Review: Camperman Campers.
Camperman is a relatively new kid on the block for campervan hire in Australia, being around for only about 5 years, but in that time they have taken a big chunk of the budget camper market. Already they have over 100 campers and are still growing.
Camperman campervan hire is based on the east coast of Australia and has depots in all the major cities, but it also has them them in Airlie Beach and Townsville (both in Queensland), making them 1 of just 5 in Airlie Beach and the only one in Townsville. Their aggressive expansion has been facilitated by an well oiled marketing machine that seems to have gotten thier name in all the right places. They have come a long way in a short time.
Their vehicles aren’t brand new, but at least they are up front about it even when booking. It clearly states whilst browsing on their webpage what year range the vehicle is. The age of their oldest and cheapest vehicle can be over 10 years but is not a real problem as the vehicles are based on the reliable Toyota Hiace. The 2nd tier vehicle seems identical to the cheaper one, but the vehicle itself is younger so it will have more of a “shiny” feel, 3rd tier vehicle, newer again. All vehicles take at least 3 people, some up to 5.
As web sites go, theirs is quite full of information about the company, the vehicles, the prices and lots more. If you like to thoroughly research your stuff, you’ll love their page. But MAKE SURE you read the terms and conditions. It has lots of specific $ figures for pretty much everything you can think of going wrong or different from plan. I’m sure they are just trying to be crystal clear, but it comes across as though they are lining up to be able to point at a clause and then charge you for something. However, other companies just say things like “you are responsible for damage” – very ariy-fariy compared to Campermans detailed charge list. So, if you are after certainty then the Camperman Terms and Conditions are very comforting. Also, the security bond is only $500. Britz, for example, is as much as $7,500 and with that old phrase “you are responsible for damage” this could become $0 in no time . If you are not wanting to pay out a large deposit from your credit card (hence making it unavailable to you whilst you travel) then Camperman will suit you.
To see all Camperman Campervans and compare prices click here
To see more reviews, head back to the campervan hire home page. If you are sick of reading reviews and just want to compare prices, click on the compare prices button below or click on the Camperman logo if you just want to check out their rates
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I ve hired a camperman for 3 (referred to as Berth hi-top) from Camperman Australia from during XMas holiday season from peak season rate of 115 dollars per day.
They said they were not happy with my resolution…but i did not wanna spend half day driving back and forth to a repair centre
The campervan was quite old, more than 12 years old, and manual – it is not very pleasant to drive that kind of a heavy vehicle. We were making 60-80 kms per day and that was it.
In terms of price hiring a campa was not cheap when you add the average 50 dollar (for 3 people) camping site and the petrol you have to feed to keep these cars going! it actually comes to 200 per day on average, if you are making 60-80 km s per day.
Some other things I found below average
Sheets and pillows (we brough our own pillows)
Cutlery, bowls and pan (we had to bring our own) – plates and cups were ok
Crappy table they provide (within the campa), which does not fit on the feet perfectly and keeps shaking every time you have lunch dinner
They charge extra for outdoor chairs – and they are chunky – there is not much space to fit them in the campa. We brought our own little Kathmandu seats
They charge extra for an outdoor table if you want one – and what they provide is ridiculous – i chose not to take it
It was raining for 3 days and one day upper window had a leakage and my sheets were wet all night – the next day i called them to fix it and they found me a repair centre 40 km away. I preferred to fix the window leakage with blue tac
The gas for the stove – i had to refill the tank my self – probably they do this for safety reasons – but that s extra time and effort on my side.
One night there was gas leakage – we could smell something nasty but could not tell what it was – it was the gas leaking all night – not pretty huh? We figured out that we had to turn off the safety valve inside the cabinet after every time we used the stove – again not very convenient is it?
Making up the 3rd bed at the top is a bit of a hassle, it s old fashioned and chunky, it takes at least 45 minutes to make beds ready every night. I m sure IKEA would have a better solution for that
The water hose does not fit on all taps, you need and extra gadget, and the hose itself leaks water of course
There is no CD player on the car
The fridge sometimes opens (and the food spills on the floor) if you take sharp turns – although it s got a lock you need to make sure and test it 3 times before you move. Even with the lock it did open in sharp turns. I learned to drive the Campa very slowly over time.
My summary is: they could do a lot better. There is a lot of competition in this area, and they should increase their standards.
I would not hire from Camperman Australia again and I dont recommend it. Pay a bit more and have a piece of mind
Just got back from our first campervan trip as a family from Sydney to Airlie Beach in The Whitsundays, and I was pleasantly surprised by my first domestic holiday in Australia in years.
We started from Sydney in late September for a 2 week jaunt up the coast with my wife and 3 year old son.
We hired a 3 berth “Juliette” campervan from a company called Camperman Australia, based at Caringbah in Sydney.
I found them searching on the web, and ended up booking with them as the price was right and they had a depot in Airlie Beach which was our final destination.
I had read a few mixed reviews about Camperman on the web – I took out of the mix the overly positive reviews, as well as culling at the other end of the spectrum one overly negative review (avoiding disgruntled ex employees opinions etc) and decided to take a punt on them for my 2 weeks up the coast.
Well I wasn’t disappointed! What better way to see Australia up close, and make up for misspent time elsewhere, than to take to the coast road in “Julie” (yes, my son named the camper Jooleeey).
Having the baby seat between myself and my wife initially had me slightly concerned, but it turned out to be a great way to travel with your child, as they aren’t in the back missing everything – he was between Mum and Dad seeing everything going on.
The camper didn’t miss a beat all the way up the Coast, and was quite comfortable for two adults and a child.
Highlights of the trip were Diving with sharks at Julian Rocks off Byron Bay (yes my wife gave me leave for half a day), Australia Zoo and the awesome team they have there (my son loves you), Noosa and the canoeing the beautiful everglades behind Noosa and of course a day trip around The Whitsunday Islands National Park.
A big thank you to Brad in reservations at Camperman, for sorting out the booking for me at the last minute on the email (as well as putting up with me changing the drop-off date twice).
Been meaning to post this for a while, Had a camper from Cairns to Brisbane with them, it ran well – no mechanical problems, the campers aren’t new – but it was quite clean and comfortable, Chairs & a table would be a nice addition, but overall I was quite happy with the value for money the camper offered and I would rent from them again.
Camperman Australia and the east coast were Amazing
On the 17th December we picked up a campervan from Sydney at Caringbah, I must say a big thank you to guy and the staff for there friendly service and their patience with us:) firstly we headed of up north to nelsons bay where we stayed at fingal bay caravan park, a must if your in tCamperman Australia and the east coast were Amazing
On the 17th December we picked up a campervan from Sydney at Caringbah, I must say a big thank you to guy and the staff for there friendly service and their patience with us:) firstly we headed of up north to nelsons bay where we stayed at fingal bay caravan park, a must if your in the area, white sand and crystal clear water, we where suppose to spend one night and stayed 3, due to the good fishing of the beach I must say.. We caught 12 flathead and 9 bream in this day which made for a great feed and full freezer. We then packed up the campervan and travelled north to Coffs harbor where we pulled into the banana coast caravan park where we had a quiet night before we headed to Yamba. Arriving in yamba we pulled into the seafood store where we got some of the famous Yamba prawns (now we know they’re famous, and why) and made our way down the beach for a swim and lunch… now that’s a good lunch : ) we made our way to Yamba waters caravan park where we camper for the night. Before moving onto to Nimbin and Byron bay, we eventually arrived at Nimbin after a long drive. WOW is all I can say. What a great little town full of pot heads, I walked down the street and got attacked by people trying to sell us pot lol we made our way to the museum and its a marijuana museum, how interesting, it has everything you want to know on weed lol well enough of Nimbin and of to Byron Bay : ) we arrived at Byron bay and booked into belongil fields caravan park which was neat and tidy and close to town. We spent 3 days here and rotated from the beach to the top pub every day… what a life… love Byron x. we sadly left and made our way to the gold coast where we stayed with friends at broadbeach on the water… thanks heath. With only 2 days left on our trip we decided to take our Camperman up the coast to rainbow beach and chill for a few days and have a look around and returning to Brisbane. A big thank you to Camperman Australia for their service and great Campervan, our Juliette – which was really comfortable and reliable, also we would like to thank Roy for dropping us at the airport as we where running late ? Aaron and Nikki x
Just returned the Jesse hightop, Was awesome and cheap,A hightop for the price of a panel van, really easy to book with everything included,Excess only $500 : )
Chris and renne
Unfortunately we made very experiences with Camperman Campervans:
1.During our trip Camperman had to fix our van due to a flat battery. While we were on a trip, they picked up the van from the camping place and brought it back. During this time they made a bent in our side door, which unfortunately we did not see in the first place. At the end of the trip we paid the full 750 $ bond for repairing a 12 year old van side door! So that’s what I call a great business model
2. To top that I have received today a very nice souvenir from Camperman Campervans they send me by email a reminder for not paying 4,26 $ on a toll road. I never even saw a toll road in Queensland. For forwarding this email they charged me 70 $!
Of course there is the contract, but there is also common sense, which tells me I have been ripped off! For these reasons I can not recommend Camperman at all
Hired a 3 person camper from Sydney to Brisbane off Camperman – had all the same features as the other more expensive campers, at nearly half the price – would definitely rent from them again if I come back for another trip in Oz.
We personally had a terrible experience with Camperman Australia in Brisbane.
[Comments here were edited for legal reasons] – admin
I would NOT hire from Camperman EVER AGAIN and wouldn’t suggest them to anyone.
[Comments here were edited for legal reasons] – admin
Recently hired a Camperman camper from Cairns depot. Staff were helpful and friendly on the way out, but less so when we returnwd thwe van. The van was about 8 years old, with almost 300,000 km on the clock. You could certainly see the wear on the vehicle, but it seemed to have been well maintained mechanically and we did not experience any engine problems over the 1,500km trip. It was lousy to drive and hitting 100km on the open road was the absolute limit.
What was disappointing was the things that came with it, clapped out, threadbare sleeping bags, op shop quality crockery and cutlery, and an awning that was ripped and barely servicable (we managed to coax it through our trip as it was essential).
Most annoying was to pay $80 extra for 4 chairs and a table. The table was a 1950s battered old card table and the chairs (at $10 a pop) either threadbare or damaged (and we saw the same in Big W for $6.95 each).
Camperman is a bit cheaper that Britz and the others andf you can certainly see why.
Worth giving them a try, but suggest you buy your own chairs etc and donate them to the salvos on the way back.
Uups, would not have thought there could ever be a problem with a camperman car. Ours ran perfectly from Brisbane to Melbourne.
Cheers
Brigitta
My husband and I hired a Campervan from Camperman Australia on 2nd August from Brisbane and dropped it off in Sydney. In the 16 days we travelled 2300kms from Brisbane, to Rainbow Beach then down to Sydney. The van was old, but we were aware of this when we hired it. For all the people that moan about this company, you chose the van from their site and they list the age of their vans with their prices. So just remember that if you hirer an older van at a lower cost, you should be prepared for some minor problems, if they arise. We had a switch that broke, but one phone call to Camperman sorted it, we replaced the switch ourselves and we have since been reimbursed for this small amount of $13.00 back to our credit card. Also we checked before we left for our holiday on the net, where the tolls roads are. When we collected our Campervan, all we had to do was ring a toll number and give them our credit card. This took the worry from us regarding whether we were going to go on a toll road or not. When we got to Sydney we did drive on a couple of toll roads and we hadn’t prepaid, but there is notices all along the route giving out phone numbers and signs to say you have 48 hours to pay. So there really isn’t any excuse if you don’t pay. You can hardly blame the Company as they end up paying a hefty fine if you don’t. So yes they should pass this back on to the client.
The campervan was old but drove extremely well and we certainly couldn’t fault it. We had no problem driving to the speed limits. This is the second time we have hired from this company. The first time we took a van from Brisbane to Cooktown and returned it to Cairns. Both times the vans were old but extremely reliable. I had to change our bookings this time twice because of our circumstances changing and they couldn’t have been more pleasant and didn’t even charge us for the changes.
I would throughly recommend this company to anyone who wants an older, reliable campervan at a reasonable cost.