Indie CampersReviews 76

Worst rental company ever. Office is in a junkyard far from the airport in Split. The vans are in terrible state, broken parts (front car lamp, window fixtures, cooking gas knobs), the battery died out on our first day, issues all over. We spent three days trying to fix the problem taking the van to several repair services and had to incur the cost of repair on our own (850€) and we have not yet received the refund. The 24/7 road assistance is a complete lie. The phone service they offer is a Whatsapp chat bot from a different country offering vague and late responses that don't fix your problems in an emergency situation. Upon check out, we found the office empty, with several vans left open and in a similar state to the one we rented. Nobody was there for the check out, a hand written notice on the office door with a phone number of a worker that had left to Portugal on holidays. Please do not use this rental company as they are likely to ruin your holidays.

Booking was simple. Communicating with the host was fine. However the good thing's stop there. The van we hired for a week cost us over £1100.
Window latches broken, held shut with pieces of wood... Interior lights not working, aircon leaking, radio barely worked, belts screeching, blinds falling to pieces, provided chairs rusty, FRIDGE THAT DOESN'T WORK, table that's falling to pieces, electrics in a hole in the floor where water can easily get inside.

Now the van was on the cheaper side, we get that, you get what you pay for... Because of the faulty fridge and being in Spain... with the 30degree weather we couldn't store any food. We ended up giving the van back a day early and just getting a hotel. You'd think the hosts would come to a compromise and refund some of the money... no.

After pulling into a petrol station 10 minutes from the hosts, cleaning it thoroughly top to bottom, inside and out they still found a way to charge us over 500 euro. Well, the hosts got 450 euros from us, whilst Indiecampers pocketed 100 on top... I challenged this and they said it was "conversion fees". 100 euro conversion fee on 450? I don't think so.

Among the things we were charged for were a ripped broom handle, ripped bedsheet, bent bed?, missing items (nothing was taken), not emptying the grey water (100% was emptied before we gave it back, if you went to the petrol station we stopped at you would see on the cctv we did, along with all the cleaning we did). We were also charged for not emptying the aircon, the aircon you have in every car, since when do you empty aircon, and if we had to they didn't tell us... Also charged for the broken lights that were already broken before we picked it up. There's more charges to list...

We did break a window, however when we handed the campervan back the host inspected the van, ticked off everything as fine, agreed on a price of 100 euros OR LESS for the window. Everything else wasn't mentioned when he inspected it at drop off.

Wouldn't recommend if you hiring from outside the country, Indiecampers support are no help, hosts will sting you for charges knowing there's not much you can do being outside the country. Pay everything on credit card, take photos before/after, take photos of all paperwork, I'd even record them at handover because who knows who your dealing with.

Had a really bad experience with IndieCampers.
TLDR:
- charged ~1400€ for a small chip on the windshield that would have cost 160€ to repair at CarGlass
- poorly maintained and cleaned van
- False information given at check-in and check-out regarding AdBlue

We rented a van from Geneva for a 1.5 week trip in France.

Windshield: On the way back, 2 days before the end of the rental, a small pebble hits the passenger side windshield, causing a tiny chip less than 1cm. After discussing over phone and whatsapp, we agree with IndiCampers to try and get it repaired at a Carglass on our way. Unfortunatly, during peak season, all the carglass places we stopped at had a one week waiting time. They did confirm, however, that it could be repaired with resin for a cost of 160€. At check-out, the employee tells us that we'll be charged 215CHF for the chip, the standard cost at IndieCampers, but that we can contest it through Whatsapp. After discussion via whatsapp, email, etc., instead of a partial refund, we receive a new invoice, automatically debited from our credit card for 1200CHF! Without any explanation. We ask for the repair receipt, the van's mileage at the time of the repair, but once again, their whatsapp service avoid these questions and we still have no explanation. I'm sure the van was rented out in the same condition right after us, and the repair didn't cost them much, was covered by their insurance, but they're making 1400CHF off our back. I call that a SCAM.

AdBlue:
At check-in, the employee who had us fill out the contract explained that id the vehicle runs out of AdBlue, we need to refill it, keep the receipt, and we will be reimbursed. After 200km, the vehicle asks for AdBlue. I buy some, fill it up, and keep the receipt. At check-out, another employee confirms once again that we'll be reimbursed by sending the receipt to the WhatsApp chatbot. Someone responds that no, the policy is: they lend us a vehicle with over 50% AdBlue, and we have to return it with over 50% as well. I reply that with only 200km, I find it hard to believe there was over 50%. No further response from them regarding AdBlue after this message and still no reimbursement.

Van quality: The van had damage on the side, a cupboard door that wouldn't close and would sometimes open during the journey, causing pots and pans to spill out. Another cupboard door was jammed, making that storage space unusable.
The fridge had been cleaned with soap but not rinsed. A layer of frozen soap covered the walls. We didn't realize it immediately, and all the food we put in it tasted like soap, so we had to throw it all away.
We found belongings from previous renters in the van, showing that the cleaning wasn't done thoroughly.
A power strip was provided but wasn't compatible with the van's outlets -> useless.

At the first stop at Zion National Park, after the retreat at Las Vegas on August 14 we bitterly ascertained that in your Camper:

The sink of the bathroom does not dispense water while the shower and the sink of the kitchen is.
The water heating system does not work; the gas system starts and after a few minutes it goes in block because the pressure valve is broken (verified by Indie Camper Salt Lake City)
At certain times of the day, water comes out of the floor under the bed.
The RV door lock is defective and does not lock the door.
The steering wheel has no convergence and pulls dangerously to the right.

Zero Assintance in 11 days

LG

I back entirely what this couple experienced. Do not, under any circumstances, use IndieCampers. You will regret it. It is an appalling company. They have no interest whatsoever in you as a customer; they want your money and don't care how they get it.
We hired a Mercedes Marco Polo in Marseille. On our first night the bed failed, one side wouldn't go down fully. Rather than help us (all contact was over Whatsapp because IndieCampers doesn't want to help via phone - their staff would face too much abuse), they told us to drive to the nearest Mercedes repair company. That company was not contacted prior to our arrival. After a day there - they actually used my Whatsapp to communicate with the engineers (no phones, remember!) the engineers couldn't repair the bed. What did IndieCampers do? Nothing. They didn't deliver us a new van. We had already lost a day of our holiday travelling to the engineers. But, IndieCampers said we had to drive 100 miles back to their Nice base to get a replacement. We decided to persist with our holiday: me sleeping on the one seat that went down, my wife and baby daughter sleeping in the pop-up roof bed.
Here's the best bit. IndieCampers tried to blame us for the broken bed. We asked for a refund (we took out their pathetic insurance), but were told they would waive the excess miles (a few quid) instead. However, these excess miles had been run up acting as their delivery driver taking the van to the engineer centre, which was a good distance. There was no way we broke the bed. How could we? You just push a button. The guy who gave us the camper in Marseilles, admitted it had only just arrived from another depot. So, he didn't test it. But, we were blamed.
It gets better. When we complained that they were accusing us of breaking the bed and explained how inane that was, they then said we had been involved in a collision which had damaged the near side mirror. This was a blatant lie. They knew it. But, they were desperate to be as unpleasant as they could in the hope we would go away. They try every trick in the book.
This company is appalling. Don't go near them. They have no interest in you as a customer. They 'upsell' pointless insurance and then make up ways to get even more money out of you.
There are scores of reviews about how bad this company is. Don't risk it. You are fodder to be targeted. If you read a good review, I would ask yourself whether this dot.con business was actually the author of that review.

The camper van electrical system failed after one day; no power to living area without external hookup. This meant no lights, no running water, no flush toilet, no hot water, no heat. They told us to take it to repair shop 125 km away, not knowing how many days of our vacation would br lost. Or we could only use camp grounds with electric hookups and they would reimburse us. After many emails and sending receipts, they only reimbursed for half the campgrounds, and no reimbursement after we lost full use use of the van, no reimbursement for lost vacation time, or inconvenience of no electrical power to van while underway. The promised reimbursement of camping fees, but did not reimburse in full. Communicating with indiecampers was only through whatsapp during the trip, and only through emails after returning home. No phone calls to a live person. Recommend not using this company, if any problems come up, you are on your own.

1 star is too much for a ruined holiday. Left stranded in Italy until midnight with a child, paid for a service that wasn't recieved, extra charges we wernt told about. Van was a discrase and not fit for purpose. Customer service useless, wrong documents sent. I will be seeking refund and going to the media if not resolved.
Do your research before using this company, DO NOT reccomend

Not clean. Looked like the inside wasn't touched after previous rental.
Hair and debris in shower drain (gross - see photos!)
Half used and half melted bag with ice still in freezer.
Tampons in bathroom vanity. Kitchen toys in cupboards.
No dish wash liquid or a tea towel provided (surely that is a "basic" provision).
Clearly functioning hot water supply was not checked pre departure.
Bottom drawer fallen apart and pushed back in so not usable.
Shower sliding "door" (a flimsy piece of plastic) doesn't stay closed.
Tap handle kitchen sink keeps falling off.
No water to bathroom vanity.
Discharge hose had no end cap (resulting in flexy hose jumping out of the sewer discharge - gross!)

WORST OF ALL; no hot water for the entire trip so no hot showers and having to boil water to do dishes.
To add insult to injury, absolute sh.i.t support!
We were not told up-front that the support phone number is actually a whatsapp number so after calling for two days we rang the rental office to found this out.
Once we contacted support via whatsapp, we we're given links to some YouTube videos as if we're a bunch of idi.o.ts but no resolution as to how to fix the hot water supply.

DONT USE THIS PLATFORM!
They ripped me off, I reserved a van, when I finally got to the van renter, he didn't want to give me the van until he doesn't get an approval for safty deposit from the company (yes he was stupid, it is part of the terms of the platform) we spent 3-4 hours trying to get support from the company, when they answered on phone they told us to talk with the chatbot (what the hell?!?!) and they didn't help. So in the end I didn't take the van but the money I spent for the rental did not come back to me as this company doesn't have any support that works! They can drive you mad on chatbot, hang up to you so you need to start all over again and just getting you so frustrated so you gonna give up on your money. They are thieves, not less.

We contracted to hire an Atlas 5 for 3 weeks. P/U Munich; D?O Milan.
Initial queries regarding an extra driver, additional bedding and so forth, were directed to 'Ask'/Help' contact page as instructed.
Lack of response led to further inquiries, automated responses - clearly AI generated and directing us back to FAQ page. Unhelpful in the extreme.
Eventually received a phone call which resolved that singular issue re booking.
Arrived at collection point - outer reaches of Munich, extremely tricky to get public transport to - to discover the vehicle we had contracted for was absent. Instead we were offered a 'similar' vehicle. I know this is common when renting a vehicle, however the vehicle we were offered was in no way equivalent & in fact a long way short of what we had booked, paid for & therefore contracted to rent.
The list of defects is extremely long & I wont post them here - other than the absolute joke of the toilet: the handle to the external door (for emptying the cartridge) was broken, hence the door could not be opened, hence the toilet was unusable. The solution offered? They gave us the broken handle to take with us.
BTW - I have many, many photos of the defects if anyone wishes to dispute my claims.
Suffice to say that the gentleman dealing with us had no response to our queries about how the multiple defects might be remedied before we left the depot, essentially shrugging his shoulders & indicating 'not my problem'.
Overall an absolutely woeful, unprofessional and unethical company.
Multiple issues arose during our 3 week hire, including a leading roof, inability to open the windows in Venice's heatwave due to broken insect screens, and an atrocious smell emanating from the greywater tank which we flushed multiple times to no avail.
Indie Campers did not respond to contact from us AT ALL for the duration of our trip.
Upon returning our vehicle to the Milan depot the representative was heard to say 'this camper is a f...g piece of sh1t', which neatly sums up our experience.
He also instructed us to take our own photos and videos of the vehicle conditions because - 'sometimes my photos get changed'
I am not surprised to see that many complaints about this company are current and involve allegations of various breaches of consumer law in multiple countries, confusing contracts, unexpected & unauthorised charges & deductions from people's account, inept and rude representatives. The company, and its representatives, make it exceedingly difficult to register (well-founded) complaints, and regularly seek to remove poor reviews.
We have- as yet - not been offered a partial refund or recompense for the failure to provide the vehicle contracted, nor the inconvenience of a vehicle that was not fit for purpose. We won't hold our breath.

Worst service ever. Dangerous and dirty.

That sums up my experience with Indie Campers.

I took a few days off to be neutral and describe what happened without any emotional judgment.

I've rented vehicles and camper vans with 10+ companies for years as part of my job (vanlife influencer, CEO of a digital nomad community, and CEO of digital nomad electronics solutions). But I'm shocked by the experience I had with Indiecampers.

Storytime.

I booked an Active Van for two weeks to travel up north and create vlog content. However, we were not served as expected.

**FIRST VAN**

On the first day, we arrived at the depot and received our first van. It was in pretty bad shape, but this can happen. Sadly, this was nothing compared to what we experienced.

After leaving the depot, multiple problems occurred within an hour and a half:

- The engine led lit up on the dashboard, signaling danger.
- The brake started to malfunction with a "no brake fluid message" displayed on the dashboard.
- We found dirty underwear with feces from the previous owner within the van.
- The fridge was broken.
-

We tried to reach customer service on WhatsApp, but there was no response (sometimes taking 1 to 2 hours to reply). Their answers were unsatisfactory, such as "end your trip and leave a review afterward" when we could have been killed with no brakes, or "pay for the repair, and we will refund you after."

We then spent three hours negotiating over the phone and more than two hours on out-of-plan calls with the hotline to get replies on WhatsApp. Finally, we agreed to swap the camper van.

**SECOND VAN**

The following day, we had to take the dangerous van on the road to swap it, losing half a day and paying ourselves for the excess fuel.

We got a second van, which was worse than the first one - very uncomfortable but at least not dangerous.

Two days later, we realized the water tank was leaking, and the hose to fill up water was missing. Indiecampers' answer was to buy one ourselves, and they would reimburse us. Additionally, the battery was dead, making it impossible to use electrical equipment properly.

After so many problems and dangers, I spent hours negotiating with customer service for an upgrade.

**THIRD VAN**

Finally, we got a properly working van (from an active to a nomad) for the remaining days. A few things weren't working correctly, but nothing too bad.

In summary:

We had a dangerous van. We lost three days going back and forth to the depot and over the phone with the worst customer service ever. We had problems with 2/3 of the camper vans. We were advised to "finish our trip" with no brakes. We found dirty underwear from previous owners.

We were only able to produce content with the last van, which looked like a proper vehicle.

We asked for a partial refund for the lost days of our holidays, out-of-plan phone calls, and excess fuel we had to spend for all these trips, but we received no answer.

I'm shocked by this quality of service, the worst of all the rental companies I've used. Since this is a company expense, we're turning to our lawyers to file a legal complaint for life-threatening problems. Legally, there is a fail to help a person in danger from the customer service, which advised us to "end our trip and file a complaint" when we had brake problems, which ticks the penal case box.

So, if this is useful to someone: AVOID Indiecampers as much as you can.

Our experience with Indie Campers can only be described as a distressing and frustrating journey that we hope no other travelers have to endure. The litany of disappointments we encountered paints a grim picture of this company's unprofessionalism and lack of consideration for its customers.

To begin, Indie Campers deceived us from the outset by advertising SEATAC airport as the pickup location, only to change it to Enumclaw, an inconveniently distant location without any prior notice. This resulted in a difficult journey, wasting precious time and setting the tone for the debacle that followed.
Upon reaching the pickup location, we were greeted by a private residence bereft of any amenities. The absence of restrooms and basic accommodation forced us to leave our belongings exposed to the scorching sun while we waited for service. Adding insult to injury, the location was severely understaffed, with a single individual handling cleaning, dispatch, and customer support. This person even appeared to be residing in one of the vans on the property, casting doubts on the company's professionalism and standards.

Moreover, the lack of a wifi connection at the pickup site made it nearly impossible to complete essential digital paperwork promptly, causing further delays and frustration.

Our dismay continued as we found the camper van in a deplorable state, unclean and neglected. Without any recourse, we had to invest our time and effort into cleaning the vehicle, including the unsanitary toilet and shower, before embarking on our trip. Furthermore, the provided bedding kit was taken from a pile of laundry stored in another camper and the kitchen kit was also filthy and lacking some of the advertised items.

After waiting nearly three hours to complete pickup, we were unable to reach our planned destination due to the delays and the mental exhaustion from dealing with their gross incompetence. As a result, we opted to get a hotel for the first night of our trip, incurring additional costs and a disappointing start to our adventure.

During our trip, we encountered yet another unwelcome surprise when we received an email notifying us of a drop-off location change. Upon contacting customer service to reschedule our drop-off, we were assured that our new scheduled time was 11 am. However, upon arriving at the return location—a sketchy, unmarked warehouse—we found no staff present, leaving us stranded and frustrated. Customer service revealed that our drop-off time was not updated in the system, causing yet another unnecessary inconvenience.

Our ordeal did not conclude there. Despite receiving confirmation of a smooth return, we were charged an exorbitant amount of $1,200.00 on our credit card, allegedly for driving an extra 1,200 miles.
Sadly, our distressing experience with Indie Campers is not an isolated incident. At first glance their reviews look good, but numerous online accounts of similar stories and accusations of scams and fraud emerge when researching the company more deeply, revealing a pattern of deceit and negligence.

In summary, Indie Campers proved to be an appalling company, lacking integrity, honesty, and respect for its customers. AVOID INDIE CAMPERS AT ALL COSTS! Would give a zero-star review if possible.

I dont recommend this company. I rented a Nomad Van for 3 days

First they delayed the delivery for 2 hours, which had to make me change me entire plans. After that they delivered the van without the Toll tag slip and no kitchen kit... I had to go do IKEA to buy everything for the van.

During my trip we had a accident while parking, and it damaged the back of the van, but just one fiberglass part that doesnt cost a lot. They literally charged us 1050 euros for the damage. A small part in the backthat doesnt cost more than 100 euros. When i asked the staff to review this they said they couldn`t do anything about because it was just a form with preselected prices that they had to fill and that i should email the customer service.

Well... I did that but they just replied saying that they could have charged me even more... Like if they were doing us a favor after being late, not being ready etc etc...

Worst experience i had with camping vans.

An Appalling Rip Off
I hired a campervan from Paris depot. The staff were very friendly… although at the start I saw the van I was renting had been very badly treated. They did not have an alternative and as my elderly disabled friend I was taking on her final holiday was distressed I took the van.

The problems started within a few miles of the depot. A day before I was due to return the van the engine started smoking badly and I had to get my disabled friend out of the van and home. I contacted indi campers and they did not get back to me. During the two weeks we encountered all of the following problems:

Fridge did not work
Hob was dirty
One window wiper
Plastic Trim fell off the roof which we kept for evidence.
Bed in ceiling refused to stay down
Bedding we paid for was ripped
Only two of the 7 window blinds worked had had to be gaffer taped into place.
The shower was dirty
The toilet leaked
The first gear jumped out of place.
The engine smoked so badly we had to abandon the van
Indi campers then charged a further 700 pounds.

The customer service reps were unhelpful and refused to reimburse us for the days we were told we would have to spend at a garage getting things fixed a day after we hired the van.

This company is a total rip off.

When I went back to the depot to pick up my car I met two Australians who had many of the same problems but had returned their appalling van three weeks early! They had been told they would not get a refund.

Since I still have the van and reading of many similar experiences I have decided to keep the van until I am fully reimbursed for this terrible experience.

Update on the previous review.

Indi Campers took a further €2000 from my bank account even though the camper van was unusable. They agreed to fully reimburse me if I took down this review and handed back their camper.

I received no reimbursement. They took back the van and we do not have an address in the UK where we can initiate a small claims through the court.

When they took the van they did so without me being there and accused me of damaging the van without providing any evidence.

I cannot stress how appalling this company is. There is no legal recourse, no customer service and once they have your credit card details they can take as much as they want whenever they want without once giving an invoice or explanation as to what or why they are taking money from your account.

WARNING! DO NOT RENT FROM THIS COMPANY!
This company put my sister and i in danger while we were traveling from Denver to Utah and back. The things which were promoted by this company such as the toilet, shower, electronics, ALL MALFUNCTIONED and there was NO USER MANUAL in the vehicle which is ILLEGAL. The key fob would often not register with the van leaving us in the middle of nowhere unable to start the van. The customer support was NOT SUPPORTIVE and DID NOT COMPENSATE for our horrible experience in their van. They charged me extra for the propane that we DIDNT USE, they charged me for a PRE-INSPECTION which if performed properly we would not have been in the situation we ended up in. They continued to charge me FULL PRICE for the trip regardless of the inability to use the services advertised and putting us in danger. I will continue to pursue this company for falsifying information to make a sale.

If I could give ZERO stars I would!

Our camper was ordered & paid for through the Indiecampers website. There was no mention of marketplaces or which campers were privately owned or owned by indie. We flew from Adelaide Australia into Paris France, picked u the camper & our plan was to drive around & explore Europe. There were 6 passengers all up.1 week after collecting the vehicle, the gearbox went & we were stuck on the freeway 1 hour outside of Rome. We still had 3 weeks of our trip left before we had to be back in Paris to fly home. We spent 1.5 weeks in Italy waiting for Indiecampers to finally make up their minds if they were going to fix our camper or send us one of their fleet. After telling us by phone that they would cover ALL of the hotel costs that I had to incur whilst waiting on them, I find out that they would only cover 2 NIGHTS IN TOTAL. We were already 1.5 weeks in & I was already in debt of over $3k Euro. We had no vehicle to get around & now, I had to fork out MORE money to cover accommodation for all 6 of us - with NO assistance from Indiecampers. We took out the insurance component, which was in itself a waste of money as they too refused to cover all the accommodation in the repatriation of our crew back to Paris. The only thing they did offer us was to reimburse our flights from Rome back to Paris. Mind you, its now 2 MONTHS later & I am STILL waiting for reimbursement. All in total, I forked out an extra $******* Euros on accommodation, vehicle, transfers - with NO assistance from Indicampers or the insurance company at all. All because Indiecampers DO NOT regulate their campers, owners dont need to prove their campers are sufficient & even though you book the camper through INDIECAMPERS website, they take NO RESPONSIBILITY for when things go wrong.
Indiecampers ruined out family holiday, of which we saved for years to finally be able to go & we will never forgive them - nor will we ever hire through them again.

Beware of this company at all costs!