Happy Campers Auckland - Airport Oaks

We rented a Hi5 for 2.5 weeks. Car was 11years old but in good condition and well maintained. The van drove perfectly well on gravel road as up hills. Very Friendly staff. We were given all the extras we asked them for once there with no questions ( cable for music/ phone charger/ grill for bbq/ extra chairs and table/ extra kitchen gears...) We made sure all was in working conditions before hitting the roads... don’t rush when picking up the van. Take time to check everything to avoid surprises down the road...

Very bad company to rent a van in New Zealand. We had the Happy 3 for 3 weeks, at the end of our 1day trip we realised that a complete part of the upper bed was missing and the fuel door was broken (not possible to open it). Talked to the manager in Christchurch on the phone who was rude with me and ends un to bring back the van to Auckland to get another one. In Auckland, the manager is not better, we did not have a choice and had to accept one not in better condition but after hearing that I was blind and that I had to make up my mind in 5 min or nothing we decided to leave... Customer service is bad and no one paid for the waste of time and the money spent in the fuel. Still waiting for an answer to my email.

DO NOT HIRE A CAR/CAMPER FROM THIS COMPANY! The photos on their website are a gross misrepresentation of their inferior product. The van was in poor condition, had been in several accidents, and its “basic amenities” were malfunctioning while we were sitting at the depot. We were concerned about its suitability for the road and the likelihood of having issues once we left. They are the cheapest option for a reason— terrible products and even worse customer service. We raised our concerns to the woman at the desk (dyed red/pink hair) and she was remarkably unpleasant and incapable of having a professional conversation. We inquired about any possible upgrades when we were dissatisfied with the van we were shown and her snarky reply was that preparing a new vehicle takes time and cost money and they were unwilling to prep another vehicle for a measly 5 day hire. She then went on to say that we were lucky to even get a 5 day hire and that we should be thankful for what we have. I thought kiwis were supposed to be a nice, friendly bunch, but this woman was rude, rotten, and frankly, should not be trusted to deal with customers. At the end of the day, we hired a service and were extremely dissatisfied. We hired with a different company and are pursuing legal action if necessary to get our money back from Happy Campers. From the looks of these other reviews, this company has demonstrated a clear trend and I must urge you to reconsider doing any business with them.

Would not recommend them at all. Picked up our van in Auckland all good. Got 300 meters down the road and the engine light came on, so we turned straight around at the round back to the office. When we told the staff about the engine light coming of they said it ok the mechanic said it's just a sensor you will be right. We said we where not happy about taking the van but where forced to take it. Well less than 12 hours into our trip we broke down in the middle of no where. Vehicle had to be towed. There was no follow up communication from the Auckland office at all with us. We had to chase every step of the way. Matter escalated to Head Office in Christchurch and we dealt with Brian. Brian we great getting to the bottom of the issue and ended up refunding total cost plus the nights accommodation. Thank you Brian your actions put us back on a positive track to enjoying our holiday.

I rented a 'black sheep' van from happy campers, it was rather an old vehicle but in good condition. I drove 4000 kms without any problems.. cheap rates, nice van - I'd totally recommend them.. I was indeed a happy camper :)

We were really put off by the reviews on here but it was too late to change anything so we went in feet first and came out 4 weeks later, happy as Larry! This company is great - we had a very friendly welcome and walkthrough, the van was a cheaper than usual model and had done itself 630,000kms. As we drove it off the forecourt, everything felt tight, together, clearly well serviced and secure and lasted us the full 4 week/4500kms trip we took with no issues whatsoever. We booked our cheap as chips campervan through motor home republic and decided on an older model as we didn’t plan on spending all our time in it (just bed and brekkie/supper) and these older vans are solid and without all the electrical nonsense so they get the job done and have all the commodities you need. So if you don’t mind it a little worn around the edges then this is the van for you. Pulls great up hills, brakes amazing and everything inside worked perfectly and was very clean when it arrived. Happy Campers were great at helping us out whenever we had questions enroute and the check out was also smooth. We definitely recommend for anyone looking to hire a camper from a company who seem very genuine from the get go.

Great campervan, we went for the Happy Kuga (aka Toyota Hiace). 2 of us collecting but 5 nights with 3 in the van it's cosy and involves a lot of shuffling around but perfectly doable. Ran well, we were lucky to grab the 2011 model though! Free shuttle from airport, although we were waiting for nearly an hour just for pick up. Some issues with the dirty water valve which we couldn't empty but did call ahead and the team said not to worry as they can deal with it and would prefer us not to break anything. Main downside for us was the questionable professionalism from staff in the Auckland office who I think sometimes forget they are observed by waiting customers and should perhaps think about the impression they give, especially when first arriving in the office. We overheard a pretty heated conversation over the phone with quite demanding and rude customers which seemed to really anger the manager to the point of swearing and complaining she didn't speak german and couldn't hear them through their thick accent...the customers were dutch. Anyway, still an overall positive experience, the front of house staff were lovely, although did look a little overworked. Few tips for future happy campers: Offices can get very busy very fast, best time to arrive is after 3pm for drop off but don't leave it too late. Make sure you have a list of what you expect to see in your campervan on collection, quite a few essentialy items were missed, i.e. boards for 3rd sleepers, bedding, bbq and chairs and gas needed replacing. If you don't prompt them they may not replace it. If anything does go wrong just call them, they almost always answer immediately and would much rather you said something than returned it faulty. Lastly, if you see another happy camper on the road, make sure you wave!

New Zealand... a paradise in Earth. Happy/Kiwi Campers... the worst experience ever with a company that SHOULD offer services and assistance. At a first glance the camper (Happy 2 ST) did not seem well: all the mosquito nets were broken, the back door sometimes didn't open from the front, the interior and the bedding were dirty, the water pump sounds noisy... After 100 km and then every 100 - 150 km the vehicle lights an engine light and accelerator stops working, it was necessary to switch the engine off and on again during driving. That was a bit dangerous during our journey, in particular when the street was not plain. After 800 km (the 4th day) the engine has broken (another problem, different from the first one) and we lost a morning waiting the truck that pick us to Queenstown. Calling Happy Campers after several tries (nobody answered the phone) they told us WE have to find an accomodation in town and the camper would have been ready next day, although the mechanic told us that he would not be able to repair it without spare parts. It was hard to find an accomodation for the evening because everything was full booked, we found a place 3km from town centre. Next day we have called Happy Campers and, as mechanic said, they told us that the vehicle would not have been ready until Monday (they said changing camper was impossible), that WE should search for a car rental and rent a car until Monday. If I were a serious agency I would have looked for an accomodation and for a rental for my customers, not leaving them to themselves. We were a bit worried because next Thursday we had to be at Picton for embarking to Wellington. At Queenstown we rent a car and our journey goes on around the town. We had reached the beginning of the west coast but not so far because we have to return the car to Queenstown on Monday. On Monday afternoon we return the car to car rental and take the camper from the garage. We had to drive so long without many stops because of the ferry date. We were 100 km from Queenstown when the first accelerator problem showed up again, so we stops and stay an entire morning at mechanic in Haast. He said he needs some parts to resolve the problem. For him we would continue our journey with that problem turning engine off and on when the warning light comes out. In addition to engine problems, after 2 showers on the camper the water pump stopped working (it was very noisy from the first day...), so we had to stop every evening at campsites for use water (for shower and washing dishes). The only positive thing about rental experience with Happy/Kiwi Campers is that they refunded us (after 15 days, and after our reminder because they had lost our credit card details) for the lost days, for the nights in the hotels and for the substitute car rental. Happy/Kiwi Campers aside, our journey was awesome, New Zealand is breathtaking!