The location for returning the car at Cologne station is not clearly marked, and the navigation on the car rental app is also incorrect. It took a lot of time to find the return location.

We had already purchased insurance and paid all rental and insurance fees in our home country. However, the German rental company added their own insurance at the counter without clearly informing us. They only mentioned the additional cost when we returned the car. Germans tend to add their own insurance based on their understanding, and it can be quite expensive.

Smooth pick-up process

The car was fine, but the German lady at the rental office was extremely grumpy. Just arriving in a foreign country and not yet accustomed to the English environment, I was slow to respond, and she was incredibly impatient. She misread my order and I had to argue with her for over half an hour until another employee came and sorted out my order. Due to the additional half-hour, I was charged for an extra day of rental. I asked for a refund through the rental platform, and also disputed the charge with my credit card company. When neither route seemed to work, the rental company proactively refunded me for the extra day. Lifelong fan of this rental platform.

Free upgrade: I was worried that our luggage for a group of four over 11 days wouldn't fit. After checking many cars back home, we finally booked a Passat station wagon. But I was still a bit concerned. At pickup, the rental contract stated OPEL. I thought I got an Insignia station wagon and figured it definitely wouldn't fit. I asked in my broken English if this car was bigger than the Passat. The staff assured me that it wasn't smaller. Skeptical, I went to the garage. To my surprise, as there were no other station wagons, they upgraded me to a brand-new Opel Zafira, registered on September 22, with only 8 kilometers on it. We filled the trunk completely. Note that during the rental process, a full tank fuel cost is precharged. As long as you return it with a full tank, you won't be charged for fuel, which is an option available when you choose to return the car with a full tank on QEEQ.