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.
I still remember that night. I was sitting alone at the kitchen table staring at my credit card bill. My kid was playing in the living room and asked me if I was looking at the “weird numbers” again. That 123.34 CAD charge was just there. The more I looked at it, the more upset I felt, so I called customer service again.
The story actually started with that rental in Chicago. It was early May. I picked up the car with my child at Chicago airport around one in the afternoon, almost two. We were all tired. The counter staff gave me a mystery car. I only wanted to get the car and settle my kid, so I did not pay much attention when he talked about fees. The contract was many pages. He talked very fast. I asked if the price changed. He said it was about the same. My kid was getting noisy beside me so I just signed it quickly.
Those days we drove all the way to Detroit. I returned the car late at night, around eleven. I was very careful. I found a gas station near the airport and filled the tank before drop off. I paid cash. At that moment I was holding my kid’s small backpack and also checking the GPS, so I did not ask for a receipt. I looked at the fuel gauge. It showed full and I felt safe. Then I drove to the return area. The staff walked around the car, checked the mileage and said nothing. I took my kid and went to the terminal.
A few days later at home I checked my statement and saw the 123.34 CAD. My first thought was that I made a mistake, so I checked line by line. Then I saw there was a fuel charge and also an upgrade fee. I felt nervous and also a bit wronged because I knew I had filled the tank.
I contacted them and explained everything. They asked if I had a fuel receipt. I felt annoyed at myself and said no, because I used cash and did not keep the slip. I told them that when I returned the car the fuel level was even a bit higher than at pickup. I thought they would just say there was nothing they could do, since I had no proof.
But in the next days the customer service team kept calling and messaging me. It was basically the same people following my case. Their voice became familiar. They told me they would talk with the rental company and that I should not worry too much. One time I had just put my kid down for a nap when the phone rang. It was them again, asking for more details, like roughly what time I bought the fuel, which area it was in, and if I remembered how the fuel gauge looked. The questions were very specific. It made me feel they were really trying to sort this out, not just filling a form.
I also called them a few times when I felt impatient because it was taking long. The person who picked up would first read the notes, then calmly tell me they had already pushed the rental company and were still waiting for a reply. Once I even said I felt like I was bothering them. The person on the phone laughed and said it was fine and told me to call again if I had more questions. I relaxed at that moment. I did not feel alone with that bill anymore.
Later they told me that the rental company kept asking for a fuel receipt, but the contract did not show that I chose any prepaid fuel service. They were going to keep fighting for me and use this point to argue. When I heard that, I knew maybe I could not get all the money back, but at least someone was trying to speak for me, not just saying no because I had no paper.
During this whole time my strongest feeling was that someone was clearly following my problem from start to finish. Every time I called back, they already knew my case. I did not need to tell the whole story again. As a mom traveling with a kid this means a lot. I am often answering calls while cooking or cleaning or trying to stop my child from making a mess. If I had to repeat everything every time, I think I would have given up.
Now the case is still not fully closed, but I can look at that number on my bill with a calmer mind. It is not that the money is not important. It is that they keep updating me and standing on my side, so I feel taken care of. As a mom who often travels alone with a child, it is easy to panic when something like this happens. Having someone there to support you makes a big difference. This is one big reason why I booked through QEEQ in the first place, and this kind of dedicated help matters more to me than just saving a few dollars on the rental price.
I booked my car on QEEQ and when I think about that Houston rental, my feelings are still mixed. But when I remember how the customer support stayed with me, I also feel a bit lucky. I flew to Houston with my family. I booked a fuel car and already planned how to drive around with my kid. That night I went to the rental counter and they told me they only had an electric car for me. I got nervous right away. I had to watch my kid and listen to the staff at the same time. The car battery was around one quarter. The staff told me I did not need to charge it when I returned it. So I finally said yes and took the car. On the paper I saw the expected charge was around twenty something dollars. I thought it was fine. Later when I checked the final charge I saw it was much higher. My heart just sank. When you travel with a kid every extra cost hurts. I felt very upset and also a bit scared that I got charged wrong. After I calmed down I contacted their customer support. At the start I was a bit angry. I talked a lot about my worry and that I did not want to pay for things I did not ask for. The person on the line was patient. They did not cut me off. They asked me step by step what happened and checked with me if I agreed to the toll and what fees I did not agree to. In that moment I felt I was not talking to a cold system. I felt someone was really listening to me. During the next days my mood went up and down. I had to take care of my kid and still kept thinking about that bill. In my head it was always questions like why did they charge more and why did I get an electric car when I booked a fuel car. The good thing was that they kept following my case. From time to time I got messages from them telling me they were still checking with the rental company. I could not see what they did inside but I could feel that my case was not forgotten. One time I remember clearly. I was putting my kid to sleep and got a message on my phone saying they were checking my point about the low battery and what the staff at the counter told me that night. I suddenly felt a bit lighter because every detail I told them was taken seriously. For a few days there was still no clear result. I started to feel anxious and worried that nothing would change. Every time I went back to ask they replied fast and used simple words to tell me which step they were at. For a parent like me this helped a lot. I really do not have the time and energy to keep calling the rental company myself. Getting all the updates from them saved me so much stress. In the end the final bill was still higher than the contract so I was not happy about the money. But from the first complaint to the last message someone was always there following my problem. They did not disappear and they did not just brush me off. I really felt looked after. During that period if I did not have this kind of dedicated customer service walking with me through the issue I think I would totally break down about the whole rental. The experience itself was not perfect at all but in the communication part I never felt alone shouting at a machine. I felt someone was standing on my side and that made my view of this platform much better.
I still remember sitting in my hotel room in Milan and looking at my bank app when the refund finally showed up. My body relaxed at once and I just stared at the screen for a while. I was really surprised because I could feel that the support team kept helping me with this problem and in the end I really got my money back.
A few weeks before that day I booked a car in Italy Milan through QEEQ. I went to pick up the car around the morning of April 26. The car was a Jeep Compass from Europcar with manual gear. At the counter the staff gave me a tablet and asked me to sign. He spoke fast English with a bit of Italian. I thought it was only the normal rental contract. He did not explain clearly about any extra service.
The whole rental was fine and the car was ok. I remember I returned the car in Milan around May 3. The staff checked the car and said it was fine. So I thought everything was finished. Some days after I went back home I checked my credit card bill and found one more charge of a bit more than thirty euro with code RSN. I had no idea what that was and I felt very confused.
My English is not very strong and it was a foreign car company so I felt a bit nervous. I decided to contact the platform support. I thought they might just give me a simple answer and stop there. But from the first reply I felt something different. They spoke in a calm and kind way and told me this might be a roadside assistance fee. They also tried to comfort me and said they would check the contract record with the car rental company.
Later they told me the rental company showed a contract with my signature and the roadside service written on it. They also sent a version with my sign and said the car company refused to refund. I was quite upset and also a little hurt. At the counter nobody really explained this fee to me. When I signed on the tablet I only thought I was confirming the basic rental. I had no idea about this extra item.
I wrote back several times. I explained my doubts and said I did not remember agreeing to this extra service. During that time I felt we were going back and forth again and again. What stood out to me was that the support replies were always detailed. It did not feel like some copy paste answer. They replied to each point I wrote. They used simple Chinese to explain why it was an electronic signature and why the paper contract also showed this service.
Later the car rental company refused the refund again. Normally the story would end there. But the support team contacted me again and said they could help me apply to their company for a friendly compensation so I could still get this money back. I almost did not believe it because the car company already said no. I did not expect the platform to use their own money to cover this.
After I confirmed a few times I agreed with this plan. During the next days they kept sending me updates. They asked me if I got any notice and if I had other questions. I could feel that one person was always watching this case for me. It was not like they disappear when I stay quiet. So even though I was still a bit worried I was not in panic.
When the refund finally went back to my payment account I thought about those messages I sent before when I was emotional and I felt a little sorry. From the moment I found the extra charge to all the checks of the contract and then the final compensation this whole thing was quite stressful for a foreign visitor like me who rented a car in Europe for the first time. Without this kind of follow up I think I would have given up and just taken it as a bad lesson.
After all this they also reminded me that when I go to the UK to rent a car in July I must check every fee clearly before I sign and if I see anything strange I should contact them at once. I feel that they did not only want to finish this one refund but also wanted to protect me in the future. As a traveler in another country this feeling of being looked after is very important to me and it makes me more confident to book through the same platform again.
When you travel alone and something goes wrong with a rental car who really has your back I booked my car through QEEQ in Milan and planned to pick it up around the morning of May 14 and return it in Naples a few days later. I did not think this booking would turn into a long story.
On the pick up day I arrived at the rental desk a bit after seven in the morning. I felt quite relaxed at first. The counter staff checked my booking and said there was no car in the group I booked. I just stood there and kept asking about my reservation and the time. After a while they said they could only give me a bigger hybrid car and I needed to pay an upgrade fee plus a one way drop fee. The total price was much higher than the amount on my original contract. I was alone at the counter and the only thing in my head was this question should I really pay this money
I called the customer service team right away. The person on the phone sounded calm. I explained what happened and sent photos of my contract and the new offer from the rental desk. I was quite nervous because the staff there kept pushing me to decide. I asked on the phone if I pay now will you help me get this upgrade fee back The person told me clearly that I could pay first and take the car and they would help me deal with the extra cost. So I finally used my card and signed the papers.
The problem stayed with me for many days. Later when I stopped to rest on the road I kept thinking of that morning at the counter and I worried that I would never see my money again. Every time I started to feel this way I sent another message to the team and asked about the progress. They always replied and told me what I needed next like more payment records or bank transaction screenshots and reminded me to check the amount and the dates. I could feel that someone was watching this case for me so I was not left alone to fight with the rental company.
Around May 24 after I returned the car in Naples I整理ed all the bills and screenshots again and sent everything to them. In the next days I saw part of the money come back to my card and I also got a message asking me for my bank account details in Canada so they could send the rest. I had to check my routing number a few times and the person kept going over each detail with me so the transfer would not go wrong.
When I finally saw the full refund arrive in my account I felt really relaxed. I thought back to the moment when the staff in the office said there was no car for me then asked me to pay more for an upgrade. If I had to argue with the rental company all by myself I think I would have given up. They kept following my case and kept telling me what to prepare and what step we were on so I never felt that I was fighting this problem alone.
Why did I see a fuel fee on my bill when I clearly returned the car with a full tank? I booked the car through QEEQ for a business trip from Denmark to Charlotte. I picked up a Kia from Dollar at the airport around the evening of May twenty ninth. The car was an automatic and easy to drive. During the whole rental I kept an eye on the fuel gauge and the mileage because for business travel I need clean numbers for my expense report. On the return day around the night of June third I went to a gas station before the return area and filled the tank to full again. I took a photo of the fuel receipt and also a photo of the dashboard. The fuel showed full and the mileage matched what I expected. Later when I checked the final bill I saw an extra FPO fuel charge. It was not a small amount. I felt this was not fair because I knew I returned the car full. For a business trip this kind of extra cost is hard to explain to my company. I contacted their customer service and sent the fuel receipt and the dashboard photos. I also explained the return time and place. The staff on their side spoke very calmly. They did not ask me to repeat my story again and again. They just checked a few details and said they would talk to the rental company. I went back to my work and waited. Inside I was a bit worried. I thought this kind of problem with a rental company might take a long time and maybe they would just say I signed a contract with FPO so I must pay. After some time their team reached out to me again and told me they were still following my case. They said the rental company first tried to say that I signed the contract with FPO but after they checked my photos the mileage on my dashboard and on the final record was the same and the fuel level was full. That proved I did return the car with a full tank. Later I got a message that the FPO charge of around fifty nine dollars was refunded to me. When I saw the refund I felt real relief. I felt that someone actually stood on my side. As a business traveler I care most about time and a clear bill. In this case I really felt that someone was taking care of the problem for me so I did not need to chase it every day. Dedicated customer service helped a lot this time. Without them talking to the rental company for me it would be very hard to argue from far away on my own.
