Our Cruise America vehicle turned out to have safety issues which we were not aware of until we were a day into our 2-1/2 week cross country trip (July 15-Aug. 2, 2013).
We called CruiseAm the minute things started to go south, and had to keep calling back over the course of about 5 days before we were finally given a CruiseAm-affiliate repair location in Rapid City, SD (our final destination) to which to take the RV. Although the shop could not fix everything that was needed, they were able to make the vehicle safe enough to drive; the repairman who worked on our vehicle stated that this particular RV "should never have left the yard" due to it being unfit to be on the road. He encouraged us to be extremely detailed in our emails and letters to CruiseAm to ensure that they understood the severity of the situation. It became increasingly clear that no safety inspection had been done on our vehicle (or at least not a competent one), which means it should not have been rented out. In addition, we had to repeat to each CruiseAm representative we spoke with what the list of problems was, as they apparently did not take notes or pass along information to the next person rep coming on duty (we spoke with reps morning thru evening).
Here are a few of the issues: The electric shoreline cable had been 'repaired' with duct tape, yet had wires sticking out of it. This resulted in significant electrical shocks to two people and two dogs due to grounding issues (lucky no one had a pacemaker). These were not small shocks; these were the kind of shocks that freeze you in place for a second and take away your breath. The dash A/C cut on and off the entire trip (av temp was in the 80s-90s outside). Roof A/C run by the generator leaked water all over floor. Roof vents were held together with zip ties, and did not keep rain out. The screen door was held together by duct tape, with a large piece of plastic broken off so keeping bugs out was impossible. Weather stripping literally blew off the door and window frames as we drove down the road. Locks and hatches on outside storage units were broken. the way back home, we found the hot water heater did not work, which explained why we never had hot water to wash dishes. The way we discovered the water heater problem was when we decided to try to use the RV to take a shower instead of the campground facilities (the very nice CruiseAm rep tried walking us through all kinds of fixes, none of which worked. She then said she could refer us to another repair facility, which we declined since by then we had grown weary of spending our vacation time getting the CruiseAm vehicle repaired). The list goes on and on. In addition to the dozen/s of phone calls with CruiseAm regarding these issues, we wrote a follow up letter upon returning home, since the rental location said they were unable to help us with any type of compensation (CruiseAm reps on the phone said the rental location was responsible; the rental location said CruiseAm is responsible). CruiseAm has offered about $200 in compensation, which is laughable. We have requested that they split the cost of the rental in half, which is more than generous. To date, we have received not response. The customer relations website does not work and has not phone number. CruiseAm reps we've spoken with upon return have told us that they are not allowed to "escalate" calls. I can only imagine that's because they have so many complaints. While CruiseAm has very positive reviews on its website, it will not publish anything that's less than flattering (we learned this thru personal experience). The most indefensible thing is that this company knowingly endangers its customers, many with children, by renting out unsafe vehicles.
Cruise America Inc. Reviews
Our Cruise America vehicle turned out to have safety issues which we were not aware of until we were a day into our 2-1/2 week cross country trip (July 15-Aug. 2, 2013).
We called CruiseAm the minute things started to go south, and had to keep calling back over the course of about 5 days before we were finally given a CruiseAm-affiliate repair location in Rapid City, SD (our final destination) to which to take the RV. Although the shop could not fix everything that was needed, they were able to make the vehicle safe enough to drive; the repairman who worked on our vehicle stated that this particular RV "should never have left the yard" due to it being unfit to be on the road. He encouraged us to be extremely detailed in our emails and letters to CruiseAm to ensure that they understood the severity of the situation. It became increasingly clear that no safety inspection had been done on our vehicle (or at least not a competent one), which means it should not have been rented out. In addition, we had to repeat to each CruiseAm representative we spoke with what the list of problems was, as they apparently did not take notes or pass along information to the next person rep coming on duty (we spoke with reps morning thru evening).
Here are a few of the issues: The electric shoreline cable had been 'repaired' with duct tape, yet had wires sticking out of it. This resulted in significant electrical shocks to two people and two dogs due to grounding issues (lucky no one had a pacemaker). These were not small shocks; these were the kind of shocks that freeze you in place for a second and take away your breath. The dash A/C cut on and off the entire trip (av temp was in the 80s-90s outside). Roof A/C run by the generator leaked water all over floor. Roof vents were held together with zip ties, and did not keep rain out. The screen door was held together by duct tape, with a large piece of plastic broken off so keeping bugs out was impossible. Weather stripping literally blew off the door and window frames as we drove down the road. Locks and hatches on outside storage units were broken. the way back home, we found the hot water heater did not work, which explained why we never had hot water to wash dishes. The way we discovered the water heater problem was when we decided to try to use the RV to take a shower instead of the campground facilities (the very nice CruiseAm rep tried walking us through all kinds of fixes, none of which worked. She then said she could refer us to another repair facility, which we declined since by then we had grown weary of spending our vacation time getting the CruiseAm vehicle repaired). The list goes on and on. In addition to the dozen/s of phone calls with CruiseAm regarding these issues, we wrote a follow up letter upon returning home, since the rental location said they were unable to help us with any type of compensation (CruiseAm reps on the phone said the rental location was responsible; the rental location said CruiseAm is responsible). CruiseAm has offered about $200 in compensation, which is laughable. We have requested that they split the cost of the rental in half, which is more than generous. To date, we have received not response. The customer relations website does not work and has not phone number. CruiseAm reps we've spoken with upon return have told us that they are not allowed to "escalate" calls. I can only imagine that's because they have so many complaints. While CruiseAm has very positive reviews on its website, it will not publish anything that's less than flattering (we learned this thru personal experience). The most indefensible thing is that this company knowingly endangers its customers, many with children, by renting out unsafe vehicles.