Kautionseinbehalt von Autos Oasis La Palma wegen angeblichen Schaden

    Nachdem ich bei zahlreichen kleineren Anbietern im Ausland nie Probleme wegen der Kaution gehabt habe, bin ich nun auf die Nase gefallen.


    Das Prozedere war bei mir wie folgendermaßen:


    Für die Abnahme war ein Treffpunkt am Flughafen auf La Palma vereinbart. Dort traf ich einen Angestellten der Firma (der nebenbei auch um einiges zu spät kam), an diesem Treffpunkt wurde der Vertrag unterschrieben, unter anderem mit 200 € Kaution für eventuelle Schäden, Übergabe des Schlüssels und Mitteilung der Parkplatznummer des Mietwagens. Anschließend bin ich ohne den Angestellten zum Parkplatz gegangen. Im Vertrag waren daher natürlich keine bestehenden Schäden vermerkt, war auch nicht nötig, weil das Auto erst ein paar Wochen alt war und top ausgesehen hat.


    Für die Rückgabe habe ich niemanden getroffen. Ich bin einfach wieder zurück zum Flughafenparkhaus gefahren und habe den Schlüssel stecken gelassen, dem entsprechend wurde der Wagen auch nicht bei der Rückgabe gemeinsam begutachtet.


    Bei der Rückkehr aus dem Urlaub stellte ich dann fest, dass von meiner Kreditkarte die 200 € Kaution kommentarlos abgebucht wurden. Auf meine Nachfrage hat man mir dann mitgeteilt, dass an der hinteren Stoßstange ein Schaden festgestellt wurde und die Kaution deshalb einbehalten wurde. Ich habe auf der Reise mal ein ziemlich detailliertes Foto gemacht, leider nicht zum Zeitpunkt der Abgabge, auf dem überhaupt nichts von Schäden zu sehen ist. Von daher bin ich mir sicher, dass ich zumindest bei der Übernahme des Wagens nicht versäumt habe, und angestoßen bin ich in der Zeit auch nirgendwo.


    Von daher würde ich hier vermuten, dass die Aktion eher dazu gedient hat, noch ein paar Euros rauszuholen.


    Ist hier noch irgendwas zu machen? Ich weiß nicht, wie es weitergehen würde, wenn ich die Abbuchung zurückgehen lasse (im Zweifel kommen da jede Menge Kosten dazu, ohne dass es am Ende was bringt). Ich sehe auch nicht so richtig, was ich hätte anders machen können, auch wenn ich das Auto noch mal am Ende von allen Seiten fotografiert hätte. Die Interpretation, ob an dem Auto ein Schaden entstanden ist oder nicht, liegt bei der Vorgehensweise immer beim Vermieter, und ich hatte ja auch für die Kaution unterschrieben. Künftig werde ich dann wohl immer ohne Kaution buchen, wenn das irgendwie möglich ist (meine Kreditkarte deckt Schäden an Mietwagen nicht ab, und namhafteren Anbietern würde ich auch nicht unbedingt vertrauen), oder was gibt es sonst für Möglichkeiten, sich vor solchen Situationen zu schützen?

    BEWARE OF MALPRACTICES OF AUTOS OASIS AT THE ISLAND OF LA PALMA , CANARY ISLANDS At the start of our car reservation, there was no problem; on the contrary: friendly people, no problem when I apologized for forgetting to meet the deadline for the remaining pre-payment; that would be taken care of when collecting the car. Our arrival was by a cruise ship and the website of Autos Oasis does not show an office in the city of Santa Cruz de la Palma; at least not recognizable one, so we choose for their option to get the car at the cruise terminal; a practical service for which they charge € 30 extra but on a very low basic rate, so who cares: nevertheless not my favourite choice because you cannot proof that the car has no damage upon return, so if possible I prefer to take a taxi and drive to their office in town but apparently there is none. On the day of the rent we were on the quay and with a few minutes difference, 2 grey cars arrived both with the Autos Oasis label on the back. It turned out that there was an other family that had rented a similar car and both of us filled in the paper work in the terminal building, Thereafter I went to the car for inspection and noticed so much damage (not large but on many different places on the car) so I asked the lady that had brought “our Polo” to inspect it together with me and she made notes of the most important bumps and scratches on the rental paper. The rest of the day went fine and without incidents; upon return we parked the Polo on the parking place at the quay, closed it after having put the keys in the trunk; everything according to the instructions from Autos Oasis. Having had several bad experiences with car rental companies, I completely re-inspected the car like I always do and concluded that there was no new damage, but I could not make any pictures as we had only 1 cell phone with us and the battery of that phone got empty before arrival.(not that this would have made any difference) About 3 weeks after the rent we received a mail announcing the repair of a damage which -according to Autos Oasis- was detected on the car that we rented and -again according to Autos Oasis- during the time that the car was in our possession. I mailed back saying that there was no damage upon my return and asking if there was perhaps a mix up with the other car. The answer was : no there was no mix up; it was a “new damage on a new car” and they send me 2 pictures showing a damage at the back of the car which was impossible to miss during an inspection and definitely not there upon the car return. I checked their info with my copy of the rental paper and discovered that not only the license plate number was different, but also that there were already 46000 km driven, so I replied that our car was definitely not new. (I did not yet mention that I had noticed that there was 13-14000 km on the clock when I drove it) Autos Oasis replied that the previous renter did not return the Polo which we were supposed to get; reason why they gave us a 2 weeks old Polo, but -because they had not changed the paper work because they had already filled that in earlier. So the car data on our rental paper were just not correct! I replied that it was quite an achievement to get damage on so many different places on a 2 weeks old car and an even greater achievement to drive 13-14000 km on the island of La Palma in 2 weeks. I once again mentioned a possible mix up of cars and also stated that the damage on the picture was certainly not on the car upon our return and finally that I can not be held liable for what happens after the moment parking the car on a parking place according to their instructions. Their next reply was that the car was just over 1 month old and not 2 weeks, so I replied that even then all previous renters must have been continuously racing around the island of La Palma to do > 400 km per day. During all previous and subsequent mail communications none of my arguments were contradicted with facts. I will save you the rest of the communication other than showing you a small piece of their last e-mail: . “It is a new car, even if its 2 weeks or 1 month old and you made the first damages on this car” How can you say so when we showed all the damages to an employee of Autos Oasis on the morning of the pick-up? And how low can you sink with the business ethics of your company by letting innocent customers pay for damages caused by others or their own staff, like I experienced with several rentals including main rental companies in the past. Conclusions? Well there are many: • When renting a car in such a case, first check on the Internet of any malpractices. We found several of Autos Oasis on the Internet but of course only after when started looking, so afterwards. • Do not rent at Autos Oasis if you have a choice despite their attractive base prices. Apparently they earn the rest of the money by these malpractices. • If you still rent at companies of which such malpractices are reported, then only do so at places where you can still hand in the car at a time that staff is still available, so that you can proof that there is no damage and let them sign for it. • If damage is already there, insist on an inspection when the staff is not willing to check the car before pick –up and after return. • If your car return is not at one of the car rental offices or your return is after closing hours, you better take the full insurance cover (which still does not cover everything) but take those costs into account when choosing your rental company. • It can never harm when you take pictures before and after the return, but I personally doubt if that will help you, because it remains difficult to proof that the last pictures were taken at the actual time and place of the car return. I am looking forward to hearing other/better suggestions from other car renters.