A Story of Success in the face of Incompetence and Indifference
Andrew Harris January 2009
Australian Andrew emailed us the following account of the problems he and partner Shirley had with a Tui motorhome which they hired in New Zealand. Their miseries fit alongside the catalogue of faults we experienced with Tui in August 2005
Compare our experience and that of Andrew and Shirley with the claims on theTui Website!
Andrew writes:
We had the recent misfortune to hire an old campervan from TUI while in New Zealand.
Issues included a leaking van when it rained or snowed, with bedding saturated and TUI claiming that a leaky van is not their problem.
They also gave us blood- and urine-stained linen - they claim that was "unfortunate".
They don't believe me that the fuel tank wasn't full, nor that the 3 lights didn't work, or my assertion that it was unlicensed when I went to collect it, or that the fridge kept turning itself off (with food loss) and that the fan kept turning itself on at 3am. There's lots more as well.
They told me to read my contract!!!!
There was also no jack, no snow chains, no tools, no after-hours contact for TUI.
TUI claim to be a member of lots of organisations but it appears to be false.
TUI are giving the campervan industry a terrible name.
The van was very old and I have heard that some of theirs are over 320,000 km on the clock. Ours was 220,000 km.
Hire truly at your own risk.
Andrew took Tui to court and was awarded damages. However, on 24 September 2009, Andrew
wrote: 'Well TUI didn't pay in the required time so I have had to get
the bailiff in.' He promises to keep us posted on further developments.
On 5 November 2009, Andrew wrote:
"Well it has taken over a year,
with TUI Campervans acting dishonourably to the end, but final
victory is mine.
The Bailiff was successful and I
now have the court awarded amount.
I encourage all those who have
been robbed and cheated by TUI to pursue them.
If anyone needs any assistance
they can contact me and I'll gladly assist them in seeking a fair compensation"
If you want to discuss their experience or share your own Tui horrors, we can pass your email address on to Andrew and Shirley: just Contact Us.
The bedding became saturated when the campervan leaked during rain. Tui denied any responsibility!
Tui provided blood- and urine-stained linen which, they claimed, was "unfortunate".