Cruise America Chicago Unreliable company providing dangerous vehicles, insisting on all other vehicles having the same 15-25% play in the steering wheel ,vehicle no 1, unit no. 19224. Eventually substituted by vehicle no. 191269 at the loss of one whole day of driving. Vehicle no. 2 ,unit no. 191269, had all sorts of saety issues such as an outside mirror which shifted position while driving, a side indow which opened when driving and allowed rain into the vehicle, a drawer which opened all by itself, a CO2 measuring device which should have been replaced at least two months prior to the vehicle being handed over to us, a hot water heater which didn't work unless manipulated by us, a bench one had to climb up upon to get to the above the cab bed which was hanging by one screw, windshield wipers which should have been replaced prior to us driving the vehicle away, a fuse which didn't work and had to be replaced by us, etc., etc. Franklin Park, Illinois

We had rented a 19 ft. RV from Cruise America in Chicago. RV (unit) number: 191224.

I would like to, succinctly and in some detail, describe our experiences with this rented vehicle:

• We got this particular (2nd) vehicle after having come to the conclusion that the previous unit (no. 191269) had such an amount of play in the steering wheel that not a single ”ADAC” test location would have passed the vehicle as being acceptabe to drive. Not in Germany, not in Denmark and not in The Netherlands. A major SAFETY issue.

• We received another vehicle (unit no. 191224) after having conversed with Cruise America's call center various times. We were promised to be credited one day as it took so long (until after 17:00) to come to an agreement with the rental agent. Acceptable! Plus they had an additional day of rental from us already as we didn't know that you couldn't pick up the RV on the same day of arrival from Europe. We paid for the vehicle from the 26th of August and picked it up on the 27th of August and finally left the location just after 17:00 on 27 August 2013.

• It became soon VERY apparent that the vehicle (191224) inside the RV part had various faults:

  • The side of the bench right behind the driver's seat was ”hanging” by one screw which had been put there as a ”simple” solution to the underlaying problem. It's fixed now by Bruce in Roy, WA (Cruise America is aware of who "Bruce in Roy, WA" is). This bench is the bench you have to climb up upon to get to the bed above the cab. Dangerous in spite of the fact tha it was the side and not the back of the bench.

  • The eating nook window rattles and opens all by itself. Bruce closed it and considered the problem solved. Not so, the window continued to open and the rattling drove my husband ”crazy”. Plus, it leaks when we are subjected to a ”driving” rain. It still does! Approx. 20 cm. of insolation rubber was hanging loose, thereby allowing the window to open by itself and rain to come inside.

  • The large drawer in the kitchen area opened when driving. Bruce fixed this by screwing on new hardware.

  • With just the pump of the RV, the toilet doesn't flush as well as it does when using the campground's water. Major difference. Neither does the tab in the kitchen and the bathroom.

  • The water heater valve leaks. This can be ”corrected” temporarily by turning the ”handle” on the valve, but it is never a permanent solution. When the valve leaks too much, the water heater doesn't work. We worked around this one, but it needs to be corrected before the unit is rented out to someone else!

  • The sewage tank valve didn't close properly. This was our ”fault”. We had NOT been instructed properly as to how to use a Cruise America RV in this area. Bruce informed us and we haven't had the problem since.

  • The blinds of the rear window ”fell” down on their own accord. Bruce showed us that this only requires us winding the side ropes around the bottom ”screw” a few more times so it is tight again. Again, lack of information/education by the Chicago salesman. These blinds have to be up or down depending on cooking or not. With the blinds down, the driver can't look out through the rear window.

  • The lock to open the passenger side electrically from the driver's side sometimes/many times needs to be pressed twice before it actually works. A “funny” (Rrrrrrrrrrr) sound is heard when it doesn't unlock the passenger's side door.

  • The springs in the chair (right behind the passenger side chair) which is part of the living area of the RV have been subjected to weights beyond what it was designed to support. Ergo, they are ”busted”. Not a complaint, just a remark.

  • The curtains between the driver's compartment and the ”living” part has a broken ”hook” on the driver's side. Bruce couldn't fix this as it requires a totally new rail, hooks and curtain to be installed. Result is that a certain amount of privacy is lost, as the curtains can never be closed properly.

  • The Safe-T-Alerts should have been replaced before June 2013. Again, this is a SAFETY issue.

  • A fuse in the Converter Panel had shorted out before we received delivery of the RV. This resulted in various calls to the Cruise America call center as the Safe-T-Alert and the Protechtor (name and not misspelled) didn't respond to ”testing” to see if they functioned. We had to spend time and effort to buy and replace the faulty fuse. This fuse was faulty upon delivery of the RV to us. A SAFETY issue again.

  • The driver side mirror needed to be tightened.. It moved position while driving. Fortunately, we went to visit a friend and he tightened the screw. Again a SAFETY hazard which we never reported as we were fortunate enough to visit a friend who had all the tools required to fix the SAFETY problem.

  • The windshield wipers were broken upon delivery of the RV to us. Again, we had to spend time and advance money to buy new ones and install them ourselves.

  • A Regional Campground Guide was NOT provided. Please note tthat I understand the word “General” as it “lets Cruise America off the hook” in case some things aren't provided :-D

• Cleanliness of the RV:

  • The RV ”handed” over to us was so-called ”clean”. A major joke based on the following findings:

  • The ”furniture” was never thoroughly cleaned. The amount of dust in the furniture is unbelievable .I don't dare to "beat" on the furniture. If I do this, it results in a humongous amount of dust which is released into the air.

  • I happen to be very allergic to dust and have been sneezing my "head off" since we've been in the RV. So has my husband, but to a lesser degree.

• Returning the vehicle clean to avoid having to pay US$ 50 in cleaning charges:

  • To return the vehicle clean is impossible. Plus, the vehicle was never delivered "clean" of dust in the furniture to us to begin with. We can't vacuum clean the cushions in the vehicle as we did not have a vacuum cleaner.

  • Cruise America should know this as we come from Europe and therefore had to rent everything. I will thoroughly clean every side and ceiling surface, floor and inside windows before returning the vehicle back, but the furniture will still be full of dust. Oh well, that's how it was delivered to us :-(

  • IEven though returning the freezer clean meant that I had to turn off the fridge and freezer the day before, I did this. The freezer is not a ”no-frost” fridge. We have paid for the RV until between 09:00 and 11:00 a.m. on Monday, October 7th and it will be returned before that. We should have been able to use the fridge and freezer until hand-over to the dealer, but then the fridge would not have been defrosted and therefore not clean. Ergo, we coulldn't use the fridge the last evening, which we didn't.

• Things missing when renting china and cutlery:

  • Spatula, which should have been there.

  • Small flashlight, which should have been there.

  • Scissors (a small one would do very nicely, but is not part of the rental).

  • Corkscrew. Again, a cheap one will do very nicely, however, is not part of the rental

  • Clothes hangers. We bought new ones and Cruise America is very welcome to them :-D

Based on our above listed experiences, I have a hard time believing that Cruise America is entitled to the BEST USA-rental agency of RV's. Might they be advertising with something they are not entitled to????

          Experiences when returning the vehicle to Cruise America Chicago:

We returned the vehicle cleaner than we received the vehicle,, therefore no charges were deducted from our US$ 500 depositi. HOWEVER, US$ 90 (and some change) was paid by us to fill up the 1st vehicle (unit no. 191269). This vehicle was returned as unsafe due to the 15-25% either way play in the steering wheel. This was our money and therefore, rightfully so, has today (20-11-2013) been restituted to us. Took a bit of correspondence to get Cruise America to return us our own money.

We were promised one day return of rental by Brian from Cruise America Chicago due to the fact that we lost an entire day before we received another vehicle without play in the steering wheel. No unlimited mileage charges returned.

We had to call the 1-800 Cruise America number MANY times as we discovered one of the other problems and then the next one and the next and so on and so forth.

Part of these problems were corrected by us driving the motor home to various addresses provided us by the Cruise America Call Center having a guy repair some of the problems, though not all., us buying new windshield wipers and new fuses and replacing the fuse in a box which specifically states that only qualified personnel are allowed to even open the door of this box. I wouldn't even begin to consider us to be qualified personnel!!!

We ended up being either able to "jiggle" the water heater valve so we could heat water, stuck at least 20 plastic toothpicks between the outside rubber and the window so the window would close properly and not open of its own accord anymore (of course, one couldn't open this window anymore after that), "ignoring" various other inconveniences, etc.

When we returned the vehicle to Cruise America Chicago, Brian was livid!!!!! He was barely able to contain his anger and blamed us for all the problems we had reported to the Cruise America Call Center.

I've never feared so much for my life, as I considered Brian to be capable of coming to the (our) other side of the counter to strangle me. If I had said much of anything to defend us and tell him that it wasn't our fault that we were delivered a motor home with SAFETY issues, he would have lost it and attached me.

We were the customers!!!!! We paid US$ 1,000 per week for just renting the motorhome. I would think that one might expact a motorhome which was at least SAFE!!!!!!

We have since received return of the US$ 90 (plus some cents) for the gasline we put into the 1st (unacceptable due it being dangerous) vehicle. If we had not complained through our booking agent, we would have lost that money as well.

I consider it totally unacceptable that a customer is blamed and and frightened due to a salesman not wanting to stand up to his responsibilties and delivering a safe, fully functional, vehicle to his customers. IF certain items within the living part of the motorhome aren't living up to standard, then this should be discussed prior to handing over the customer, at a reduced rate, to be agreed upon by the salesman and the customer.

When full price is paid, the customer is entitled to a fully functional vehicle without any inconveniences or saffety issues.

P.S: this matter has been submitted to the Better Business Bureau (BBB) and Consumer Report and I'm very seriously considering sending a description of our experiences with Cruise America to various European travel magazines was well. It is my opinion that consumers should be warned!!!

With kind regards,

Elisabeth J C Hxxxxxxx-Kxxxxxx

DK-4040 Jyllinge

Denmark