Marliese Cail
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South Island ▷ Marlborough ▷ Picton / Marlborough Sounds ▷
Camperco
2.5/5
Pick-up scheduled for 10 am, van not where it should have been, when found was NOT READY.
No towels, no tea towels, no broom ( bought these out of our own pocket, lost receipts)bed linen NOT sealed in plastic (was it fresh?), handoff very cavalierly done, no office space or any other permanent site (???). Christchurch was behind us when we found the tank was just about empty! Unforgivable considering the dire consequences threatened if it's not returned full! When we called were told that turn-around had been rushed; why? Booked last JUNE, why was it not returned to the depot sooner? The money for that first fill-up was immediately returned, no problem there, but this is not something you expect of a rental company! The inside of the van was reasonably clean, not so the outside. Mechanically the van was in good shape; really liked the solar panel mounted on the roof, stove and fridge worked well. We had that van for 45 days and it never let us down. There is no depot in Auckland either; the company looking after this aspect - Euro Camper - inspected and signed off, but do they really care about the little things that didn't work? We found it somewhat strange that even a small company wouldn't have a permanent location with at least one dedicated staff member! Ross did remind everyone of the census that was held and was generally helpful in case of questions but you just couldn't shake the feeling that things had been done in a rush and therefore left you wondering whether they had been done right. We are not looking to get anyone in trouble but the administrative side -for lack of a better word - of CamperCo leaves a lot to be desired. Whether our experience was a one-off or happens regularly is beside the point, customers place their trust in a company and deserve the time it takes to get them safely on the road!
Thanks for hiring with us and thanks for your feedback which we welcome - good or otherwise. It seems the van went well, had everything onboard that is supposed to be there, and we were there when you needed us to answer any questions, so that's great!
We are a small NZ owned and operated company. We don't have dedicated sign written depots which allows us to keep our prices very competitive - in all our years of operation we have not had anyone point this out as a negative. In Christchurch you'll meet me, in Picton you'll meet Mike, in Nelson you'll meet Alan. In Queenstown & Auckland we (along with a few other camper hire companies) use agents as this is the only way we can affordably offer those locations. If a dedicated sign written depot with uniformed staff is important to you then a smaller company is not the right fit.
We picked you up from your accommodation in town and drove you directly to your van. It was a tight turn-around, and the guys still had 10 minutes of work to do to get it fully ready. On the rare occasion a van isn't quite ready, we would rather the customer wait a short time than to rush & send out a van that isn't fully ready. When you left your van was fully clean, safe and ready to go. We don't supply towels in that model as there is no shower, as per the list of inclusions on our website when you book. Yes the linen was fresh and clean. No, it wasn't sealed in plastic as this is not industry practice and is environmentally unfriendly.
As mentioned we welcome and value all feedback so thanks for taking the time to write a review. We've looked back over our correspondence. Aside from a 10 minute wait at pick-up, and the tank not being full (immediately fixed) I'm really not quite sure what else we did wrong. Maybe a smaller style company is just not for you, and that's OK, everyone is different. Next time you may like to try one of the bigger commercial companies instead. It was really nice to meet you and all the very best, Ross.
Nick & Ross