What is the worst thing for a solo traveler? For me it is seeing extra money taken from my card in a place I do not really know and not knowing who can help me. I booked this car through QEEQ and when I was back in Singapore I checked my credit card bill. I saw a charge of 208.91 euros. It said it was for one extra rental day and fuel and some other fees. My mind just went blank and I thought this is really bad. My memory jumped back to the parking area at Brussels airport. I arrived around the afternoon of May 7. It was a bit after three. I pulled my luggage to the Europcar counter. There were quite a lot of people in the line. Next to the line there was a big glass window. Outside the sky was gray and the wind kept shaking the ads. When I did the paperwork the staff at the counter spoke quite fast. I was a bit nervous so I kept checking the time with him. He told me how to walk to the parking place to get the car. By the time I reached the car it was around three fifteen in the afternoon. I looked at my phone and felt ok with the timing. The real trouble started on the return day. I drove back to the airport on what should be May 8 in the afternoon. I tried to reach there again around three something. I stopped for fuel twice. One time around eleven something in the morning and the second time a bit after two in the afternoon. Both times the fuel nozzle clicked and stopped. The screen showed full. I tried to add more but it just stopped again. I took photos of the receipts and of the fuel gauge and told myself it should be fine. Close to the airport I followed the return directions that the rental staff gave me. They told me to go to a certain parking zone. I followed the sign and ended up at PARK1. When I drove in I realized it was a paid parking. The machine at the entrance used French and Dutch. I stared at it for a while before I understood it. I did not want to be late so I just drove in and parked. When I shut the door I felt annoyed. The wrong guidance was from them but I had to pay extra 12 euros for that parking. At the return area I parked the car and a staff member came to check. He looked at the fuel gauge and pointed at the dash. It seemed he meant it was not full. I quickly told him I had just filled the tank twice and the nozzle stopped by itself. I showed him the fuel receipts. He stared at the dash for a few seconds then looked at the car and said it was probably a display problem and they would treat it as full. I felt so relieved. I even took a photo of the fuel gauge at return with my phone. The time on the photo showed three fifteen in the afternoon. I remember that clearly. Some days after I got home I found the 208.91 euro charge on my card. I looked at the bill again and again and felt more angry each time. I knew I returned the car at three fifteen and I spent time to fill the tank twice. Now they said I used one more rental day and also had to pay extra fuel. I sat alone at my desk. The screen showed my photos of the airport parking. I just felt confused and weak. I first wrote an email to the local rental office. I sent all my photos and receipts and the time stamps. I wrote down what I told the staff at return. After some time they replied and said the charge was correct. It did not make sense to me. I then sent that email again but this time I copied in the support team and asked them to help. At the start I was a bit afraid they would just say I should talk to the rental company myself. The support staff did not do that. They read my photos and my notes carefully. They repeated my main points back to me in a clear way. They understood that I reached the car at three fifteen in the afternoon on pick up and the return photo was also three fifteen. They also understood that the wrong parking direction sent me to PARK1 and made me pay 12 euros. And they got the story about the fuel nozzles that stopped by themselves. I could feel they really listened. Over the next days I checked my email from time to time. Every time there was a reply from them I opened it right away. I could feel they were really following the case and not just sending a few standard lines. One time they told me they were still waiting for the rental company to answer and they wanted to confirm the extra day and the fuel part again. I was still a bit worried but it felt like someone was standing there with me. After some days they told me the rental company had agreed to refund the extra rental day. They accepted that this part was not right. When I read this line I felt something heavy fall off my chest. All the photos and receipts I kept suddenly felt worth it. The rental company said they did add five liters of fuel so they would not return the fuel charge. I was still not very happy about that but I remembered the gauge was a bit strange. I decided to accept it. At least they did not keep a full extra day of rental. What stayed in my mind most is the feeling during the whole thing. I never felt I was fighting alone. Every time I had a new doubt they tried to check it again for me. They were like someone on my side who helped me speak clearly. For a solo traveler this feeling is really important. In a country that is not mine things like language rules parking fuel and time can all go wrong so easily and you feel very small. Now when I think back I feel that without this kind of dedicated customer service I would already have given up against the foreign rental company. I might just accept the bill and stay angry in silence. Instead most of the extra cost was fixed and I finally understood what the different fees meant. When I look at my statement now I still remember the stress at the start but I also remember that someone actually followed my case all the way and did not leave me alone.
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