Cruise America RV Rentals

Here's how Cruise America RV Rental Ruined Our Trip!

With three cats and two dogs, flying out to Elko, NV from Hollywood, FL was not an option, so we thought renting an RV for the trip was a good idea. Having seen so much of this great country as we crossed proved that the idea was a good one; it was in the execution that things went horribly wrong.

We settled on a 24' RV from Cruise America ( www.cruiseamerica.com). Big mistake! Despite the claim on their website that "..Cruise America's 33 year reputation of quality service is proof of our commitment to fun family vacations.", our experience shows that nothing could be further from the truth.

The fiasco started at their local rental office in Fort Lauderdale, when my wife Jeannee dropped me off to pick up the vehicle that was to be both transportation and accommodation for the next six days. Before you get the keys, you get to watch a 20 - 30 minute video on the operation of the RV - a lot of common sense stuff (have a spotter when you back up, be aware of the vehicle height, know that the tail swings wide in tight turns, etc.), along with specific instructions on how to operate the various equipment onboard, like the water heater and the holding tanks system. The video showed that the sink and shower drain into the 'grey' water tank, while the toilet drained into the 'black' water tank. Each tank has a separate drain valve, and there is a proper sequence for the emptying process (remove cap - attach hose and put other end in the drain at the dumping station - pull valve to drain 'black' tank - pull other valve to drain 'grey' tank - close valves - remove & rinse out hose - replace cap). At least, that's what the video described.

Gloria (the manager of the rental office) then took me out to the vehicle for a walk around inspection, and she instructed me to note any defects. There were a couple of superficial scratched on the exterior, and one broken drawer inside that I noted on the form. But when we went to the waste drainage access area, she pointed out that it was to be returned the way same way it was as we looked at it - with THE SINGLE valve opened and the cap off to show the tank had been emptied. When I pointed out that the video showed TWO valves, she quickly bent down, put the cap on the outlet and shut the access hatch, saying "this model only has one valve" and ushered me back inside to finish up the paper work. I paid, I signed and I pulled out to head home.

The trouble started almost immediately. On the ride down I-95 back to the house, the grille on the cook-top started rattling so bad that I had to pull over and set it on the seat. Merely a minor inconvenience I thought, but it was just a taste of what lie ahead. We loaded up a few boxes of stuff, our clothes and our supplies for the trip, and the following morning we corralled the menagerie and left before dawn, with the first leg of the trip going north on the Turnpike. Once we had reached cruising speed, a number of other defects were made evident:

• The rubber gasketing in the slider windows was dried up, broken or otherwise missing. The window glass rattled in their frames. Stuffing them with a variety of business cards, matchbook covers and paper towels would quiet it for a while, until these temporary fixes would work themselves back out.

• Half of the door and drawer latches were missing, broken or misaligned, so as we went around turns or over bumps in the road, we would get treated to them slamming open and shut by themselves. We ran out of duct tape our first day out.

• The screen door also rattled non stop. Stuffing rags around it and then shutting the door was our Rube Goldberg inspired fix here.

• The cook-top literally shook itself apart during the trip, especially when we hit the crappy, washboard roads in Georgia. Remember when you used to drag out Mom's pots and pans and beat on them with big spoons like you were Buddy Rich? Try to picture 5 days of that.

• The control panel for the RV systems like the waste tank levels and LP gas level would only work intermittently.

• One of the reasons we decided on an RV was that it had amenities on board, like a shower. On the first night, we wanted to take showers so I flipped the switch to turn on the water heater, we heard the heater fire up, but we got nothing but ice water. When I looked into the hatch outside for the water heater, I found an electrical terminal block was broken loose and hanging near the exhaust of the LP powered heater! This did not appear to be a UL approved application, so we did not get to use the water heater at all during the trip.

• The cruise control had the nasty habits of sticking on Accel on the level, and of cutting off on steep grades - usually when there was a Peterbuilt about to run up our backside. I lost count of the birds that I got flipped from unhappy, fellow motorists.

And so it went for the first three days, slam, bang, rattle, rattle, bang! There was so much noise in the vehicle that we could not speak to each other in the cockpit - we had to scream at each other just to be heard over the din! Our three cats and two dogs were nervous and unsettled for the majority of the trip. Jeannee was reduced to tears at several points along the way. And if you can believe it the worst, at least for me, was yet to come.

We stayed at campgrounds each night, and by our third day out we were at a little place in Missouri. We took a walk around the frozen pond, with our dogs setting foot in snow for the first time. Since the waste tank level was at 2/3 (on a rare occasion when the control panel did work), it appeared to be time to empty the tanks.

I got the drain hose out, and fitted one end into the drain at the campsite as I had been instructed on the video. But when I took off the cap, the contents of both tanks began to immediately discharge onto the ground and onto my person. Now I don't know how you feel about such things, but once something has left my system, I have no desire to see it again, let alone let it slip through my frozen fingers! Then, in my haste to replace the cap, I cut the bejesus out of the back of my hand on the jagged edge of the access hatch, adding the potential for infectious insult to my injury. In her haste to get me to sign off and drive away, the manager had not even closed the single valve on the unit - she had merely replaced the cap!

Thankfully, Jeannee was an EMT and a Medical Assistant instructor, and had the fore site to bring a bottle of hydrogen peroxide along on the trip. Yet even after repeated washings (with ice water - no hot water, remember) and a couple of peroxide rinses, my hand looked and felt like, well, like crap.

When we finally made it to Elko, I dropped Jeannee and the critters off, and headed straight back to Salt Lake City, UT to drop off the RV a day early. The guy at that location, while sympathetic to my situation, could do little but give me an email address and a fax number for Customer Service at Cruise America - no phone number, though. Perhaps they shut it off due to too many complaints like mine.

So, I emailed Lori ( Email User) on the 15th of February with a summary of my experience, requesting a refund. I received no reply.

I subsequently sent a fax to Lori at 480-464-7321 - a copy of my previously ignored request on the 23rd of February, with the same result.

On the 29th I called Salt Lake City office where I had returned the vehicle, to learn that the manager there has been appraised of my situation, but he hadn't seen fit to call me back, or to light a fire under the higher-ups regarding this issue, so I resorted to the only option still open to me, and disputed the charge on my Visa card.

Had the trip gone as we had hoped, or anything close to it (a nice family road-trip most of the way across the USA), I would have been happy to pay the $2,267.02 for the rental.

Had somebody, anybody, at Cruise America had the sense or the decency to simply acknowledge my complaint in a timely manner (beyond the guy at the counter in Salt Lake City), they might have found that I would have been satisfied with a refund of part of that amount.

But, after two weeks of emails, faxes and long distance phone calls at my expense with nothing but silence in return, even getting all my money back isn't enough. Copies of this chronicle were forwarded to:

• Cruise America Corporate Headquarters in Kingman, AZ - in hopes that SOMEBODY gets the message!

• The Better Business Bureaus in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Salt Lake City, UT and Kingman, AZ - in an effort to keep others from doing business with them!

• The Rip-Off Report ( www.ripoffreport.com) to further spread the word about this fiasco!

I strongly suspect that we were given this defective unit expressly because we scheduled a one way rental, and that it was easier to unload this wreck on us than it would have been to fix the problems with it. And I can't help but wonder why the video I saw showed a completely different waste management system than the one that was on the unit we had. From my experience in the automotive industry, it's almost as if there was a factory recall of a defective part, but somehow this unit was overlooked.

Only after I disputed the charge did I hear from Cruise America's Ms. Smokovich. She claimed to have sent a Gift Certificate to the address they had on file. In addition to having had our mail forwarded by the US Postal Service, we had a friend staying in our Florida house, who confirmed that nothing was ever received from Cruise America, despite Ms. Smokovich's claim.

In any event, this offer was wholly unrealistic and without value, as it would require me to travel over 200 miles for redemption at my expense, spend additional time and expense operating another one of their inferior vehicles, and then travel another 200 plus miles to return home. I can see the value to them - they have their toll free number and web address plastered all over each vehicle, so I would be helping them market their company on my dime. But it would have cost me a considerable amount just to redeem this certificate.

When the Arizona Better Business Bureau got involved, Ms. Smokovich changed her offer - to a cash refund of $204.00. In light of the fact that we spent $2,267.02 for the rental and did not get what we paid for, Cruise America's offer of $204.00 was woefully inadequate and unacceptable.

Cruise America's efforts toward resolution were abysmal at best:

• No contact was made until AFTER we disputed the charge, which we did not do until AFTER our repeated attempts toward resolution.

• My original complaint at the counter and my subsequent phone calls to there Salt Lake City Office generated no response.

• My emails and faxes to Ms. Smokovich generated no response.

• Upon learning that we had disputed the charge, Ms. Smokovich emailed me claiming to have sent me a letter with an offer of a gift certificate. No such letter was ever mailed.

• Upon being informed that we never received her letter, she again offered a valueless Gift Certificate as redress.

• When the BBB of AZ got involved, she offered us a refund of $204.00, around 8% of our total expenditure with them.

We chose to rent the RV based on their claims to provide quality service with amenities on board, which we simply did not receive.

• The water heater was inoperative for the entire trip, an could not be used.

• The cook top was inoperative for the entire trip, an could not be used.

• The sticking cruise control created a hazard to us, and to other motorists.

• The waste management system was defective, and caused an unpleasant and potentially hazardous situation by discharging feces directly onto my person.

• Upon further investigation, it appears that the reason for the discrepancy between the waste management system shown on their video prior to rental (two valves) and the system on the unit we rented (one valve, with electronic switching between tanks) is due to the company being aware that this one valve system was problematic. The company has since retro-fitted their fleet with the manual two valve systems, with the exception of the unit we rented.

The net result is that we were afforded no more utility by renting the RV from Cruise America than we might have had renting car for our trip - and the car would not have had the unnerving vibration and noise issues caused by rattling windows, unsecured doors and drawers, etc. We could have rented a full size luxury car for less than half of the cost of the RV, and the car would have used considerably less fuel on the trip. While I am not looking to gain damages, or compensation for the extra fuel, or anything for pain, suffering or inconvenience, in light of all the trouble we had on the trip I simply wanted a fair refund.

DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU! STAY AWAY FROM CRUISE AMERICA RV Rental!

--

Roger Leeper

Email User

Phone / Fax: 775-777-8706

Mobile: 954-439-5007

Comment On This

Crusie America does not know anything about customer service! Their vehicles are substandard and they should be pulled off the road and reinspected. After experiencing the worst trip in my life in one of the piece of craps - they offered my $100 refund and a $200 credit towards my next rental - like I would EVER RENT FROM THEM AGAIN.

DO NOT RENT FROM CRUISE AMERICA!!!!!

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Cindy Has Been one of the best Cutomer Service Reps i have ran into in a long time!!!!!!!!I have Rented With Cruise America Here in San Bernardino,Ca. and When I went in Cindy Soto Greeted me with much respect, I enjoyed her Customer Sevice, She knew what she was doing and how she was doing it, Thats why she is LOT MANEGER- She is a very bright and intelligent lady-Now for the complaint against her on the Propane leak ( DID YOU HAPPEN TO GO TO BURNING MAN) cause to my knowledge Cruise America Forbids that the RV'S go out thatway,I am sending her kudos on her service and how well she ran the buisness, I bet she is up there with the bosses now ( or at least she oughta be) CRUISE AMERICA IS THE BEST PLACE TO RENT AND RV FROM

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DO NOT RENT FROM 'CRUISE AMERICA'!!!!

We rented a big motorhome from Cruise America in Long Island, NY.

1. About 10 miles away, we noticed the gas was only half-full. We instantly called to make sure that they knew this and that we would not get charged. The person said 'O.K.'. AFTER WE RETURNED IT HALF-FULL, WITH NO BUDGING, WE WERE CHARGED FOR THEM TO FILL IT UP!!!

2. During the trip, in dwntwn Boston, we noticed the whole water tank in back was dragging. We called, but instead of waiting and delaying our trip for days, 4 of us crawled under the rig, held up the tank and reconnected it. We did the work, wasted more than half our day, and then did not use the water for the rest of the trip. CRUISE AMERICA GAVE US N-O CREDIT FOR THE HASSLE AND WASTED TIME DURING OUR RENTAL!!!

After repeated contacts with the management in Long Island, and never being called back, we contacted the corporate office who just pointed us back to the Long Island branch.

WE SPENT $2000+ WITH THIS COMPANY, AND GOT AN UNKEMPT VEHICLE WITH CRAPPY SERVICE---DO NOT MAKE THE MISTAKE OF USING CRUISE AMERICA!!!

Comment On This

WE HAVE RENTED RV'S FROM CRUISE AMERICA IN JACKSON HOLE WYO. TWICE. OUR UNITS HAVE BEEN IN GOOD SHAPE, CLEAN, AND THE

UNIT REP. THERE (JOHN) HAS BEEN FAIR, CURTEOUS AND PROFESSIONAL. WE HAVE BEEN RV OWNERS FOR 30+ YEARS, SO WE ARE KNOWLEDGABLE RV RENTERS. WE RENTED A 2009 /30' MOTORHOME WHICH RAN WELL & EFFICIENTLY. OTHER THAN WHY THEY CHARGE AN HOURLY RATE FOR USING THE GENERATOR AND LIMITED PICK-UP & RETURN HOURS.& THE CO. CHARGES FOR SEPARATE INS. ON THE RV WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE RENTAL COSTS, WE WERE CONTENT WITH THE UNIT AND THE SERVICE WE RECEIVED. WE HAD NO PROBLEMS OR ISSUES WITH OUR RENTALS FROM THIS LOCATION.

I WOULD BE JUST AS UPSET AS THE OTHERS COMPLAINING ABOUT THE CRUMMY SERVICE & TERRIBLE EXPERIENCES THEY HAD AND THE LACK OF REFUNDS & APOLOGIES RECEIVED FROM CRUISE AMERICA & THEIR C.A. REPS. THOSE SITUATIONS WERE INEXCUSABLE AND THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN TREATED MUCH BETTER AS CUSTOMERS AND CONSUMERS.

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We've rented from Cruise America for 5 years and put up with having to make sure to check oil levels in the engine and generator, tire pressure, we've had to make a few adjustments to get the door to close once, we had to tighten the bolt, ect. But our 6th time renting an RV from them has been nothing but a nightmare. When we did our walk thru of the Unit, I informed the lot manager that I smelled propane, the cover to the propane valve was open. Cindy Soto. lot manager, assured me there was no leak and I was smelling things. The refrigerator was checked before leaving the lot and it had started to get cold. After we got home, I noticed the frig wasn't any colder. My husband called the 1-800 number and they said to make sure the propane was on. It had been turned off on the lot. All 5 times prior to this rental we never had to turn the propane on. It was turned on so the frig could get cold. We packed up and headed out. We turned around twice because the air conditioner would only work 3 mins out of every 15mins. We decided we could deal with it and continued on our trip. About 10 hours after we arrived at our destination, we could smell a strong odor from propane on the outside of the unit. Three other people smelled the propane also, one being a park ranger. We turned the propane off which meant no more refrigerator. this was a pack it in pack it out event which meant no trash areas. After a few days the smell from the rotting fruit and meat was horrible we left the event 2 days early. Upon returning the unit we told them about the propane leak. You would think Cindy Soto would have said thank you for telling us about the leak we will have it checked out. Instead they wanted to argue with us about there not being a leak. Jorge the tech on the lot hooked up a pressure test to the propane inside the unit to test for a leak. There was no leak on the inside. Every time we would try to tell them it was on the outside Jorge and Cindy would cut us off. I was then told by Cindy, I was rude and disrespectful, there was no leak and that was that. Jorge himself admitted to us, the test he did ONLY checked the inside of the unit. Cindy did offer to take $240.00 off our bill for food lost and generator hours. Which we declined. This all started over us wanting to make sure no one got hurt by renting this unit after us. It became clear to us the leak wasn't even going to be acknowledged let alone fixed. We have been exchanging emails with Lori Smokovich now for 2 weeks, she won't answer my calls. She has offered a $150.00 gift cert. for future rental of one of their units. Which is only further insult to me and my husband. I now want refunded for our tickets and food after the abuse from Cindy Soto. I'm writing The Better Business bureau. I'm also writing the local paper to warn others of the dangerous units Cruise America is renting. As far as Lori goes, I've come to realize she hasn't the power to offer us more than the lot manager so I've asked for our case to be passed on to her superior. Mind you this isn't even mentioning the 3 inch gouge of rubber out of the side wall of the spare tire that was pointed out to Cindy and Jorge, they both promptly put the cover back over the tire not making note of it. So you can rest assured that didn't get changed. I believe that someone at that rental lot knew about the leak before we left and that's why the propane was turned off. When we wanted to turn the valve on so they could smell it, we were told under no circumstances were we to turn that valve on.

Cruise America rents dangerous units and people need to be warned!

Comment On This

Something similar happended with us recently. A poor vehicle, badly explained, shoddy maintenance, breathtakingly surly service and complaint handling and an unwillingness to make amends. Will never use, have recommended to all not use them