Travellers Auto Barn

Hi, Firstly, thanks to Jessica for taking the time to detail her experience on a recent rental with us, it really does highlight what sort of impact a mechanical issue can have on a self drive trip in a large country like Australia. As a company which understands the value of all feedback and is customer focused, I feel compelled to reply. Coincidently, I remember being in communication with our Perth Branch staff at the beginning of this rental, (23/09/2011) , in addition I investigated the rental as a result of a complaint filed with us by the customer. I certainly agree that to list all of the issues with this rental would take a long time, so I'll attempt to keep it short. First and most importantly, our vehicles are 100% roadworthy and safe, I cannot stress this enough!! We have a strong reputation in our industry for providing safe and reliable self drive transport options for young & independent travellers. Having said that, we also understand that it is impossible to predict a mechanical failure despite the strict schedule of maintenance and servicing of our fleet. This particular group hired 2 x Hitop vehicles. One of these suffered a burnt out clutch, which we believe, the lack of proficiency driving a manual vehicle was a contributing factor and the other campervan was involved in a minor accident during the rental, this camper did not suffer any mechanical issues. Our entire fleet is covered by a National network of Roadside Assistance providers and any misunderstanding was cleared up and service was provided by the Royal Automobile Club, WA. When a mechanical issue occurs mid-rental, especially in a remote area, there is going to be some inconvenience to the travel plans of the customer, our aim is to limit the impact of this disruption. We are however limited in this aim in some circumstances given factors such as location, type of issue, availability of local vendors to rectify the issue and of course the travel plans of our customer/s. In this situation, our customer service team provided the travelling party with the best available options given these limitations. I can understand that the options were not ideal for the travelling party and this could have been the cause of disquiet during negotiations with our customer service team. I must also take this opportunity to dispute your assertion that there was no refund offered for the mechanical issue. We have processed a refund for lost days of this rental due to the mechanical issue to the value of AUD$276, (processed via bank transfer 12/10/2011). While I can completely understand the frustration and the impact this issue had on our customers, I think it is important to provide some balance to this review. Finally, I invite our customer to contact me directly to discuss this rental in further detail if this is still relevant/appropriate. admin@travellers-autobarn..com.au Safe Travels & Many Thanks..!! Peter Adams Customer Relations Manager Travellers Autobarn