Star RV Motorhome Hire - Sydney Reviews 23

We made a RV booking with Star RV through Ratpack travel and sadly 2 weeks before arring in Australia had to cancel due to middle east travel restrictions . Both Ratpack and Star RV were fantastic with us when we cancelled. Our deposit understandingly was not refundable but Ratpack travel and Star RV have offered to hold our deposit for 2 years allowing us to use it on a future trip next year . Brilliant service from day 1 and wonderful customer service .

Premium Price for a Maintenance Nightmare – Management Ignoring Issues

​Avoid Star RV if you expect a "Premium" service. We even completed the Online Check-In days in advance, yet the handover in Sydney was a disaster.

​The Reality:

​Infested with cockroaches upon pickup.

​Major repairs needed mid-trip: In Melbourne, the team had to RE-SEAL a leaking window and REPLACE the broken range hood.

​Safety Risks: Worn-out tires and old wipers for a 4,000km journey across the Nullarbor.

​Disorganized: Despite the online check-in, items were missing and we were given the wrong pickup address.

​Management Failure:

While the staff in Melbourne and Perth were helpful, the Sydney Branch Manager, Robert, has been unprofessional. He offered a small $500 refund and has been ignoring my emails for over 8 days now. It seems they prefer to sweep safety and hygiene issues under the rug.

​Save your money and your nerves – this is NOT a premium provider.

We rented a mobile home from StarRV. It was dirty, pick up was delayed while they fixed the brakes, the cupboards and rear seats were dirty with exhaust muck (inside).
We persevered and put up with that but gave up when it started raining and the window frames leaked, making the beds wet and the van uninhabitable. We cut our trip short, complained snd were ignored. Avoid them at all costs

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!!!
A list of issues. DO NOT BOOK

The vehicle we were provided is in an unacceptable, unsafe, and unhygienic condition, and does not reflect the standard promised in your advertising or expected from a professional rental company at over $2,000.00 for less than a week. The condition of this vehicle represents a major failure under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Despite completing your “pre-check-in” process, which was intended to streamline our pickup; we waited over 45 minutes to receive the vehicle. Unfortunately, the situation deteriorated further once the campervan was handed over to us.

We identified the following serious issues:

Severe interior deterioration: Most seating surfaces throughout the vehicle have significant peeling and damage, exposing material underneath. This is clearly visible throughout the cabin and living area.

Poor hygiene: The vehicle smells extremely unpleasant, and the interior was noticeably dirty upon pickup. This is not acceptable for a vehicle intended for accommodation, also indicating the vehicle was not cleaned or prepared to any acceptable standard before being supplied.

Missing equipment: The rear bed had no cushions, and your staff were unable to provide a complete set until we specifically raised the issue, however this further delayed our departure until something was found.

Mechanical concerns: The moment the vehicle was turned on, an oil level warning light illuminated on the dashboard — indicating the vehicle may not be safe to drive. This raises concerns about roadworthiness and safety. Your staff provided no proper solution and no alternative vehicle.

General neglect: The entry area and cabin floors were dirty, worn, and in visibly poor condition.

After arriving at destination, we discovered additional serious issues with the motorhome that further confirm this vehicle is unsafe, unroadworthy, and completely unfit for hire under the Australian Consumer Law (ACL).

Rear bed cushions do not fit the bed setup:
The cushions your staff eventually located, after initially failing to provide any, do not fit the rear bed configuration at all. They appear to be taken from an entirely different vehicle layout. This means the sleeping area cannot be used, leaving us without a functional bed.

Front left tyre is severely damaged and close to delaminating: Upon inspecting the vehicle further after arrival, we discovered the front left tyre is visibly deteriorated, cracked, and nearing delamination. This is an extreme safety hazard. Driving this vehicle any further places us at immediate risk of a tyre blowout and serious injury.

Providing a motorhome with a tyre in this condition is unacceptable, unsafe, and a clear breach of your duty of care. This alone represents a major failure under the ACL due to the vehicle being unsafe to operate.

It is unreasonable and unfair to provide a vehicle in such a neglected state, and even more concerning that no alternative resolution was offered.

HORRIFIC - van smelled, was filthy, and the car was unsafe to drive. We returned the car early and was advised to put in a complaint when we returned home but have had no response in a month. Scam company, disgusting treatment of their customers. Go anywhere else.

So disappointed by this company. After driving for 7 hours we found the fridge didn't work and we were unable to use ANY of the plug sockets....the floors also sunk as you walked on them, we could also see the shower/toilet area leaking through the wall (probably explaining the soft sinking floors).
We were told to drive into Bundaberg to a reputable mechanic of their choice to check our fridge...and by this point the cooker aswell (both were not working).
We waited with 2 young children for over an hour to be told (we have the report from the mechanic) that the van we had been given was 'inhabitable & unsafe' apparently it should have NEVER been given to us. In addition too this we were advised that the back marbling going through the cabin above the driver's seat was actually black mold (which can be deadly).
We were absolutely devastated and told the only thing star RV could do would be to have a better van driven to us from Brisbane (4hrs away) or we could drive to Brisbane and pick one up.
This derailed the rest of our holiday and all the bookings we had made for the later part of our trip.
When we got to Brisbane our hearts broke further to see the vehicle we should have had compared to what we were given.
The trouble didn't stop there however!!
The new van had a ladder that didn't fit the bunk bed, a massive safety hazard for anyone who needed to access that space. No chairs or table for outside provided. No tablets for the toilet. Which stunk majority of the time.
We had finally given up and decided to drive home only to pull into a service station and find we hadn't been given the right key for the fuel cap.
We are currently waiting for the road side assist who have told us will be an hour and a half.
I genuinely just want this nightmare to end.
Also the customer service are useless, rude and do not seem to want to help at all.....thats when you are able to actually talk to them without being put on hold!!

**** As you can see below i have received a very nice reply to my review- with no way of writing back.
Please don't be fooled by them.
Since receiving the response below this company has refused to refund even half of the cost to hire their cesspit of a van and no one has been in contact regarding this review!!
We were also informed by the NRMA technician in Port Macquarie that they are inundated with calls from desperate holiday makers also using StarRV and Juicey in deep distress. Not ideal for a nice holiday.
If you know anyone who may be considering hiring a campervan steer clear of StarRV and Juicey a.k.a 'the juicey crew'.
We have taken this to fair trading and the ombudsman.
To the person who responded below, your company put my young children in danger, that is something that can not be forgiven and your companies response to our ordeal has been abhorrent.
Legal action has also commenced.
You have had two weeks to rectify this situation and you haven't.

We required urgent support from the Star RV team while we were on the road, but unfortunately, we were unable to get any meaningful assistance.

The support representative we spoke with was rude and showed little willingness to help. He only raised an enquiry and stated that he could not confirm any ETA for a response, despite us clearly explaining that we were on the road and required immediate assistance.

Additionally, the company we hired the van from was also unable to help solely because we were not at a physical location, which left us without any support at all during a critical situation.

Due to the complete lack of timely assistance and poor customer service, this experience has been extremely disappointing. Based on this, we would not book with Star RV again and would not recommend their services to others.

The awning was missing a screw but when we arranged for a repair whilst the RV was parked on site, no one turned up! All subsequent emails were ignored. Not great when you’re dealing with 40 degrees of heat! No one was interested during or post our hire period. Definitely would NOT recommend

Never had the bad experience like now. We are on the road with a camper rented at StarRV. The camper is totally old, dirty, not working, doors cannot close correctly. We argued this at pick op point in Sydney. No solution. Than we sent emails, 3 days in a roy, filled in the contact formular..... no reaction at all.
Pleas do not book at this terrible company

Over 24 hours later and still no single kind of help after we called (impossible to reach), asked at the desk in Sydney (no way somebody cared) and mailed them twice (no answer). Can’t believe this kind of leading a company exists

We picked it up on Thursday, March 6th in Sydney, and on Friday morning, we noticed that the water heater was not working. We spent over an hour on the phone on Friday, March 7th with a man . We were shocked by this person’s attitude. They put us on hold for several long minutes, hung up twice, and insisted that we fix the issue ourselves. According to them, it was as simple as pressing a button on the water heater to reset it. When we told them there were no buttons, they didn’t believe us and kept insisting. We had to send a photo of the water heater for them to realize it was not the model they were expecting. In the end, they didn’t know this model and put us on hold again before hanging up!
We didn’t expect to encounter someone asking us to repair the motorhome when we had paid nearly $10,000 for this rental!
We called back and spoke to another person,who told us she would arrange a repair and send us the details by email. Amy knew where we were and where we were heading.

At 2 pm on Friday, we received an email directing us to a garage more than 2 hours away. The garage closed at 4 pm, so it was impossible to get there in time to have the water heater fixed. We sent emails explaining the situation but received no response.

On Saturday morning, we called again, and the person we spoke to told us it was the weekend and that we would have to wait until Monday. In the meantime, we had to book campsites just to be able to shower and have hot water.

On Monday morning, we called Jucy again to try and resolve this issue. Jucy directed us to a repairer and told us that if any repairs were needed, we would have to pay the costs upfront. I find it outrageous that we might have to pay a large amount of money for repairs that were not included in our budget.

In the end, we didn’t have to pay for a water heater, as the mechanic found it was beyond repair and also discovered a leak. So the situation had worsened: we had no hot water, couldn’t use the toilets, or wash dishes because water was leaking everywhere!! The mechanic told us they didn’t have a replacement water heater. The mechanic sent their report and photos to Jucy (we received their email).

We called Jucy again and sent emails to explain all of this and to request a replacement motorhome in Brisbane. It was unacceptable to continue with this vehicle, which was falling apart and no longer functional. We had paid $10,000, and on top of that, we had to pay for campsites every night, spend our time on the phone or writing emails, and waste time looking for a mechanic to fix a vehicle we had just picked up.

On Monday evening, I received two emails: one asking how the visit to the mechanic had gone, even though we had already sent a summary, called, and the mechanic had sent an email; and the second email informing me that there was no possibility of exchanging the vehicle in Brisbane because no vehicles were available, and asking again how the mechanic appointment had gone and where we were, to set up another appointment at a mechanic. It felt like they expected us to spend our vacation going from garage to garage to repair a vehicle we had just received!

On Tuesday morning (March 11), we went to the Brisbane agency, determined to get another vehicle, as continuing under these conditions was impossible, or at least to get a full refund and end this nightmare that had started on Thursday, March 6, and book with another company. The agency was very professional: they provided us with another vehicle, even repaired issues on this second vehicle, and agreed to reimburse the campsites we had to pay for during this ordeal.

However, the manager refused to give us a compensation for this awful experience. She told us to contact jucy for that

I requested compensation for all the inconveniences caused (and there were many), the stress, frustration, the time lost calling you, writing emails that often went unanswered because, of course, the case was not handled by a single person but by multiple people who were not informed, the time wasted changing vehicles, and having to repack everything (with a 2-year-old child,).It is extremely frustrating and exhausting to deal with such an assistance service. It feels like we are talking into a void, not being listened to, and since the rental has been paid, you seem to think you can treat customers poorly and leave them in a terrible situation. This has truly ruined the start of our vacation . I am still waiting for their answer ..they made us an offer( compensation of 15% for the 4 days impacted , but price without insurance and they told us to contact our insurance for more. I told them it is not satisafactory to us. Star rv rents vehicles and it is supposed to ensure certain features. It is solely star rv’s responsibility to ensure this failure, not a travel insurance. Rental contract is not fulfilled at all!!!

I will try to be as objective as possible and will share mostly factual details based on my experience.
Pros:
1. I was able to arrange childcare on-site, as I had forgotten to do this during the booking process.
2. The motorhome itself is spacious, and for six people (including two kids), it was quite comfortable.
3. The motorhome was fresh and modern, with a spacious fridge, which was a great bonus for our family.
4. The stress-free insurance was a must for me and definitely helped avoid unnecessary worry after a small incident during reverse parking.
Cons:
1. Significant delays during pick-up (1.5 hours):
* The delay was caused by a severe issue with the motorhome’s awning. During pick-up, I asked the staff to demonstrate how to use the awning, and this uncovered a few surprises. First, when they slightly rolled the awning down, a large spider appeared, which made me question whether it had been checked after the previous rental. Second, when they rolled it back up, the right pole was unstable and clearly unsafe for driving. I had to point this out before any improvements were made.
* Additional issues included the middle table being stuck due to a broken unscrewing handle, and the grey water sensor fluctuating between 50% and 100%.
2. Unprofessional staff:
* Initially, I was impressed as they promised to onboard me with the vehicle and answer all my questions. However, once I started pointing out issues, one staff member struggled to respond and had to seek help from another team member.
* The vehicle had to be taken back to the garage to fix the awning and table handle, which added over an hour to the delay. Their solution for the awning was to make the rolling mechanism tighter, claiming it was now safe to drive despite the shaking pole. The table handle was not repaired, but they showed me a workaround to make it functional.
* During the trip, when we used the awning properly and secured the poles with clips, the issue was resolved. This suggests the problem wasn’t with the awning itself but with how it was set up by the staff.
3. Lack of a proper checklist to prepare the vehicle:
* During pick-up, I had to point out issue after issue to the staff, which clearly indicated that they were not aware of these problems beforehand.
4. Instructions did not match the vehicle setup:
* The setup for the middle and rear beds was different from what was outlined in the instructions. Unfortunately, I had to figure this out myself after a long drive, late at night.
5. Unempowered staff unable to handle issues caused by the provider:
* When I asked if I could return the vehicle 1.5 hours later due to the delays caused by their issues, the staff could not offer a solution or extend the return time. Instead, they simply suggested sending feedback.
6. Limited rear camera view:
* The rear camera had a very limited view, and I was unable to see the entire back of the vehicle or the cars behind me as you would in a standard car. This made reversing and monitoring traffic much more challenging.

The motor home is old and dirty. All the soft furnishings are stained so badly I don’t like to sit on them.
The fridge is cracked and the freezer door doesn’t stay closed.
Furnished padding is falling off walls, all the table edges and window frames are broken.
Very, very disappointed

Freddie the worker was very helpful in showing us how to use all the amenities of the camper. It was very clean and had everything we needed. It was a wonderful experience.

Staff was very welcoming, helpful and accommodating!

We’ve had the best experience renting a motorhome with Star RV! Super spacious, even traveling with twin baby’s. They’ve got great service where you can get fresh linen at their offices; we left in Sydney and got fresh ones at both Cairns and Brisbane. Mattresses were very comfortable and the camper had all necessities for a comfortable camper trip. Would definitely rent with them again!

We rentend a camper in Sydney to drive to Melbourne in 5 days. Om day 3 the camper broke down due to engine failure and we had to be towed. We were sent from pillar to post by star RV customer service. Even told we had to arrange our own tow. Customerservice was unhelpfull and uncaring. We were stuck for 26 hours! Eventually, Jucy campers towed us and arranged alternative transport.
Conpensation offer frim Star RV was 250 aus$, which we did not accept.
What a lousy experience!

The equipment and friend and professional service I received at the reception are very satisfying.

The communication internally in the company between the centralised call centre and the depots / service teams is incredibly poor. The staff are very disciplined in not sharing a specific phone number - EVERYTHING MUST GO THROUGH THE 1800 NUMBER. If I were to guess, I would say that is the first thing all employees are taught. Above all else. Not the customers, not the vans, just don't share a specific phone number. On the first day the bed didn't drop, so we slept on the floor, second day we took a gamble on booking a hotel (which they refunded), they gave us a fan heater with a cut cable, third night we slept on the floor. I will never book Star RV or JUCY Rentals again. And that incredibly happy hold voice gets super annoying when you call for the 5/6/7/8/9/10th time - ESPECIALLY when the person hangs up after being on hold for 40+ minutes.

Great pick up experience. Through walk through and the RV was in great condition.