A Wicked Camper
Update: read the comments below from many unhappy clients of Wicked Campers … comments that have been coming in ever since the story first appeared in December 2005 and then read the lastest in the saga of Wicked Campers by following the link.
I have the good fortune to live in Hervey Bay, one of the most beautiful spots on the planet and a magnet for backpackers from all over the world.
Some backpackers come by bus, some come by air, a few probably even walk but the most noticeable of all come by Wicked Camper.
I’ve often seen these campers around town and finally today I managed to grab a photo of one
The message on this van is fairly mild when compared to some that I’ve seen but it still managed to attract a lot of attention.
Wicked Campers have their own website at http://www.wickedcampers.com.au and you’ll see just how wicked you can get in one of these campers with attitude.
These campers are definitely not aimed at the average family or even a couple of retired oldies. Instead they’re aimed at backpackers who want to travel in style. While the vans could not be described as luxurious they certainly are well equipped for up to three people who like to sleep cosy
Wicked Campers have depots spread throughout Australia and their rates are very reasonable.
[...] You can read more about them right here on Aussie Motoring Technorati Tags: Hervey Bay wicked vans [...]
Have had some friends hire a Wicked Camper here in New Zealand part of the Aussie group.
The vehicle was dreadful,dirty and in a very dangerous state.
It was impossible to keep the rental on the agreed term because of that and road worth certificate expiring.Wouldnt refund money and customer service was appalling.
Ruined my friends hoilday.
Wicked Campers is a very apt name or should it be camper from HELL!
Wicked campers have stolen our deposit and will not give it back…we phoned through a request to hire a van for one week which went through fine but one hour before we were due to pick the van up in Cairns, Oz we were phoned and told van was in accident we cant use it and they have no others..so after being left stranded they then took the deposit still of $200 and after numerous phone calls and emails we still have not got our money back 6 weeks later, they have no customer service and will not deal direct with anyone when phoning they palm you off with a email to send to then reply by way of whinge@wicked.com..yes we are whinging because we want our deposit back for something they never supplied…stay away as they really are wicked..
Hi Shelley
Thanks for your comment. It’s not clear where you live but if you are here in Australia then perhaps you should direct your complaint to the Office of Fair Trading here in Queensland. Their URL is http://www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au/oft/oftweb.nsf
You will find that the homepage is a bit of a dog’s dinner but towards the top right of the page is the ‘Contact Us’ link. On that page you will find contact details for their head office (and that includes a phone number for international callers).
There’s also some contact details for their Cairns office too.
Hope that helps
Yesterday – after I saw the second adverse comment here about Wicked Campers I sent the link to my daughter who has hired one in the past and is planning on hiring one during January.
You know … it was the concerned Dad thing
In fairness to Wicked Campers I feel I should post her response … it’s the ‘Dad you’ve got nothing to worry about’ response I was expecting
“Yes, yes I know, but our experience last year was terrific. They even called us to say that the vans were supposed to be back, we’d had a miscommunication with the guy who organised it (one of us) and thought we had another day. Needless to say we weren’t going to be able to get it back in time so kept it the extra day. When we returned it we didn’t have to pay the extra day.
I know you’re worried about it but I guess it’s like any rental, you take the risk and hope for the best and if it doesn’t work out I can take the advice you gave to one of the comments and go to Fair Trading.”
We too have had a negative experience with Wicked Campers over the Xmas/New Year period 2006/07.
The main problem is that we paid a premium for aircon (hot Queensland travel in Summer without it), however the aircon on our van never worked. We have now been trying to get a refund of that part of our van hire for the past three to four weeks, with no reply from any email address we’ve tried, other than one three weeks ago from an address called ‘We Care’ to say the matter was ‘being looked into’. Since then, Wicked Campers have been so rude as to not reply at all to us on this matter.
Because we are ticked off about this matter, which really should be a simple case of a refund, we will now tell you the other problems with the van hire. First of all it took us two hours to get the van out of the yard when we went to pick it up and, at one point, it seemed doubtful whether we would even get one (even though we had booked it with deposit two months in advance). Aside from the aircon problem, our van backfired continuously and guzzled oil.
The fact is we enjoyed our holiday enormously despite these problems. If Wicked Campers would be honest and courteous enough to do the right thing by us, we would instead be singing their praises instead of feeling offended by their treatment of us.
On the advice of Stuart, we will now check out the Office of Fair Trading.
I have recently hired a wicked van. We travelled over 3000 kilometers and didn’t have one problem. We got a new van as they said they are getting alot of new ones now to replace the older ones, so ours didn’t even have 1000 k’s on the clock. It had a funny design on the side and the depot were very freindly.
There alot cheaper than the other hire companies we looked at their bond was loads cheaper too. You don’t get fridges and stuff like that but you get what you pay for in this world….
Thanks for your comment Frank – it’s good to hear from people who have had a good experience with the company. All too frequently it’s only the people who had bad experiences that take the time to let the world know how they feel about a business.
IF..you do not have any problems with the van you could have a good time with them. The only problem is that they do not check their cars properly. We rented one in New Zealand 6 months ago. In these 4 weeks we have seen 3 garages!! If wicked had checked our car we wouldn’t have had these problems. Another problem was that when we checked the oil level for the first time we noticed that they forgot to change/add the oil in the engine! The care department made everything worse: no reply on some emails, money refunded back after many weeks. If you want to call them on the phone you find out that it is not possible….that can only be done via the email!! etc etc
If you want to know more about it, I added the email conversation with them on our site:
http://nolens.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=106&Itemid=56
Nolens, their response to you is not acceptable and I am sure you have grounds to make some sort of legal claim to have your concerns addressed by the correct New Zealand government department. In Queensland, Australia we have the Office of Fair Trading. NZ has similar agencies so google for something like this to contact. Sorry to hear you had such a wicked time. Their customer service really sucks by all accounts.
Hi Hervey Bay,who says these Wicked Campers are not for oldies….I’m 70 and going to buy one in March with my 64 y.o. female friend….We’re not dead yet….By the way I have often seen these campers on the highway…..Thought, what a good idea, mobile brothels…..keep being wicked
Hi
We’ve just hired a Wicked van in South Australia and i must say the van was great and the staff were friendly too. We didn’t pay for the top of the range van but we still got a good old girl that did the job fine. We could have used the Apollo or one of the other companies but the liabilities they have if you damage the van are just too much and we didn’t want to worry about that sort of stuff on our trip….
We were involved in an accident with a wicked campers van. They would not send any roadside accistance. They could not tell the drivers of any correct procedures. Worst of all, they will not talk to us regarding the damge to our car, it took them ten days to even notify their insurance company who still have wrong information. They have lied to their insurance for some reason claiming that the driver of the van was an employee of wicked campers when he was not (this can be confirmed by the police on the scene).
A month has gone by and our car has been written off and we are told we have to wait for the driver of the van to return it after they finish their holiday to fill out a claim form before they can pay us for the damages. This goes against New Zealand law which states that Only the owner of the vehicle can insure it and is responsible for damage caused to third party property.
They will not talk to us. Reading other complaints on this forum is surprisingly familiar. I think Wicked campers have no social responsibility and a dodgy conscience and I will be dedictaing quite a lot of research time into finding out more and letting the world know.
Never rent a Wicked!
We’re stuck in Greymouth and Westport (NZ) in the rain for 8 days now!
Leave car+wicked? We lose our deposit.
Wait till they fix it? Takes at least 3 more days.
Get a new car? No, can do.
Thaths really, really, really f*cking up your holiday! Thanks Wicked!
You get what you pay for. It is, after all, a BUDGET camper rental. I never had any problems with my van. And I use them often. Yeah Ive had some dodgy ones but the mechanics at the workshops do a great job considering the amount of work they do. Over 700 vans. They can always fit you in if you can get yourself there. And keep in mind these vans have been battered all over australia on long trips.
AND the wicked roadside is for WICKED CUSTOMERS not for 3rd parties involved.
I have one message for any one considering the hire of a camper van from Wicked. DON’T.
There vehicles are unsafe, the company corrupt & the staff about as friendly as a hungry bear.
We hired one of their vehicles from the Melbourne office & how we managed to survive our experience the lord himself only knows. They are deathtraps.
Some 2 months after returning the vehicle they are crediting monies from my account as they have obviously retained my card details. I have tried to acieve an explanation to no avail.
Please add yourselves to our new Facebook group, and post any stories, photos or just a comment onto our page…
WICKED CAMPERS ARE DEATH TRAPS.. PLEASE HELP WARN FELLOW TRAVELLERS
Our aim is to unite all complaints against Wicked Campers whether it be for their poor service, unroadworthy vehicles or theiving from travellers, and make them change their ways.
Rebecca.
I would also like to say to anyone thinking of renting a Wicked Campervan, DON’T DO IT!
Unroadworthy, unsafe and some of the worst customer service I have ever come across in my life.
I’m bewildered at how a company like this can exist in 2008.
They need to be made responsible for their lack of service. What worries me the most is that backpackers from all over the world come to Australia and experience this kind of service. It’s embarressing, and I feel sorry for those backpackers whose English is not substantial enough to deal with these sorts of issues.
Jess
Rebecca,
Whats the name of the facebook group?
Jess
Hello. we rent this holiday a wicked… i’m spanish so i asked what was “unsealed road”, if i could drive on gravel roads, and they said yes.
We had an accident on a gravel road… we had to pay the fixing (more than 500$NZ), because the road assistance said to fuck us, and also they took off our fee (1500$NZ) and we were emailing there, and here in Spain and we received no answers from them.
I’m writing an online review with photos and the whole story. If you want, I can include of this experiences and more. Giving time to time, the website could reach high positions in Google search, when you’re looking for “wicked campervans”.
I thing Internet is poweful for all of us…
Regards and… FUCK WICKED!!
Luz
I hired one for 8 days, I suspect the 4th cylinder was just for show as it was rarely utilzed by the engine, blew a hole in the exhaust going down a hill on the second last day, I suspect from the fuel being dumped by the phantom number 4 cylinder. Spent the rest of the time feeling smashed from exhaust fumes and dirty looks from other drivers being deafend by my lack of exhaust. Ended up handing it in a day early and staying in a motel sleeping off a carbon monoxide induced hang over. They offered to give me another van for the night, I declined and settled for some of their “RAD” stickers …. I reckon you spend the extra $9 per night and get something with a fridge and decent engine that doesn’t doesn’t attempt and make a shit quality product fashionable.
“Ohh look at us we’re “Wicked” we spray paint old tradey vans with spray packs and just live in the momment, ohh look at our witty remarks on the tailgate, aren’t we just priceless …., we think getting high on carbon monoxide is intelligent as it avoids the need to drink (Quoted by Wicked employee)”
If you really want a “Wicked experience” buy an old tradey van for $500, Vomit under the seat, get a 4 year old to draw on it, and kick yourself in the balls …..
It’s great fun doing a roadtrip in a camper van, however I would NEVER recommend RENTing FROM WICKED…
We were horrified on collection of our van – ’she’ was dented on all sides and looked worse for wear, however the guy at Wicked assured us that ’she’ was “a good little runner”!
Eight awesome days in to our 14 day hire a loud rattle under the engine forced us to phone the roadside assistance, only to be told ignore the noise & continue…fortunately we insisted on a tow in or we would have broken down in a very remote location on Australia’s West Coast. The following day we were towed in & found out the van was only running on 3 cylinders & not going anywhere for a while!
After wasting a further 2 days of our time ‘trying to arrange another van’ we were told to my our own way to Perth – which was 1,200kms away – to collect another campervan. At the time they would not tell us if they would refund our expenses incurred. Instead they advised us to send a email (ironically to “wecare@wicked”, where the claim would be assesed. We did this immediately and after many weeks of continuous phone calls, emails and finally threats they refunded us ONLY on the days lost. Advice: If you have had a similar experience instead of messing about with Wicked, contact CONSUMER COUNCIL and they might get your refund processed!
We rented a Wicked camper van last month (Nov 2008) and had problems from the start…we arrived to pick up the van only to find they had moved locations and not updated their address on the website, the current occuppiers were so fed up they refused to help so we had to go to a payphone and track them down…whilst they’re phone systems were playing up this took some time! (A frequent problem when contacting them). We then got the van, almost had to pay twice the bond quoted but luckily had email evidence of previous quote… So we set off – then got a flat tyre, no problem initially as we had checked we had a spare…but once fitted the spare did not work as it was actually for a car not a 4WD drive van! So, we were then stuck…360K round trip from anywhere…so we called Wicked…to be told as we had got the wrong type of insurance (not to our knowledge) we had to sort ourselves out… Their advice was either to get a lift 400K round trip or drive on the rim with flat tyre – crazy! That same day they then took $2000 from my credit card unauthorised, just to add to our probs as when we did manage to sort out our own rescue, despite their negligence of not providing correct spare tyre, I couldn’t pay for it until I sorted another source of cash out! We then finally got the van back, got the $2000 dollars refunded a month later, but they reneged on the bond of $500 telling us we were now being charged a penalty fee for driving in the a certain location…was news to us! Each time we get a problem they come up with a new excuse. And they will only correspond via email. They are the worst outfit I have ever come across – do not rent with them! We are still $1750 out of pocket for their negligence and only here to report back due to kindness of strangers who did help us out in our time of need – no-one could believe a hire company would act like this – I would rate them zero if I could.
we had a wicked van for 3 months and manged 2 months of hassle free driving, even got aircon for standard price, we broke down just north of sydney and after waiting 3 hours for a tow we were advised to get some backpackers accomodation even though i told venessa at roadside assistance we were in the middle of no where and cheapest motel was 100 bucks a night, we phoned her back to tell her the cost and she said this would be fine as long as we kept receipts. I have just received an email saying we are no NOT getting any refund!!!! also our next van broke down on a blind corner of 3 lanes of the freeway, after nearly getting smashed into twice and telling wicked it was an emergency, an hour later still no tow truck, but the police did come….. DO NOT RENT A WICKED VAN !!!!!! Cheap 4 a good reason. it WILL ruin your holiday, Rhere customer service is absolutely appauling
I wish to retract my previous statement posted on december 25th 2008 at 1039 am , about wicked campers. The company are now offering me a full refund, and are dealing with my complaint. I have no more concerns with this company.
I have just recently rented a van for two months. We had no problem with the van itself, although we were originally charged too much money and i was told this would be refunded as soon as possible because i needed this for my travels. Well after over two months, numerous emails and a person to person conversation with a member of staff at wicked i still havent received my money back.
My emails are still being ignored and i dont know what else to do to get it back. Can anyone offer any advice?
I say its time for Wicked to make some serious changes. No one here has yet mentioned their offensive sexist paintings. Sure we all like a good laugh but when it comes to degrading women – and yes some of their vans are incredibly sexist and offensive- then its just not that funny any more!
To be honest I’m sick of driving along the highway and reading things like:
“Nice legs, what time do they open?”
and that is a relatively tame one. I say Boycott Wicked and send them them message that they shape up or ship out.
I was thinking of hiring one in the UK for 3 weeks.
After reading this and seeing on A Current Affair
(link http://au.truveo.com/Car-Hire-Traps/id/2437600012)
that the fully comprehensive insurance you pay does not cover you, I will be just hiring a car now.
If I consider it, I will be seeing the van before I part with any money and not hand over my credit card details so they can charge me for unauthorised charges.
It always pays to research! Regards Jean
To Jean C: That’s probably all rental companies. I wouldn’t want someone to go and smash my car and not have some legal entitlements to it.
I’ve had a fair few mates rent Wicked vans in Brisbane and they’re still raving about it. It’s obviously not the Hilton, because of it’s price- but it was everything they needed.
The slogans on the back typically seem pretty witty and the dirty ones I guess give us a talking point- which is why done. Anyway it adds a bit of fun on the roads when we’re driving.
Agreed with Clayton, all rental companies are like that.
My trip was fine with Wicked, i had rented a Britz van before that and yes although the Britz van was top of the range, i was so scared to so much as scratch it as my bond was enormous. With the Wicked i had no such problems only a few niggles that added to the experience. It just allowed me to enjoy the holiday and not worry.
Its in our nature to moan about things and never give praise about something…
WARNING DO NOT RENT FROM WICKED!!!!!!
Please if you are even considering renting from this company understand this:
If you in any was have an accident, break down or absolutely anything happens to your vehicle you will find you will have to pay for everything. READ that small print there is no Insurance for these vehicles! you are 3rd party only.
We broke down in the middle of nowhere and was caught in a flash flood, the 24h roadside number is not 24h meaning we were stranded on the side of the road with a broken vehicle.
We called them the next day and they told us to “recover it ourselves” and they would not help in any way.
We paid $700 to recover it to a garage like they said, we got a RAC Inspector to inspect it like they said. The RACI said the vehicle is a write off. Wicked then told us to recover it back 800km’s to the nearest depot at a cost of $4600! what is the point?????
We had to charter a plane to get out of where we were and then fly back to Perth at a cost of $2500 this is all in 6 days.
These vehicles have their air intakes at the bottom of the vehicle so if you try to cross any more than 250mm of water you can kiss goodbye to your engine ever working again.
PLEASE PLEASE do not get caught out with this company they do not care leas about the customer. All they want is your money. The Vehicles are DANGEROUS and unfit for long distance travel.
Stay away, not worth it. Read the small print they will tell you your covered in the shop but that means nothing.
THE ABOVE IS RUBBISH
Absolutely anything happens to your vehicle?? I dented the one i hire and they didn’t charge me a thing!!
So you drive through a river, suck up a load of water (like any car would do) and its Wicked’s fault????? What do you expect??
“These vehicles have their air intakes at the bottom of the vehicle so if you try to cross any more than 250mm of water you can kiss goodbye to your engine ever working again”..
Err most vans do>
There’s nothing wrong with the vehicles..Unroadworthy vans, more like unroadworthy people. Moron.
THESE VANS ARE UGLY OLD WORN OUT EX-TRADDIES GARBAGE…
THEY WOULD NOT BE IN RWC, SO IN FACT HAVE NO INSURANCE
“WHY IS HE CHEAP?, BECAUSE HE IS NO BLOODY GOOD”
S.FAWLTY, CEO FAWLTY TOWERS
BETTER TO GO WITH YOUR GUT FEELING AND BUY SOMETHING MUCH BETTER DECK IT OUT AS YOU WANT AND JOIN A STATE ROAD ASSITANCE CLUB.
CHEERS
Steve, are you a pommy?
While it does sound like your experience sucked, why were you driving in flash floods? I agree with Roger, any vehicle…not just a Wicked van would’ve experienced the same thing!
I’ve been on a few roadtrips (in my own car and a Wicked van), and had a problem with it overheating once, but to tell you the truth it only added to my roadtrip experience. Part of the adventure are dealing with all the breakdowns…the shit times, the good times… that’s what i think this company are all about?
OUR VAN BROKE DOWN ON MANY OCCAISIONS,IN ROCKHAMPTON,WE WERE STUCK FOR ONE WEEK, WICKED CAMPER STAFF COULD,NT CARE LESS, THEN THE VAN WAS TOED TO BRISBANE,OUR DEPOSIT WAS SLASHED BY THEM TWO $500 WHICH WE HAD TO AGREE AS WE WERE LEAVING THE COUNTRY,AND THEN THEY ONLY PAID US $350,
A BUNCH OF PENNEY PINCHING BACKPACKING THEIVES,,,,,DO NOT GO NEAR THEM
Fay: Sounds like a bit of bad luck there ehh, the staff who i dealt with were great? Why did you not get the $500 back, only $350. Did you do something to the van that was your fault? I got mine back in full?
I hired a van from them, 2 months ago. I hired one of the cheaper ones cus we didn’t want anything too special. I got a good deal on it. Yeah it was old, dented, and had done 250,000k’s, A little lumpy in the mornings but it was fine. I didn’t expect the best cus I didn’t pay for the best. I had an issue with the window winder and the roadside person was very helpful, called the RAA out and they fixed it.
Overall i had a great time travelling and i certainly would hire from them again. I may even splash out on the newer ones!
Have you been working for Wicked Campers for very long Emanuel?
So just cus he has some good feedback means he works there?
Sorry Kojak, No lollipop this time. Just a backpacker from the US.
sounds like sandra jen and emanuel all work there tooooooo. or why would they bragg of their glorious experience in over-kill think about it??????????????????.
If you hire and have a good experience then your a lucky little camper.
how ever if you hire and your experience was bad then you have every right to voice your opinion. looks to me there are more who are unhappy then are happy so the saying goes, where there is smoke,theres a wicked camper,,,, orrr somthin like that. aye
im not going to hire one.
Hey guys, I actually do work for Wicked Campers. Yes there are some shit box vans here but we’re phasing them out and getting brand spanker – Emanuel is right – you don’t pay the best, so don’t expect the best. We do however offer the opportunity for travellers to see Australia on a budget and we do appeal to a certain type of traveller.
For example:
Hey, my boyfriendand i are currently renting one of your vans for 2 weeks. I would just like you express my disgust with the van we were given, we went for the ultra thinking it would be better however upon pick up we realised that the van we were given was ultra shit to say the least! The in…terior is so dirty and stained it’s absolutely disgusting. The engine makes noises that make you feel as tho you’re going to break down at any moment. Overall the van is an absolute piece of crap and we are so disappointed with it.
Here’s a response from a previous customer:
that what you explain, is EXACTLY the wicked camper adventure what wicked camper gives to you!!! clean vans are for pussy´s, fucked up wicked campers are for real man! haha.. thanks wicked camper, we had an awesome trip in june 2009!
Wicked vans are not for everybody. I appreciate all the comments and feedback provided on this forum.
I just got behind a Wicked camper which had painted on the back “my dick just died, can I bury it in your ass?” Just what every parent wants their young children to read. What a bunch of socially irresponsible tossers they are!
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26569536-952,00.html
Here’s proof you should never ever rent from Wicked if you value your life.
[...] back in December 2005 I posted a little story about Wicked Campers and you can see it by following the link. It was a fairly innocent story about seeing them around [...]
[...] Motoring – Two Stories – One A Post (Read the comments!) – then the follow [...]
Hello,
I am a Sydney-based journalist keen to speak to people today about any issues they have had with Wicked in NSW. Please get in touch via lmckenny@smh.com.au, or (02) 9282 2372.
Regards,
Leesha
It does look like Wicked has bad customer service, but then again they are very cheap. This is the problem, people are quick to take the cheapest operator, but then complain long and loud about customer service. You get what you pay for !
If someone is super cheap, they are probably going to have lousy service. Better to pay a bit more from a reputable operator – this is something I’ve learnt from long and bitter experience.
!It does look like Wicked has bad customer service, but then again they are very cheap. This is the problem, people are quick to take the cheapest operator, but then complain long and loud about customer service. You get what you pay for! !
If someone is super cheap, they are probably going to have lousy service. Better to pay a bit more from a reputable operator – this is something I’ve learnt from long and bitter experience.
Dreadful company, cannot talk to anyone in charge, fast to apply charges to Visa even when questions still beng asked. Van in accident moved very fast by Wicked when roadworthy check asked for and then disappeared!!!! Girls lucky to be alive, delighted an investigation has been triggered. Would like to see investigations world wide!
Hi there,
as others said about WICKED Campers, they take no responsability at all, sent us on the road with a van that should have been in a repairstore or the junkyard!!
tires were done, even though i told them they wouldnt change it, just said :dont worry, its alright….after 3 weeks(2700km) we saw the canvas coming out underneath the rubber!!!
Breaks were really poor, airfilters hadnt been cleaned at all, frontwheel bearing was dead completely, moving way to much, servo-stearing was broken, the screws from the backwheels were loose when i checked after the first day driving ( that means they didnt doublecheck them…could have been our death….).
The best comes now, even though a due date for a traffic penalty ( parking in Melbourne ) is not over yet, WICKED CAMPER KEEPS CHARGING MY CREDIT CARD FOR MORE AND MORE ADMINISTRATION FEES for work they didnt have since the due date is in the future, AND THEY CHARGED ADMINISTRAION FEES ALREADY!!!
They are not that cheap compared to others , especially in summer, so they should have customer service, which they dont have at all and make there shitty vans secure!
My advice, dont take a wicked, they choose the name for a reason!
best,Tom