klasswagen.com
Very bad experience with KW cars
Rented an automatic SUV five weeks ago for €110 (including €60 comprehensive insurance from AXA via a broker). Unbelievable – I thought it was a marketing ploy to poach customers from AVIS, Hertz, etc. The price for an identical rental 5 days before the trip was €300. What a mistake on my part.
I was greeted by Calin Craciun at KW-Wagen – he spoke excellent German. The conversation started off friendly – the insurance was explained to me. I said right at the beginning that I had comprehensive insurance from AXA for the rental. The conversation became increasingly aggressive – and intimidating. Horrific sums for scratches and stone chips were thrown around, with the suggestion that AXA insurance was worthless and that I should read the AXA terms and conditions carefully. He also asked what I could expect for €60 (7-day rental). I took what he said as a promise – KW would definitely find something when I returned the car and charge me for it (which is what happened!). This was accompanied by Calin's remark that he would take between 25 and 30 minutes for the inspection upon return. With KW insurance, I just hand over the keys. At that point, I was already so unsettled that I asked about the cost of KW car insurance. This was 340 euros (car 50 euros + 60 euros AXA insurance). This was further incentive for Calin Craciun to harp on about my risks in the best high-pressure sales style – repeatedly suggesting that I would have unlimited liability rather than a €2,900 excess if I did not take out their insurance. I then told Calin that I had probably made a mistake with KW cars. Finally, he gave up and asked for my credit card. 3,100 euros were debited (an extremely poor exchange rate was applied: 15,502.24 lei debited) – many credit cards have a 3,000 euro credit limit. If the payment does not go through, you have to take out KW insurance. Calin's surprised reaction (oh, it worked) was understandable when the €3,100 was debited without any problems.
I was told several times to take photos so that I would have evidence of any pre-existing damage when I returned the car. The hall where the car was parked and the handover took place was dark – no chance of taking usable photos. Calin went through the previous damage with me – again with several references to my infinite risks. After the handover, I drove the car in front of the hall and took over 200 photos in 36-degree heat. My sick 73-year-old mother had to wait. In that sense, we were lucky with the weather – photos would not have been possible in rain or snow. Here, too, Calin warned me several times that it would be better to take out KW insurance. KW then sent me a 6-page email listing possible damages and their costs – it was absolutely crazy what was in there.
I then only drove the car on the motorway to avoid getting any stone chips or craters. In the cities, the car was parked in secure car parks and we took taxis – easily costing 50 euros. Always in the back of my mind was Calin's suggested promise that they would find something when we returned the car.
Another special feature of KW cars. You have to clean the car inside and out before returning it – according to Calin, this is an absolute MUST because otherwise he would not be able to check for damage. No mention of £20 if they do it.
On the day of the return, I stood in line at the car wash for 45 minutes (in 35-degree heat) to clean the slightly dirty car. The car was then returned to George Ancuta. And lo and behold, he found damage quite quickly (according to the KW menu, approx. 1,350 euros). He asked for photos as evidence (the plastic on the rear left corner of the bumper had minimal discolouration, indicating a slight collision, no crater). This discolouration was so inconspicuous that I did not notice it explicitly when taking the 200 photos. However, I immediately had the appropriate photo as evidence, pointing out that I had another 200 photos. I could bet that the minimal cosmetic damage to the bumper will not appear as previous damage the next time the car is rented, even though it is now known and the next broker client with AXA insurance is waiting – who may not have been able to take 200 photos in good lighting conditions.
All in all, this was my worst experience with a car rental company...
