Thomas Z

Disappointing experience despite being a long-term customer

I have been renting with SANI SIXT at Cape Town International Airport for several years, typically for long-term periods of 4–5 months per year, so I consider myself a loyal and high-value customer. Unfortunately, my most recent experience was very disappointing. When I tried to extend my rental, I was initially quoted over R15,000 for 13 days, which was far above the current market rate. After questioning this, the price was reduced to around R10,000, but this was still significantly higher than a reasonable rate. I clearly pointed out to the reservation agent that the exact same vehicle was available for approximately R5,600 when booking directly through the official SANI SIXT website (not via any third-party platform), and asked how such a large pricing difference could be justified. After raising this, I did not receive any further response. As a result, I had no choice but to make a new booking online through the official website at the correct rate and drive to the airport to return the existing vehicle and collect a new one. This entire process could easily have been avoided. At collection, I was then given a manual vehicle instead of the automatic I had before. When I asked to switch to an automatic vehicle, I was initially quoted around R10,000 extra, which was then reduced to R6,600. Even at that level, this would have meant paying more than double the original rental price just to get a comparable vehicle. This pricing approach is simply not reasonable. As a long-term repeat customer, I would have expected a more transparent and customer-oriented solution. Instead, the entire process felt inconsistent, overpriced, and unnecessarily complicated. It is disappointing, as I have rented here multiple times in the past, but based on this experience, I will reconsider future bookings.