When the bank message finally came in I was already back in Singapore for a long time. The room light was dim at night and my phone screen lit up. I saw the long awaited yen refund and my whole body relaxed. I felt tired but also kind of relieved. My first thought was that it was good I booked the car with QEEQ. The story actually started a few months before. I flew alone to Hokkaido and rented a Nissan Note in Chitose. I picked up the car in late January in the late afternoon. It was already a bit dark and there was some snow on the ground. The counter staff finished the paper work and checked the car. I only wanted to drive to my hotel as soon as possible and I was quite confident about my driving. I did not think there would be any problem later. Return day was around early February in the afternoon. I went back to the Chitose office a bit earlier. The staff walked around the car. Then he stopped and said there was a problem on the rear bumper and they needed to charge damage. I was very confused and kept thinking when this could have happened. The staff was polite but said they had to take a big amount. I remember it was about one hundred and twenty thousand yen. I looked at the number and my head just buzzed. It was not a small amount in my own currency. I tried to explain at the counter and I took many photos. I also asked them to write a short note. But there was not much more I could do on the spot. Back at my place I felt more and more worried so I contacted their customer service. I told them the whole story from pick up to return. I said how I drove, how the road was and what the staff told me about this damage charge. My English is not very strong so I typed slowly and tried to use simple words. Sometimes I also mixed in very simple Chinese. The chat still went smoothly. The next days felt like a long battle. I was on my phone and the support was on the other side. I often asked if they had any reply from the rental company and what the situation was now. They answered quite fast and told me what the rental company was saying. I remember one time I was on the train after work. The signal was not very good and my phone kept vibrating. It was them sending updates. They said the rental company had agreed to refund one hundred thousand yen of the damage but it would take some time. I read that message in the train and I really felt like someone was standing there for me. Things were not easy at all. The manager from the rental company was said to be on business trip again and again. They said we had to wait and that they must follow local rules. They also talked about Japanese anti money laundering law. I went to ask my bank how to reverse the charge of one hundred and twenty thousand yen. My bank also needed proof and some documents. So I went back to the support chat and said if they could help ask the rental company to write a statement to show they agreed to cancel the charge and also give a receiving account so I could ask my bank. During that time I opened the chat almost every day and scrolled up and down. In the morning I sometimes saw a message that they had contacted the rental company again. At night when I was about to sleep suddenly a new notification came and it said the other side was still preparing documents. I felt a bit annoyed but I knew if I tried to chase alone it would be very hard with language and time difference and phone calls. So every time I saw they were still pushing the case for me I calmed down a bit. One time I even asked if I should call the rental company by myself. They said I could try and that they would also keep following up. I finally picked up courage and made an international call. The person on the phone first told me I had called the wrong office and gave me another number. I wrote and crossed things on a piece of paper and my mind was messy. After the call I went back to the chat and told support what I had heard. They helped me check if I understood it right. It felt like a friend who knew the system better was standing next to me and fixing the parts I missed so I did not run around alone. Later the rental company said the refund had been done. Support told me very quickly. I was happy at that moment but a few days passed and there was still nothing in my bank account. I went to ask again and said the money was not in yet and I was worried there was a problem somewhere. They did not show any impatience. They just said they would ask again for proof of refund. After some time they sent me a refund application slip from the rental company so I could also use it to check with my bank. To be honest if I did not have this kind of one to one follow up I think I would have given up that one hundred thousand yen. The whole thing took so long. Sometimes I even wondered if they were tired of this case too. But every time I asked there was someone clearly telling me which step we were at, what the rental company was stuck on and what they would do next. As a solo traveler who went driving alone in Hokkaido this Dedicated customer service experience meant a lot to me. I am not the kind of person who keeps calling and shouting for results. Most of the time I just want someone to help me sort out the links and remind me what I should do next. They really stayed with this problem from the moment my card was charged for the damage. They talked with the rental company many times and asked for statements and account details and later checked if the refund arrived. When I finally saw that bank message and then thought back to the moment in the Chitose office when I handed back the key it felt like the trip was cut into two parts. The first part was the free driving in the snow. The second part was running around a bill. Because someone followed the whole case with me it did not turn into fear of renting cars in Japan. It was more like a hard lesson that I still passed at last. For me this is also why when friends ask me about car rental platforms I talk about them.
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