Not treated fairly
We were looking forward to what should have been a special holiday. Arrangements to hire the camper van had been made for some months. However, at the start of the holiday we received messages that disregarded previous arrangements. It also became very clear that communication was very one sided and without any flexibility.
We were given around 15 minutes to note any pre-existing damage to the campervan. There was clear damage to bodywork at the back of the van. We were told that it was a new van but the previous renters had caused the damage. We noted what we could see in the time available, however more marks and damage became apparent as we lived in the van (you can't spot everything in a few minutes). In truth, the van was in reasonable condition overall but had already done over 70000 kilometres and was not new. It had damage of the nature and degree that you would anticipate for a hire van that had done this sort of distance.
We took photographs of the additional damage that we found. This was initially with the intension of forwarding them to the company. However, we had second thoughts on this given how one sided and inflexible communication had been. We thought they might be used to accuse us of having caused the damage, so we decided not to forward the photographs.
On returning the campervan there is an horrendous process of inspection whilst you wait. Two people carried this out and it took around half an hour. We were asked to sign a sheet containing their findings. We added comments where we didn't agree. Again, the communication was one sided and without any flexibility, the comments we made were either ignored or dismissed.
As we had by now anticipated, the report contained claims for previous damage along with and exaggerations of minor damage and cleaning requirements.
I know people who have had similar problems when hiring cars in Europe. It really isn't something that should happen. Pricing should take account of reasonable wear and tear, maintenance and upkeep costs. More significant damage, the cost ohich is charged separately and additionally, should be fully auditable so that it cannot be charged to more than one customer. I really didn't expect the same this from a more specialised company, especially one that provides guided group tours as well as hire services because we thought they were enthusiasts.
I really hope that they reflect on these aspects of their undertaking because it could be an excellent business if they would start treating their customers fairly.