The HostMy Host, Erika, was fantastic. Communication was excellent. I had a number of questions before and during the trip and most were responded to within ten minutes. One question pertained to the potential need for a shortened trip due to hurricane Milton. This is a question I expected Outdoorsy to answer (see below). But they didn’t, so I asked my Host. She did “above and beyond” research and gave me an acceptable solution. Fortunately that option was never needed.Erika provided a thorough pre-trip briefing of the rig, and was right on time for the drop off. Even helped unload.Her hostiness was in stark contrast to the one I had a year ago. He was not available for either the pickup or the drop-off. His wife was there, knew nothing about the rig, and had her hands full with a young child and feisty dog. She had to call over her husband’s workmate, who also knew little, to help with some problems with the rig. Upon drop-off, no one was there. Unacceptable.Erika is an example of a great Host. She met all expectations which I suspect is uncommon in this business.The RigErika has several rigs. This particular one was a 2022 Thor Vegas 24.3, one of the shortest Class A’s.The good: It drove really well, stayed in lane with tight steering, minimal impact from passing trucks. I loved the huge front window. The phone app was super convenient to control the AC/heat, slide, lights, gen start, and other features. The floor space was ample with the slide out and Murphy bed up. The rig was reliable, nothing broke. Cabinet space was super generous, especially for a smallish rig. The outdoor strip light was perfect for ambiance and softly lighting the area.The not so good: Two window shades wouldn’t stay down, but small aftermarket clips held them down. The black tank gauge was useless, stuck in the near full position from guess what (this is common with most RVs.) The Murphy bed was a great idea, but was a pain to use. The mattress was an inch or more too long and was a real PITA to squeeze back into the wall with the bedding in place. Also the mattress was compressed near the head of the bed and never did decompress. The user should sleep in the opposite direction, head to the aisle, feet to the wall – that would work fine. I repaired a cabinet door whose frame was not glued in place. I never did get the Android Car Play to work with my Samsung S23 phone, and the Host could not help. I suspect there was an incompatibility with my newer phone or there was some trick to setup that I missed after trying for a half hour.Yes, I understand that “rentals” of anything will not be exceptionally well maintained – those will be rare. I would love a rental that is in the condition as if I owned it. But I doubt there are many. True, the newer the rig is, the more “exceptional” it is likely to be. Two to three years old is considered newish. If you seek one that is 5 to 10 years old, ask A LOT of specific questions.Suggestions for the owner of the RV (not owned by the Host):
• Get a proper fitting mattress. Remove a major frustration.
• Repair your roller shades. Needing clips to hold them down is tacky for a 2-year old rig.
• Install capacitive tank sensors so accurate readings can be achieved on all tanks. Not knowing the true level can be a huge headache.OutdoorsyAhh, yes, a company with some rough edges. Having read dozens of RV rental company reviews, Outdoorsy is the best among them, which does not say a whole lot. My recent experience is that response time to questions is typically 12 to 24 hours, while RVshare may take several days, and then not really answer your question. There is a marked lack of coordination between Outdoorsy and its insurance affiliates. The one example that was really irksome was attempting to learn the trip cancellation/cutting short policy. In Outdoorsy’s “Welome/bon voyage” email, it provided a phone number and account number to provide to their insurance affiliate. I called that number and spoke to a woman who might as well have been the dumbest AI robot on the planet. She asked for the policy number. I gave her the number provided by Outdoorsy in the “helpful” email. “Nope”, she said, and insisted on a number I don’t recall ever possessing. I offered my phone number, email address, my mother’s maiden name, my social security number, my driver’s license number and my dog’s next of kin. Nope, she needed a number I did not have. At that point I contacted my host, who thankfully, knew more about Outdoorsy’s cumbersome, ill-conceived and poorly implemented bureaucratic hoops than I did.On top of this, the cost of insurance, especially the lowest deductible for a Class A being $2,000, was outrageously nearly as much as the rental itself.OverallThis was a good, sometimes challenging, but overall positive experience. It is the rare RV outing when some of the “adventure” and challenge does not involve the rig itself. But we go RVing for the break from monotony and for a challenging and different experience, right? The journey is often the destination – one of my favorite sayings.
