Australia

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Brian BeliaeffAustralia

Let me complain first. When you travel alone and rent a car, you really do not want bad things to happen. I booked a car on QEEQ with ACE Rental Cars in Perth. I arrived at the counter around the morning of July 3 and picked up a grey Toyota Camry. It was automatic, four doors, five seats. The car felt smooth to drive. In my mind I was like, I bought AXA Full Coverage so I should be more relaxed. But even with that, the car still got damaged. How did it get damaged? I was driving alone and the road was not very familiar to me. When I parked, I made a bad judgment and the side of the car scraped something. Later I also noticed some problem near the tire. I was shocked at that moment. I took photos for proof and then followed what the rental counter staff told me, just tried to handle the car first. Around the afternoon of July 10 when I returned the car, the staff checked it carefully. They saw the damage and started to calculate a bunch of fees. How much was it? At the start I only knew it was several hundred AUD. Later when the bill came, I saw the rental company charged me more than nine hundred AUD and then there were card fees and tax. My credit card bill showed almost eleven hundred AUD. As a solo traveler my budget is not very big. When I saw that amount, I only felt pain. So my first question was, can AXA Full Coverage really help me? Can it help? I contacted them right away. I sent all the photos, the papers from the rental counter and screenshots of my card charges. To be honest it was a bit annoying to do all this alone, but I did not want to just accept the loss. So I slowly prepared every file. They asked me some questions like if I had other cards charged and if the amounts matched. I checked my bills and the numbers and answered based on what I could see. How much money was involved? I remember on my credit card the total charge from the rental side was a bit more than one thousand AUD. They also had their own damage amount calculation. My idea was very simple. I just did not want to pay everything by myself. I asked more than once how much they could cover because every dollar matters to someone traveling alone like me. Was the claim process hard? At the start I was scared it would be very complicated. Later I saw that as long as I gave enough proof, things kept moving. They asked me to confirm the amount and the currency. I checked it with my bill. For a few days I was thinking they might only pay a small part or take a very long time. During that time my card still showed that big charge. I felt uncomfortable and felt like I was paying a very expensive lesson for a parking mistake. What was the result? They finally sent me a message saying the claim amount was confirmed and they could pay me enough to cover the damage fees. When I saw that the numbers matched, I really let out a big breath. It felt like even though I drove not carefully this time, at least I was not hit too hard in my wallet. When you travel alone, having this kind of insurance behind you makes you feel safer. How do I see this now? If you ask me if AXA Full Coverage is worth it, I will say yes very clearly. For solo travel like mine it is quite important. The rental counter staff only follows their rules and numbers. They do not care if you feel sad or stressed. With this extra insurance, at least I have someone to talk to, I can show my proof, and I can try to protect my money. This trip in Perth where I rented a car, drove, had damage and then solved it feels like a very real lesson to me. I still remember the way the staff at the counter spoke very calmly while telling me the big amount. Then I compare that to the feeling when I saw the claim approved and paid. The difference is huge. At first it was tension and pain, later it became calm again. When you are alone outside your own country, sometimes you do not have many things to rely on. This time I really felt how useful a full coverage insurance can be when something goes wrong.

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William ShaferAustralia

When the email popped up that day and I saw the claim was approved I let out a long breath. The first thought in my head was that I was really glad I bought AXA Full Coverage. It had already been a few days but every time I think about that business trip in Melbourne and the rental car I still see the whole story in my mind. I booked the car on QEEQ for a work trip to Melbourne in Australia. I landed around midday on June fourteenth and went to the Everything Fleet counter the next day around noon to pick up the car. They gave me a Nissan X Trail. It was an automatic five seater and the body looked pretty new. I remember thinking this trip should go pretty smooth. Since it was a business trip and I had some luggage an SUV felt just right for me. When I made the booking I added AXA Full Coverage. At that moment it was more for peace of mind. I was driving in another country and I was not fully used to all the rules. In my head one more layer of protection sounded smart. The counter staff walked around the car and showed me the basic condition. I took a few photos of the exterior and then drove away. The problem came the day before I returned the car. That day I was driving in the city to meet a client. The road was not very wide and there were many cars. When I parked I misjudged the distance a little and the right side of the car lightly scraped a low concrete post. The sound was not very loud but I got nervous right away. I jumped out of the car to look and saw a clear scratch on the door. I kind of froze for a moment. I knew this kind of damage would not be treated as something small by a rental company in Australia. I started to regret that I did not double check the parking space and the distance. That night I did not sleep very well. I kept thinking about what would happen when I returned the car the next day. I brought the car back to the Everything Fleet location in Melbourne around noon on June eighteenth. The staff walked around the car and of course he noticed the scratch very fast. His face did not really change. He just wrote down some notes on his form and took some photos. Then he told me there would probably be a charge on my credit card. I knew this was hard to avoid and I started to guess in my head how much it could be. Not long after that I received a message from my bank about a new charge. The amount was not small. I stared at the number and felt a bit upset especially because I did not know how they calculated it inside their system. I was worried they might take more than they should. Then I remembered I had bought AXA Full Coverage so I began to get all my bills and records in order. I checked the invoice from the rental company and matched it with the credit card charge. The numbers were the same and that made me feel a bit better. After that I contacted their support team and explained what happened. Later they asked me again about the currency of the charge and that was when I noticed this time the money was taken in US dollars. I got a little stressed because I was afraid that a wrong currency might affect the claim. So I checked the invoice many times to make sure the amount and currency were clear. The photos were another problem. At the time of the scrape I only focused on the scratch on the door. I did not really take a full set of pictures from every angle. Most shots were just quick ones I took on my phone. When I needed to give more details I realized I did not have a lot of strong evidence. To make up for this I wrote down all the details I still remembered like the location the slow speed and that it happened while I was trying to park and not while speeding. Their team kept in touch with me and asked questions about the charge and the currency. I answered by looking at the invoice and my bank record. Since the numbers were the same on both it gave me some comfort. After I finally confirmed that the charge was in US dollars I sent that information again so everything was clear. The next few days I went back to my normal work schedule. During short breaks between meetings I would suddenly think of the scratch and my mind would tighten up a little. I kept wondering how the claim would go. When the email finally came saying the claim was approved it felt like a big stone dropped off my shoulders. At that moment I was really thankful that I did not skip the extra coverage when I booked the car. For someone like me who travels for business a lot this kind of protection feels very important. Even when you try to be careful you can still make a small mistake especially when you drive in another country where the roads and habits are different. This time there were some bumps in the process but in the end the cost was covered by the insurance so I do not have to keep thinking about that scratch over and over again.

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Emily MacKayAustralia

If I did not buy AXA Full Coverage at the start I think this work trip would feel like a total mess because of one broken windscreen. The story starts when I booked the car on QEEQ. I had a business trip to Hobart for a few days. I picked a Budget Toyota Corolla with auto gear and four doors. I remember my pick up time as around the morning of April twenty first a bit after nine. I even went to the airport counter a little earlier because I wanted everything to be clear and smooth. The staff at the Budget counter was pretty friendly. He walked around the car with me. I paid extra attention to the front windscreen. In my head I was thinking if this cracks it will be a big trouble. When I signed the papers I checked my booking again and saw AXA Full Coverage ticked there. That made me feel safer. I told myself it was good that I spent that extra money. The next few days were fine. I drove to meetings and also a bit around town and the suburbs. Hobart is windy but the view is really nice. The real problem came one evening just before I was supposed to return the car. I was driving back to my place after work. The light was already a bit low. Another car in front hit a small stone on the road. That stone jumped up and hit my windscreen. The sound was very sharp. My whole body shook and my heart dropped. I stopped the car and saw a clear crack on the front glass. It started from near the middle and went a bit up. It looked very bad to me. My first thought was that I was in big trouble and this would cost a lot of money. I just sat in the car for a few minutes and my brain was full of numbers. I kept thinking about the business budget and if this would be a pain when I did my expense claim. Then I remembered AXA Full Coverage again. I felt a bit better but I was still scared. I worried they might say glass did not count or that they needed some special condition. The next day I still had to see a client so I drove very carefully. I was afraid the crack would get bigger. After my meeting I stopped the car and took many photos of the windscreen. I tried different angles so the crack was very clear. It felt like I was handing in homework. While I took the photos I kept talking to myself and saying I hope this is enough. The car return day was around April twenty seventh in the evening. My time was close to seven thirty. I reached the Budget counter about ten minutes early. When the staff checked the car he saw the windscreen damage at once. He looked at me and said he needed to make a damage report. He showed me the paper. The amount was more than one thousand Australian dollars. My heart started to beat faster again. I still tried to explain what happened on the road. He stayed calm and said this kind of thing was common. He told me they would charge me first and I should claim with my insurance later. At that moment I learned how to look calm while my hands were already sweaty. After I went back to my place I put all the papers together. I had the damage bill the return paper and the photos. I kept thinking when this money could come back. Later I contacted their customer service and told them the whole story about the glass damage. I told them I had AXA Full Coverage on my booking and I sent them the windscreen photos. The person on the phone spoke in a steady way and said they would pass my case to the insurance side and that I could wait for updates. When I ended the call I felt like someone caught me when I was falling. During the next days I still thought about it from time to time. Every time I remembered the number on the damage bill I felt nervous. They checked some details with me like the exact amount I was charged and the currency. I work in business and I am sensitive to numbers so every time they checked with me I looked at the bill again. I did not want to say anything wrong. I could feel that they wanted the information to be correct and not just push it away. The moment the insurance was approved came to me in an email. I was in the office working on a report when I saw it. The email said the claim was successful and the amount would cover the more than one thousand Australian dollars I paid. I felt a big stone drop from my chest. I remembered how I once hesitated when I chose AXA Full Coverage and now I only felt glad. Later I checked my bank account more than once. I saw the money come back in Australian dollars. The number matched what they had confirmed with me before. Nothing was missing. Only then I fully relaxed and put this story in my memory as a work trip problem that was solved in a good way. That broken windscreen became a small reminder for me. Even if I am busy with meetings and flights I should not skip this kind of protection. For me the biggest point in this whole experience is that when something bad really happens to you AXA Full Coverage is not just a name on a contract. It is the thing that moves that one thousand plus dollars away from my own wallet. As someone who travels for business quite often I know that without this cover the money would probably stay as my own loss or force me to explain for a long time during the company claim process. When I look back I feel that the small click when I chose AXA Full Coverage on QEEQ was the best small decision of my Hobart trip.

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Brian PouchetAustralia

I want to start by complaining a bit because I really did not expect a simple rental in Hobart to turn into car scrapes and debt collection emails. I booked the car on QEEQ and picked up an MG ZS from BARGAIN around noon on December 13. I was traveling alone and I felt pretty free with the car. Then the car got scraped and the rental counter said there were repair fees and loss of use fees. They also said they had already charged 507 AUD before. I was confused and I had one big question. How much do I really need to pay. Later I got an email from a third party collection company saying I still owed more money. The numbers did not match and my head hurt. So I went to the support team and started asking one question after another. What part is car damage. What part is late fee. Is the 507 AUD already counted in. They replied to me in the same way. One question one answer and helped me understand the bill from the rental company. They said repair and loss of use and some car damage management fees could be claimed and late fees could not. At that moment I was very glad I bought AXA Full Coverage because the total amount was not small at all. Later I talked with the third party and paid the car damage part. Even after that I was still worried. I was not sure if the insurance would really pay and if it would be very hard. I sent in the emails and the bill I had and they told me the insurance company would review it. After that the claim started to move. The car damage related fees came to 2158.38 AUD. They also explained that collection service fees were not covered. I thought maybe I would only get part of the money back. Then I got the update. AXA Full Coverage approved my claim for the 2158.38 AUD and they would pay me in AUD. I confirmed my payment details and soon the money arrived. When I saw the payment I felt a lot of stress leave my mind. Looking back I think if I did not buy AXA Full Coverage I would have no chance to deal with the rental company and the collection agency alone. It was still a messy experience but in the end the car damage costs were paid back and that made the whole story feel a lot better.