. I wrote the new price in my notebook. I thought about my pickup in Vienna and it felt like I already got a small win before the trip even started. I did not need to argue with customer service or watch the price by myself. They handled everything and I only needed to enjoy the extra money back.
One-Dollar FreezeAt first I was thinking if I had to pay the full rental fee right away. It felt like a lot of pressure on my card. Then I saw on QEEQ that I could use One-Dollar Freeze and only pay 1 dollar first to lock the car in Salzburg. I felt much more relaxed after that.
I planned to go to Salzburg around the end of April and pick up an Opel Astra in the evening, around April 27. A small five seat auto car was enough for me. When I booked it, the page showed I only needed to pay 1 dollar now. I checked the amount a few times because I was afraid there would be some hidden charge. After I paid, my credit card bill really showed only that 1 dollar. I felt my credit card pressure was much lower.
In the days before pickup I did not worry about payment anymore. When it was close to my rental start, the rest of the money was charged automatically. I got a message on my phone. The amount was the same as before, no extra fee and no interest. As a traveler in another country, it felt safer when I did not need to block a big amount on my card from the start.
When I arrived in Salzburg I just went to the Wheego counter to do the paperwork. The payment part was already done so I only needed to show my documents and my booking info. This whole experience made me feel this payment plan was very friendly. Booking the car felt light, I did not need to watch the payment schedule, and the full charge only came right before I used the car.
