That day when my business trip in Las Vegas was almost over I suddenly thought of the small problem I had when I picked up the car and I felt really glad that QEEQ had my back from the start. I flew from IL for work and this time I had to stay in Vegas for quite a while so I booked a Budget car in advance. It was a Kia Soul group car with automatic transmission and four doors and five seats. I wanted something easy to drive when I went to see clients around the city. Around noon on February 14 I dragged my suitcase to the counter near the airport to pick up the car. My head was still full of slides for my afternoon meeting. When it was my turn I showed the confirmation to the counter staff. I thought it would be a normal process. The staff looked at the screen for a long time and then said the amount in their system was not the same and it looked like they did not receive the money I already paid online. I felt confused at that moment. I was sure I had paid. The staff then told me I needed to pay at the counter again and asked me to swipe my card. I was in a hurry and I did not want to be late for my client meeting so I paid again so I could get the keys and leave but in my heart I was worried that I was charged twice. When I sat in the silver gray Kia Soul and put my luggage in the back I started to drive out to my hotel. My body was in the car going through the roads of Las Vegas but my mind was not on the lights at all. I kept checking my emails and payment screenshots at red lights. The more I checked the more I felt something was wrong. After I reached the hotel and put my stuff down the first thing I did was contact their customer support and tell the whole story. I explained that I had already paid on the platform and then paid again at the counter. I sent them the details of the payments. I thought this kind of problem would be very annoying and that I would have to fight with the rental company by myself. I was surprised that the person who answered me took it very seriously from the start. They tried to calm me and said they would help me check everything. They also asked me to get all the screenshots and bills ready to send over. I felt like there was someone on my side who was watching this problem for me so I did not need to worry all the time. In the next few days my schedule was really full. I had to drive that Kia Soul between different hotels and office buildings. I left very early in the mornings when the sky was still dark and the neon on the Strip was just turning off. Every time I started the engine in the parking garage I would think about the charge problem again but I also felt I did not have to chase it by myself because they kept sending me updates. The support person checked in with me and asked if there was anything new and also told me how their talk with the rental company was going. I always knew what step they were on. I could feel it was the same person following my case and I did not need to repeat my story every time. For someone on a business trip like me this saved a lot of time and energy. One night after a long day I went back to the hotel and lay on the bed feeling really tired. I still opened my payment app before sleeping and stared at the credit card record. I still had a small worry. Then I saw the message from them. They explained that the extra money was mainly from an extra insurance from the rental side and they had already checked the bill line by line. After that I was not as nervous as at the start. During the whole time I could feel this kind of one on one follow up. It was not like they sent one short message and then disappeared. It felt like there was a person who remembered I was the business traveler from IL in Las Vegas who was worried about double payment and they kept watching the problem until it was clear. Around March 10 I returned the car very early in the morning. The sky was still dark. I filled up the gas next to the station near Budget and parked the Kia Soul. I took some photos of the car just in case. I felt pretty calm because by then they had already explained the money part in detail to me. I only took one more look at my credit card bill to make sure there were no strange new charges. On the flight back I scrolled through my phone and saw the chat record with the support person again. I thought if I had to argue with the rental company alone this whole thing would have taken a lot of time and I might still not get a clear answer. For someone like me who has a tight schedule and needs to watch both projects and costs this feeling that someone followed up for me was very important. It was not just some copy paste replies. It felt like they remembered who I was where the problem started and what step it was on now. When I talked with my coworkers later I told them that during this Las Vegas trip there was this small problem with the car payment at the start but it did not ruin my trip because their support stayed with the case and helped me get a clear answer. For my next business trip to the US I think I will book my car through them again so I do not have to learn a new platform and a new support team from zero.
How did the problem start? I arrived in Vienna alone and I was actually pretty excited. I had already booked the car with QEEQ. When I got to the counter, the price and some document questions suddenly came out. I got nervous right away because I was alone and I hate this kind of thing. Who should I talk to? The counter staff kept pushing their own options and I was afraid I could not explain well in English. So I quickly reached out to the customer service team.
How did they respond? It felt like one person was clearly in charge of my case and kept following my problem. Every time something new happened at the counter, like they asked for something extra, I sent the info to them. They replied fast and helped me see if it was really a rule from the rental company or if there was another way to handle it. I was standing alone in a corner of the airport with my phone in my hand. I listened to the staff at the counter and read the replies from the support team at the same time. My mind slowly became calm.
What did I care about most? It was not only about getting a discount. I just wanted someone to really care about me, not leave me alone to fight with the rental desk. During that time they often checked on me and asked if there was any new progress or if I was asked to pay more money again. I did not feel like I was chasing the platform. I felt someone was always remembering that I still had this problem.
How did that feel for a solo traveler? It was like I was traveling alone but I had a small team behind me watching my back. I sometimes think that without this kind of follow up, I might just give up or pay a lot more money without knowing if I could get it back. Now when I think about booking a car, the first thing in my mind is that this place does not only give me a booking number. There are real people who follow my case from start to finish.
I booked the car on QEEQ because I wanted to drive around Venice with my kid for a few days. Around the afternoon of February 13, I picked up the car at the airport counter. I was pushing our luggage, holding my kid with the other hand, and my head was kind of blank. The staff at the counter spoke very fast and gave me a lot of papers to sign. I just remember flipping pages and signing. I only wanted to get the car and leave so my kid would not get too noisy there. When we finally got on the car, I was actually pretty happy. The car was big enough and my kid sat in the back seat and kept looking out of the window. He kept asking to go see the water city. Those days we drove around small towns near Venice. My kid talked all the time and asked many questions, and my focus was always on the road and on him. I did not think at all that there would be trouble later. On February 27 in the evening, I returned the car. Everything seemed fine. I parked the car, the staff checked the outside of the car and said it was okay. Then I left with my kid to catch our ride back to the hotel. When we were finally in the hotel room, I had time to look at my phone. I saw a very big charge on my credit card bill. My body went tight at once. I checked it online and found it was for extra services and fees. I did not remember that I agreed to these. I felt very nervous and I still had to take care of my kid so my stress was very high. My English is not very strong, so I had to read bills and calm my kid at the same time. That night I almost did not sleep. My head kept thinking about why the money was charged like this. Later I reached out to their customer service and told them what happened to me step by step. I sent screenshots of the bill. At that time I was holding my sleepy kid who was crying, and I was walking around and typing. My feelings were a mess, but the person who talked with me stayed very calm and kind. They listened to me carefully. My story was not very clear and I jumped around, but they did not rush me. They asked me to slowly remember the details. In the next days they kept giving me updates. Every time there was news they explained it again in simple words that I could understand. They told me which step we were at. I did not understand some special terms but I could get the main idea. I could really feel that someone was looking after my case in a personal way. It was not just one cold email and then silence. Because I have to take care of my kid, many things break my time during the day. Sometimes I replied late. They were still patient and just waited for my message, then kept helping me talk with the rental company. It felt like there was a person on my side. They helped me sort my questions and turn them into words that the other side could understand. I could not see many details of the process, but I knew someone was watching my case closely. For a parent traveling with a child like me, with energy all over the place, this kind of one to one follow up from dedicated customer service is actually more important than only the final result. During that very stressful and uncertain time I did not feel alone facing the bill. There was someone there who stayed patient and tried to put everything in order with me.
I booked the car through QEEQ and I used it in Rome in early March. I remember I picked up the car around noon on the third and returned it a few days later in Rome. The trip itself was pretty smooth. When I gave the car back it was a bit dirty and I already thought they might charge a cleaning fee, but the amount felt higher than I expected.
When I got home and checked the bill I felt worried and also a bit angry. I knew it was my fault that the car was dirty, but I did not really understand if all the fees were fair or not. My English is not perfect and I was scared that I would not explain my side well and just lose money for nothing.
I contacted their customer service and one person followed my case from the start. For me this was very important. I did not need to repeat my story every time. The staff member remembered my situation and even reminded me what we talked about in the last email. At first I felt nervous. After a while I felt like someone was standing next to me and watching the case for me, so I felt more calm.
They helped me go through each fee one by one and checked which charges were normal from the rental company and which parts we could try to claim back. I was very confused about how the insurance worked, especially if the cleaning fee could be claimed. They told me step by step what documents I needed to give and pointed out when I filled something wrong so I could fix it. I replied a bit slowly a few times and they did not push me in a rude way. They just kept following up and it felt like they were really trying to help me solve the problem.
While I was waiting for the result I felt quite anxious. I was afraid that in the end I would get nothing back. The customer service kept giving me updates and told me which step we were at and around when I might get an answer. Getting these updates helped me stop overthinking all the time. When the cleaning fee part was finally paid back to me I felt a big relief. I also felt that all the time I spent sending emails and documents was worth it.
For me the special thing this time was that one person kept following my case instead of just sending me some cold template emails and leaving me alone. At the beginning I was really annoyed because of the extra costs, but because of this one to one follow up I have a good feeling about them and I did not feel like I was fighting against a machine by myself.
My first feeling was surprise, because in the end I not only got a discount from the car rental but also got money back, and I did not really run around for it. The support team kept reaching out to me and checked details with me. I booked the car through QEEQ for a business trip in Road Town in the British Virgin Islands. I picked up an Avis car around noon on February twenty seventh and dropped it off in the afternoon around March tenth. I thought it would be a normal business rental but when I got the car I was shocked. The car condition was pretty bad and very different from what I expected. For a work trip I care a lot about the car so I felt a bit annoyed and I thought this was going to be trouble.
The staff at the car counter said they could give me a discount, but they could not explain clearly how I would get the refund. That made me more confused. In my head I was thinking if I would ever see that money. I did not want to waste my work time arguing about this, so I contacted their support and told them the whole story. After that it felt like the case went into auto mode in the background. The support staff told me they were already talking with the rental company about the final charge and I only needed to watch my email. I felt like someone was holding the case for me and that made me relax a lot.
Some days later the support team told me the final amount from the rental company was lower than what I had paid at first and they had already worked out the difference and would send it back to me in pounds. In my mind I was like so I really do not need to fight with the car company myself. I just needed to give some information and they did the follow up. As a business traveler with a tight schedule this gave me a strong feeling that I was being looked after. I could feel that every time there was a new update about the invoice or the amount they came to me first instead of me chasing them all the time and this part really mattered to me.
“Are you sure this money is another rental charge?” This was the first thought in my head when I saw the extra 244.94 USD on my credit card bill. I had already returned the car in Melbourne in the US. It was around the evening of February 21st at about eight. I walked out of the Budget counter alone with my suitcase and felt pretty relaxed. I thought this Hyundai Venue rental went fine. The real problem showed up a few days later.
When I saw the bill I did my own math on my phone. I was fine with the tolls and fuel. In my head I said these two are okay. Then I saw that “rental” part show up again and I could not stay calm. I am usually a slow and quiet person and I do not like to argue. But this time the amount was not small and I was traveling alone so I felt nervous and also a bit mad.
When I reached out to them I already expected it might be hard and that people might push the problem around. I explained clearly at the start that I had returned the car around the night of February 21st but I got charged for the rental again. In my mind I just hoped they would not make me repeat the story again and again.
What surprised me was that from the first time I talked with them there was one person who kept following my case. It was not like one person today and a new one tomorrow who asks me everything from zero. Each time I checked in they could pick up the story right away and say they were already talking with the rental company. I felt a lot more relaxed at that moment. It felt like someone was watching this for me.
Several days passed and I was still on my own. Sometimes before I used my card I would think if that 244.94 USD would really come back. I was worried. They told me from time to time that they were waiting for an answer from the car hire or that they had pushed them again. I could not see what they did but I could feel the case was not forgotten.
When the wait got longer I did feel a bit anxious and I wished it could be faster. But each time I remembered I was not talking to some cold system and that the same person still knew I was the guy who rented a Hyundai Venue in Melbourne and got charged twice for rent I felt better. I did not feel ignored.
One day I got the message that my prepaid amount was refunded. I opened the bill and checked every line. I saw that the 244.94 USD was really back. I finally let out a deep breath. I thought about the whole thing again. The staff at the Budget counter only did the normal pick up and drop off. What really stayed in my mind was that there was a person who kept following my case. They updated me and remembered what I said before. I did not have to start from who I am and what happened every time.
For someone like me who travels alone this feeling of being remembered and followed up is very important. The money matters of course. But the bigger thing is that before the problem was fixed I always knew someone was pushing this for me. I was not alone staring at a charge on my bill. It felt like someone put a hand on my back and gave a small push so this rental story had a small problem but did not turn into a bad memory with QEEQ.
