Dedicated customer serviceI booked my car in Auckland through QEEQ and at first everything looked fine. Around the afternoon of April twenty third I walked to the Europcar counter with my suitcase. I was pretty excited because my booking page showed a Mitsubishi Outlander. The photo looked really cool and I felt it would be a nice car to drive around Auckland. When I reached the front desk the staff looked at my booking and said the car I reserved was actually another model and that this Outlander was an upgrade. I needed to pay extra if I wanted it. I was confused. In my mind I was sure I chose the Outlander that I saw on the page. Standing there in the airport hall I felt a bit awkward. I was tired and just wanted to leave with the car. The staff at the desk stayed calm but the meaning was clear. No extra money no Outlander. To avoid delaying my plan I finally paid the upgrade fee with my card but in my heart I kept thinking if this money was really my problem. When I got back to where I stayed I felt more and more that something was wrong so I contacted their customer service. One thing that surprised me was that the same person kept following my case. It was not like I had to explain everything from the beginning to a new person each time. I told him what I understood from the booking and the desk. He did not blame me or say I read the page wrong. He just told me to stay calm and said he would talk to the rental company and check the model issue. I felt a bit better. It was like I was not standing alone in front of the rental company. Someone was speaking for me. Later he told me that the rental company put the Mitsubishi Outlander under another car group and that the group I booked had a different sample car. When he explained it I still felt a bit lost but I could feel that this problem was not just my mistake. I kept using the car for the trip and around May third I returned it in Auckland. The sky was a bit cloudy that day. When I handed the keys back at the desk I thought again about that extra upgrade fee and I wondered if I would really get it back. After I returned the car they contacted me again and asked me to send the card charge screenshot and the invoice from the rental company. To be honest I am not the kind of person who keeps every document in order so at first I could not find everything. Those days I had already left Auckland. I was going between Fiji and other flights and the internet was not always good. Each time I saw their email I thought oh no I need to find more files but the same service person was still there talking to me. That gave me a feeling that my case was still in his hands and not forgotten. Step by step I sent the credit card screenshot and then photos of the invoice. He used simple words and told me that once they had the right files they would help me get the upgrade fee back. Sitting on airport chairs and sometimes on the plane when I checked my email and saw their follow up I did not feel abandoned. Even though sometimes they called me and I could not pick up because of time difference and bad signal the contact never really stopped. When they finally confirmed the bill and the charge and told me they would refund that upgrade fee the bad feeling I had for days was gone. All the trouble of looking for screenshots and invoices suddenly felt worth it. For me the clearest feeling from this experience is that there was one person who remembered my case from the beginning to the end. He remembered I was the guest who was charged extra for the upgrade. He did not make me repeat the whole story every time. He just told me what I needed to send next and kept talking with the rental company for me. When I was pulling my suitcase in a foreign airport with weak signal I could really feel that someone was watching over this problem for me. Even though I was pretty upset when the desk first told me to pay more for the car in the end when I saw that they followed through and helped me get that money back my feeling about this rental experience stayed very positive.
Price Drop ProtectorOn this business trip in Christchurch, the thing that surprised me most was the small amount of money I saved. I was worried about the budget for flights and hotel, and then the car rental part suddenly gave me a little extra. I felt much more relaxed. I arrived in Christchurch on the afternoon of June 13 and planned to pick up the car the next day. I just wanted everything to follow the schedule.
I had booked the car on QEEQ. I chose a Toyota Yaris from SNAP with automatic gear. For someone who travels for work a lot like me, this type of car is easy to drive and simple. When I booked, I saw a service called Price Drop Protector. I thought it could watch the price for me and it did not harm anything, so I turned it on. After that I went back to my work and did not check the price again. I was already tired every day.
Some days later I logged in to check my plan again. I noticed the order number was different and the price was lower than what I remembered. At first I thought I remembered it wrong. Then I checked the emails and the payment. I finally understood that they had rebooked a cheaper deal for me and sent the price difference back to me. At that moment I felt a bit surprised and happy and I thought to myself this is real price drop and it is all done for me.
For a business traveler like me, time is more important than anything. I cannot watch car rental prices every day. This service felt like someone was watching the price behind my back. I did nothing and still saved more than thirty New Zealand dollars. That is about one simple work meal. When I reached Christchurch and went to the SNAP counter to pick up the car, everything went smoothly. I did not even need to ask about the price. Their system already showed the new lower price.
This experience changed my idea about small savings. Before this I felt that a little cheaper was not a big deal. When I saved money like this without any effort, I really felt that someone was taking care of me.
AXA Full CoverageWhen I think about it now I feel really lucky that I bought AXA Full Coverage when I booked with QEEQ. If I did not buy it this rental accident in New Zealand would hurt my wallet for a long time. I arrived in Queenstown around the evening of April first. The air was very fresh and the mountains still had a bit of snow. At the Ezi counter I got a Toyota RAV4 with automatic gear. The car felt smooth and easy to drive. I was in a really good mood and I even told my friend that this time I chose a very nice car. After a few days I was in a parking area and I was backing up the car. I judged the distance wrong and the right side of the car touched something. I heard a sound and my mind just went blank. I got out of the car and saw clear scratches on the door and the side. It was not a huge accident but it was obvious that it would cost money to fix. My heart sank and I thought I was in trouble because I knew this would not be cheap. I still kept driving but I was more careful. On April nineteenth around noon I returned the car in Auckland. The staff at the Ezi counter checked the car and saw the scratch and called me over. He was calm and professional and told me there would be a damage charge. I started to feel nervous because I know repairs in New Zealand are expensive. When I later saw my credit card charge I almost broke down. The amount was more than four thousand in Australian dollars. It was much higher than I expected. Later the rental company refunded part of it but the rest still felt heavy for me. At that moment I really understood how important that AXA Full Coverage was. I started to collect all the things I could. I saved the damage report from the rental company. I checked my bank records for the big charge. I also found the photos I took of the scratch and the refund records from the rental company. To be honest it was a bit annoying to prepare all of this because I am the type of person who likes to delay things. But this time it was about more than one thousand Australian dollars so I forced myself to do it one by one. The support team asked me to send the photos and the bank statements. I followed their steps and sent what they needed. I do not really understand how insurance works so I just tried my best to give every document I had. At first I was not even sure about the final claim amount. I only knew how much was charged and how much was refunded and that the rest was what I wanted back. They also asked me for some details like my bank information and I went into my online banking to find the SWIFT code and the refund entries. I was a bit worried while I checked every line in my statement because I did not want to make a mistake and lose the money. After I sent all the documents I still felt a bit unsure because the amount was not small and this was my first time to deal with a situation like this. Every time I looked at my credit card bill I felt like this big number was sitting there and pressing on me. Some days later they told me that AXA Full Coverage had approved my claim. They said they would pay me a bit more than one thousand four hundred Australian dollars based on the case I gave them. When I saw this message I felt a huge relief. It was like the tight string in my mind finally became loose. When the money arrived I checked the amount and it matched the part of the damage that I still needed to cover. So in the end most of the cost that the rental company took from me was filled by this payout. I think if I did not buy this insurance that small scratch would become a very heavy problem for me. I am still a young worker and my income is not very high so more than one thousand Australian dollars is a big thing for me. AXA Full Coverage helped me a lot and made me feel that someone had my back. The whole process needed many documents but for me the final payout made all the effort worth it. Now when I look at the photos of the scratch I still feel a bit sorry for that mistake. At the same time I also learned that when I rent a car I should not skip extra protection like this. After this experience I feel more willing to add this kind of coverage again because when something bad happens I know I do not need to face it all by myself.
Dedicated customer serviceWhen I think about this booking now, I feel pretty good about it, but the deposit part did make me a bit nervous. Around mid December last year I went to New Zealand with my friends and I booked the car online through QEEQ. I chose Christchurch as the pickup point. I remember I picked up the car on about December tenth at around four in the afternoon. At the rental counter near the airport I got a Toyota Highlander. It was automatic and pretty big. It drove very smooth and our days on the South Island felt great. I dropped the car off around December twenty third at about four in the afternoon. The staff at the rental company checked the car and said everything was fine and the deposit would be released. I did not think too much and just left. A few days later I checked my credit card statement and I could not clearly see what happened to the deposit. There were many lines in English that looked very similar and I got confused. I started to worry that maybe the deposit was not really released. I asked my bank first. The bank staff told me they also needed more exact info about the transaction. At that moment I felt a bit stressed because the deposit was not a small amount for me. So I contacted the customer service of the booking platform and explained the problem. I said I wanted a clear record so I could check it with my bank. The support person replied to me quickly and said they would ask the rental company. In the next days I could feel that someone was really watching this case for me. They sent me emails from time to time and told me they had pushed the rental company again and that I did not need to panic too much. One time they told me the rental company said the deposit was already released after I returned the car. I still could not read my bill clearly so they went back again to ask the rental company for more detailed records. Later the support contacted me and said they finally got the payment record screenshot and some other info from the rental company. They put everything together and sent it to me so I could show it to my bank. At that moment I felt remembered and cared for. It did not feel like they just answered me once and disappeared. They really kept following my case. The whole process took some time and I did get a bit annoyed in the middle but every time I asked again they replied with patience and told me where things were at. In the record they sent I finally matched the line on my bank statement and confirmed that the deposit was actually released. It only looked confusing because of the way it showed on the bill. What stayed with me from this experience was not the car itself but the feeling that someone stayed in touch with the rental company for me and helped explain all the information. As a visitor in another country that kind of support felt very important.
One-Dollar FreezeWhen I think about this car booking now I feel the best part is not the car itself but that I locked it with just 1 dollar at the start. This was my first time using QEEQ to book a car in Christchurch in New Zealand. Those days I kept doing my travel budget and my mind felt pretty heavy. I already had flights and hotels on my credit card. I planned to pick up a small automatic car in Christchurch around April 25th 2026 at about 8 am and return it around May 9th at about 4 am. The trip was quite long and paying the full rental in one go made me nervous. At that time I saw they had something called One-Dollar Freeze. It said I could pay only 1 dollar first to lock the booking and the rest of the money would be charged automatically before the trip started. I felt a bit unsure and worried there might be some tricks or hidden fees but the page said there was no interest. So I decided to try it. After I confirmed the booking the bill really showed only 1 dollar. My banking app popped up the notice and I was kind of shocked and also felt a lot more relaxed. It felt like someone helped me carry some pressure. I was still in the US going to classes and I already had normal daily costs. I did not dare to press all the trip money on my card at once. This plan let me hold the car first and then adjust my budget slowly. A few days later I started to worry what if the payment fails later so I logged in again to check the booking. The status looked fine so I felt better. After that I watched my credit card limit more carefully and I knew a big charge would come one day. I was a bit nervous in my head but at least it was not coming all at once from the start. Closer to the trip my card finally got a big charge. At first I did not understand what it was then I remembered it was the car rental. In that moment I was really glad I used One-Dollar Freeze. If I had paid the full amount on the day I booked I would have had to save on many things in those weeks. Now when I look back at this booking process I think for someone young like me this way of paying only 1 dollar first is really friendly. I do not need to push all the money out in one shot and I also do not need to worry the car or the price will be gone. The whole booking experience felt lighter and my mind stayed much more relaxed.
AXA Full CoverageAt first I did not care much about rental insurance. I felt it was something I would never really need. I booked a car in Auckland through QEEQ and set my pickup around March 11 in the morning. The rental company was Rental Cars 247 and they gave me a Mitsubishi ASX with automatic transmission. I still chose AXA Full Coverage because I thought an extra layer of protection might be good.
The real problem came a few days later. I was driving in town and there was a truck in front of me. A small rock suddenly jumped up from the road and hit my front windscreen. I heard a sharp sound and I froze for a second. A crack showed up on the glass right away. My heart sank. I kept thinking that I was in big trouble and the rental company would charge me a lot of money.
When I returned the car around March 21 around midday in Auckland the staff checked the car and saw the crack on the windscreen. They printed a bill and charged a big amount on my credit card for the windscreen replacement. I looked at the number and felt pretty shocked. In that moment I really regretted not reading all the terms more carefully when I picked up the car.
After I went back to my place I remembered that I had bought AXA Full Coverage. I felt a bit more calm. I kept all the papers from the rental company and checked my credit card record. I saw the charge for more than three thousand NZD and I still felt nervous but at least I knew there was hope.
Some time later the rental company refunded part of the money to my credit card. It was a bit more than two thousand NZD. That meant there was still a difference of more than seven hundred NZD that did not come back plus the credit card fee. During that time I watched my credit card statement a lot. The numbers moved up and down. It felt like doing a long math exercise.
I contacted their customer service and explained that the windscreen was cracked by a rock from a truck and that the rental company first took 3075 NZD and then refunded 2351.11 NZD. I told them there was still a difference and also the card fee. They asked me to provide the credit card bill that showed the refund from the rental company. I took pictures of all the records I could find and sent them. The awkward part was that I did not take any photos of the broken windscreen at the scene because I was too stressed that day. When they asked for photos I could only tell them honestly that I did not have any.
Later they said the insurance side needed to confirm the amount and the currency and they still hoped to get car damage photos. I had no way to fix the missing photo so I waited for them to check with the rental company to see if they could provide some record. During those days I sometimes thought about this case and felt a bit uneasy. On one hand I knew I had AXA Full Coverage. On the other hand I worried they might reject the claim because of the missing photos.
They kept in touch with me. Sometimes they asked if the amount was really 3075 NZD and if the currency was correct. I checked my credit card and the papers from the rental company again and again. I did not want to make any mistake with the numbers. For me these amounts were not small so I wanted everything to be clear.
What I remember clearly is that even though we had this problem with no photos the claim did not stop. They told me they were still checking with the insurance side and then asked me again to confirm the final amount. The process was not super fast but I could feel that things were moving forward.
Later they informed me that AXA Full Coverage had approved the claim and they would pay me 648.89 NZD. They said this amount matched the invoice and the real difference after the refund and the fee. When I saw this number I felt much more relaxed. Most of my loss was covered. The windscreen accident did not turn into a full financial disaster.
When I think about it now if I did not buy AXA Full Coverage that rock from the truck would mean I had to pay a few thousand NZD by myself. This time there were some small issues like checking the amount and the currency and explaining that there was no photo but the money still came back to me. As a young person I care a lot about these costs. This experience showed me that parts like the windscreen are not always fully covered by the rental company insurance and that buying AXA Full Coverage can really give me both real protection and peace of mind.
For me this trip in Auckland with the Mitsubishi ASX and AXA Full Coverage was a story with a scare but no real loss. I was afraid when the rock hit the glass but I felt supported when I knew someone was helping me with the claim.
