We have just completed our first ever Camper van experience with a Britz 2 berth Venturer.

Hired from the Queenstown branch we went through the Catlins area for 6 days and had an enjoyable experience. The van was very clean and well supplied with everything that we needed. The booking, collection/ returning of the van was seamless and staff were very helpful and answered questions that we asked. We found the App very useful when we needed to know anything specific. We stayed mainly in camping grounds so used their facilities- toilet and shower but used the toilet during the night to urinate and emptied at dump stations. The outside barbecue was a bit hard to ligt but efficient for what we needed. Found the bed comfortable and we were warm and dry inside.

We would definitely try again and would use a Britz camper van without question.

Reviewed almost 3 years ago

Britz was terrific.

Van was in great shape. Had everything we needed. Would definitely rent from them again.

Reviewed over 3 years ago

I was part of a group of 7, who hired 3 campervans, one a Mercedes sprinter ( Kea 660), the next a Mercedes sprinter van, and the third a Toyota Hi- ace.

The overall experience of the campers was good, the pickup and return efficient and helpful. The overall cost was astonishingly reasonable. The vans were all great to drive.

However all vans had problems, which should have been highlighted by the most rudimentary checklist, at preparation for hand over to the next client. On the Mercedes/Kea 660 there were 2 potentially dangerous faults with the operation of the vehicle. (1) When the vehicle brakes were applied, the reversing lights came on, when the gear selector was put in reverse, the brake light was on..(2) The O ring on the male gas regulator connection to the gas bottle was so shredded, it looked like an end of a frayed nylon rope. The bed which pulls down from the roof ( a really good design) wouldn't come down, then jammed and wouldn't go up...the problem was a mounting screw of one the bed elevating tracks that was half unscrewed, trying to join the 3 screws missing below it. The 2nd Mercedes van either had an electrical short, or a defective house battery, causing it to very rapidly lose its charge. We were treated to frequent running of the motor, to enable use of any electrical appliance,water pump, fridge,lights...etc. The Toyota had no power in the house battery, and non functional gas. On ringing the help line, we were told it shouldn't have been used for freedom camping....despite having a self contained certificate on the back window...The house battery eventually charged up. The gas bottle was found to be full, but it took the help of a gas specialist to connect the mixer to the bottle with great difficulty, which despite the full bottle, gave very weak burn at the stove.

All these campers are well designed, and if detailed properly will give you a great holiday, at an amazing fee. Do some checks first before you head off.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

Had a great 4 weeks travelling both islands.

Van in good order when we picked it up. Just so much freedom even for us old silver surfers, fully recommend. Don’t think about it do it.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

Great service at their main station at Auckland Airport.

Asked for an upgrade, which was a very fair deal and we really got a great car. Everything else worked very smooth. So highly recommended!

Reviewed over 4 years ago

My wife and I booked a camper van March 2020 with Britz New Zealand.

Unfortunately Covid lockdown hit week before we were to pick up the van. We contacted Britz and they were excellent immediately giving us 50% refund and 50% credit. With continuing lockdown on travel Britz on request have refunded us the other 50%. Can’t ask anymore really and when things open up will look forward to booking with Britz again. Everyone we dealt with professional and pleasant. Colin and Edel Murphy

Reviewed almost 3 years ago

Britz was terrific.

Van was in great shape. Had everything we needed. Would definitely rent from them again.

Reviewed over 3 years ago

Hired a camper during their Covid Campaign and wasted three days of my life with their book system crashing.

On arrival our van was disappointing as had scratches and dents, waste water was full, diesel low and needed everything done before we left. Bought food and drove all day to find fridge not turned on and mouse poo under the drawers. There was no snow chins as requested and a number of issues with all the blind attachments falling off.  The loft bed was almost unbearable with a stupid metal bar through the middle which cut into your back as the inch thick mattress did not cover it.  A red dash light had been on since we collected the campervan and when we finally found out what it was it was a major fault and we had been driving an unsafe vehicle. We lost a day of travel stuck on the side of the road, with no one bothering to call us back as the call centre in Auckland was not receiving transferred calls after their fire - a comedy of errors but frustrating when you have made more than 12 phone calls. So badly handled we spent 24 hours waiting on call backs each time and no one knew what was happening.  Worst of all the rude man at the campsite involved in the promo would not swap our Britz campervan even when they had spares claiming Britz were responsible for our dilemma and not his problem.  Britz sent us on wild goose chases around town to a car rental place that did not exist or had no rentals available and suggested we pay for another hire car.  Worst 24 hours of my life and lost gear transferring luggage in the rain that was left in the previous camper.

Reviewed over 3 years ago and experienced in September 2020

We had numerous faults with our van.

The oil light kept on coming on. Was told to just keep driving.

The diesel heater did not work.

No arm rest on drivers seat. Broken.

Slates on bed broken.

Hinge on cupboard broken.

Cigatette lighter no connected so unable to charge phone.

Curtains need to be replaced.

Awning covered in mould and full of water when opened.

We paid alot of money to hire the van and we expected it to be in better condition.

On returning to van we informed the customer service of our complaints but was disappointed in their response.

It was like oh well who cares.

Reviewed almost 4 years ago

Our family were looking forward to seeing NZ and supporting local operators while on our Xmas break.

We saw our beautiful country and met some lovely people. However, our experience with Britz was very disappointing from start to finish. The vans were not stocked properly, were dirty, in bad repair and smelt. We traveled with two other families and they had their own issues also.

1. Red engine warning light came on not long into trip stating engine oil overfill. After several conversations with Britz they stated it was fine to keep driving resulting in oil splattered over the front of van.

2. Had to wash our linen as in particular the pillow cases were dirty and smelt.

3. Bathroom smelt foul and we didn't use it.

4. Jug was broken and stove igniter didn't work.

5. Upstairs bed smelt like armpits (my poor kids).

6. Handbrake wouldn't unlock and kept alarming.

7. Main door broke and had to tie string to keep the fly screen attached.

8. Table area cushions smelt like stale urine.

9. Main bedding was a jigsaw of cushions and not comfortable.

10. Curtains to top compartment were dirty and falling off the rails.

11. The van rocked with the slightest movement when stationary.

12. Mold growing in the corners of the van.

We had conversations throughout our trip with campground operators and they shared their customers experiences with Britz, Maui, Mighty etc and the disappointing state the vans are often in (having to empty black and grey water from newly picked up vans). Their check in process was shambolic. The crew literally taking stuff out of one van and putting into another while you were waiting. There didn't seem to be any checklist of items that each van should have. One of our traveling families had to go back to the depot three time

Reviewed almost 4 years ago

Hired a Ventura Plus for 11 nights.

While we managed to enjoy our trip, certain aspects of the van were terrible. The wells under the loo were full of someone else's pee which then leaked into the shower & out underneath onto the floor- disgusting! My partner had to clean it up, not great.The drains were not working properly so unable to use the shower after it was cleaned. We were told to take the van to a garage somewhere? & get air blown thru. Went back to Chch 2 days early & complained, tempted to leave it then but would have had to pay the 2 days so they blew air thru & we took it away. No difference to the pipes. We were offered $43 compensation for the toilet - they charge $125 if clients take a van back without emptying it. Anyway, they did give us a discount to cover the cost of 6 nights in camps as we could not freedom camp due to no shower. We are experienced motorhomers, dread to think how newbies would cope as not much in the way of instruction was given. BTW, the bed was so hard we had to buy underlays. Mechanically very good. Heating great. Left some Commando hooks for future hirers as there was nowhere to hang anything. Dirt under edge of fridge including cat biscuits. Staff are obviously well trained to deal with disgruntled clients & the complaint system is a fob-off, as no one comes to help, they tell you what to do. This is a sad state of affairs when tourists come here & strike these problems. Shame on you THL, we did this trip to support your hire company due to the downturn in the tourist industry.

Reviewed over 4 years ago

My partner & I paid a fair bit of money to reserve one of the newer model 4 berths as they are well laid out & we were traveling with a lot of luggage, when we arrived we were just given a 6 berth campervan

. We weren't told that it was different to the one we had paid for, only when we queried it did they tell us. The 6 berth was not a good layout at all, no head room in either of the 2 main beds, harder to maneuver & probably less economical than the one we booked. Its a term in the contract that they can substitute another van of comparable or bigger size but this was definitely considerable a downgrade for us when you compare the 2 models.

And then we set off then and soon discovered the elecric windows didn't work and the passenger side door didn't lock.

When we got to the final depot to drop off the van, we listened to 3 people in the queue in front of us make similar compliants. Seems like they advertise these newer model camparvans to get your money then give you 2nd rate vans. Pretty dishonest and bordering on fraudulent practice if you ask me.

All customer service interaction we had was poor, from check in, support hotline to drop off. We received no apology when we informed them of the faults with the van and I wonder if they even logged them properly and attempted to fix them before hiring it back out.

Also they try and sell you the express drop off package when you check in. They told us to fill up the gas bottle would be $80, we decided against it and when we came the to fill it up at the end it came to $13, yet another lie we were told.

Please think twice before hiring a Britz, Mighty & M

Reviewed over 4 years ago and experienced in March 2020

Awesome weather, no rain!

The van was good but a bit noisy while driving it. All in all good value for money

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

We had a wonderful trip to New Zealand, but our experience with our Maui Britz rental RV wasn't good at all.

There were two of us, and we opted for the "smaller" motor, which is meant to accommodate 4 comfortably (I can't imagine having four people in there, but I guess it's technically possible). We opted for with Maui brand, because we were told they were newer models, and quite frankly I didn't want to be stuck broken down on the side of the road with an older model. WELL, we don't feel like we got what we paid for AT ALL when it comes to quality or service. The service at pickup and drop off was terrible. The rep who was supposed to give us detailed explanations of how to use everything in the RV acted rushed, like she had better places to be. At one point, she actually SAID "I don't have time to show you that!" The RV was well equipped and relatively comfortable (the bed was actually great), but it was extremely noisy with pots and pans rattling around - we had to put paper towels between them all to reduce the annoying noise; the microwave mount was broken, so the oven kept sliding out and making horrible ratting noises as we drove - for the last two days we were afraid it was going to come crashing onto the floor at may times. The roof hatch flap was broken, so we couldn't open it for air ventilation, and somewhere on the roof there was a leak, so when it rained (which is did a lot while we were there), water would come with a heavy flow down onto the counter and got our bed wet - we had to resort to keeping towels up on the counter the whole time. And the worst part was we had a dead house battery the first time we tried to freedom camp without power hookup - we called the help line, and they told us we had to take it to a service center four hours out of our way the next day - which of course burned an entire day of our trip for us. I just think for the cost the product and service should have been much better, and I cannot recommend it.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

A bigger-than-expected van that gave us plenty of space to move around in comfort.

It contained all the basics that enabled us to do a mixture of paid sites and Freedom camping. The support was good (we had a problem with a broken outer locker door but it was quickly fixed for us). We had an amazing trip with the knowledge that we carried our 'house' with us and could adapt our plans as we wanted, depending on where we ended up.

Reviewed almost 5 years ago

The camper that I in the end received was good but the hassle to get to that point wasn't great.

However quite disappointed about the initial service and what I would call false advertising.

I had spent significant time researching the specs of the campervan and the existence of a rear vision camera was important to me as I was travelling on my own. Unfortunately the van that I received didn't seem to have a working rear vision camera and when I called the helpline about this I was directed to return back to Christchurch. When I asked about a garage closer to Ashburton or Geraldine I was instead offered a garage in Blenheim (talk about a geographically challenged helpline,which was based in AKL, not overseas). After that I was told that the cameras were so specialised that I had to return to the Christchurch base to get it fixed. Even though I asked what that would mean for me if it couldn't be fixed as it would be late afternoon on my return to Christchurch I couldn't get an answer and I was refused my request to speak with someone else who might be able to answer this question.

On my arrival back in Christchurch I was told that "Britz doesn't guarantee rear vision cameras" - well and good but then don't advertise the campervan to have one or make it clear that not every camper of one type may have one. On top of everything it turned out that there was nothing wrong with the camera of the van as it didn't have one! Shouldn't Britz have this info for their vans on tap instead of sending me back to get a non-existent camera fixed??

To be fair they offered to fix a camera onto the van and once they didn't manage this upgraded me to a newer version of the chosen camper with a working rear vision camera (though don't expect a great picture like you get in most cars now, it was a very grainy dark view which was hard to make out).

Just really disappointed about having lost a whole day of travel and having had to pay for that day on top of it.

Reviewed about 5 years ago

You are wonderful guys.

Very good managment and clear website. Unique mood to handle sudden situations. Simply great

Reviewed about 5 years ago

We have rented an RV before, in Alaska, so we have a bit of comparison.

We recently rented a 6 berth Britz for 2 weeks in NZ in the winter. It had 180k km on it. There were a number of issues. In the big picture, we were able to have a great vacation, and having a campervan allowed us to do this. Pros: Everybody we dealt with was professional. Interior looked nice/clean. Well stocked, including 2 warm blankets per person and an electric heater. Here are the issues: (1) Shocks/suspension were old/worn. A lot of road noise so that we could not talk between the driver/passengers. Also, after going over a bump, the van would oscillate several times before settling down. This did cause some motion sickness issues for passengers. When parked, even a young child walking across the width of the van would cause the entire van to tilt (2) Water storage - there was definitely something odd going on. After our first night, we ran out of water after doing 2 loads of dishes - probably 3-4 sink-fulls of water. At first, I thought this was the result of Britz not filling the water, but this happened several other times. So we never used the shower. This turned out to be ok, because we wound up staying at camp sites that had showers/kitchens, but I would be very concerned if we were at DOC sites with no water. (3) Kitchen bench cushions - that convert to a bed - had velcro, but the wooden slats underneath did not. This meant that while driving, the cushions would slip out constantly. The lack of velcro was very surprising (4). Fridge had a loose seal. It would detach from the door, which sometimes opened while driving. (5) WiFi through the TomTom was unusable. If traveling from abroad, I'd suggest simply buying a local Spark SIM card which works quite well. (6) Although we didn't use it much, the cruise control would sometimes not work. Not a huge deal breaker. (7) Took an hour for an agent to start with us at check-in. Bottom line: I'd probably rent a newer (Maui) van.

Reviewed over 5 years ago