My problem was very simple. I needed an invoice that I could use for my company tax. This trip was for business. I arrived in Dunedin around June 28 and picked up a Kia Carnival from ACE Rental Cars the next morning. I returned the car on about July 3 in the afternoon. The car part was fine. What made me a bit nervous was my company finance team asking again and again for the invoice.
I felt a bit stressed. I thought maybe I would need to contact someone in New Zealand again. I sent an email to them and asked myself one question. Will they reply very slowly. Someone reached out to me quite soon. The person spoke in a calm way and first checked my company name and my email. I answered one by one. They also repeated each item to make sure it was correct. It felt like we were doing a small Q and A together and I felt much more relaxed.
Then I asked another question. Where do I actually get this invoice. They told me that I could download the receipt from my order page and that I could add my company details and tax number there. It sounded easy but without this clear direction I think I would click around the website for a long time. In that moment I felt that this was all I needed.
During the whole process I asked one question and they answered one question. I did not feel they were pushing me away. I felt that someone was watching my small problem and helping me close this business trip step by step. It was only about one invoice but I really felt they took care of my needs. For someone who travels for work a lot this is very important. QEEQ left a strong and good memory for me here.
When I first saw my credit card bill I felt pretty bad. I booked my car through QEEQ and picked up a Budget Kia Rio in Orlando around the evening of June 1. It was a small automatic car and it felt okay for someone like me who was visiting from another country. At the airport counter there were quite a lot of people. The staff asked me to sign on a tablet. I just followed their steps and tapped and signed a few times. I did not really read every line. I only wanted to get the car and leave as soon as possible. The car was clean and the fuel gauge was full. I told myself I must keep it that way and return it with a full tank. Time passed fast. About two weeks later around the evening of June 15 I drove the car back to the return spot in Orlando. The staff walked around the car and checked it. I looked at the fuel gauge again. It was still full. They gave me a return slip and the fuel line on it also showed full. I felt safe at that moment so I left with my bags and went to catch my next plan. The real problem came up after I went back home. One day I checked my credit card and saw a fuel charge from the rental company. My first thought was that maybe I had made some mistake. But then I remembered the full fuel gauge and the return slip that said full fuel. I felt it was not fair. I contacted the customer service team and told them what happened. I sent them a photo of my return slip too. In my head I kept replaying the moment at the counter. I tried to remember if anyone told me about some fuel option but I really had no clear memory of it. Later the support team told me that in the rental contract from the car company it showed that I had added a prepaid fuel option. So the company charged me in that way. I was very confused because in my memory I only signed on the tablet and did not notice this option at all. I told them I did not plan to buy prepaid fuel and I really filled the tank by myself and returned the car full. In the next days they kept talking with the rental company and shared updates with me. At one point they explained that because I did not have a fuel receipt or a photo of the full fuel gauge at the time of return it was very hard to get a full refund of the fuel charge. When I heard that I felt a bit helpless. I could only blame myself for not taking a photo of the gauge. One thing that surprised me was that they did not just say there was nothing they could do. They checked the contract and my signed record again and explained what was written there. During this time I was a bit emotional because I felt I was charged too much but they spoke in a calm way and did not push the problem back to me. In the end the rental company still refused to refund the fuel fee and the contract was clear. At that moment I was ready to just accept the loss. Then the support team told me that even though the car company would not refund anything they could give me a small fast compensation in GBP as a way to say sorry for my bad experience. I felt more relaxed when I heard that. The money was not the perfect result I wanted but I felt someone was on my side and they tried to cover part of my loss. When I look back I know the main problem came from me not reading every point on the electronic contract at the counter. But without this kind of one to one follow up service I think I would only hear one answer that I had signed and that was it. Now when I see that fuel fee I still feel a bit upset but I also know they tried their best and gave me compensation so I do not feel so angry. For someone like me who does not rent cars in the United States very often this whole thing taught me to check fuel options carefully at the counter next time and also that I can ask them to follow my case instead of worrying by myself.
I will start with the result. My billing problem is still not a perfect story. But what really stayed in my mind is that there was one person who kept following my case. Almost every time I sent an email, the reply came from the same support person. In my head I was like oh it is him again. He still remembers me.
This all started when I went alone to Boston for work around late May. I booked an Alamo car through QEEQ. I picked up the car around May twenty third and returned it in early June. On the return day I first used my personal credit card to pay the part of the rental at the counter. Then I changed my mind and asked the staff to charge the company card of our legal person instead. I thought this would be easier for expense claim. On my bill I saw that the charge on my personal card was refunded around mid June, so I thought it was all good.
A few days later I checked my bank records and saw that my personal card was charged again in late June. It was a big amount. When I changed it to my currency it was more than six thousand. I was really shocked. I only had one thought in my mind. Why is it charged again. I already used the company card right. I then checked the records of the company card and found that this card was already closed by the company. I got even more confused. I started to think maybe the company card did not work so the system charged my personal card again.
I called my bank first. The bank could only show me the charge and refund on my personal card. For the company card there was almost nothing clear, because the card was already canceled. So in my hand I only had proof that my own card was charged, then refunded, then charged again. I did not have any paper that could show the company card was also charged. I felt a bit lost because it was my whole balance and it was gone.
At this point I contacted their support team. To be honest I thought they would just tell me to talk to the car company. But they did not do that. The person on email was very patient. He asked me to explain the whole story again and asked me to send all the screenshots I had. At that moment I felt a little tired inside because I had already sent these to the bank. But I also knew this was the only thing I could do so I put them together one more time.
I sent the screenshots of my first payment on the personal card, the refund, and the second charge. I wrote down the dates and the amounts. The reply came back soon. They told me they had contacted the car rental company and asked about this unknown fee. At that moment I felt I was not fighting alone with the rental company. I felt someone was speaking for me. They also sent me updates saying the rental company still did not answer or that they had sent another reminder. I could feel that someone was watching this case and did not forget it.
Of course there was a real problem. I still could not show any proof that the company card payment was successful. This made the case very hard. The support person also told me that without proof that both cards were charged they could not fully prove to the rental company that it was a double charge. I felt a bit down when I read that. In my head I kept thinking if only that company card was not closed I could easily print out the record.
They suggested I talk again to the bank to confirm if the company card had ever been charged. If yes I should send both records to them and then they could try to push the case higher. I had already asked once but I still tried one more time. The whole process was not easy. But I could feel that this was not just some copy paste answer. Someone was really reading my emails and trying to go as far as they could with the proof I had.
Right now there is still no big happy twist. There is no magic email that all the money is back. But for me the big difference is that I was not left alone with a cold system. There was this one person who kept catching my questions. Every time I saw the same name in the email I knew someone still remembered this small customer from Korea who rented an Alamo car in Boston.
Maybe for them this was just a normal case. For me during the time when the money was taken and I could not see any company card record it was a very helpless feeling. Because of this one to one follow up experience I did not just give up in the middle or think that nobody cared. Even if things did not end exactly how I wanted I still want to write this down. For other people who have a similar bill problem at least you know you do not have to face it fully alone.
If not for that strange toll fee at the end, I would just say this booking with QEEQ was a normal trip story. A few days after I returned the car, I checked my credit card and saw a charge of about 205 dollars. I was really shocked. I clearly remember I rented a Ford Explorer from Avis in Orlando, automatic seven seater. I picked up the car around the evening on June 19 and dropped it off around noon on July 2. During the whole time I used the Visitor Toll App on my phone and paid every toll by myself. I thought I was very careful. So this new charge just felt like it came from nowhere.
At the beginning I was really angry. In my head I was saying this service is terrible and I felt someone just added some random fee on me. I first talked to my credit card company. Then I remembered I booked through QEEQ so I went to contact their support. I expected some cold automatic reply. It was not like that. Very soon one person started to follow my case and it was the same person the whole time. In the next days this person kept contacting me. I explained again and again that when I picked up the car I already told the Avis counter staff I would use Visitor Toll to pay tolls by myself and I did not need any extra toll service.
The person who followed my case was actually very patient. I have to admit in the beginning my mood was bad and my words were a bit sharp. This person still tried to understand my situation. After they asked me some details they told me this money was a toll related fee from the rental company and they would talk to the rental company for me. In my heart I did not really trust this. I thought it would just be one sentence where they say they will help and then nothing happens.
After some time they contacted me again and said the rental company only gave them one signed contract. In that contract the toll service was checked and the rental company used that to say they would not refund. When I heard this I got angry again. In my mind I was shouting that I clearly talked with the staff so why did they still tick that option. I kept asking why the rental company added this extra service and they were honest and said they did not know what the staff did at the counter and they could only argue based on the contract.
To be honest this part made me very disappointed. From my side it just felt like I never agreed but still paid. I even said that if the rental company did not refund then they should refund. I know this sounds a bit strong but as a customer this is just how it feels. The person who followed my case did not argue with me. They slowly explained that the money was not charged by them but they would still help me to appeal and they also sent me the rental company website feedback link and the store phone number so that I could also complain if I wanted.
We talked many times during those days. I even said I would never use them again. At that moment I just wanted someone to fix the problem for me even if I knew in my head that it was not so easy. The person stayed calm and tried to comfort me. They always told me the new progress. They said the rental company still refused to refund and they were also checking inside their own side what they could do.
Later on in one call they told me they had already sent my case to their manager. They said they could give me a maximum compensation of about 100 dollars and asked me if I could accept that. In that moment my mood changed a bit. At first of course I wanted the full 205 dollars back. After I calmed down I started to think more. I am not living in the United States and fighting with a rental company in another country is not easy. I was not sure if I could win everything. They were willing to use their own money to cover about half for me and that showed me they really tried.
I shared my thoughts again. I explained that I never asked for this service and told them why this money was a big problem for me. I said this US trip already used most of my budget and this extra fee gave me a lot of pressure. The person listened and said they understood how I felt. They confirmed the amount again and asked if I had any problem with it. I thought for a while and then I agreed.
If we look only at the result, this story is a bit messy. I still believe the rental company did something wrong. They had a box ticked in the contract but they did not explain clearly at the counter. I was a visitor from the UK coming to the US. It was my first time driving in Orlando with this kind of electronic toll system. I was already quite nervous. At pick up I even told the staff I would use the app to pay. In the end I still got charged for something I did not plan to buy. This feeling of having no control is really not nice.
But when I think about their support, it is hard for me to say everything was bad. The person who followed my case did not disappear. They were not like a robot that talks once and is gone. They remembered what I said before. Every time we talked they did a short recap so I did not need to repeat my story again and again. Even when the rental company kept a hard position they still gave me a middle solution so I did not become a complete loser in this situation.
Maybe if the rental company agreed to refund everything this would be a very different story. From the view of an overseas visitor, having one person following my problem from start to finish and knocking on that far and cold door for me gave me a special feeling. I felt someone was on my side during those bad days. Even if I was still complaining with my mouth, inside I could feel that difference.
Those days in Lisbon I was driving a big car and my feelings were mixed. I thought I would get a Mercedes and feel very smooth. At pickup the counter staff gave me a same group VW with extra seats. It looked nice and big but one seat in the back would not fold down at all. We had a lot of bags so the trunk space became very small. People and luggage were squeezed together and every time we stopped the car I felt a bit annoyed. I was also a bit nervous because I had already left Lisbon and my time was very tight. It was not really possible to drive back to the branch for a slow check. I was worried that no one would care about this situation and I would just have to accept it. When their customer support contacted me I felt someone was really watching this problem for me. The first call came when I was about to go out. The street was noisy and I stood in a corner and slowly explained the car problem. I used simple words to tell how the back seat would not go down and how our luggage was pushed up to the back. The person on the phone listened very carefully and kept checking details. There was no rush and no cutting of my words. In the next days I sometimes got follow up messages from them. I felt like one person on their side was always helping me talk with the rental company. I knew they were asking the rental staff and also checking with the middle partner. I just gave them everything I could give from my side. I was still on the road and could not go to a branch but I did not feel dropped. They did not tell me to solve it all by myself. They kept saying they would keep helping me. When the compensation was finally confirmed I was a bit surprised. At first I thought this kind of car condition issue is hard to explain especially because I already left the pickup place. During the whole time I really felt this one to one care. On the phone and when they later explained the result to me I felt as a young person that I was not alone facing a cold rental desk and long English rules. It felt like someone stood on my side and pulled the whole thing slowly to a fair result. The problem with the back seat did bring trouble to our trip but when I think of this experience now the first thing in my mind is not the seat that would not fold. It is the feeling that someone took my small problem seriously and kept following it. QEEQ for me was like a partner next to the car not sitting in it but helping me handle the part that I could not manage.
I booked my car through QEEQ in Spain. On June 9 in the evening I picked up a Seat Ibiza from Enterprise in Alicante. It was a small manual car and it felt pretty good to drive. The next day around noon I dropped the car in Motril. At first I thought the whole rental was very smooth. Then when I started to prepare my work reimbursement papers the problem came out. I needed a proper invoice with VAT for my company. I only had a simple receipt and my company would not accept that. I asked myself if I had missed some document. I checked the papers again and again and it still looked wrong so I decided to contact their customer support. I also asked myself if they would say this is not their job. I was a bit nervous because I did not want to lose that money. The support staff replied to me very fast and sounded very serious. She first asked what I needed the invoice for and I said it was for company reimbursement. Then she said she would check with the rental counter to see if they could give me an FI with VAT. In my mind I asked again how long this would take and if anyone would really follow up. After some time she sent me an update and said they were already talking to the rental staff. She also reminded me that the invoice from the counter only shows extra charges at the desk and it does not show the prepaid part so I could know what to expect. I asked her if there was any other charge on my card besides the deposit. She said she would confirm this for me. Later she told me that the rental staff checked and there was only a 200 euro deposit and no other extra charge so I could relax about that. I was still waiting for the final invoice result but during the whole time I felt someone was really watching this case for me. It was not like they just sent one email and disappeared. Every time I had a question she answered one by one in simple words. I asked one thing and she replied clearly so I did not feel lost. As a young person dealing with a VAT invoice in Spain for the first time this support made me much less stressed. The reimbursement rules were still a bit hard for me but with this kind of follow up I did not feel I was doing everything alone in the dark.
