Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  07/02/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We rented a 26 foot motor home from Alaska Family Motor Homes . The Rental was from June 20th 2024 to June 28th 2024. We noticed right away that it did not look like the motor home in the pictures. The model number was 2108 indicating it was a 21 foot motor home (BIG DIFFERENCE ) We also noticed it was not just dirty but filthy inside. Counters, walls and all surfaces were sticky and visibly dirty. The step out was broken and almost caused my fianc to fall and hurt herself. There was no smoke detector. The bathroom vent would not latch and kept us up most of the night. The motor home was to be stocked with dishes, tp, napkins, dish soap, and clean pots and pans, There was no tp, napkins, dish soap and the pots and pans were filthy and gross. There was a dip in the floor by the stove indicating dry rot as well as the wall by the table being soft to the touch. The table itself was loose and not stable. We did reach out to the owner and basically he had excuses . We want people to be aware that the motor home we rented was not the one we got. The number 2608 was put on the motor home by the company which is the model number of the 26 foot Freelander we thought we rented. We have pictures to prove all that we have stated above. We are requesting half of our money back. The engine did work although we did have to add oil

  Business response

  07/07/2024

  *** Janezich

  Dear Sirs, 

  I have attached the invoice.

  We listed the motorhome as per our reservation system requiremennts. They require us to list the over all length of the motorhome which measures 26 feet from bumper to bumper as measured with a tape measure. The *** and year make and model of the motorhome are published on our website under the reservation calendar listing. This information is all public. These **'s are used motorhomes and are not new. The year of this Rv is 2008. Hence we called this motorhome 2608 as our internal numbering system. The model designation quoted by the customer is from the manufacturer and is not used or needed by our reservation system. The ** pictures are of the actual ** when we added this ** to our reservation system several years ago. I explained to the customer that this ** is listed by overall lenght as this is the standard for the entire ** rental industry. 

  This ** is not new and there is some wear and tear on this **. There are scratches on the outside and some marks on the inside. We cleaned this ** prior to their rental and we may have missed a few items. But all surfaces were wiped down and clean. It is possible we missed the dishes as we rely on previous renters to clean the dishes and report to us whther there are any problems. We had no complaints about this Rv previously or since this rental occurred. We issued discounts and credits to their account of approximately $1275 in order to appease them. I have attached a copy of the invoice that disputes their request for more than what they paid.We have responded to their requests of a special drop off times. They initially threatened to leave it at the airport unattended and we had to explain that the ** needed to be returned to our storage lot so that we can give them a ride to the airport. The previous customers did not notify us of any defects as we repair all safety items immediately. We did discover the ** step was not pulling out and we repaired that as soon as it was returned. We supplied a working. reliable ** to this customer and do not agree with their assessment. 

  We work hard every day to clean and maintain these rv's in safe , tip top condition. 

  We thank the customer for their critique and we have implemented a new inspection procedure to include a second manager to inspect all items for cleanliness and funcionalty as soon as they return and again after cleaning and prior to rental. We want all our customers to have a good experience. We are sorry that we were unable to please this customer, but we really, really tried. 

• Initial Complaint

  07/08/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  Original contract was dated October 26, 2021 and we paid $3,288.10. Primary complaint is the ** that we rented in good faith had a bad generator and the interior was in bad shape. Certainly not like the pictures they adverstised it looking like. After the first day, it died and for six days, we had no electricity, heat, A/C or hot water. I've attached a detailed description of all the problems we encountered but this ** should not be on the road. Customers deserve better. Although I feel all of our money should be refunded, we would be happy with having half of it refunded as we had a functioning generator for six of the twelve days that we rented the **.It was a 14-day rental but we arrived two days late and were still charged for the first two days which I didn't like but understood.

  Business response

  07/20/2022

  Hello. 

  thank you for submitting your issue to the BBB. I was surprised that you did not indicate there was any problems with the ** to us at all. the only issue you were concerned with was the lack of power which we responded to immediately when we found out.

  Due to airline issues you arrived unexpectedly without notice d and no current appointment. You arrived two days after we had you scheduled. You contacted me from the airport expecting us to pick you up immediately. I communicated that I was unable to come immediately because we were two hours away from the airport at our anniversary dinner. We needed up cutting our 42nd anniversary dinner short and came to the rescue and showed up at 10PM to pick you up at the airport and then returned to the storage lot where we demonstrated how everything worked fine, including the generator recharging the coach battery. We showed how the heat worked, the water heater, the stove, frig, lights, water pump etc. We showed the full bedding package etc. So when it left ********* all systems were fully functional , no problems noted. 

  the next day, you reported a failure to us late in the day. I indicated you should call roadside service , which you did. In the meantime, I attempted to get a mobile repair service to you. However since Alaska is so remote we were unable to set this up until the next day. also since you were ha=ending away from anchorage you did not want to change your plans. 

  Then you made a point to stop in at the ** service in ********, approx 2.5 hours from *********. The ** technician helped determine the source of the issue to be a relay that we had on our shelf in anchorage.Due to heavy workload, the ** tech could not help you but showed how to plug in to recharge the coach battery which would then run all your desired equipment. You chose to go on to ***** Alaska, some 5 hours away from *********, where I arranged to have the relay flown in and arranged a mechanic and another electrician to install this relay. Since you were leaving in a few days and had plug in electricity you chose not to have the electrician install this 12V relay.

  We then arranged for you to stop in to our repair shop in anchorage on your way through. we gave you a loaner vehicle so you could shop while we repaired the ** while you were shopping. You then continued the tripo without incident. And you did not inform myself or any staff that you had issues. 

  The ** performed as advertised. There are a few normal wear and tear issues and some hidden blind damage from a previous rental that were not discovered by our staff until you pointed them out. They were fixed immediately after your rental. I work hard to keep our customers happy and am disappointed you did not contact us first. You did not lose any days and you were able to complete your entire trip uninterrupted except you were inconvenienced due to the inability to arrange a convenient repair time. It would have been better to repair you in ***** several days earlier as an example. 

  We tried hard to meet your schedule and tried hard to please you. Due to your choice and your moving schedule we were unable to get a qualified mechanic or electrician to meet you until you came through anchorage again

  I will arrange to compensate you for loss of electricity for a few days and possibly loss of food etc. Thank you for your business. 

  Customer response

  07/25/2022

   
  Complaint: 17494264
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

   

  In response to us arriving two days early, two of our flights had been cancelled by the airline.  Our original flight was to arrive in ********* on June 2nd.  When that flight was cancelled, they rescheduled it for an arrival of June 5th.  I notified the owner and told him of the situation and asked if we would still be charged for the two days that we would not be using the ** and he responded by saying we would still be charged.  We found out the second flight cancelled on June 4th and we found two one-way tickets to ********* on another airline and had to pay $2,600 for those tickets and we had to leave immediately to catch that flight.  I sent the owner an email at 7:30 a.m. EST to notify him we would be arriving that day instead of Sunday.  When the first leg of our flight landed, I checked and received no reply from the owner so I sent him a text message informing him of our arrival.  Since we had to pay for the ** even though we weren't using it, we didn't want to have to pay for a hotel room since that WAS our hotel room.  I called their emergency number when we landed.  They indicated they had just finished their meal and would be leaving soon anyway.  Plus, the ** was paid for by us for our use.  I'm sorry...say you "didn't get the email" and "didn't get the text message" is hard to believe.  All other communications were responded to.  In any case, we patiently waited at the airport for them to pick us up which they did.

   

  He is correct indicating the **'s generator was working when we picked up the **.  It stopped working the next day.  Our complaint is that they didn't come to us to fix it.  They are in the business of renting **'s and their customers travel.  Their customers shouldn't have to rearrange their travel plans when the ** they rented us wasn't working.  They could have and should have come to us.  Especially once we were in Sedoltna when the mechanic confirmed the problem and the owner had the very part we needed in his shop.  The mechanic's letter is attached explaining the problems we encountered.  The owner told us that driving the ** should have recharged the coach battery but that didn't work.  The mechanic said there was something wrong with the relay which is why the coach battery wasn't working either.   We had reservations in ***** and would have lost a lot of money and even more of our planned vacation if we had to turn around and go back to them.  It was their problem to fix...not ours.  We did proceed to ***** as he indicated and we were able to plug into the campsite's electricity.  We would have been quite happy if they had come to ***** to fix the problem since we were going to be there for 3 days.  They are the ones who chose not to drive the distance to us.  

   

  Our original plans were going to take us back up through ********* and my anxiety level was getting raised quite a bit because we were supposed to be on our trip of a lifetime...not worried about repairs to the **.   We did alter our plans so that we could meet with the owner's son in ********* who was going to make the necessary repairs.  He did let us use his car while the repairs were being made which we did appreciate.  Once repaired, we went on our way and had no more difficulties with the generator.

   

  All of the other items that we indicated were wrong with the ** still existed.  We tolerated all of them as we were still eventually able to complete our trip the remaining week of our trip without incident.  It simply wasn't what we had hoped for or expected.

   

  The owner reached out to me today and indicated he was going to issue me a refund.  I will let you know if he follows through with that so the case can be closed.  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *************************

  Customer response

  07/27/2022

   Good afternoon.  I filed a complaint with the BBB on July 7, 2022 (#********).  Yesterday, I rejected the vendor's response and sent you more information.  Today, he contacted me and said he was going to issue me a partial refund which is all I truly wanted.  I would like you to close the dispute based on what he said to me so please do not pursue this further or publish my last response.  
  
  I called the BBB and was told that if he doesn't follow through with what he said and resolve the dispute with a satisfactory refund, I can reopen the dispute at a later date.
  
  Thank you.
  
  
  
  
  *************************
  

  
  

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩