In May 2017 right after we arrived in New Zealand we got lucky in Instagram competition by Jucy campers and won a voucher β 3 days free rental of JUCY campervan. We were planning to stay in New Zealand for almost a year and thought we would use the voucher before buying our own car. Lucky for us we bought a minivan and converted it to a campervan very quickly. So we thought we would never use the voucher.
As our time in New Zealand was coming to an end, we sold our own campervan few days before our flight from New Zealand. It was the perfect time to use the voucher in New Zealand and explore few more places around Auckland and Coromandel.
Issue #1 β minimum hire period
Before booking a campervan Maya contacted Jucy over live chat, send them the voucher and asked about minimum hire period conditions mentioned on the voucher. Jucy replied there are no special conditions and we can have the campervan for only 3 days for free.
The truth
As we found out later, there are conditions on minimum hire period. The minimum is 5 days and our voucher was for 3 days so we would need to pay additional 2 days. So if you think about it, the voucher is not for free rental, itβs a 60% discount for a campervan rental for a minimum 5 days.
Issue #2 β wrongly booked campervan by Jucy agent
A few days later Maya contacted Jucy again and asked what type of campervan we can have and we would ideally like a self-contained campervan (so we could stay outside of campgrounds for free). We thought it would be limited to only cheaper and smaller campervans. To our surprise, Benn from Jucy replied that we can use the voucher for any campervan and the only campervan available in Auckland is Jucy Chaser (the biggest one).
These are rebuilt Toyota Hiace vans, they are fully self-contained (which means you can sleep almost anywhere in New Zealand without paying for a campsite) and have a folding table, bed, cooking utensils and a toilet.
Bingo! We booked the campervan and they sent us a confirmation email.
The truth
Our own fault was not checking the confirmation properly. Who would have thought about checking the confirmation email when they tell you they only have one type of campervan available?
As we later found out, the campervan on the confirmation email was the smallest car they have which is not self-contained.
Issue #3 β opening hours for picking up the van
During phone booking, Maya was told that pick-ups are only available until 5 pm. The Auckland airport is their biggest and most important location since international travelers arrive here first. This alone was quite shocking information, but we learnt by now that New Zealand doesnβt offer the standards that western countries do, they have their own.
After asking several times if itβs possible to pick up later (because we would go to Auckland by bus and delays are very common here), the agent hesitantly said that the branch is open till 6 pm, but pick-up is only available until 5 pm. So we booked campervan from Friday 5 pm until Sunday 5 pm because they donβt allow after-hours pick-up.
We were looking forward to exploring Auckland and Coromandel in their green and purple Jucy van – New Zealand roads, parking lots and campgrounds are filled with their campervans. According to the plan, our bus should arrive at Auckland airport around 4:30 pm (unfortunately there was no bus to Auckland arriving earlier).
We started stressing out a bit when our bus to Auckland was late by 45 minutes. To make sure we can get our van, we called the branch shortly before 5 pm that we will be late and hope they will wait for us. Luckily the call center agent said not to worry and that we can pick-up the campervan till 6 pm. Great, we were excited again that in the end, everything will work out just fine. But nope.
The truth
As we found out on our way to the Auckland airport hustling to get there by 5 pm, from the phone call it was obvious that pick-up is possible even after 5 pm. Knowing that before, it would have saved us a few stressful moments. And when we arrived at the Jucy branch, we saw that many pick-ups (and drop-offs) are done after 5 pm.
Iβm not sure why initially I was told that I absolutely have to pick-up the van by 5 pm. Maybe because people are usually late so it leaves a time gap for them but what it actually does is stressing people out when itβs 5 pm and they are not at the branch (which was our case).
Issue #4 – insurance
Once we finally arrived at the branch at the airport, there was nobody inside. After about 5 minutes, a girl from Jucy showed up. We quickly filled the contract and asked about the insurance. When you rent a car in many countries around the world for 48 hours (even if itβs 3 calendar days), you pay insurance for that exact period β 48 hours.
And this is what I meant by saying New Zealand has its own standards: renting a car at Jucy (and I suppose other places in New Zealand) for 48 hours spreading over 3 days means you will be charged for 3 days (Fri, Sa, Su).
The insurance also doesnβt cover roof or chassis damage. There are many reviews online that clearly say if you donβt obey the New Zealand road rules, you wonβt be covered even if you paid Jucy βstress-free insuranceβ.
This is a New Zealand issue and not Jucyβs issue but itβs worth mentioning because many people are expecting the same service as they get in Europe or US.
Issue #5 β checking out the car
We paid for the insurance and went outside to check out the campervan. The girl explained extremely fast how to store and fold things, how to use the cooker, etc. There wasnβt a split second when we could ask something. A very important part though was left out β when youβre renting a car or a campervan, the agent should go with you around the car and point out (+write down) any scratches it has so youβre not charged for them afterward. And because Jucy cars are all painted in green/purple colour, it is difficult to see any scratches.
After her brief instructions finished, we pointed out that this campervan is not the one we booked. As we tried to explain to her that we booked a different campervan, she was constantly repeating, this is what they have on paper and the one we claim we booked is not ready and wonβt be ready that day. She kept repeating that we didnβt check the reservation and thatβs our mistake. Strike #2 for Jucy girl and her βexceptionalβ customer service.
Issue #6 β dealing with the manager
Once the manager came and we explained the situation that the agent told us he booked a big campervan for us but the confirmation says something else, even more accusations kept pouring our way. She said that Jucy car rental made an exception about renting us a campervan for only 3 days because the minimum rental period is 5 days. I guess she expected us to be thankful or something..but thatβs not how correcting a mistake with booking a campervan and customer service work.
Nobody told us during the booking process that their minimal rental period is 5 days. More accusation and blame came from her, even after we showed her the email from a Jucy agent where he is explaining he is booking for us the only available campervan Jucy Chaser.
Definitely not a way to solve things by a manager!
After this, we couldnβt stand more blame coming our way and not even one attempt at resolving the situation and correcting their mistake. We canceled our contract and left their branch.
Issue #7 – fees
And bonus for us – later we found out that our credit card was already charged for insurance fee, which is standard but instead of reversing the transaction, Jucy gave us a refund. Because of that little detail they overlooked, we received less money back, 8 dollars less to be exact because of currency fees.
Online reviews
I did some more digging online and read tons of reviews about this company. To sum up all the reviews:
- Really bad customer service, thanks to the remoteness of New Zealand it might be acceptable only for KIWIs
- They provide old beaten cars from Japan that live their last days on the road (most cars have more than 200 000 km)
- Insurance doesnβt cover much
- Understaffed branches and improperly trained staff
- Smaller campervans have not enough room for taller people
- They have ads all over the internet that makes you hate green and purple colors (said by many people)
Moral of the story
Before you make a decision to rent a campervan in New Zealand, do your research, there are many of them! After this ordeal, we do not recommend using Jucy and will never rent their campervan anywhere. If youβre planning to rent a campervan for a month, consider buying a used car as it might be cheaper. Many people weβve met did it and were beyond happy with their decision.
Did you have similar experience with Jucy?
I rented a Chaser in Auckland for 15 days.
After 40 km the red oil light poped up and we had to go and check the oil level loosing a morning.
After 7 days the engine brokedown and we needed to be towed away( They cover just 200 NZ for this and is not written in the contract.If it cost more it is at your own expenses. Luckly wasn’t the case) . At the phone during the night they are not able to help you for the organization so we had to call back the next morning and sleep in a random parking lot and be towed again the next day.
We were almost in Wellington ready to go to the souther island but we had to go to Auckland by plane to take the replace vehicle because they don’t have anything in the south.
We took the other van. This one was quiet dirty, the pans and the kitchen stuff a bit smelly, no tabs for the wc, no dishes soap and the tank wasn’t full even if we had the option full-to-full. The first night we discovered that the domestic battery was dead.
We couldn’t use the water, the fridge and anything else unless the engine was on or attached to the power.
We couldn’t do our holiday because of that.
They refounded us some expenses and some days with no problems but still not enough to cover the stess, the loss of time and all the activities we couldn’t do because of the issues… I can understand the breakdown… Can happen if cars are old or badly kept but the domestic battery should have been checked out before every rental and changed time by time.
At the end. If you can, don’t rent from them… There are so many other valid options and companies… If you have to hire a van from them check everything out really carefully because they don’t do it and ask for the missing things.
Worst experience ever.
Really TOO expensive for what they offer.
I’ll never repeat the mistake to use JUCY as a rental company.
That sounds awful, Alice. I’m sorry they ruined your New Zealand vacation, hopefully, you made the most of your time there. If nothing else, it’s a good lesson for the future. That’s why when we started our company, Smile Campervans in the Canadian Rockies, we ensured nothing like this would ever happen as we thoroughly check each campervan when our customers arrive.
Somewhat comforting but also very concerning to hear we werenβt the only one dealing with such issues with Jucy. I will never repeat this mistake by hiring from them again. Seems great and like a more reasonably priced and affordable option compared to other companies but was genuinely the worst service from a company I have ever received. It started with a very brief overview of the vehicle, brushing over everything very quickly. We made the mistake of just assuming everything would be as it should be, but wow were we wrong. We start our 3 hour drive north of Auckland and decide to do a big grocery shop before staying the night and are quick to find out the fridge doesnβt work. Jucy advertise 24/7 assistance and all they told us was to go buy ice and an eskyβ¦ We thought this was ridiculous considering we had the van for a month, if we wanted ice and an esky we would have hired a car and bought a tent which would have been much cheaper.
Next issue was at the first site we decided to hook up to power. They had given us the completely wrong power cord that doesnβt even connect to the van. We called and alerted them about this (whilst we still did not have an adequate solution for our fridge). The person on the phone couldnβt even understand the different connections and stated it was our responsibility to go and buy a new cord. This was eventually refunded but significant time was lost calling Jucy, waiting on hold, trying to explain the situation, calling local hardware stores and then driving there and back. We then wasted a lovely afternoon sourcing a new cord which would then only connect to the vans power source if you held it in a certain spot, basically making it unusable.
After about 5 days without a fridge we called them again, asking for compensation and a solution as they had not provided us with the service we paid for. We were instructed to drive back to Auckland which would have been an 8 hour return trip. Jucy donβt seem to have any care for the importance of time for travellers. This wasnβt an option for us as we already had some activities and sites booked in. So we then had to wait another 3 days before we had to source our own mechanic for the fridge. We had to sit on the side of the road and wait 3-4 hours for the mechanic to tell us the whole fridge needs replacing. Jucy then told us this can only be done in Auckland which was well away from us. Eventually we made the call that we canβt keep going without a fridge so we made the big detour back to Auckland. Here they scrambled to find another working fridge out of other vehicles.
I could go on forever but some of the other issues we had were only one hot plate working, majority of the blinds were not functional so we lost a lot of privacy due to this, given a blunt knife, no chopping board, fly screens ripped so it got very hot in the van as we couldnβt have windows open at night or else bugs would flood the van, grey water tank was leaking from when we picked it up which they had apparently βfixedβ, so we felt horrible with our grey water literally leaking all over beautiful NZ, fresh water tank wasnβt full upon pick up nor was petrol.
Still trying to dispute with the company to get compensation for this horrific experience. The worst part of it was that every other person we met over the month of our trip in a Jucy had some sort of issue. A couples van roof was leaking in 3 places and they were told to buy duck tape and try fix it themselves. All their bedding was soaked. Another couple had steering malfunctions which I would have thought was a health and safety hazard.
Anyway just do not do it to yourself. The time, stress and inconvenience is honestly NOT WORTH the money you save by going with Jucy.
I’m sorry to hear Jucy messed up your trip, Holly. While some minor issues when renting a campervan might arise – such as giving you the wrong cord (and I understand their position that it was easier for you to buy a new cord than drive back), it’s absolutely unacceptable not to explain and show you everything during pick up. It’s companies like Jucy and their lack of customer service that taught us to take our time and explain literally everything when our customers pick up our Smile Campervans in the Canadian Rockies. Hopefully, your next campervan rental will be a more enjoyable experience.