A powerful cyber attack hit the German car rental company on Sunday 29 April. According to a press release from the company, access to the systems was shut down, while access to the app and websites was maintained. That's all well and good, but not like that very good when you cannot save any data.
When I used the app to book a car on Sunday, everything seemed to work fine. I found a car, entered all the information, but when I was about to finish, I got an error message that the server of Sixt.de was down and that the operation failed - with the subtitle "try again" or contact your local Sixt office. So I tried again – and again – and again – all with the same result. In the end I got six confirmations that the orders had gone through despite the app saying it wasn't working.
I still managed to order via the websites of sixt.es with no error message and found the only page that actually worked – manage-my-booking. There I could cancel duplicate orders. But the day before collection I still received twelve e-mails (double sets) regarding orders that no longer existed in the system. The mail system is clearly working.
It is difficult to imagine how a car rental company can function with black screens. In a way it worked when I visited Sixt a few days later. The customer next to me was not very happy. He had not received his customer privileges. For me it went better. At the counter, I received the contract directly by mail - no papers to sign. I was given the car key by showing the same email to the lady in the dispatch desk. Sixt's lot was full of unrented cars this evening. The other companies were, as usual, half full.
I have previously covered German business culture - or uncultured. Here, Sixt has clearly tried to give the impression that everything is as normal - which it obviously is not is. A contact with Sixt in Norway gave no explanation in relation to what had happened. Fraudulent and untrustworthy. The phrase "We have problems" obviously does not exist in German organizations.
Cyber attacks are something we will see more of in the future, not least because of the unrest in the east. All companies can be affected. But then it is important to act honestly towards the customers - do not let them struggle with inexplicable errors. It is a short distance to the next car rental company - also online. We use Sixt because they are the only company that allows little "Pablo" to join us on the trips. In addition, the cars maintain a good standard.
It was the advertisement 🙂
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