Indie CampersReviews 76

Hired a camper in Spain, and the actual experience at the time was great.

However, 3 weeks after our return, I suddenly received an email that head office had reviewed the returns pictures, and had charged us almost £2,000 for damages.
After investing a lot of time fighting this, I even received a call from a guy at the hiring site who 100% agreed that there was no damage, and that this was clear even in the photos that head office had supplied.
Eventually, this charge was reversed, but despite promises no apology or compensation was received.

Unfortunately, we did not learn our lesson, and did not cancel the card. Another couple of weeks later, I received an email that we had incurred a fine in Belgium during our hire.

It took me all of about 5 seconds to note that the registration did not match, and this also occurred 2000km away from the hire location, when our return mileage was about 300!

Do *not* hire from this company or it will just start a chain reaction of frustration and charges.

I would like to file a serious complain about our experience with indie campers. The camper was literally a wreck. There were so many damages at the camper that it should even not be used anymore. Every window screen was not useble, we could not open the window on the roof, the sticker on our license plate was unvalid, there was a blancket to cover up the front windows missing. Even our battery for the living area was BROKEN? When we stopped driving or plug the camper out, our refrigerator immediately stopped working. How is this possible with a camper that you let people use? We hired what was on the website, A GOOD WORKING CAMPER. We spend so much money on finding places with electricity because the battery of the camper that you gave us did not work. We were willing to let this all go by but now we get an email that we should pay an EXTRA 2000€? This is serieusly a scam.

Everything about this company screams scam. We rented a campervan in Scotland from a woman through indie campers and 22 miles into the drive, the clutch blew which is impossible for us to have done ourselves. This is a rental vehicle where the clutch gets hammered all the time. When we were stranded on the side of the road, Indie campers support, despite their insurance claiming 24/7 roadside assistance, told us they couldn't help and left us to fend for ourselves. They charged the full security deposit amount of $3700 without telling us anything about the investigation, without providing us with any information about the costs. Zero communication at all. They do not care about customer service, they only want your money. Do yourself a favour and book with ANYONE else.

Before renting from Indie do yourself a favor and run a google search for: "Campervan damage scam".

My experience:
The trip was great. The Campervan was new and clean. Some parts of it were quite flimsy and not up to the rigors of rental van life (window shades, screens, sliding window stuck). The van I rented is advertised as sleeping/sitting 5, but the 5th seat is a joke and very unsafe. Sleeping for 5 was tight as I expected and prepared for by bring a tent. It would sleep 5 with small kids decently.

Checkout and check in was smooth and the folks working there were very helpful and friendly.
Also when I used chat to extend my trip by a day, the service was friendly and easy.

Then the damages:
I put a crack in the rear bumper.
When inspecting the rear bumper I noticed that it was made of extremely (think egg carton) cheap plastic. This plastic could not cost more that 50-100 CHF. I would guess that Indie installs these to ensure the cost of replacing bumpers is as cheap as possible. (They have a stack of them in the pickup location against the wall).
The charge to me? 1900 CHF.
The BS line was that it takes days to repair and I need to pay for the labor and they days the vehicle is out of service.

Well the camper came with a damaged mirror (obviously some other sucker paid for the camper being out of service) and the camper in front of me when return mine was being checked out with a damaged bumper.
So how many 1900 CHF collections to do they make on each 100 CHF bumper? Im guessing as many cracks untilthe bumper is no longer functional. ~8000 CHF per 100 CHF bumper.

Nice side hustle.

So beware.
Don't trust me, do the google research for yourself.

I rented from them in Iceland and regret it. They have terrible customer service and their vans are broken down. They don't care at all. Avoid at all costs.

Don't be fooled by the name, they're not hip or reasonable. They rip you off and tell you lies. Unfortunately, we had damage at the top of our van, which is not insured even if you buy the premium insurance. Indie campers charged us 2400 euros, twice as much as would be reasonable, thereby making our trip truly miserable. It overshadowed the fact that the van would stink of sewer for the first half our every time we took off, while we made sure everything was emptied, and the fact that the extra kits that we purchased were far from complete.

Nasty experience.

I recently had the misfortune of booking with Indie Campers, and it turned out to be an unmitigated disaster. From the moment I picked up the camper in Vienna, the experience was plagued with issues that left me feeling frustrated, disappointed, and completely ripped off.

Vehicle Condition and Delivery:
Upon picking up the vehicle, it was clear that the camper's condition was far below the standards promised on their website. The car had a broken table, reeked of cigarette smoke, and had windows that wouldn't open. It was evident that the vehicle had not been cleaned in a long time. Despite my complaints to the site manager, Nelson, who started repairing the vehicle right in front of me, the camper was delivered two hours late. To make matters worse, every time I turned right while driving, the kitchen drawers flew open, posing a serious safety hazard.

Customer Support Failures:
When I reported these issues to customer support, I was initially promised a follow-up call that never came. Another representative, Angelo, assured me of a partial refund and a follow-up email, neither of which materialized. The lack of response and accountability from Indie Campers' support team was beyond frustrating.

Misleading Protection Plan:
We upgraded to the Premium Protection Plan, which supposedly capped our liability at €199. Despite this, upon returning the vehicle, I was shocked to see a charge of €5,268.05 on my credit card. When I inquired about this charge, I was told it was for damage to the top panel of the back door, which supposedly fell outside the protection plan's coverage. This explanation was not only misleading but also directly contradicted by the terms of the protection plan.

Poor Communication and Resolution:
To add insult to injury, communication from Indie Campers was inconsistent and often in Portuguese, despite previous correspondence being in English or German. My detailed emails explaining the situation and requesting a refund were met with generic responses that did nothing to address my concerns or provide a satisfactory resolution.

Final Thoughts:
My experience with Indie Campers has been nothing short of a nightmare. From the subpar condition of the vehicle and the abysmal customer service to the misleading protection plan and unjust charges, this company has proven itself to be unreliable and dishonest. I strongly advise anyone considering Indie Campers to look elsewhere. Save yourself the stress, frustration, and financial loss by choosing a more reputable and customer-focused rental company.

Waiting almost 2 months for a refund that was made as per their policy; incorrectly referred back and forth between their support team and the host. I was still charged a a full service fee despite the poor level of service I received. Complaint now in to get an appropriate outcome.

We rented a van from Indie Campers for 30 days. During the rental period, a minor damage occurred on the side of the van, which two independent assessments estimated would cost about €1,000 to repair. However, Indie Campers issued us an initial invoice for €2,400. Although we found this amount to be excessive, we accepted and paid it, hoping to settle the matter.

To our surprise, we received a further demand from Indie Campers two weeks later. After a re-inspection, they recalculated the same damage, this time for €4,000. Without any warning, an additional €1,600 was debited from our account. This additional charge was made even though we had already reached an agreement on the damage costs.

Additionally, we discovered that a significant restriction of the insurance policy was hidden in a hard-to-find section of Indie Campers' help page. This restriction was not mentioned in any official documents such as the rental agreement, insurance information, or general terms and conditions, and no document referred to a help page. This appears to be a deliberate tactic to obscure important contractual details, which in our opinion violates the German requirement for transparency and thus may not be legally permissible.

Our experience with Indie Campers was extremely disappointing and costly. We strongly advise against booking with them if you do not want to face unexpected and unjustified demands. We are now considering taking legal action. Please think twice before doing business with this company.

I would never rent again from INDIE CAMPERS. The insurance is totally inadequate. Indie Camper aligned itself with a Swedish insurance company, Omocom, in which we paid $400 for 1 week of (what we thought) full coverage insurance. We had a minor fender bender in Aix en Provence. We hit a parked car due to the malfunction of the backup camera in our van. I took pics of the dent of the car (the camping van had no damage) and the license plate. The van owner then contacted Indie camper and was told that the hit was not covered since Omocom, being a Swedish insurance, would only cover any damage to us and our vehicle, not the injured party. Sweden is a no-fault country, but France is not. This is irresponsible on the part of Indie Camper. Additionally, the owner of the camper van, did not realize that his vehicle insurance only covered himself and his girlfriend as drivers.
What would have happened if this was more than a fender bender? We would have been liable everything we own. EVERYTHING!

Oooh. This is going to be a long list of issues.
1- the Paris depot, we arrived at the correct time of 4.30pm to collect out Atlas 5. One one person welcomed us, or gave us any indication that their were actual employees present. Just about 20 very angry people, storming about. Then they changed our booking to a 4 birth so they could give us a different campervan. But it only had 4 seatbelts, we are a family of 5 so this was not only unacceptable, it was illegal. Extremely long story short. We waited for 6 hours to get, what was a broken down van, to begin our holiday. The bumper had fallen off, the inside was disgustingly dirty, it had no drawer fronts, the seats were taped together etc. Minus day 1.
2-We had it for 1 week when the bumper fell off while we were on a round about. Unbelievably dangerous to say the least and really shows you how well the vehicles are looked after. Customer support, not at all helpful. They told me to illegally drive it to a garage, pay to have it fixed and they would reimburse us later. (I'm very glad we didn't after reading reviews) we limped it back to the Paris depot. EVENTUALLY got a new one and set off again. - minus another day. 2 days lost
3- We got stuck in gravel while on the roadside at a beach. Indie campers support did basically nothing except tell me that our insurance didn't cover this and to sort it ourselves. -€800 for a tow truck. -minus 2 days. 4 days lost.
4- the second campervan was very rough, bits hanging off, bumper smashed in places, keys didn't really open the side doors, filty, most of the inside was either broken, stuck or disgustingly dirty. The bedding was dirty, the sheets they gave us couldn't be closed because whoever dry cleaned they had melted all the poppers. The toilet didn't work, the drains didn't drain, all the taps leaked and the windows would break of you opened them out too far.

BEWARE! The speedometers in BOTH campervans clock your speeds as faster than you are actually going. So... it will register that you have done more milage that you actually have.

Oh but the cherry on the cake. We arrived home nearly a week ago today and we have been charged €2337.89 for repairs to the campervan... an indicator light was missing (it was very loose due to the poor condition of the bumper. We had to keep tightening the screws but inevitably it fell off) and then one of the little plastic housings off the top of the campervan had fallen off too. We were not aware of this. But apparently that little casing is worth €1233. They charged us today, despite our premium insurance policy with a deductible of €199. Which apparently covers absolutely nothing. The complaints department emailed me back today basically outlining parts of the contract and how the two plastic things wernt covered. But with absolutely no explanation for the costs. Just some headed paper with indie campers on it and the price. Which, as far as I can see, they have pulled out of thin air.
I do wonder how much they charged the people who had the van before us for all of the repairs that obviously wernt done to the van...? Including the smashed windscreen.
This experience has absolutely ruined our holiday and really left us with a bad taste. Never again will I rent from indie campers and I will not let any breathing person do the same. I shall litter the internet with my poor reviews and tell the whole world how awful of a company indie campers really are!

In synopsis,
DO NOT GET A CAMPERVAN FROM INDIE CAMPERS AND IF YOU ALREADY HAVE, CANCEL YOUR BANK CARDS!

Let me paint the picture of our RV rental experience, starting from the moment we picked it up in Seattle (Kent) – it was a disaster. The RV was filthy, with dirt coating the floor as if it hadn't seen a cleaning in ages. Despite the agreement with Indie Campers that either we clean the RV post-trip or pay for cleaning, it was evident that nobody bothered to tidy it up.

Heading into Washington state, we thought we were prepared with snow chains rented from Indie Campers. But when we inquired via live chat if the depot employee could demonstrate how to install them, as promised, we were met with a firm "no" upon arrival. To add to our frustrations, essential features like the vent fan in the dining area and the fridge were malfunctioning. Even the generator required multiple attempts before it decided to cooperate.

The employee's feigned ignorance about these issues was infuriating, especially considering this was a 2024 model. During contract signing, we were pressured into marking the RV as suitable for use, despite our reservations. This lack of transparency continued as we were left clueless about mirror adjustments and the RV's gas tank size – leading to a costly surprise of over $500 spent on gas alone, with a pitiful 11mpg fuel efficiency.

But the grievances didn't end there. Our supposedly sealed RV harbored an unwelcome guest – a field mouse that had taken up residence under the gas stove, contaminating our groceries and requiring us to foot the bill for trapping and disposal. Customer service's suggestion to shoo it away with noise in freezing conditions was utterly impractical.

Mechanical issues plagued our trip further – broken drawers, erratic USB charging, and a bathroom vent fan leaking water everywhere after rain. Dumping the tank proved to be a messy ordeal, with the gauge consistently misreading its capacity. Communicating with customer service via WhatsApp, with no local support available, only compounded our frustrations. Their solution? Pay out of pocket for a mechanic, with the vague promise of reimbursement.

Seeking a refund was met with disappointment – a mere $268 offered for a trip that cost us around $2k, a pittance considering the litany of problems encountered. Additional charges for excess miles felt like a money grab, especially when denied the option to opt for unlimited miles retroactively.

As grad students on a budget, the financial strain coupled with the stress of a ruined vacation was unbearable. Indie Campers' abysmal service left us regretting our decision to trust them. In conclusion, I implore anyone considering their services to steer clear – this company is nothing short of a scam, offering more headaches than relaxation.

Indie Campers is an awful company, and I would not recommend using them for your vacation. For starters, we are currently being charged a large amount of money for damages for a broken cosmetic piece and have not been provided with an itemized receipt for exact chargers. In addition, we weren't notified of the damage when we returned it, but 2 weeks later.
The camper that we rented was in bad shape to begin with and we had numerous issues with different parts of the RV. 1 The shower door was installed upside down, so we couldn't use it at all on our weeklong trip. 2. Numerous pieces of trim were coming off/had already fallen off in the kitchen and bedroom. 3. The Table to Bed... yeah, it was broken. We had to go to a hardware store to get tools to fix it ourselves so that we could use it properly. 4. The catch net for the bed on top of the cab was missing pieces so we couldn't use it. 5. It hadn't been cleaned properly and we found a collection of breath mints under the table cushions. 6. Multiple cabinets/drawers magnets didn't work, or they just didn't properly close. 7. We had old unwashed bedding left in the closet that we had been told was clean. The multiple pieces of hair and smell of them told us otherwise. 8. The outside of the RV was pretty beaten up. 9 The hoses provided were NOT LONG ENOUGH. Talk about gross. Yes, we understood that we would have to clean our tanks, but the hoses should have been longer to assist with the process. Finally, number 10. We were told we could adjust our mile package when we were on the road. We contacted them to try to adjust, and guess what... That was a lie! What a fun time trying to connect by phone and being told that no one on their USA side of operations uses a phone. I've seen multiple people say that they had to talk to support through WhatsApp.
Overall, Please Do Not Use this company.

All was supposed to be included got off the plane made are way to the camper delivered to us in a burnt down hotel parking lot, found out no sheets no kitchenware no propane a ducted taped window half a tank of fuel,host name is William camper nothing like the photos or contract that was submitted

I rented the Nomad campervan in Milan and went to the Dolomites and loved it! I think a camper is the best way to vist the area and the Nomad was great

I am here to share the utterly disappointing experience I had with Indie Campers during my recent rental of a camper van in Italy. I hope that by sharing my story, others can be spared from similar mistreatment and avoid this company at all costs.

So, I rented a campervan in Italy for several days. Before departure the whole inside and outside van was meticulously inspected by me, my partner and the depot staff at Venice Indie Campers. All good. Upon our return the staff came to inspect the inside and outside of the van. Again, me and my partner were present all the time. He took several photos and reported that everything was as before and we should receive the deposit money back within a few days. Then 4 days later to my surprise, Indie Campers charged me a total of 1.673.68 Euros for the following damage: AWNING MAIN STRUCTURE SCRATCH LIGHT (510CM) "upon vehicle return, damage(s) were identified that were not present at the time of the vehicle delivery. The customer is held liable for these damage(s) according to the Terms and Conditions...". A component we never even utilized throughout our entire trip, let alone damaged, and now we are reliable for it.

It's absurd to hold us responsible for damages we did not cause, especially considering we had diligently adhered to their protocols during both the pickup and return of the vehicle and also received the confirmation of the staff that everything was ok. I am now waiting to hear from the Incidents and Complaints department, which according to the staff at the webchat can take up to 48 hours.

Clearly, this is an extremely dodgy company that abuse their clients by taking advantage of them. Meanwhile, I find myself overseas with minimal credit left on my card, anxiously awaiting their communication to resolve this unjust matter. I am feeling cheated and taken advantage of. It's evident that they have no qualms about exploiting their customers and shirking accountability for their own oversights. This experience has not only left a sour taste in my mouth but also serves as a stark warning to others considering renting from this dubious company.

DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY FOR YOUR RENTAL!
Provided a camper van that did not have a functioning shower. The bed continuously collapsed because the frame has not been made to fit. When contacting support to try and fix the shower I was told I would have to take it to a repair shop so they could try and figure out what was wrong. I don't know how on earth I was provided a camper with a non functioning shower in the first place. I have contacted their complaints department and when I suggested that the extremely low offer of compensation they made was insulting and not even close to the amount of money I have had yo fork out to change accommodation plans they have now just ignored me. You call their hotline and you will just be told to email.
Not worth the extremely large amount of money I paid to hire a van from them.

We hired a van from Brisbane to Sydney from 19th to 30th December 2023.

On arrival, we were charged a security deposit of £1,743 from the card provided.
We were then charged a further £890 from a card I had not authorised to be used (so £2,600 in total!)

I was told that the initial deposit of £1,743 would be refunded by £1,300 to represent the correct deposit of £443 immediately by the finance team.
I was unaware of the second deposit until I tried to use my credit card and was dismayed & highly embarrassed that my purchase was refused!

Indie Campers still had £1,743 of my money over Christmas & New Year, which meant that we couldn't fully celebrate exactly as we'd hoped and had to cut our trip short by a day!

I rented the Ford Etrusco.

I their video it was clean and Brand new, but Not the Car i got. I payed 3000,- € for the premium packege for ten days. All i got. Was unmaintained camper wich had its best times in past. Leackage in the shower, disgusting dirty beds, no engineoil had to refill Oli. Dirty dawyer, old pants and socks. Bredcrums everywhere, damaged blinds. Even from outside damaged side-mirrors the fridge was smelling rotten. At least son had fun.

And all they offered after complaining was a lousy 10% refund. I told them to keep it. At least 50%….no way….NEVER AGAIN…BETTER STAY AWAY

I turned up to pick up a camper that I'd booked and confirmed. I had to wait a while because they were short staffed, only to be told that they'd made a mistake and the camper that I booked was actually not in working order, and they had nothing else available. My son and I had to cancel all our plans to visit friends and fly home early. I was promised someone would contact me to offer compensation but nobody did. I then chased them multiple times only to be offered a lame discount on my next hire. As it I'll be going back to them...