Samstag, 24. Februar 2018 - leicht bewölkt, 23°

In den letzten Tagen ist es leicht kühler geworden, und am Morgen liegt etwas Bodennebel auf der Landschaft. Es naht hier der Herbst. Am Vormittag teile ich der Campervermietung per E-Mail mit, was wir von ihrem schrecklichen Fahrzeug halten und dass wir es nur noch als Auto benützen.

Hi "Lucky" people,

this is to inform you that since yesterday Feb. 23rd, after one night at a motor camp, we are not using the Lucky Roadie for camping and cooking, but only as a car. We are now staying at a B&B accommodation near Hamilton and will do so in other regions for the rest of the holiday. This vehicle is so extremely uncomfortable and impractical that we would never have rented it if we would have known that it is practically unusable as a campervan. For example: There is no standing height for cooking and dishwashing (which was impossible anyway because the plug for the sink is missing). This cannot be seen on the photos and plans on your website. The back hatch cannot be opened from the inside, which means that it is almost impossible to leave the vehicle when the bed is installed. The little black nets for small items above the right windows were useless before I repaired them by means of needle and thread. The seat cushions that serve as mattresses are so thin that comfortable sleeping is impossible. Just to mention a few of the shortcomings.

Moreover, the general condition of the vehicle is absolutely dreadful. There are dents, stains, scratches, holes, rusty spots, and even a crack in the sheet metal inside, plus parts coming lose inside as if the vehicle might fall apart! This vehicle must honestly be called a wreck; it is a shame for your company. (No wonder that the company name is not on the vehicle.) The vehicle is unspeakable and unbearable. When we first saw it I told your employee that it is by far the worst campervan I have ever seen, and I assure you that at our age of 71 we have a lot of camping experience, having bought and rented campers in various countries, and we own one at home.

When I booked I was not aware that the Lucky Roadie is not self-contained because after some research on the websites of other camper rentals I had the impression that no campers without self-containment are on the NZ rental market in 2018.

My first thought was to come back to you and suggest you to swap the camper for a normal car, but I hesitated to drive into and out of traffic-crazy Auckland once again. Of course we now have additional expenses for accommodation. Therefore I suggest and expect that you will grant us a certain discount. As I can see on your website, a Lucky Coaster e.g. would be $ 45 per day. A reduction of the Roadie rental price to $ 50 would be fair enough. I know that I cannot insist on this but I appeal to your fairness. If necessary I can provide proof of our accommodation bookings.

I am sorry to give you such a devastating comment, but I thought you should take note of this.

Best regards,

Heinrich G.

Ich bin gespannt, wie man darauf reagieren wird. Margrit fühlt sich schlapp und mag vor dem Mittag nicht ausgehen. Deshalb fahren wir erst im Laufe des Nachmittags in die Stadt. Ich habe auf der Google-Karte den kleinen "Forest Lake" ausgemacht, den wir auf einem Holzsteg und auf Rasenflächen am Waldrand in einer guten halben Stunde umrunden können. In einem "New World"-Supermarkt decken wir uns mit ein paar Lebensmitteln ein, dann beim chinesischen "Kowloon"-Take away mit je einer Portion Gemüse mit Nudeln und gebratenem Reis mit Chicken. Preis zusammen 21 NZ$ = Fr. 14.70. Das soll unser Abendessen werden. Es stellt sich dann heraus, dass die Portionen so gross sind, dass allein die Nudeln mit Gemüse für heute ausreichen! Gegen Abend trifft ein älteres österreichisches Paar ein, das sich aber bald zurückzieht.

Die Campervermietung antwortet:

Hi G..., (dass mein Vorname Heinrich ist, hat man nicht gemerkt - na ja, kann man vielleicht in der selbstzufriedenen angelsächsichen Welt nicht unbedingt erwarten)

We are sorry for late reply and for the inconvenience caused.
The Lucky Rover and Lucky Ranger are our only Certified Self-Contained vehicles. This means you will be able to camp in more places and with less restrictions than our other vehicles. As the Lucky Rookie, Rodeo and Roadie do not have a self-contained water system, they do not pass the requirements for Self-Containment. This means that adding a porta-potti to any of these vehicles will not make them self-contained.
Can you please let us know where you will be on Monday so that we can arrange a mechanic for you. We can also advise you if want to get some cleaning products and cleaning the vehicle and we refund the money for it (up to $50) or you can come back to our branch and we can clean and fix the vehicle for you if possible than we can also swap you over to any other vehicle .
However if you are not happy with my suggest above what we can offer you is just $5 off per day for the inconvenience caused.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Kind regards,
The team at Lucky Rentals

Auf mein eigentliches Anliegen ist man somit kaum eingegangen. Die angebotenen 5 $ Rückerstattung sind in Anbetracht unseres furchtbaren Ärgers und der zusätzlichen Kosten von rund 50 $ pro Nacht natürlich lächerlich.