Rent a car fraud in Ecuador (updating case)

@Nonifruit

Sorry to hear about your troubles with the car rental. I know a good lawyer in Cuenca. Although your needs do not fit into the area of law that he covers, he said if you contact him, he can refer you to a colleague in the same office who could probably help. His name is Rafael Arizaga Coellar and you can reach him at **** or ***** or email rarizaga.juridik@[link moderated]. Best of luck.

Hello GypsyJack,

Thanks for your help to @Nonifruit

I invite you to recommend the services of this lawyer on the  Lawyers in Ecuador section of the business directory so that anyone  who faces a similar issue may directly get in touch with him.

Thanks,

Yoginee

Expat.com team

@GypsyJack

Thank you for sharing!

I found Rafael on facebook.

And allready in contact with him.

Very friendly and pleasant to deal with.

I will give here feedback on our communication.

Part 2. (positioning)

Part 1. (begining) - here:

https://www.expat.com/forum/viewtopic.p … 15#5488562).

Thanks 🙏 to the community for being so responsive. I had a series of consultations with lawyers ⚖️ who were recommended to me.

Here is my update (conclusion and resoning):

1. Such fraud schemes are widespread and (at first glance) this seems like a good opportunity for law firms to make money 💰.

1.1. Car rental customers are mostly tourists, they are an attractive victim 😱 (they are vulnerable): they don't have time ⏳, they don't know the language😶, they don't have local support 🫂.

1.2. Light research of reviews on web showed that just in Quito there are dozens of similar cases a year.

1.3. It looks easy to create a standard workflow and it will generate a steady flow of small orders (this will work for a while until rental-companies start losing money 💸 and stop 🚧 using these schemes).

But…

Why doesn't this happen and the scam continues?

2. There is no standard and effective way to protect 🪖 your rights if you caught by such a scam in Ecuador 🇪🇨

2.1. The only standard way to protect the rights of clients is the court ⚖️.

2.2. The trial in Ecuador will take from 8 to 16 months 🕰🕰 and its results are not predictable.

2.3. The cost 💸 of legal support of the judicial procedure starts from 1000 usd (and this is the minimum, does not include court-related payments and fees).

2.4. It is not possible to include legal costs in a claim. To do this, it is necessary to win the first case (for breach of contract) and only after that it is possible to initiate a second claim for reimbursement of costs.

So it's 2 consecutive lawsuits (times 🕰🕰🕰🕰 and costs 💸💸 are doubled).

2.5. The amount of costs for legal support is determined by the terms of the contract with lawyers. But in any case, it cannot exceed the amount of the entire claim and is accepted by the judge as a % of the total amount of damage (from the first claim).

Thus, due to the specifics of the litigation and the small amount of damage, it becomes impossible to receive a significant amount 💰💰💰 that will allow you to compensate for the time and resources spent.

🤷🏻‍♂️

What's the next plan 🔮🔭?

3. Bring the problem to light🔎

3.1. Prepare a list of organizations that can pay attention to such situations:

• Ministry of Production (Market Control Directorate)
• Ministry of Tourism
• Fiskalia
• Tax office
• Human Protection Office

(What else can you recommend?)

• ...

3.2. Find out how to file a complaint. Create request forms 📝 and roadmap of process.

3.3. Make the roadmap 🗺 (information about actions) available to people (social networks, news, thematic forums on the network etc…)

If the information and reports from tourists about such frauds 🤥 received in various departments, sooner or later a solution will be found

A significant part of the budget of Ecuador 🇪🇨 comes from tourism. Sure, that cases of mass tourists fraud will receive the necessary attention.

Over time, the number of victims may accumulate to prepare a class action lawsuit and it can also be filed against the government of Ecuador, which doe’s not respond to cases of massive fraud.

I plan to continue to move 🐾🐾🐾 in this direction, and will publish updated information.

If you have any suggestions or advice, please text me!

Thank you for reading 🙏!

🍀

You may want to look at this page for the Ministerio de Tursimo which allows you to report on-line any complaints or anything unsatifactory.  It also gives office locations if you want to talk to them in person and phone numbers as well as an email address at the bottom of the page.

https://www.gob.ec/mintur/tramites/aten … xtranjeros

At the bottom of the page is the button for on-line complaints, "Ir al trámite en línea"

Hello everyone,

Please note that to better understand the above situation, I have merged the feedback and conclusion to this thread.

#8 and #9 have been added to this thread.

Regards,

Bhavna

I have asked for recommendations of reputable car rental companies on at least three occasions from this web site.

I was hoping to do business with a reputable company so the above or similar does not happen to me. All of my inquiries have gone unanswered.

I would be grateful for a recommendation. We will be renting a vehicle for 2-3 weeks.

Thanks in advance………

Jeff &Angie

@Jeff_Angie

I haven't read prior comments on this thread, but I haven't seen anyone griping about this rental car company on Gringo Post, but can't vouch for them because I don't drive.

https://cuencacarshare.com/

@Jeff_Angie My advice is to read reviews on g00gleMaps and T*iрAdviso* and especially critical ones. At a minimum, this will help to settle some of the companies.

As for the situation with the breakdown of the rental car (this can happen with any car) - you can try to discuss this nuance before renting. You are planning to rent for a long time and the company may be willing to finde compromiss. You can ask them to provide you with a letter of guarantee from the rental company. Let them write that in the event of a mechanical breakdown of the car during the rental process, they undertake to provide you with a replacement car within 24 hours or return the money, including the security deposit in full.