I arrived at the Sixt desk in Biarritz Airport to pick up a car I had booked online a month earlier. AFTER I signed the contract and paid for the car I was told that the car I had reserved was not available! and I had to accept a downgrade to a smaller car. If I did not, it would be days before my money was refunded and the excess insurance would not be transferable to another car hire company. It was also a bit late in the day to try for a car elsewhere so the choice was no choice. After accepting that there would have to be a downgrade we waited 90 minutes for a car. We spent more time in the airport after arriving than we had on the flight from Ireland. While we were waiting, several people who had been behind us in the queue were given Peugeot 308s - the car we had reserved - and other similar size cars - which were clearly available for other customers. A Peugeot 308 is billed as big enough for 5 people plus luggage. The downgrade car was a tight fit for 2 plus luggage, our 15Kg cases had to be piled up on the back seat as our hand luggage filled the boot. We were not given one of those drawings showing pre-existing damage on the car, just a scrap of paper with 'dent front passenger door' written on it. The dent was actually on the back door. It was a lovely dry, sunny day in Biarritz but the car looked like it had come thru a thunderstorm, sheets of water all over the flat surfaces and dripping wet elsewhere. We could not examine the car in that condition and lots of damage emerged when it dried off later on. Scratches and dents? Well it looked as if had been used for desert warfare by the losing side. But it didn't seem to matter as we had the excess insurance. Two weeks later we returned the car in the same condition as when we got it. It was inspected in the Sixt car park and we were told it was all ok. We were not shown any damage. We were not given any written report. We were not taken into the office to sign any claim form for the excess insurance. Despite all that, 25 days after we returned we received a demand for 205 euros for damage we allegedly caused. If the tiny ding in the photograph they sent is worth 205 euros then their 15,000 euro car has about 1,000,000 worth of damage on it. How is that possible? We couldn't even tell if it was the same car we had driven and no evidence of when or where the photograph was taken. Since then I went into my email to get the policy documents and car rental contract. They are normally emailed these days instead of paper copies. They are not there. We have not been given any document of any type relating to the car hire from Sixt even though it is illegal for them to withhold these documents. The only record that they did their business to us is the charges on my credit card for the car we didn't get and the excess protection policy that we were manipulated into not using. Sixt have decided to keep the full charge for the Peugeot 308 that we didn't get and the premium for the excess policy. There is no refund for being given the cheaper car. They are also hassling us to pay out of our own pocket for the alleged damage that the excess policy they sold us should cover. It is a pity I had to give them one star to post this review as it is way, way too high. Due to the rules of this site I cannot use the words I would like to describe Sixt and the way they operate.