New Zealand or Bust

[Jenben]

It has been suggested that we are a bit fussy well possibly we accept we have a cheap/crap van although we paid good money for it but if it was presented in good working order it would be a start.

I don’t think you are being overly fussy . If everything worked it would be much easier to enjoy your holiday .

I feel sure you researched companies/vans and paid a good price to ensure you had a quality touring holiday experience.

It’s not unreasonable to expect everything to work !

Fingers crossed that the van company customer service is good .

 

[Mr porky]

We spent 10k for 35 days hire for a burstner 8 years ago. It too was falling apart but it did the job.after calling back to the hire company for a day and I said you either give us our money back or put this in working order.
We then enjoyed the rest of our trip and this gave us the bug for motorhomes .
I hope you get it sorted

 

[rb62]

It just has Maui on it. I think THL build their own motor homes (and call them Maui).

I’ve found a badge on the motorhome - it says KEA which is a company owned by THL.

It's 12 years since we we're there but it sounds as if the same arrangement is in place where
they just pass the vans down the chain of companies as they get older and stick a different name on them.

We had a Britz and the cutlery drawer lived on the floor from day 1

 

[jongood]

It's 12 years since we we're there but it sounds as if the same arrangement is in place where
they just pass the vans down the chain of companies as they get older and stick a different name on it.

Good point Richard but I thought (note past tense) that Maui were up there with the market leaders. What do trailfinders say Martin? Theyre surely responsible.

 

[rb62]

Good point Richard but I thought (note past tense) that Maui were up there with the market leaders. What do trailfinders say Martin? Theyre surely responsible.

They certainly used to be,I'm pretty sure Kea were top of one tree and Maui top of the other when we were there.I think the trouble is now that there in such demand they're staying at each stage for much longer and they just don't have the time to put things right, but you'd have thought they'd have designed a cutlery draw that stayed shut by now!

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[Silver-Fox]

I know you said NZ campers were crap Jon so we got the best that Trailfinders offer yes there are Burstners around indeed I am sat looking at one.

What a shame the van isn’t up to standard.
Maybe the vans arnt up to some of the roads NZ have.

The van we had was based on a VW with body on the back.
Had over 300k on the clock and the only thing that rattled was the cutlery in the draw

We traveled some seriously poor roads as well.

Hope things improve for you

 

[funflair]

Good point Richard but I thought (note past tense) that Maui were up there with the market leaders. What do trailfinders say Martin? Theyre surely responsible.

Waiting to see what MAUI say first Jon, we have found Trailfinders very good so far so I imagine they would sort it if needed, but it sounds like this type of shoddy hire van is par for the course in NZ.

 

[Langtoftlad]

I am enjoying this thread although I am not sure I would want to do a motorhome trip in NZ .

I recently [Nov/Dec] did a three week coach tour of NZ, and although not seeing everything, and being 'organised', I think I saw most of the highlights, and saw much as I wasn't driving.
It was very stress free.
But accept it's not the trip for everyone.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Trouble is Martin, you're caught between a rock & a hard place.
If they shrug their shoulders & say tough, what are your options?

 

[Riverbankannie]

We had a Maui too, organised through Trailfinders. Thankfully it mostly all worked although we did do a swop right at the start for a reason that I cannot recall.
The trouble is that once you have set off, you lose precious holiday days if you backtrack to go and get another even if there was one available. So you are between a rock and a hard place.
I guess you have to be thankful that it is not a MH you have just purchased and found the problems even though you will have paid plenty of dosh to hire it - you can at least give it back.
Put in a couple of temporary bungees to hold things together and get on and enjoy.

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[TinaLes]

Sorry to hear about the substandard of Hire MH's in NZ, they obviously have too many customers and not enough stock vans to retain and service them properly. Do they not do a proper "Idiots Guide" handover on pick up?
Or did they know you were experienced and so didnt bother so much?
Just out of interest as many have mentioned the expensive costs of hiring these vans, do you get a cheaper rate the longer you hire it for, and if so what are the approximate costs per week/month.
Hope you get a swap out Martin, its sad to hear about the problems you are having so near to the start of your adventure.
All the best.
LES