“Why is there one more charge?” I stared at my credit card record on my phone and felt really confused. I booked my car in Rome through QEEQ. I picked up a Wheego Peugeot 208 around noon on March 6 at the airport in Rome. The car was easy to drive and I felt pretty good. On the return day it was also around noon. I parked the car, gave back the key, and rushed to my next transport. I did not think too much. A few days later I checked my bill. Besides the fees I already knew, there was an extra 29 euro cleaning fee. I have to admit the car was a bit dirty. There was some mud on the floor mats and a little trash that I did not clean. But when I saw the amount I still felt upset and a bit scared. I was not sure if they charged me too much. I do not speak Italian and I came from Japan. I am not very familiar with the local rental rules. I kept thinking about how the car looked when I returned it and wondered if I was just too careless. Then I remembered I had bought AXA Full Coverage when I made the booking. At that time I only thought one more protection would make me feel safe. I did not expect I would really use it later. I contacted the customer service team and explained the situation in English. I told them about the 29 euro cleaning fee and also my pick up and drop off time and place. They sounded calm and told me not to worry too much. They said this kind of fee could be claimed through the insurance. They asked me to prepare some things. For example a screenshot of the charge record and some basic information. I searched my email and my bank app for a long time and sent them everything I could find. I did not take any photos when I returned the car so I felt nervous. I was afraid the insurance company would reject my claim because of that. During those days I kept thinking about it. I thought “maybe I messed up again” and “I should have taken more photos”. Later they contacted me again and asked me to confirm the amount. They said the correct claim amount should be 29 euro. I checked my bill carefully and saw that the extra insurance and the traffic deposit were charged in other records. This one was really just the cleaning fee. After I confirmed it I could only wait for the result. They said the claim would take some time but I still checked my email almost every day because I did not want to miss any news. After some time the customer service team told me the insurance company had agreed to pay me back the 29 euro and they also confirmed the final amount that would go into my bank account. When I saw that email I felt much more relaxed. I thought at first that I would never get this money back. It was a surprise that I really got it. I felt a bit happy and felt that buying this insurance really saved me this time. When I look back at the whole thing the rental counter staff were quite strict and I still feel bad about the extra insurance part. But for the cleaning fee part the insurance side was willing to pay me and I felt at least someone was standing on my side. For a person like me who rented a car alone in Europe for the first time and does not speak the language well this feeling of being taken care of is very important. Now when I check my bill the cleaning fee is basically covered by AXA Full Coverage and the total cost of the rental is back to what I first planned. The process was a bit tiring and I also learned to take more photos and read the terms more carefully. But in my heart I am really thankful that they helped me finish this claim and I did not have to fight with the rental company all by myself.
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