Kiwi campers / happy campers STOP! Don’t book! 1.Old & broken vans marketed as “luxury”2. Terrible customer service 3. Verbally abusive manager Brian Read on if you want an honest review:This is a terrible company, if this comment stops one other person from using this company then I’ve done my bit. They certainly dented our kiwi experience and so called kiwi hospitality. We had 3 vans within our 5 week rental period. T5 2 berth Kiwi camper registration numbers EGN426 are EFE835 & EFZ574. All of these vans had faults and issues. Some were more major than others but the fact we went through 3 vans in a 5 week period and didn’t receive one apology from Kiwi campers is actually laughable. EGN435 one day : engine oil warning light was on when we switched on the ignition. Highlighted this to Cam and another colleague in Auckland and we were told “all old T5 campers have this “ nothing to worry about. We didn’t make it out of Auckland that night, had to pull in after members of the public were flashing and tooting us as clouds of white smoke billowed out of the van. The AA came and took one look at the warning light and revs- told us there’s oil in the engine and we shouldn’t be driving it. Kiwi campers was closed by this time so we had to go back the next day. EFE835 3 weeks : seemed ok at the start but we soon discovered only one hob worked, the central locking didn’t work, doors jammed locked and wouldn’t open, broken handles/ window locks and finally the back door was bent and therefore with any rain the bed and back area got soaked as it leaked. The leaking was very bad and we contacted kiwi campers along with the other issues. They didn’t make a note of this faults anywhere on our file. They booked us a garage for the following day and received no further contact from them. We were left no choice but to check in to a motel and spend a fortune in a laundrette drying all the bedding. The garage took one look at the van and said they couldn’t do much, they taped it for us the best they could but the door was visibly bent and you could see the sky looking up from the bed. Again our communication from Kiwi campers was non existent, no follow up to check we were ok and they seemed annoyed when we contacted them again to inform them of the motel bill we were expecting reimbursed as well as what we were to do if it rained again. A few days later the windscreen wipers stopped working, as everyone knows this makes the van illegal to drive. Again a phone call to kiwi campers and very unhelpful customer service. We spoke to a manager called Michael from the Christchurch office, he wasn’t very sympathetic, didn’t offer any apology and denied receiving certain emails from us. He also wasn’t very convincing when he told us we would be reimbursed for our motel bill and any other nights we might have to check in to alternative accommodation. The second garage fixed the wipers and also had a look at the bent door. There was also another kiwi camper at the garage that had just had the drive shaft fixed so we contacted the office to ask if we could swap in to this van. We were told we could take the van but they couldn’t do anything about the faults because we’d agree to take it anyway. At this point we were at the end of our tether - we had no other option. We suggested someone could come and meet us with a van but we were told WE would have to drive to Christchurch if we wanted that. We were on the far west coast at this point. EFZ574: locks don’t work, stinks of stale cigarette smoke, washer fluid for windscreen wipers broken. The best out of a bad bunch. On returning the vans we were met with no apology. We had to ask to speak to the manager after he was sending the front of house with compensation settlement figures. He didn’t introduce himself, came bellowing out of his office saying he thought he was being reasonable offering us 4 days rental back. He was towering over us, talking over us, not willing to listen to any of our complaints. He walked away numerous times and told us we could just leave then. He also said, and I quote, “you’re b****ing and moaning about small things”. At which point I got too upset and had to leave. One of the reception girls went running off to get me tissues will Brian kept talking over my partner. I think this sums up the company, if all those faults and issues are classed as moaning then it puts no faith in the company. The fact he showed no empathy or emotion to our upset shows what little people skills he has. Apparently he worked as a hotel manager previously. We paid good money to expect a “luxury “ van that they advertised. The least you expect is a secure, lockable, waterproof place to call your home on wheels. Brian, the Christchurch manager, is the most vile, ignorant, rude and obnoxious man I’ve ever met. His employees looked visibly embarrassed, kept apologising to us and cowering as he walked past. He is nothing but a bully and we were since told had a court case taken out against him! He tries to rile you and constantly says yip yip yip over you and says he doesn’t want to hear your complaints. They also have a very high turn over of staff and none seem to stick around for long. Everything is deflected back on to you and you’re made to feel like it’s your fault. We got asked if we’d even bother to try and “fix” the gas hob or are we just complaining! When you pay for a rental you don’t expect to have to be fixing things as they break!! We also contacted them many times in order to give them a chance to rectify the problems but again were accused of not having done so. We had left a paper trail through email but again Brian had no interest in reading these or admitting fault. The fact that he was so rude and offered no apology suggests that this is a common occurrence. Rather than apologise and state it’s a one off incident it was quite the opposite reaction. Well Brian, karmas a b***h. We saw about 5 other Kiwi campers/ happy campers ( 2 of these were in the garages we had to visit) in our whole trip through North and South Island. That says a lot about a company! We have no doubt these vans will be rented out again and others will unfortunately have the same issues. This is not an isolated incident, we also saw a couple complaining when we were picking up our rental in Auckland. There tyres had no tread ( ie illegal) and they didn’t care at all. The customer service/ complaints management is a joke. Interestingly they also don’t have Instagram, Twitter or Facebook as I’m sure people would go all out on these too showing what kind of company they are. The 5 star reviews are all made up, they actually have a 2 star rating. Please avoid at all costs and spread the word!! Or you have been warned, book at your own peril.
Claim your business profile now and gain access to all features and respond to customer reviews.
