Renting a campervan - Ideas?

sweetep · 31 March 2011 at 1:46AM

Ebe_Scrooge wrote: »

I'm watching this thread with interest. I had exactly the same idea recently, thinking that hiring a van for a couple of weeks and touring around would make for a cheap holiday - until I saw the price of renting one !

i did book with them one of there rvs but something didnt feel right. when i first called they said it was £150 to book then when i phoned back it was full amount. After i said i was told i could book with £150 they did. i asked for a hard copy of my booking with all the details of rv and who i would be insured with. after 3 days it didnt come so i rang and was told it was on its way. I asked some more questions which made me think it wasnt right. i phoned police they said its not a listed company and sent someone there. its just an office no vans and the post code was wrong. I phoned asked if i could view the van no it was in devon and they couldnt tell me who i would be insured with. i cancel and still no hard copy 2 weeks on. police pasted it on to trading stanards. they could be real but i wasnt taking risk with my family holiday going to pay a bit more and book.
:money:

nonnatus · 31 March 2011 at 7:50AM

There's an amazing company in Tavistock that I've used. I picked it up, toured Cornwall with kids and dogs and dropped it back off again. You can rent proper refurbished old fashioned VW campers for any length of time you like. Some are the old American models, beautifully kitted out (but right hand drive of course) and they all have different names like "Daisy, Ruby, Ollie" etc. They welcome dogs and sleep between 2 and 6 people. Will try and find the name but try googling VW camper hire, Tavistock.

clever_username · 6 April 2011 at 3:01PM

Why on Earth did you use such a small font for your 'press release' and create a large block of text without spaces between the paragraphs? Your post isn't exactly conducive to easy reading. Much of it is also very poorly phrased.

Obviously you need permission from MSE to post here as you are doing so on behalf of a company.

(Also it's never a bad idea to run your 'press releases' through a spellchecker before letting your prospective clients read them, this only takes a few seconds and helps your company appear more professional. Just my opinion but spelling mistakes in 'official' literature published on behalf of your company smacks of a lack of attention to detail.)

DancingBear · 6 April 2011 at 6:21PM

the local Trading Standards are looking into Sundrive Hire.

The address Sundrive have on their website is a 'virtual office' (not a real one), which forwards their mail on to somewhere else.

Which seems rather strange, as I'd have thought that a motorhome hire company would need a big yard to store and service their vehicles.

It's also the case that the photos of the interiors of those motorhomes are identical photos to those on the website of a genuine operator - it appears to be the case that the photos have been copied and reused.

When a deal looks too good to be true it very probably is. I wouldn't touch Sunhire with the bits of my worst enemy.

Errata · 6 April 2011 at 6:36PM

A Press Release with no contact details? That's a novelty :rotfl:

clever_username · 6 April 2011 at 6:46PM

That said all the single-post users appearing on this thread leaving a solitary comment and thanking the other single-post users always raises questions about the validity of such criticism.

mark.hallam · 13 April 2011 at 2:34PM

Being new to hiring motorcaravans, I obviously searched the web extensively to find the best deal. When you see one that is half the price of everyone else you are obviously drawn to it. It then doesnt take a genius to do a bit of research into the company, which I did both via the web, by phone and google maps (Looking at their postal address).

After finding absolutely no reference to them on the web or at Companies House, I rang them up. After the receptionist refused to give me any details about where she was based, I was called back by a representative, who claimed that they were a long established and large company in Ireland who had recently come over to the UK.

If that was the case then any internet search "Sundrivehire in Ireland" would bring a raft of responses. Well surprise surprise there were absolutely none at all. Having been burnt on the internet before, with a deal that was to good to be true. I felt that the lack of any awareness of this organisation within the web or companes house was just to suspect to be handing over money. On that basis I threw out a posting to see if anyone had actually ever used them and received the van.

Up to now I have not seen one posting from anyone at all saying that they have.

Errata · 13 April 2011 at 3:04PM

For goodness sake, reading the second sentence of the 'press release' in post #14 should indicate to anyone with two brain cells to rub together that at best Sundrivehire is a rather unusual company.

We are also currently investigating the authenticity of some other forum users of whom we believe are direct competitors also passing themselves off to be genuine forum users.

jago25_98 · 26 April 2011 at 9:45PM

Thanks for the links!

I've been thinking about selling my van but I don't really want to! Making a bit of cash sounds great, but I'd have to make some minor improvements... and get my stuff out of it! I don't think my van is good enough for these sites.

But really I'd like to go it alone, marketing it myself with a unique slant.

The only problem I foresee going it alone without help from a company is insurance (deposits by escrow I'm less worried about). But actually I think it should be possible. I just have to find which company these hire companies are using.

It's a shame it's not possible to make use of the customers insurance somehow. Seems a shame for me to have insurance, them to have insurance and then separate hire insurance when really what we want is insurance for the vehicle no matter what.

dannymahon · 18 May 2011 at 1:53PM

Hi, has anyone else had anymore feedback come from this? I made a booking at the end of April but have just seen this thread and one on the efestivals forum too.

There has been a LOT of activity on that thread... I cant post the link as im too newbie! But its easy to find on the Glastonbury section of thier forum.

I think I am going to cancel, but wanted to see if anyone else had heard anything else first.

Renting a campervan - Ideas?

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