Crikey Camper Hire

For years I have been renting the most varied vehicles (cars, campers, motorbikes, 4WD off-road vehicles) with various companies on my travels, this summer with Crickey I rented a 6-seater caravan with a 4WD vehicle. The worst experience ever, all kinds of problems with both the towing vehicle and the caravan: only apparent customer assistance, causing repeated breakdowns of the vehicles, we changed our route several times as we often had to stop off at their mechanics who were always very rude and rude (MUMBYS from EXMOUTH the worst). The continuous and repeated inconveniences have also delayed our journey, causing us to lose some reservations with consequent economic damage. From the first day the water pump didn't work (toilet, shower and kitchen problems) and for over a week we suffered this handicap; after the first night, in the morning, our jeep did not start due to the failure of the batteries which turned out to be very old (due to constant inconveniences we had to change one after 500 km and after various stops and help from the kind Australian motorists), furthermore the problems with the batteries and with the electrical system not functioning perfectly caused the malfunctioning of the refrigerator and the freezer, you can imagine the consequences. The compressor for inflating the tires did not work, the hinges of the access doors to the various side compartments (water refill, toilet box, tool compartment), despite normal and careful use (opening and closing and nothing more), due to the use of unsuitable material they broke extremely easily (Crickey had the courage to make us pay for them around 500 euros, a theft and a request for compensation on defective material from the beginning). The only positive note of the rental was the good cleanliness of the vehicles, otherwise a disaster, very good at protecting their rights (they ask for the vehicles to be washed before returning them, they collect the entire deposit from the first day of rental, they immediately list the your duties, etc.etc.), much less good at remedying their serious shortcomings and their dangerous shortcomings which in some situations could have even compromised our safety. We have often been "saved" thanks to the intervention of some Australians who, seeing us in difficulty, helped us, themselves recognizing the inadequacy of our means, so much so that on some occasions they themselves telephoned Crickey to better explain the problem, receiving insults or indifference. Australia is beautiful, the Australians are kind and helpful (), but avoid renting with Crickey, who are good at presenting their site, but dishonest in their profession. As evidence of the above, I have all the photos of the various equipment affected by the breakdowns where the non-existent care of the rental vehicles is clearly visible. I forgot, the deposit was unfairly deducted due to the breakage of the hinges of the above-mentioned doors, the return was requested several times and refunded approximately 2 months after the end of the rental, no apologies were presented for the numerous inconveniences and economic damages (3 campsites paid for but not used due to schedule delay). Crickey…no thanks!
Andrea, Milan Italy

Two weeks with a Land cruiser and roof tent. Handover was good and helpful. Everything was explained. Our vehicle already showed many signs of intensive use, which posed no problem for us either in terms of use or in returning it smoothly. The camping equipment on board is well and sensibly put together. We didn't miss anything.
After more than 5000 km through Western Australia we returned the vehicle. Our security payment of $1000 was fully refunded after 21 days, as contracted.
Conclusion: 1. Great way to see places that are quite off the beaten track (and paved). 2. Roof tent is ready for overnight stay in 2 minutes which is awesome. But it's also quite cramped with two adults, which can be annoying, at least for the first few nights.

Superb experience from start to finish. Everything worked as expected on and off the road. Thanks Crickey!

We had a great time up The Gibb with these guys. Good equipment that was well thought out - I am not a camper at all but the equipment

Lovely clean new vans very prompt when we had a small issue with water pump but very helpful and pleasant people and company would highly recommend to anyone hiring a van or camper thanks Crikey

Absolutely fabulous experience with Crikey Campers. Fiona and the team were incredibly helpful and super responsive. The 4WD with roof tent was extremely well kitted out, clean and comfortable for our needs - a thorough (and fabulous) demo from Reebina made it all very easy. The pick up and drop off was simple and our deposit returned before we even made it home the same night. Cannot fault the team or vehicle at all. Thanks Crikey for helping make our trip so easy and super memorable. Highly recommended.

Starting with a positive - the business model is terrific. The ability to hire a 4WD with camping gear and drive any combination of Perth, Broome and Darwin is unique and opens up fantastic opportunities for those that can afford it. There are a few watchouts, particularly for the less experienced with this style of travel and equipment. The first massive watchout is insurance (mentioned by other reviewers, but I can update the numbers). Unlike most hire car firms that I have dealt with, if you don't take out their insurance ($75 a day as at April 2022 for Prado + camper). Crikey don't just take a credit card imprint for a "bond", they actually take the money off your credit card, which for me would have been $8000 taken straight off my holiday funding. I took the $75 a day option. Be prepared for that discussion. In terms of dealing with Crikey, the overall experience of my hire was negative. What you will get when you collect the car is a 2 hour run down of how everything works in the camper and vehicle (including electronics, batteries, UHF radio, erecting the camper, kitchen set up, gas, fridge, what to do in the event of getting bogged etc). This is a lot to take in and NONE of it is documented. You have to pay very close attention to this but in my view it is simply too much information to be undocumented. Experienced users of this mode of travel may not be daunted, but others take notes, photos whatever.because (and as I learnt the hard way). Despite what they say, if you call the 1300 number for help, there is no guarantee they will answer. We had a major windscreen crack and needed their urgent advice. There was no one taking calls and eventually they responded to our text the next day. In the mean time, we had to make a call whether to buy a replacement windscreen ($1300) or wait and disrupt our holiday plans as the vehicle was not safe to drive, we had commitments to get to further up the road etc. Crikey ultimately said they would pay us back, but not immediately. They connected reimbursement to the process of the vehicle being returned and everything being checked off which would take "5 days". In my view, these are two separate issues, but the owner, Andrew, was adamant. Crikey never offered an apology or explanation for leaving us high and dry. They were more prompt on a separate occasion when the cruise control failed in the Prado. That was done well but cost us half a day as the car was required to be left at a workshop. Windscreen repair + cruise control fix equals a day of lost time so it was bewildering when Andrew suggested we should have spoken to them about the water pump in the camper not working as we could also have had that repaired, meaning more lost time. Fact is, they can't have inspected the camper prior to checking it out. The water pump didn't work, the rear mozzie zipper was broken, broken utensils and other smaller issues all of which pointed to an absence of inspection and quality control on the camper. Here they were lax but when it comes to enforcing their hiring policy, anything but lax. I asked to split the camper and car for 4 days at the end of the hire period as I didn't need it. No was the answer. OK, I asked to return them both early. No as I was 2 days inside the 30 day period. Alright then, understood. Policy is policy. Then we get a camper with defects and two major issues with the car one of which was poorly handled (atrocious more like). Crikey, if you're going to talk tough on policy which is all about protecting your interests, how about doing a better job looking after your customers once they are out on the road with your equipment? Hiring from you isn't cheap, so how about you don't leave the phones unmanned? And for crikey's sake, provide some documents on how it all works

Hired the Camprite off road trailer. Our first experience in a camper trailer. Really good quality camper with all necessary gear.
Also must mention great service by Sam during booking, Rabeena- excellent demo and Andrew with adjusting my tow bar to hook the trailer

What a fantastic neat and unique small company. We researched for months to find a company with equipment that would suit our demands for our looong road trip! Crikey was everything and so much more than what we had wished for. Great gear (Land cruiser & Jayco Journey), personal 24/7 support, fair prices and super helpful. Thanks again to Fiona & Andrew and the team for helping us make our Aussie adventure unforgettable! See ya!

Our family hired the 200 series and camprite combo from crikey for 2 and a half weeks to do the Kimberley region. We had an absolute blast and have created memories to last a lifetime. The car had plenty enough power to get us where we wanted to go and the camper was easy to set up and had heaps of space for the family inside.
Customer service was great too.

We have hired a Land Cruiser & camper trailer from Crikey Camper Hire twice (2012 & 2019) & both times have been very happy with the experience. The vehicles are almost new, the camper trailer and equipment well maintained & the staff always helpful & obliging. We would thoroughly recommend Crikey Camper Hire.

We had a great experience with our 4wd and camper. There was everything we needed to be self sufficient in the bush for a week. Crikey were very easy to deal with.

I have to admit that I am not a huge camping fan, being a bit of a luxury girl at heart but these camper trailers made my camping experience pleasant and easy. The trailers are well appointed, the beds comfortable and the mini-kitchens well appointed. I was amazed how quick it was to set up and pack down. At our campsite, there was definite "camper-trailer envy" from other campers at how great our set up was. I'll be back again. Thanks Crikey Campers!

Great camper trailers. Expert demonstration before setting off. Easy to use and very well thought out. Didnt need anything but food and drinks. Really great recommendations for camp sites too.

I recently had the pleasure of hiring a landcruiser 4wd complete with roof top tent and off road camper trailer from Crikey Camper Hire. The equipment was fantastic, easy to set up (and take down) and it included everything you needed plus some creature comforts. This was the perfect set up for a group of friends to take a camping holiday and would work equally well for a family group. Highly recommend Crikey Camper Hire.

The gas bottle was not filled with gas. (Our companions travelling with Crikey campers also pointed out that the bottle did not have a white tape indicator. (Not sure what that means). We borrowed a gas cylinder until we filled yours in Tom Price. This shortcoming would have been obvious to anyone carrying out a quality inspection.
The cover to the power breaker cover (240 vaults?) (within the leading compartment) was not screrwed back and could not be screwed back. This fault was not new and obvious to anyone carrying out a quality inspection.
At least two of the poles to the awning were dysfunctional and had been for some time. This fault was not new and obvious to anyone carrying out a quality inspection.
There were no keys to the water tank caps. One cap was openable, the other appeared locked. We taped the cap into position.
The stove was dysfunctional in that blow back was occurring and until we carried out some adjustment. The wind shields were ‘bent’ and we had to straighten these to enable the stove to stand correctly.

We hired a camper trailer from Crikey in Dec 2018. They requested that we pay a $2000 security bond as we did not have a credit card and they do not accept debit cards as security. This is fine so long as the bond is returned in a timely manner. It has been four weeks and we still have not received our bond back despite numerous phone calls and emails. The camper trailer was returned clean and in good condition (we have copies of the return inspection report). There has been no response to our request for proof of payment despite us continually being told that we should receive the funds in the "next couple of days". Absolutely terrible customer service and no care whatsoever for the inconvenience this is causing us. As a result we have lodged an official complaint with consumer protection.

The camper trailer itself was fine and bedding was clean. There were a couple of broken clips on the poles which wasn't a major issue. However the zipper for the flywire door did not work which allowed insects into the trailer.

Moral of the story is these guys do not value their customers. BEWARE of giving them any deposit if you expect to receive it back without a hassle.

We booked a Landcruiser and camprite trailer from the UK to travel on the Gibb River Rd from Darwin to Broome with our 3 children in August 18. Crikey played an important part in contributing to an amazing trip in some beautiful and rugged country.

Positives:
* wealth of information, tips and advises when we picked the car/trailer up. The girl in Darwin took her time to explain everything, answer all our questions, show us how to operate the car, how to put the trailer/camper together, the do's and don't do's, what Crikey allows, what Crikey doesn't allow. Two (!) hours well spent as I cannot stress how important these wise words were, keeping us out of trouble during our trip: no damage to ourselves, no damage to the equipment.
* responsive and thorough customer service via email, before and during our trip - the staff really know their cars and equipment inside out.
* fantastic package: good to be sleeping off the ground and off the car-roof (!), camp was set up in 10 minutes, equipment was plentiful, ride was safe and comfortable. The best rig on the road, by far.

Negatives:
* lack of UHF radio in the car as stated in the booking, hence this a 4 stars instead of a 5 stars review. Apologies from Crikey.

All in all, a very positive experience with a professional rental company, supplying quality equipment well suited to outback adventures. We took the FULL insurance (meaning no deposit), bringing the costs up no doubt but bringing the worries down, also.

We hired a landcruiser from Crikey in October 2018, the vehicle was in poor shape when we picked up, apart from it had travelled 170000 kms, it had lots of dents and scratches, a chipped windscreen and the back door was difficult to open and close, the door would not seal properly, this let dust into the vehicle all the way from Darwin to Broome, we also had a lot of trouble getting our $5000 deposit back, it took almost a month with phone calls and emails, I would not use or recommend Crikey, Tom, Victoria

As a first time hirer of a camprite trailer, the service we received was excellent. All our questions were patiently and thoroughly answered. The trailer suited our needs very well - 2 week trip to Karijini and Gnaraloo, and the kids can't wait to do it all again. Great product and service to match.