Michael
Did the motorhome meet expectations? Absolutely not.
This was an extremely disappointing and stressful hire from start to finish.
Within just a few days, the motorhome developed a recurring starting fault, which happened repeatedly before the vehicle eventually broke down completely in Germany and had to be recovered. This wasn’t simply an inconvenience on the final day — we had problems for several days beforehand, which seriously disrupted our trip, affected our plans and ultimately meant we had to abandon the motorhome and make our own way home.
There were also multiple other issues with the vehicle, including the TV, habitation light, fridge catch and toilet. For the amount we paid, we expected a reliable, properly maintained motorhome — not one that left us repeatedly wondering whether it would start.
What made the situation even more frustrating was the resolution offered afterwards. Despite the extent of the problems and the disruption caused, we were offered just £300 compensation, which we felt was completely inadequate compared with what we had paid for the hire and the amount of the trip that was affected.
And then, after all of this, we had the ridiculous situation involving the internal ladder.
The ladder was left in Manchester because the original plan was for us to return the motorhome to Manchester, unload our own belongings, put the owner’s belongings back inside — including the ladder — and then the motorhome would be taken back to Leeds. Had the motorhome not broken down in Germany, this would have happened as planned.
Because the breakdown made that return process impossible, the ladder ended up in Manchester while our own belongings remained in Leeds. We have never refused to return the ladder and have offered to arrange its return/collection. Despite this, we have subsequently been chased and faced further attempts to charge us in relation to returning it.
To then be told that the owner had to compensate their next hirer because the ladder wasn’t available — when the ladder was separated from the motorhome as a direct consequence of the breakdown — was particularly frustrating.
We paid a substantial amount of money expecting a reliable motorhome and a straightforward holiday. Instead, we got repeated mechanical problems, a breakdown abroad, major disruption to our plans, an inadequate compensation offer and then further hassle over a ladder that would have been returned normally if the original hire had actually gone as planned.
Based on our experience, we would not hire this motorhome again and would think very carefully before recommending it to anyone else.