Happy travells.

Feel free to email me with any questions.

Derval O'Neill, derval.oneill@yahoo.it, 28 january 2008
Hi there, found dealing with IdeaMerge was a pleasure - no issues at all. We expected the same when we arrived at Roadbear, Agoura Hills, but we did not find the staff particularly friendly either at the pick up stage or the drop off. At drop off, we just knew they would deduct some of our deposit eventhough the RV was in top condition when we returned it. Like one of your other customers, we too were charged for damage to the awning ($175), which to be honest you would have needed a magnifying glass to see. During the trip, the RV was basic but functional and we had no technical issues, bar a leaking kitchen sink. It could have been cleaned better before we picked it up. The driving area had not been cleaned and the blinds in the bed room were stained. Next time, we would go for a slightly higher grade RV and a bit more friendly and welcoming customer service, even if it meant paying more.

Rob and Annie, 21 january 2008
Pick up and return from McRent in Frankfurt (Nov 07 - Compact Luxury) went smoothly and staff were very helpful. We suffered two breakdowns in the five week hire - one an injector problem (in a heavy snowstorm) and the other when we discovered we had no rear brakes. We had to pay for the brake repair ourselves and it was then reimbursed on return. The fuel economy in the van was around 11.6l/100km which I was told was high for the van, although it drove very well. The crockery/cutlery/pans were adequate however we did miss a kettle.

The van itself was clean and tidy and a good size for our family (2 adults and 2 kids under 4). We chose this van for its size (it was our first hire) although next time we will go a bit bigger. As first timers we were only concerned once and that was the drive between Pompeii and Sorrento (I would recommend staying in Pompeii and getting the train!). All in all a great trip and we cant wait to do it again!

Jon Lee, jon@jonnylee.co.uk, 08 january 2008
We picked up a 26ft Motorhome from the New Jersey office and drove 4200 miles over 3 weeks across the LA office. We were a little daunted by the size as it was only two of us, and we had been upgraded to the bigger size. However we quickly got used to it and once we did had a brilliant time. The insides were well furnished and very comfortable and I would definately recommend Roadbear and Ideamerge. The transactions were all very smooth. We had a few minor gripes however. We (accidentally) weren't given the key needed to get in the side door. This was the biggest problem as it meant we had to go in and out of the front cab when we first came back, we could then open it from the inside and use it until we next left the van. Our water/waste tank metres were both broken which meant they showed full all the time. Wasn't a huge issue but a bit annoying. Other than that everything was excellent and we had a great time! Staff were very friendly and we had no extras to pay!

Dale and Gerda Edmonton, Canada, 25 november 2007
This was our second rental through IdeaMerge and was also a positive experience. The people at Freedom Holiday did a good job and the campervan was in great shape (if a tad under clean). Everything worked very well and the performance from the two liter diesel was impressive. Unfortunately our holiday was cut short near the last minute and we were unable to get even a partial rebate. Our only complaints with campervan itself was that the kitchen supplies were extremely modest (with several essentials missing such as a dishpan, kettle, basic cooking utensils, cooking knives etc. all of which we purchased and left with the unit) and that the camping chairs and table were not usable at all. In fact the chairs were dangerous to use as they were unstable and subject to collapse. We did point this out to the folks at Freedom Holiday and they were somewhat sheepish about the chairs and advised they were going to replace them. On the bright side the people at Freedom Holiday were extremely friendly and helpful, they provided sleeping sets for no additional charge (we forgot to order them when we placed our reservation) and gave as a free lift to the train station when we returned the campervan. All in all a good experience which could have been made better if the small trifles had been looked after.

Linda - Bristol UK, 25 november 2007
We picked up the camper in Denver and dropped it off in San Francisco having covered 2500 miles in 4 weeks. RoadBear staff were extremely helpful at both locations and in particular their pick up and drop off service from local hotels contributed greatly to making the whole process easy and relaxed.
The camper was very clean and well appointed. We were particularly impressed with the quality of the appliances: shower, microwave, fridge/freezer. Staff at the San Francisco drop off location were very professional and efficient in checking the van back in and appreciative of our efforts in cleaning the van thoroughly. This contrasts with an experience in Germany where they were extremely aggressive and unpleasant.
If I had to find any complaints it would be that the bedding was inadequate for the time of the year that we had rented the camper - October. We had to buy a thicker duvet. Also the brakes were a bit unnerving on downward mountain roads. After a long period of downhill they overheated and started shuddering alarmingly. We learnt to stop every few miles and let them cool down - but would have appreciated a short instruction on how to deal with this as mountains are fairly common in Colarado and California.

We also agree with other travellers that the option of a CDW would have been much appreciated.

However, these were small points. We wouldn't hesitate to use RoadBear again and extend our thanks to their very professional staff for their contribution in making our holiday so enjoyable.

Geoffrey, 24 november 2007
The staff at the pickup (agoura hills) were very efficient and thorough, and the vehicle was in good shape, tho one folding chair was not functional. Check these carefully if you get them.

Also, I apparently crunched the rolled up awning into a tree and had a $175 ouch payment at the end for a new roller. Be careful. Or get the extra insurance.

Sean - London, ideamerge@seanandfiona.com, 15 november 2007
When we first picked up the RV we were all in shock at the size of it!
We had an 8 birth between the 4 of us (no kids) and had plenty of
room to splash around in! The comfort of the RV exceeded our
expectations and were all like kids on a new camping holliday! It
didn't take long to get used to the size when driving and found that it
could pretty much handle everything we had to offer it! The pick-up
and drop-off sites were easy to find and the staff at both centres were
more than helpful. As for the Californian countryside... wow... I think
we'll be seeing more of that in the coming years.

Ariel Lejtman, 31 october 2007
We had a great time all together in the camper. Your handling of our request was fast, polite and to the point. Freedom Holiday were excellent, very friendly and servicial to us. Everything they promised was done, and they also went the "extra mile".
We got the camper in the morning at no extra cost, the camper was in excellent conditions and everything worked as planned.

We hope to have a 2nd chance to rent a camper again and have a joyful experience as was our first one.

Best regards,
Ariel

Jiri SMRHA, aksmrha@centrum.cz, 24 october 2007
Jiøí Šmrha, Czech republic, 14 september 2007

We picked up the vehicle in Vancouver on 14.09.2007 and returned it again in Vancouver on 29.09.2007. The staff in Vancouver was kind and helpful.
The only problem at pick up was that we were not able to persuade the staff that the motoroil level was at the minimum level. We were told that it is at the maximum level and our opinion about the minim level should have been the result of our „bad meassuring“. After 500 km there was an indication the level is at the minimum which could not have been without doubt possible if there would had been enough of oil.
After seven days the cooler in the top part of the fridge served only as fridge, i.e. without producing temperature below zero.
Equipment of the vehicle was sufficient and in good quality.
I visited British Columbia for the second time an I surely will visit it again because of its fantastic nature, fish and friendly people.

Tom, 22 october 2007
Picked up the vehicle in Paris. Nice, clean and comfortable, however missing were the pots/pans, cutlery, dishes and information about campsites. (Double check for those.) Other than that, great holiday, nice way to see the country.

ronnie and seija middleton, 21 october 2007
we had a great trip we also had my wife sister with us the road star was great also no problems at all it took the large hill with ease the slideout was the best and so simple to do we hope to do it again some day, seija and me plan to do the camper thing for one year after i retire in2010, can you send info on your camper for sale,new and used thanks happy campers from finland

William Capshaw, 20 october 2007
Picked up the van in Amsterdam and recieved a very nice van along with complete operating instructions. Enjoyed my 15 days touring in Holland, Belgium, France and Germany. Only one small problem with the lights which I had repaired. The cost was promptly refunded upon my return.

anne goodman, anne-marie@ameg.org.uk, 20 october 2007

After a long gruelling journey we had to wait over an hour to get served in the Britz Brisbane office. The guy behind the counter said that people had to wait 3 hours sometimes. When I complained I was sort of ignored. After a long journey you just don't need that. They need more staff in the Brisbane office.

Ken Ackley and Karen Pope, 18 october 2007
We picked up our RV just outside Paris.
It was in very clean good condition.
We were not too happy with the maps and directions given us - ended up stopping to buy an atlas after hours on the wrong highway !!
No coffee pot was a surprise seems it would be an easy thing to provide. Yes the dishes rattle around.
Sheets were just barely OK - would make a big impression to have good ones.
These complaints aside -- we loved our time in the vehicle ---camped near Samois for 6 days for a Music Festival. Great to be able to fix our meals.
Our return was seamless ...the place is NOT easy to find or get to but -the folks there are great.

Humberto Costa, elisacosta@shaw.ca, 18 october 2007
Hilda & Humberto, May 16,2007
We rented your new motor-home in Frankfurt and travelled 10.000 km around 9 European countries without any problems.Fiat and McRent were very helpful would like the motor-homes to be equipped with GPS, TV, propane oven and air condition inside the motorhome.Also we think the deposit of 1.000 euros is too high and CDW insurance should be available.
Thank you, our best regards
Hilda and Humberto

David Bland, david@blandonline.plus.com, 14 october 2007
Picked up the van in Oslo for a two week tour of southern Norway. Everything great except for the seats in the rear of the van which, being foam, did not support the passengers whilst driving.

Wood Family, 08 october 2007
We picked up at Paris, France, and returned to Lyon, France. Great space in van and we had a good time but a few suggestions for improvement.
1. decent maps included, the camping books were no good for actually locating the camp sites.
2. specially moulded or cut out shelves to hold the crockery to save it crashing around in the
cupboards.
3. depots miles away from anywhere, closer to airports much better. Taxi driver in Paris had no idea hence a very expensive fare!!!
4. our linen was very threadbare and very stained and smelly pillows.we had cold weather in July and one blanket wasn't enough.

pat richter, 03 october 2007
We're a couple of months late with this but, better late than never! Picked up our motorhome in Paris for a 2 week trip through parts of France, the Swiss Alps & Italy in June.It was our first time in a motorhome. Loved it. Would do it again at the drop of a hat. We recommend getting a GPS---worth it's weight in gold!The staff at the Paris depot were excellent, very friendly and all spoke English. However, we feel it should be made very clear that the actual depot isn't in Paris but in a suburb. We had been picked up at the airport and taken to the depot but it was a nightmare trying to return it because we programmed the GPS for the road in Paris(rue du Colonel de Rochebrune) and ended up all over Paris---including going up the Champs Elysees and circling the Arc de Triomphe 3 times!!! We laugh about it now but didn't at the time!The depot is actually in the suburb of Rueil and both it and Paris have a road of the same name but we were unaware of this. We should have programmed Rueil into the GPS. We weren't impressed with the table & chairs that we rented--they were basically falling apart.Other than those 2 minor things, it was a fantastic experience.So easy to just pull off somewhere and eat etc. Doug at Ideamerge answered all our questions very promptly & we'd definitely rent through Ideamerge again. We agree with a previous review--------just doit!(but get a GPS!)We're already thinking about our next trip.

Pat Richter

Marc Family (Texas), 26 september 2007
We picked up our RV in Frankfurt in July. The only plans we had were the pick up and drop off dates. WE were scheduled to have the RV for 2 weeks. We purchased a map in Paris before arriving and started reading up on all the places to visit in Germany. The location was easy to find with a hotel just on the other side of the street which was convenient for our arrival the day before picking up the RV. The staff was very nice and all spoke good english. This was great because I didn't speak any German at all. The RV was great, less than 2 years old and hardly any miles on it. It was very easy to drive, I just wiush it would have had cruise control.

With our maps in hand and no plans at all we set out for our vacation and had the best two weeks of vacation we've ever had. Germany was a wonderful to see and tour. We wish we could have stayed longer and will definitely come back again, this time with bicycles as well.

Drop off was just as easy as pick up and we would strongly recommend IdeaMerge to anyone (and we already have).

Cheers, Marc

The Gypsy Sues , 24 september 2007
We are two ladies who hired a 5-6 berth motorhome from the Hamburg depot in May 2007. Most of our travel (3 weeks) was through Scandanavia -which was just wonderful to explore in the motorhome.

We had prior experience with a motorhome (5 months) which helped us get through the introduction session. The staff member did not speak English and one of us had limited German, however, we did take a german speaker with us and this helped immensely with the technical side of things. Suggest that if you do not speak German, make sure that there is someone who speaks your language when you go to collect/drop off the vehicle. They also have videos there which show you the main functions of the motorhome etc. I agree with some other comments re the deduction of the 1000 euro at the time of collection - it should be adequate enough to hold your details should a deduction be required at the time of return. This is usual practice for most vehicle hire arrangements that we have used in the past.

The service was great, the vehicle less than 2 years old and just as we ordered. We needed to complete all our transactions via the internet and there was no problems at all - we were expected and all deposit payments were OK. I would have no hesitation in using the service again.

Chris, chris@duchypaving.com, 18 september 2007
We did this having no experience at all and found the booking system via Doug in the states was seamless. Everything stated in the paperwork was spot on.
We flew to Frankfurt from Heathrow and collected our motorhome from McRent in Offenbach, Frankfurt and found the process fairly straightforward thanks to Suzanne and staff who were all most helpful. The handover was a bit rushed with a lot of info to take in, especially as first timers, but in the end you just have to put your head down and go.
The only initial problem we faced was that I didn't precisely check the electrical connections and on our first night discovered that we were missing one particular connection that we needed. This did lead to us having to drive around the following day trying to find a place to buy the missing item. We had informed McRent and they were fine about it promising to repay on return but imagine the hassle in a foreign country trying to find a particular item that is fairly specialist. So be warned and make sure you understand and try everything before you leave !
We were lucky that the van was very new and had no issues but I did see others that were well marked so a thorough inspection is well worth taking your time over as you will be liable for any damage. I felt that the insurance should offer a CDW option as driving in a different country and a vehicle that I wasn't used to was a recipe for at least one minor incident, especially as we intended to travel through a number of foreign countries. Even if you came back from a visit and found damage done to your parked vehicle you would still be liable. In the end I accepted that the 1000.00 euro deposit for excess should be part of your budget when first costing the whole holiday, then at least if you get it back it's a bonus !
The vehicle proved to be exactly what we'd hoped for, very comfortable and reliable and a dream to drive. We decided to do this as my eldest daughter was off to University and it really was the last time we would be a family of 4 together on holiday. Seeing parts of Europe, in this case, was far more enticing than lying on a beach for 2 weeks. That has it's place of course but I would recommend this as a way to see a lot of things at your own pace and spend some quality time together. We ended up going through Germany to Switzerland, Italy, France, back through Italy to Austria and back to Germany.
On our return we were again dealt with very quickly and 'luckily' had had no incidents to report or damage to show and we did get our full refund so personally I have no complaints. I've read some people had a bad deal when the vehicle was checked for cleanliness on return. True, there wasn't much in the way of cleaning stuff but we kept it fairly clean and tidy during the trip and on the last night gave it a good going over. All I can say is that the staff were very pleased with it and even gave us a voucher for discount on any future hire because it was so clean !!!
My only other beef is having to pay extra for things like the table and chairs - I feel things like that should be included. I understand for bedding as there is laundry required but not for items that you are obviously going to need.
Final advice - get a book on motorhome sites where you can park overnight as this saves a lot of money rather than payng for campsites and they have all the services you need. Some sites are basic but others are really lovely and well sited.
Sat Nav is a must !!
Last word - JUST DO IT !!!

Sara Stevens, 14 september 2007
We picked up the vechicle in july 07 the depo was easy to find and then very accessable for our onward journey. The service was friendly and effective and we were on the road in no time. The vechicle was great, very well maintained and cleaned throughout. We had a lovely adventure in our RV and would reccommend them to any one.

Sara

Marc (Australia), 13 september 2007
We rented our campervan from McRent in Frankfurt (via Ideamerge) in July -August 07. The booking process and pick up proved to be very easy and painless. Both comanies were easy to deal with. Our van provided us with no problems at all and I recomend dealing with Ideamerge and McRent.Additional recommendations : 1) On arrival take as much time as you need to list every possible fault or scratch (internal or external)do not assume anything, as the same will happen on return. 2)Make sure you buy or rent a GPS for your journey, 3) have fun and expect some minor hiccups along the way it's all part of the experience.

ESTHER BOWNESS, thepubgilcrux@btconnect.com, 13 september 2007
We picked up the 32 foot RV in Oakland a day later than we had planned. This was due to the previous person leaving the RV in LA as apposed to San Francisco. But the guys at Ideal Merge were very appologetic and helpful and sorted out accommodation for us back in SF for the night. When we finally got the RV the following day it was immaculate. Many thanks to all the people who worked hard to get the vehicle ready on time that following day.
We covered about 1000 miles in nine days and were very impressed woth the Californian area. The kids thought Yosemite National Park was fantastic and if we had had longer we could have stayed there for the week.
This was the first time we have done an RV holiday, but were very happy with the whole experience and will probably be doing it again in the future.
Doug Bredesen was the person who helped us book and enjoy my husbands 40th birthday in style, a great big thank you to you Doug!!!!! we have made a lot of memories.

P Ireland, 12 september 2007
We picked up a VW Californian in the middle of July in Frankfurt, Germany from DRM, and took it on a 3000 mile jaunt through England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Scotland and back to Frankfurt. We were impressed from the moment Claudia introduced us to the vehicle and its capabilities, and equally impressed with her attitude and helpfullness. One drawback, minor at best, we added an awning at the last minute and it just did not want to stay in its track.

The mileage was excellant, and at those prices we were gratefull. The vehicle ran beautifully, and was excellant for maneuvering in the city and on those narrow roads.

Doug Bredesen, from IdeaMerge, was great to work with and had helpful suggestions and answers from the very beginning.

The 1000 EU deposit and paying the exchange rate on it coming and going is something that needs to be fixed. It seems pretty simple - run the card and hold the slip until the vehicle is returned and cleared.

We will be back, probably next year.

Sincerely,

Paul

D Appleford, dappleford@btinternet.com, 11 september 2007
Despite a slight hiccup when we went to collect the RV (gas leak at the depot so teh road was closed)the service was good. The RV served our purpose and we travelled with no problems at all. The RV was comfortable and spacious.
Thank you

Al Puskaric, 10 september 2007
We rented a 2-person motor home in Mannheim, Germany. It was beautiful. We named it Snoopy for its cool look and off we went on a trip through most of Western Europe. The machine performed flawlessly and was a pleasure to drive. The 6 speeds really came in handy in the small mountain roads of Italy. We own a motor home here in America and really appreciated the forward thinking German design. It got great gas mileage and the vehicle required no maintenance during our 5,000 Km trip. I found Simone to be an outstanding, friendly, and understanding person that truly worked hard to insure that we were comfortable with the operation of the vehicle. When we returned it in perfect condition, we were immediately given our deposit back. This is unlike our last experience with a different rental company. They did not return our deposit for several months even though it passed their inspection. I would rent from them again!

Michael Flanagan, mf@oemvendorsolutions.com, 10 september 2007
Picked up a 6 berth camper van at Stuggart, drove down to Bordeaux picked up the family and drove around spain over 14 days. The van was fine and pickup formalities fairly painless. The van was broken into in Seville and on return I lost some of my deposit. However they were fair about the whole process and I knew what I was letting myself in for, being my second year hiring. I would agree with some of the previous comments that super CDW insurnace should be available. Certainly the definition of an incident is not that clear in the T&C's. On balance an enjoyable holiday that I would repeat as you can get right into city centres. However its not cheap if you consider petrol etc and sensible people should assume that the deposit will be lost.

m brockenshire, 10 september 2007
picked up van at berlin very easily.was a bit different driving on the other side of the car and the road.spent 2 weeks in berlin and around hamburg.i would not do it any other way.i would recommend to anybody to spend time in germany in an rv.The only problem i have is the cleaning of the van should be included in the price.we had 4 people in the van an spend quite a bit of time cleaning floors,bathroom,kitchen etc....down on our hands an knees with a cloth and hot soapy water washing the floor and still they charged us the cleaning cost.i was not happy with that. all in all though van ran very well and it was very easy to drive place to place and set up. An A++ to doug at ideamerge for doing things very quickly and making it so easy. I just think the cleaning part of it is stupid. mcrent berlin expect such high quality cleaning with only a small brush and pan suplied.No vaccumn cleaner....no dishwashing liquid....no cleanig equiptment at all.makes it impossible. But an awsome time had....

Alan Stafford, astaffx@gmail.com, 10 september 2007
Picked up the Camper in Frankfurt, directions on Ideamegre paper work were great.After pick up when we stopped for the first night and got a good look at the camper we were un happy with the level of cleaning. We cleaned the camper fully, (bathroom, kitchen area, seats musty and dusty). Only a small brush and pan provided no other cleaning products supplied.

The trip itself was magnificent, the freedom it offers is excellent you can be in the Alps one day and at the Med the next, my two children 7 & 6 had a ball. In all we were on holiday for a month and I would recommend the experience.

The part IdeaMerge played was excellent, however I was un happy with McRent the actual rental company.

Unfortunately we scrapped the side of the camper van, I was told the repair would cost more than the 1000Euro deposit and it was all lost. Like another contributor on the review forum I questioned this, their explanation was their years of experience told them the cost, no break down of the actual cost would be provided. Again why such a high deposit, I can rent a brand new hire car of any value and have maybe 100 - 200 Euro deposit, why is full insurance not supplied.

The camper we rented had a number of scrapes and the awing body was damaged but worked fine. Again McRent stated they collect all the deposits for damage over the season and use that towards repair at the end of the season before sale, this van would be rented out again the next week.
This particular Van had 50K + on the closck and performed ok

After receiving the camper in a poor state we cleaned the camper before return, no portable hoover supplied, on return a different rep pulled the fridge apart opened every press and pulled up all the seats and said she didn't think the camper was cleaned to a high enough standard.

I complained and disagreed, I find it hard to understand how you clean a camper van to such a high level in a camp site, All cleaning products, have to be provided by the renter, If we rented and apartment or Hotel room no cleaning is expected at the end. Just a level of tidyness to live in for your stay.

In summary excellent holiday and Ideamerge were excellent to deal with but I would not rent again based on the Deposit and would not use McRent in Germany.

Anthony Cranny, acranny@compuserve.com, 09 september 2007
We, as a family, were very impressed with the simplicity of pick-up and return of the Motor Home. July and August traffic can be horrendous but it was easy to drive, even around the streets of Paris. It was fun and we were able to see more of France than we normally do. The vehicle was in good condition, and very clean and comfortable. We shall be doing this again in the future. thankyou for a great holiday.

John Brackenridge, johnbrackenridge@btinternet.com, 09 september 2007
Pick up at Falkensee - booking great and staff very helpful - Motohome was very good and we had a totally fabulous holiday. I had read the reviews prior to holiday and so requsted that my deposit was returned when we did the drop off ( less one breakage @7.50 euros!). This was done on the spot. Would book a bigger motohome next time. Sorting the '1000 euro ' issue would seriouly help build customer confidence.

ALEJANDRO DE LA VEGA, 09 september 2007
UNOS ESPAÑOLES DE ALICANTE HEMOS PASADO UNAS VACACIONES
DELICIOSAS EN NORUEGA CON UNA AUTOCARAVANA (IDEAMERGE)
QUE ALQUILAMOS Y DEVOLVIMOS EN OSLO. FUERON 8 DÍAS EN LOS
QUE RECCORRIMOS DE ESTE A OESTE NORUEGA PASANDO POR LOS
TRES PRINCIPALES PARQUES NACIONALES Y LUGARES COMO LOM,
STRYN, BRIKSDAL, FLAM, VOSS, BERGEN, EIDFJORD,
HANDARGENVIDDA, STAVN Y OSLO. NORUEGA ES UN PAÍS PRECIOSO,
BUENA GENTE U NATURALEZA CON MAYÚSCULAS MUY PERO QUE MUY
BIEN PREPARADO PARA CARAVANA Y AUTOCARAVANA. VIAJAR EN
AUTOCARAVANA POR NORUEGA ES UNA EXPERIENCIA INOLVIDABLE.
OS LO ACONSEJO A TODOS.

Peter Watts, pjw@sherborne.org, 09 september 2007
My wife, two young children (4 and 7) and I flew into Munich early in July and collected a Dethleffs 5881 conversion (6-berth) from the depot there.

Pick-up - this was easy - the camper was ready early and well-presented (although some niggles we had - a bathroom door that wouldn't shut for example - were brushed aside).

Driving - the power unit of the vehicle was excellent coping well with a range of speeds and gradients including some of the higher passes in the Alps. Visibility was good as was fuel economy

Interior - the seats for driving were very comfortable but those for passengers had a habit of slipping forward (the cushions) when adults sat on them but this is a minor detail. Very comfortable accomodation for four for the three weeks that we were on the road.

Route - Southern Germany - Austria - North Italy - South of France - Provence - Bernese Oberland -Southern Germany - all on four fill-ups
Highlights - Venice for the fireworks at the end of the Biennale (sp?) - the Schilthorn in Switzerland - Gorges de Verdon in Provence.

Drop-off - after a fantastic holiday only two things marred the trip. Poor signs and bad planning on our part meant we did not have a carnet for driving on Austrian motorways - we were fined 120Euros for this. On return a small scratch was detected on the side of the camper - probably caused by running along a tree at a campsite - I felt that I had no means of questioning the 300Euros we were charged for its repair. I would have more confidence in the company if I had subsequently received the repair invoice and any funds owing to me. Why do the company not offer CDW?

Still - a great adventure - a great holiday and we will certainly be exploring by camper again.

J.Rudolf, 09 september 2007
Rented VW California camper from DRM in Frankfurt in August for three weeks. Excellent service by Lars who had the vehicle readied ahead of schedule and sent me on my way early, including a thorough demonstration of the vehicle and its features. The van was immaculate (17k) and the TDI engine drove beautifully, taking 8 liters of diesel per 100 km (30 miles to a gallon), 1000 km on a tank. Speeds of 170 km/hr on the Autobahn felt comfortable. Did 2000 km through Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and took gas once on the road. The camper conversion is not as good as the older Westfalias as it is now built more like a car than a boat, but it has many more features. Returning from the trip, I had a scratch on the front bumper, which DRM assessed at 50 euro, very reasonable. Overall, the experience was first class and I would highly recommend the IdeaMerge-DRM route for renting a camper in Germany.

Nancy Sullivan, 06 september 2007
Thanks for your help, Eric at IdeaMerge. You are one of the most AWESOME customer service people I have ever dealt with. THANKS and I look forward to talking again even though we ended up not booking an RV rental this time! – Nancy

Peter Wilson, pwilson@chariot.net.au, 03 september 2007
We hired a campervan for 3 weeks from Frankfurt, and had a great holiday, covering about 4000 km and 5 countries with comfort and 100% reliability. Doug and the Ideamerge booking went very smoothly, with excellent communication and attention to detail.

The pickup from McRent in Frankfurt was not so smooth however. We arrived with all of our luggage at about 3:30 (the allocated pickup time is from 3:00 onwards). After a long wait, there was a very slow check-in procedure where we just reiterated all of the info that had already been provided twice (including in the "fast pickup form" which didn't seem to make any difference).

After all of that, the camper was not ready and did not have the crockery and bedding that we had requested. The water tank wasn't even full...

We eventually got going at 7:00pm after a very frustrating three and a half hours.

The vehicle itself (a Fiat Ducato with Dethleffs fit-out) was very good. It was good to drive, comfortable for a family of 4 and gave good economy. It was about 2 years old and many of the small fittings were broken or showing their age, so hopefully it was about to be retired from service.

One suggestion for McRent is that they should put a big sign on the dashboard warning drivers of the height of the vehicle. This was nowhere to be found (not even in the manuals), and we ended up measuring it ourselves to avoid an incident with the many low bridges and tunnels in Europe.

Despite this, we did put a dent in the top of the van due to an overhanging tree branch. This was dealt with very pleasantly by the McRent people on return, and we forfeited our EU1000 deposit. Unfortunately, they have not been so helpful with providing an invoice for the repairs, which is required by our insurance company in Australia.

Overall, it was a fantastic holiday, and the campervan was an ideal way to tour Europe with great flexibility and independence.

Kerri Ackland, 18 august 2007
Ideamerge were the perfect answer for us, as we were looking to hire a vehicle from one location and drop at another, but further to that we were hiring at very short notice. Ideamerge were extremely helpful and prompt with getting us set up with exactly what we needed and when.

We found the people at the pick up location in Marseille freindly albeit a little disorganised and the people at the drop off depot in paris exceptionally helpful and totally well organised.

The camper was in prestine condition, dishes and pots etc below average, but completely functional.

We did have an accident, which is a very complicated proceedure to work through, especially if your French is only average as mine is. And we did have a mechanical problem, which used a whole day of normal touring time, but the help desk free phone was absolutely as helpful as they could be.

I would definitely hire through Ideamerge again and we have told friends to do the same.

Adrian Prince, 18 august 2007
We hired a Fiat campervan from McRent in Berlin. Ideamerge were excellent and the service from McRent was good but we did have a few issues.

The Berlin depot is actually in the Havel See area, far enough outside Berlin that it's not on the extensive suburban rail system. It's in an industrial area half way between two regional rail stations. With our luggage, we had to get a taxi from the station. Also, while it's in the same area as Tegel airport, it's difficult to get there from the airport by public transport. Some advice on getting there and, possibly, a shuttle to/from the local town would be useful. Actual pickup of the van was efficient.

A road map of the greater Berlin area would have been helpful, especially showing the location of camp sites.

The European camp site book that was included was just one American couple's description of the camp sites they had used. There were just two campsites included in the four countries we went to - neither anywhere near our route. There are good camp site directories available and one of these should be provided.

Like another reviewer, our credit card company hit us with considerable credit card charges for the deposit. Hotels put a claim on a deposit without actually charging it - why can't McRent do that?

George Ulicny, ulicnyp001@hawaii.rr.com, 16 august 2007
We rented an RV in Dusseldorf, May 15 to June 15. The vehicle was new, with many extras: bike rack, roof racks, awning, door deadbolts, & safe. Excellent fuel mileage w/ diesel engine at 2000 rpm. I hated to give it back, and wanted to keep it. If you are to rent an RV in Germany, I'd suggest Dusseldorf, even if it's a bit out of your way. The countryside just north of the vendor is pretty, also. Doug is wonderful, and hopefully is available for adoption.

Ruffolo Family, 14 august 2007
We had an excellent experience with both IdeaMerge Reservations and DRM Rental in Munich. Doug was very helpful at IdeaMerge and answered all our major and trivial questions as this was the first time we rented a campervan and wanted to be sure this would work well in Europe. His recommendations were right on and helpful.

DRM in Markt Schwaben just outside Munich worked very well. We took the train and walked to the rental place. They were waiting for us and were very laid back, yet thorough and helpful. The van itself was in great shape, clean and everything worked well including the raised roof, fridge, stove, etc. Although the 6 speed diesel took a little getting used to, the mileage was much better than a standard engine. The DRM staff was pretty clear on the expectations of the van upon the return, so we were prepared to do some cleaning in and out of the vehicle.

We had no issues during our 2 week travels, so I cannot comment on roadside assistance or any help during the trip.

Upon our return, the DRM center was very busy - however we were taken care of with very little delay and passed our inspection with little delay. I think all renters should consider the old adage - leave in better shape than you got it and you avoid alot of close scrutiny and hassle. We had brought some old beach towels for use during the trip and I was happy to rip up a couple and toss them after cleaning!

We have returned home and told many of our friends about the great experience and highly recommended this option for extended trips, particularly to Europe. We will definitely consider for future trips and other parts of the world.

One more tip, we used Mike & Terry Church's book European Camping as a guide and enjoyed every one of the places they recommended.

Ben, sirfloppy1000@yahoo.com.au, 14 august 2007
We booked our rental through Doug who was very thorough. I’d highly recommend IdeaMerge.

Unfortunately, McRent in Frankfurt were not so good - they were disorganized and many customers were exceedingly frustrated. Having faxed the paperwork to McRent a few days before arrival, we arrived at our scheduled slot (3pm) but had to wait an hour to be served. When we were finally shown our van, it didn’t have a bike rack – we’d booked one, and had mentioned the importance of the bike rack several times, even emailing a week before arrival to reemphasize its importance. It took McRent four hours to source then fit a bike rack and we didn’t leave until 7:45pm! What was more frustrating was that even if the van did have a bike rack, the van would not have been ready, as it didn’t have a radio / CD player fitted. We then had to redo the paperwork – not sure what happened to our fax. Having booked four months in advance and arrived after a 32 hours in transit, this was all very frustrating. Other points: the kitchen set was old and missing many important utensils and the table we were provided with had a broken leg. The cupboards didn’t have any no-slip matting – we had to buy some cheap rags to ‘wrap’ the plates and glasses in whenever we were in transit.

The van itself, however, was excellent. Almost new, and very clean it went well – a Possl Transit ~5.50m long. It was a bit tight inside, but really pinged along the autobahn at 140kph+ and was very easy to drive - Highly recommended for couples who don’t need much space – we’ve used a 6.5m in Europe before, but the for 3-4 weeks, having a smaller van gave us much more freedom and confidence in the small villages and alpine roads. The 5.5m doesn’t come with an awning, which is a shame.

I’d highly recommend IdeaMerge and Doug. But if you pick up from McRent in Frankfurt, be prepared for a long wait and check all the things they provide (tables / chairs / kitchen gear) as most of their stuff is old and broken. There’s a Lidl supermarket over the road which is great for picking up supplies and extra household items.

One other minor concern – the €1000 deposit. I understand the reason for it, but as we were from Australia, our bank charged us a foreign currency transfer fee for the deposit and again for the refund. We then lost more money on the exchange rate moving (just bad luck). So even though McRent gave us the full €1000 back, we lost ~A$150 on the transaction. It’s a problem for customers and their card companies / banks, rather than the rental company, but perhaps something for IdeaMerge (and renters) to keep in mind.

It would also be great if McRent were to provide simple A4 maps of the 2-3 main ways to get to and from the depot. This would be a great to help get you on the road and then to help find your way back to the depot at the end of the trip.

Conan Doyle, 14 august 2007
We picked up our 23-foot motor home in LA in early June, and kept it for six weeks. During that time we clocked up 7,600 miles before handing back the vehicle in new Jersey in late July.

Overall I would rate the experience very highly. Our holiday was marvellous, and we would not hesitate to use Road Bear again. I have a few minor complaints that I'll list here: 1) The shower really was not viable, the pressure was so low as to be non-existent, whether using mains or tank. We didn't mind and used the campsite facilities, but it's worth pointing out. 2) The side door of the vehicle didn't have a good seal, with the result that travelling was extremely noisy (those in the driver's cab had to raise their voices significantly to converse with those in the seating area). At the beginning we kept thinking the door couldn't be closed properly, but it was. 3)Though the introductory session when we picked up the RV was useful with regard to knowledge of the vehicle itself, it would be even more helpful if it included tips on what to look out for when driving such a large and tall vehicle - overhanging trees, use of the wing mirrors, backing up, etc. This is especially true given that many of the customers are from overseas, used to driving small cars, and not familiar with the US highway and roads system. 4) there was a problem with the service lights - they went on for no reason - and we had to make phone calls to RoadBear to ascertain what was going on. Apparently this was a known problem with the fleet of vehicles, so it would have been good to be told about it in advance.

All that being said, we found the van well equipped, very clean, comfortable to travel in, pleasant to drive, and quite spacious enough for our family of four. [Note: thought it theoretically sleeps six, I would not recommend having six people in that van!]

It was a great holiday and I wish it was still ahead of me instead of in the past. We have nothing but praise for our dealings with the people in IdeaMerge.

Kind regards, Conan Doyle and Mary Kate Halpin

Dirk, dvos@tiscali.nl, 12 august 2007
We rented a RV for 3 weeks via Ideamerge at Fraserway in Vancouver. The handling of the booking by Ideamerge was exelent. The only thing that went wrong was the additional ensurance. I think I have missed it in the long list of questions when booking online. Fortunately we could arrange this when we picked up the RV.
We rented a 10-foot truck camper and the sleeping cabin was new. We found this type of RV a perfect solution when traveling with only 2 persons. The service by Fraserway in Vancoucer was very good. We were helped by a dutch speaking lady. On request we got extra bed linnen and a toaster and afterwards we were not charged for the few glases we broke.
The only problem we had during our trip was that after changeing the gas bottle we could not get things working again. With the help of some very friendly people on the campsite we finally (after 2,5 hours) found the way how to regain gas supply. Afterwards we understood that this was a known problem and that it has to do with a leak protection. Opening the new bottle very, very slowly solved the problem.
I would recommend the use of a GPS navigation system. That makes traveling so much more relaxed.

Thanks to Ideamerge and Fraserway for the exelent service they provided.

Dirk

Razia H., trhusain@sbcglobal.net, 10 august 2007
After posting the review the other day, I realized I could mention a few things to prepare the 'first timers' a bit more.
1) Take a GPS system ..life is much better with GPS if you are driving off the beaten path.
2) Do your research, look for campsites in advance the campsite book given at the depot is ok but not comprehensive. It does list star rating and 4 star is recommended for families.
3) Always purchase 'unlimited day tickets' for any city transportation. This takes the hassle of finding fares and purchasing them and gives you freedom to choose your destinations within the city more often.
4) Listen to "Rush-Hour" series of Berlitz for the language of the country you are visiting. It is very rude to not even know how to say hello, thanks and sorry to a person on the street. If you expect others to know enough English to explain the way to you, they probably expect you to know how to say 'thanks' in their language.
5) Do not bother taking travellers check or cash with you. Most credit cards will work and my VISA cash card charges only 1% fees overseas. Also ATM machines are available. However remember to call your credit card and cash card and cell phone companies to expect your transactions from the countries you are visiting.
6) Most economical way to keep in touch with your family back home is to take your current GPS enable cell phone (unlocked) and text message back home. You can also take a phone card from your local service company (MCI for example) and use the plenty of available phone booths to call home.
7) Do not throw away any subway, or local transportation ticket until you are back to your RV. We had thrown our one way subway tickets after using it on the turnstile, and were 'caught' at the exit station and were fined for not having the ticket to travel on the subway!!

We had a very ENJOYABLE trip in Europe and hope to make another one in near future.

The Wheating family, rwheating@telus.net, 09 august 2007
This was our second RV rental in Europe and the first time that we used Ideamerge. We chose them because of good reviews, an informative website(motoeuropa)and because their cancellation fees were most favourable. We also appreciated that they did not charge extra for a kitchen set, though this proved to be less valuable than we anticipated (see comments below.)

Our month-long trip in June 2007 was outstanding, though certain aspects of our moterhome disappointed. We arrived at the depot in Frankfurt after a very long (delayed) flight from Vancouver but fortunately still in our agreed pick-up slot. The depot was busy. We were ignored for an hour. Once they turned their attention to us, there were still repeated delays and interruptions. The vehicle they had prepared for us had been gored by tree branches both fore and aft, with large dark putty patches crudely applied to plug the holes. There were also numerous small dings and scratches. An identical unit in much better condition was stored near by, but as my kids, aged 10 and 12, were exhausted, I felt I hesitated to delay further hours by insisting McRent prepare a better condition vehicle for us.

The vehicle also showed wear inside: veneer was peeling from some of the cabinets, chunks of double backed tape remained on the walls where hooks had been removed. Over time we discovered a glove, a gameboy and game, dvds and pencil drawings in our vehicle, leading me to question the quality of McRents cleaning. Clearly the previous renter lost all of his deposit and didn't much care how he left it. The grey water tank was not fully drained and was noxious when we did it a few days later.

My other complaint is that the kitchen set was next to useless: No colander, no spatula; bowls were flat glass soup plates. The frying pan was not non-stick and the pots shared one handle which let go if you tried to tip the pot to drain it. We ended up buying all of these items and more. The table and two of the four chairs we rented collapsed frequently. Just go buy some when you arrive.

So thats all the bad stuff. On the good side, the RV was mechanically reliable and a very economical way for a family of four to have a great month in Europe. The diesel engine got great mileage.We always had a fridge full of good food and cold drinks and a familiar place to sleep. We free-camped a few times with no problems.

The campground book supplied by McRent was very limited, profiling one campground in each of a few dozen major centres. No maps were available at McRent for the countries we planned to visit (Germany, Switz. Italy, France) We did a lot of internet research in advance and it really paid off. We didn't pre-book anything and were never turned away. Our kids liked the 4 star campgrounds with pools, slides and pizzerias, and we generally indulged their preferences, to the tune of 30 or 40 Euros/night. If it was just the two of us, we would have free camped and used municipal campsites more often.

My husband found the driving and parking quite manageable, with the exception of one hairy section between Lugano and Mennagio on Lake Como. We didn't get the GPS system but probably would another time though we managed with only minor navigational errors over 4000km. Another time I would also buy bikes for everyone on the first day. Once you get your vehicle parked in a campsite -- leveled and awning out, laundry flapping - you are loath to move it for local trips. We rented bikes often and for the money spent on rental, could have bought bikes for both kids, and probably sold them quite easily in the end - or found a way to donate them where they could do some good.

Return of the vehicle at Frankfurt was much smoother. My husband and I spent a few hours the night prior cleaning the RV from top to bottom and had no difficulty getting our full deposit back without cleaning charges. Just opposite the McRent depot in Offenbach (Frankfurt) there is a McDonalds, two budget hotels, a gas station, and car detailing center with coin-op vaccums that you can access round the clock. We got a room for the kids, then cleaned the RV in the parking lot. We all profited from showers at the hotel in the morning before driving the clean RV across the road and heading for the airport. Doing it this way was well worth the 60E hotel fee, as it alleviated the complexities of sleeping in the RV while simultaneously packing and cleaning.

Doug gave us prompt and courteous assistance and for that reason I wouldn't hesitate to use Ideamerge again. I am disappointed that we ended up with a vehicle in need of significant cosmetic repair -m our reservation was made 8 months ahead - not last minute. We always felt like people were looking at our patched vehicle in wonder at our poor driving skills. Another time, I would insist that McRent prep a better vehicle and very quickly too.

If you are thinking of taking your family on an RV tour of Europe, just do it. We had a wonderful time and only hope we can do it once more before our kids are too old.

Tomas Petersen, sunny@sunnyworld.org, 09 august 2007
We decided with relatively short notice to go on a two week campervan holiday. After a search of the internet, it quickly became clear that IDEAMERGE was offering what was amongst the best prices. So we booked a compact. Within 8 hours, Doug from IDEAMERGE wrote back that there was no vans of this category available for our dates, but offered us the next best option. We picked that and ideamerge arranged all the booking and payment swiftly and efficiently.

The van was ready when we got to Hamburg. It was in excellent condition, and we had two wonderful weeks touring in it.

The German company had problems with their IT systems so offered to email us the final paperwork instead of us having to wait around. We gladly accepted. The email didn't arrive. A quick note to IDEAMERGE got this resolved within 8 hours as well. It is particularly this after-the-event service, long after the money has changed hand that impressed us. Doug could have ignored our note, but he got right onto the case and got it resolved.

I have been very impressed by the service received and have no hesitation in recommending IDEAMERGE to anyone looking for a trouble free campervan holiday.

George Psaroudakis Anna Oikonomou, 08 august 2007
We picked our camper from Barcelona. It was clean and not too old. We traveled around Spain and France for 3200 Km and we had no problems at all. The staff at Barcelona depot was very nice and helpful. The same is true for IdeaMerge as well. It was a great experience. In the future we are thinking of traveling in Spain and Portugal and IdeaMerge is our first choice.

Duncan Quigley, , 08 august 2007
Malaga to Barcelona and back again.
Motorhome was fit for purpose, clean and not too old. Pleasant and helpful depot staff.
Would I book through IdealMerge again…in an instant.

Ian and Kate Britt, , 08 august 2007
We're two older West Coast (Vancouver) people who rented a camper-van to see some of the East Coast of Canada. We flew to Halifax and picked up the camper from Fraserway there. Found it as clean as if it had never been used. The rental company staff was very helpful and courteous. Free pickup shuttle to their site and they stored our luggage for us after we unpacked into the van. Our tour was 14 days and 2300 km around the coastal roads of Nova Scotia. The province is beautiful. Holidaying next to the ocean for the whole trip was a unique pleasure, and having a camper guaranteed we could make the most of the experience -- not having to close up in some hotel each night, instead enjoying the oceanside landscapes full time. The people of Nova Scotia are open and friendly, and they had much history and artistry for us to explore and learn about. If you do go to the maritimes, this camper idea is THE way to go. The communities are small. Unlike rural BC, where every town has a few motels situated on the highway route through them, Nova Scotia towns have fewer of such places to stay, other than B&B's. However, nice campgrounds are available everywhere, most of them very clean and with full facilities. We highly recommend what we did -- booked all our campsites in advance, finding them using the provincial 'Doers & Dreamers Guide' plus the internet. The result was that we had a lovely spot almost every night, never had to spend touring and travel time searching for a campsite, could instead just enjoy the driving from one place to the next, making sidetrips and stops along the way without worrying about each night's accommodation. We have never rented or used an RV for a trip before, and we REALLY loved it. The best part was the complete independence, being able to stop for bathroom breaks whenever and wherever, and being able to have our meals at any roadside viewpoint or picnic site or beach along the way. Even though the camper cost more per day than motels, we felt that being able to make our own meals rather than using restaurants easily made up the difference. We are thinking we'll do the same kind of tour of PEI, maybe even next year.

Lynley Ellis, 08 august 2007
We picked up our RV Motorhome in Barcelona and dropped it off in Malaga travelling for 10 nights along the southern Costa del Sol. We struck a really busy day in Barcelona. Camper was to be ready at 10am, we arrived at 4pm to collect and were told we would have to wait until 5pm for the English speaking staff member to return from lunch. It was very hot and the building had no air conditioning. The vehicle was not ready and they started cleaning and preparing it at 4pm when we arrived. Subsequently it was a pretty hurried job of cleaning! It took 2 hours to complete all paperwork and get on the road. RV performed well. The fridge did not work 100% and we informed them of this on returning the vehicle. Was a nice change to have an automatic RV as we have had manual ones in the past. Only way to travel around. Campgrounds are quite hard to find in Spain - especially when the only Camping Ground Guide they give you with the motorhome is in SPANISH! Quite a few of the campgrounds did not exist any longer that we tried to find. Malaga drop off depot is quite hard to find, so make sure you get exact directions on how to get to it if you are dropping off the RV to that depot. We have pretty much RV'd the whole of Europe, and we found Spain although pretty, it was not as nice or easy camping as the rest of Europe. Was lovely to see and Marbella was our favourite part that we visited. Alot of the southern coast of spain is really built up with alot of high rise buildings, which sort of spoils the landscape. Never the less we really enjoyed our whole r.v. experience and found Doug and the team at Ideal Merge great to deal with.

Ronald Tania Jackson, ronald@fab-k.com, 07 august 2007
We picked up the Camper in Amsterdam and found Idea merges camper to be well equipped and in good order. We drove all of 7200km in the two weeks that we rented the camper and found no problems. There were a few small things inside of the vehicle that needed some attention, but as with any rented vehicle some wear and tear is to be expected. Thank you for enhancing our experience with great service and good prices.

Kees en Leoniek Roks, Guus en Marga van Gool, 07 august 2007
Hei,
We picked up the camper in Oslo. Everything went very smooth from the beginning, from booking untill deliver the camper back. It is an very well organized company. We had one "bad" issue, the camper was not clean...and we payed for the cleaning at the end. So that was a waist of our money.

Razia H., trhusain@sbcglobal.net, 07 august 2007
Our European vacation started with airline reservation and IdeaMerge. we really appreciated the details on the website and after careful thought went with ideamerge as opposed to other options. Our rental was in Frankfurt. Everything was exactly as the website had prepared us for. No surprises except that we expected to get a VW but the six sleepers were all FIAT. Since our van had EXCELLENT fuel economy and did not give us any problems it was alright in the end.
The construction of the bed and tables inside the vehicle was a bit flimsy but bearable for two weeks! The plumbing and heating system worked great and all the guages for water and fuel for the living area worked as they should. The space was tight but we were expecting that. Bed sizes were not bad but walk around space was minimum. The stove and refrigerator were efficient and adequate for normal use.
We relied heavily on our Tom-Tom and had a great time. Without the Tom-Tom, it would have been impossible to find the depot in Frankfurt, as it is well hidden.
We did not purchase any extras because I didn't think they were worth the cost.
The checkout process was smooth, there were no "hidden" costs, no unreasonable penalties (we had minor fender benders and were charged around Eruo 500 more).
Overall it was an extremely painless process to rent and return and we will definitely do it again in the near future. Specially now that we know there is a train from Frankfurt airport to the depot and to the Frankfut Hauptbahnhof etc.
THANK YOU IDEA MERGE!

Kathi Ralph Battles, broncobetty1950@sbcglobal.net, 07 august 2007
Thoroughly enjoyed our rental experience with Ideamerge/DRM in Frankfurt, Germany. This was our 5th European vacation and we've always either purchased or rented a VW camper van. This was our van's only second trip out, so it was like brand new and worked great, was very comfortable and easy to maneuver on those skinny European city streets. We visited 7 countries in five weeks and camped every night and met all kinds of friedly people. We really appreciated having the huge German map and camping book--they came in very handy. Also, having the bike rack included was a plus--we formed an international partnership with our German friends and purchased mountain bikes which we rode in three different alps and then left with our friends when we departed Germany. Too much fun!

Our recommendation is to have at least a sheet of van operation instructions in English which would have helped with blood pressure when trying to figure out the electronics. Also, there shouldn't be an extra charge for the table and chairs which were already part of the van.

What we want to know is how Mike (in Frankfurt) did with his extreme mountain bike race? We were rooting for him and his partner!

Laaksonen Family, 07 august 2007
We booked our vehicle from Mr. Doug Bredesen and picked it up at Sulzemoos (Münich). The service was excellent, vehicle was practically brand new and we had fantastic three weeks in Germany, Switzerland and France.

We recommend!

Laaksonen Family (Finland)

Ole Jepsen, 06 august 2007
We had a wonderful trip in Italy - going on the west coast from Rome to Napoli/ Amalfi and Capri. Ideamerge did all well - Doug Bredesen answered all our questions fast and nothing failed. Only "bad" thing was, that the wquipment in the motorhome was no luxury - 5 person/ 5 spoons, bad chairs, nothing for opening a bottle of wine (in Italy!!!!) - take 50 euro more and make this much better!!. The motorhome itself was just fine and the firm in Rome very kind and helpfull - and we hope to make another trip to Greece next year - and will contact IdeaMerge again!

marie brice, mbrice@ssafara.net, 03 august 2007
Ideamerge was a great company to work with - I emailed several as we live in India so hiring a campervan in Spain was no easy task! Ideamerge was the only one who consistently maintained contact and answered all my queries. It was so nice to be met and helped at the airport too.
My only suggestion is that the campervan hirers themselves put a basic household kit in the van like they do ein sveral other countries - 100Euro is too much to pay for a few sheets and crockery for 1 week!
Thanks Ideamerge and Doug

Brian Templeton, 28 july 2007
We collected our Fiat Dethtleffs RV from McRent in Mannheim. Our 7 week holiday was trouble free and highly enjoyable in part due to the excellent quality of the vehicle which was both economical and very well presented.
I would recommend this kind of holiday to anyone.
The only matter which did bother us was that they did not supply a spare wheel in case of punctures - fortunately it was not needed!
My wife are looking towards doing this again in a few years time so we will no doubt be in touch with you again.

Lon Abbott, terrilon@yahoo.com, 27 july 2007
Overall, we had a good experience with renting a VW California camper van this summer, and we certainly would do it again. The original interface with IdeaMerge was seamless, though they had a software glitch so our price went up the next day because we were originally not charged for the one-way drop off fee.

We picked up the van in Barcelona, where the people were friendly, but did not speak sufficient English for us to fully understand the 'training'. The vehicle was in good condition, but the 'kit' was not -- the table was unusable (warped and peeling), and the chairs were barely. When we requested a different table, they said they didn't have one -- hard to believe, as it was a large camper-supply store. We had to purchase our own elsewhere. The water tank and gas tanks were not full as promised. In addition, we doubt the RV operator inspected the van when it was previously returned, as in the middle of the first night we awoke to an extremely strong gas smell. We drove back to the RV the next morning, and after some hassle, they inspected it and discovered that the valve on the propane hadn't been properly closed.

After this rough start, however, things worked out well, and we had a great 3 weeks. Dropping it off in Malaga was a breeze, super efficient and helpful. I would recommend picking up here instead of in Barcelona if possible.

Jay Crystal Merz, 25 july 2007
We picked up our motorhome at Paris South. Drove it through France, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
Plusses.
Ideamerge personnel were helpful and responsive.
The RV was clean, new, easy to drive and quite spacious for a family of four. We saved a lot of money preparing most of our own meals. Our teenage son loved the flexibility of eating when he wanted to. The bed even fit our 6'4" son. We would do this again in a heart beat. Finding campgrounds in Europe is relatively easy, easier than finding a room every night. There were no hidden fees. The dishes were nice.
Checkout was quick and easy.
Cons
Getting to Avis for pickup was a nightmare. More assistance than "take a cab" would have made it so much easier. We took the train from Gare du Nord. We thought we were walking distance from the Bretigny train station but that was a different station. We walked for 45 minutes. Upon arriving we quickly got our orientation and left.
The promised camping book and map didn't match so they were worthless.
The pans were in poor condition with no lids.
Even though the instructions emphasized keeping the RV level, ramps or jacks were not included.
The instruction manual was incomplete. We were surprised as was everyone else in the campground to find out we had an alarm system.
Again more assistance on getting to the Paris south location would have made the beginning of our trip so much more enjoyable. A taxi from central Paris would definitely have been more than Euro70. The train to Bretigny then a taxi was very affordable.
If you can drive a manual transmission this is a great way to go.

Bruce, 25 july 2007
Ideamerge and McRent in Hamburg provided excellent service. Check in and checkout were very quick and trouble free. We were surprise at the very good fuel economy with the Fiat van. We enjoyed our five week trip through Scandinavia driving almost 5000 miles.
We are ready to do it again.

Tommie Kenny, 25 july 2007
Having settled back after completing a wonderful holiday in Europe I would like to complement Doug Bredesen for his help and courtsey at all times during our communications to each other while I tried to organise our holiday to suit our family situation .Thankfully everything worked out perfectly.I would like to extend my thanks also to McRent in Mannheim who provided the vehicle in excellent condition and it's facilities were demonstrated by Simeone in a corteous and knowledgeble manner and in perfect English,the pick up and return were without problems..many thanks to all concerned .We were very happy with the vehicle choice, well equipped,comfortable,economical,safe and with low mileage .Also the A/C was appreciated when the weather got very warm. Just one little minor quibble, it would help if the manuals provided with vehicle could be in English covering basic information on warning lights in vehicle/eqpt operation etc. Verdict overall...very satisfied...would use IDEAMerge/McRent again and would also recommend to others

Anthony Willis, twil9899@bigpond.net.au, 24 july 2007
Ideamerge were efficient and wonderful.
We collected our motorhome from Nice, unfortunately arriving from the airport to find the place closed for siesta and nowhere for us to even sit while they ignored us outside the gate. The depot was a filthy shambles and obviously a very distant cousin of Avis. We explained that the main door of the van didn't seem to work properly, for which they gave little attention, but failed to understand that it wouldn't open from the inside. In the end after days of frustration I 'fixed' it with a bit of wire. The back seats were torn and shabby. They provided us with one empty LPG gas bottle and a quarter full one. The fuel tank was provided on a quarter full, which eventually meant we had to turn back from our intended route because we couldn't find any open gas stations. There are only seat belts in forward facing seats. They were unable to provide a camping table and seats as booked, so we brought our own.
However Avis at the Paris end, reimbursed us and COULDN'T have been more helpful, courteous and professional.
Having glass and china crockery is a constant annoyance (on every corner). Surely melamine is a cheaper, quieter and better option. Otherwise the vehicle was pleasant to drive, economical and comfortable. It would have been helpful to have electrical converters provided for each country, as we had trouble in Switzerland. It took some getting used to the width of the vehicle, especially when our GPS took us into ever narrowing streets. In all a wonderful way to see Europe.

Nancy Nemeth, nnemeth1@yahoo.com, 24 july 2007
Big Thank You to all at IdeaMerge. We had a WONDERFUL holiday in the Southwestern US visiting 9 National Park and Monuments. We logged in 2000 miles and were pleasantly surprised at our gas mileage. The motorhome was in PRISTINE condition when we picked it up and we feel we got an excellent value. Family members rented a similar RV and paid more for one week than we paid for 15 days! We will use Road Bear again in the future. Thank you to everyone for a vacation to remember.

ronnie lucas, ronnie@rnrglaztek.co.uk, 24 july 2007
rv was as ordered clean tidy and ready to roll, and roll we did 1800 mile in 14 days what a fantastic place, a slight problem with a leak in the roof but was quickly sorted and back on the road. the price we were told was what we paid no add ons when we got their apart from the extra miles but that was our choice. thanks. nice doing business, regards ronnie

Paul Rousseau, prousseau@tsmc.com, 24 july 2007
I was very happy with reservation process, detail of website and information, no surprises. As a whole we had a great time and the campervan was high quality and as advertised. My only minor negative was regarding airport pick up. Grant it, we had a particular situation with midnight pick up but I explicitely checked on this beforehand and was assured everything was okay. RV company was not expecting us till next day (because midnight pickup) but quickly recovered and we did not lose more than 30 minutes.

Christopher Young, 24 july 2007
We picked up a 23' motor home at Road Bear in Las Vegas. Everything was ready for us when we arrived and we were on the road in under an hour. The unit had only about 6000 miles on it and was clean inside and out.

During the next week we travelled 1000 miles, mainly in Arizona and Utah where the temperatures were in the 105F to 120F degree range (sort of mid '40s celcius). Everything worked well apart from a couple of minor equipment glitches which had no bearing on our enjoyment of the vehicle.

We returned the vehicle in late afternoon and found the check-in procedure quick and efficient. Had we returned it the following morning, as we had originally planned to do, the process would have probably taken considerably longer since most RVs are returned at that time. The afternoon return meant that we paid for a night that we didn't use but our schedule was such that we were content to do that.

All in all we were very pleased with our rental experience and would not hesitate to make a similar trip in the future.

I would recommend Idea Merge and Road Bear to anyone.

Ross McClelland, 24 july 2007
Good quality, new [07] RV, good service from Road Bear. Great holiday.

Deon Roe, 24 july 2007
For the most part, our experience was great even though we started out a little shaky. We were to be picked up at the FCO airport and taken to the depot. We waited almost an hour and nobody showed and made numerous phone calls and nobody answered. Needless to say we were stressed. Ended up taking a taxi. It turned out that a couple days before our arrival they realized our flight came in during siesta and they emailed us and Doug Bredesen that they would pick us up after siesta at 5 p.m. Shame on you Doug. You should have insisted that someone meet us as you knew we had left home over two weeks earlier and wouldn't get the message. Now being tired and frustrated that got us off on a bad footing and some of the motorhome explanations were either interrupted by their phone ringing constantly and our being stressed so some important things were missed. Like the steering wheel self locking mechanism preventing the vehicle from starting. Just a little important fact. Also, we had glass cups and ceramic dishes that drove us crazy when driving. We were able to soften the noise with towels but I was sure I was going to open a cupboard full of broken glass. With the exception of the above, Italy was wonderful. And other than not being picked up at the airport, the service from IdeaMerge was great.

Jon Yusko, jyusko@bellsouth.net, 24 july 2007
We picked up the RV in Oakland CA. The RV was nearly new (2007, 12k miles) and well prepared when we got there. The service attendants were very friendly, prompt and the vehicle was clean and ready to go. We arrived at the agent (they picked us up at the BART station) and in about a 1/2 hour we were on the road. We had a great vacation and would definitely rent from Ideamerge/Road Bear RV again, and plan on it. A great experience.

Giles Middleton, midi78@gmail.com, 24 july 2007
The campervan was great and it was a very easy process from booking to returning the van. I highly recommend using this company!

Duncan MacLachlan, 24 july 2007
Excellant service and attention to detail from all concerned in the Canadian section. Special thanks to Doug Bredesen who worked hard to get us on the road, when we'd booked late and fixed us up with another RV provider.

A great experience all round and no hesitation in recommending it to others considering this type of recreational adventure.

We found everyone in Canada went out their way to make our experience a very pleasant vacation.

Whilst our RV experience was with another hire company, it was a highly commendable and reputable organisation who were very proferssional in all their dealings with us. Their van and services were exemplary, which presumably was understood by Doug in contracting us with them.

Cheers all - we'll be back.

Daniel Curley, 20 july 2007
Thoroughly professional service and totally delighted with our "brand new" camper van vehicle. If you decide to user a camper van in Italy you MUST use this company. Felt totaly at ease knowing this companybwas behind me if I had any isses whilst driving through Italy (thankfully no issues did arise). 10/10 for service.

brian furio, 10 july 2007
I found the entire process of renting an RV through IdeaMerge to be painless, straightforward, and relatively easy. I rented an RV from the Las Vegas location but live in Pa. I did all the payment and reservations online with ease. The cost of the RV was considerably less than "name" RV rental agencies, which attracted me initially. Upon arriving in LV, the only snag was a slow process of checking out the RV (too many others at the same time). Otherwise, the RV was a great family vacation through Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. All the comforts of home, particularly the full-sized refrigerator, made this trip memorable and relaxing. They even provided a free shuttle service to local hotels upon our return and dropoff. All in all, a pleasant and relatively simple process throughout.

Ricky Hammock/June Tuttle, rikslik222@yahoo.com, 09 july 2007
We rented a 31' RV. The pickup locationb was 10 miles from our home. We drove 4,700 in 14 days. The rental unit was an '07 with 4,000 miles on it. It was imacculately clean and very easy to drive. We had no mechanical problems at all during entire trip. RV was easy to setup and teardown. Gas mileage was better than expected. The RV handled well and we even had to outrun a tornado at 95 MPH! We drove through high winds and flash flooding, but the rental vehicle took it all in stride. IdeaMerge was very easy to deal with and very accommodating to our needs. Thanks to IM for a wonderful trip and an experience that myself nor my family will ever forget. We are already planning our next years adventure and will be contacting your company again.

Lisa Letarte, 09 july 2007
My story is a little different. We had air reservations that created a conflict. The airlines had assured us that we would be able to change our reservations at no cost. When push came to shove, we were going to be required to pay cancellation fees and rebook out tickets at the current price! Yikes! Ideamerge worked with us to explore our options but we were ultimately not able to coordinate our flight and motor home rentals. Ideamerge took care of the cancellation immediately to make sure we avoided any additional fees. The responsiveness was amazing as was their help in looking for alternatives. My thought is that customer service is always helpful when you are making the reservation. Ideamerge was just as helpful when we needed to cancel our rental and acted immediately so we would avoid an additional fee from the motor home provider. I would highly recommend them.

David Stafki, 08 july 2007
Picked up the RV in Dusseldorf in early April. Met or exceeded all expectations. Staff was friendly and knowledgable and we were on the road quickly. We had a great time touring several countries and had no real problems with the RV. Euorpeans are great campers and the campgrounds were wonderful. We loved our experiences there. We originally reserved the unit for almost 3 months but had to cut it short by about 3 weeks. It would have been nice if they would have even some small measure of refund for unused days. Also, when renting for that long it would also have been good to have a couple of chairs thrown in for nothing.
Overall though, no regrets and would do it again.
Dave

sam Robbins, sam.robbins@gmail.com, 07 july 2007
We picked up our RV at the Paris Avis location and apart from a
brief downpour as we did our outside inspection of the vehicle
everything went well. We had some logistical issues both picking
up and dropping off the RV at the Avis Paris location. It couldn't be
more distant from CDG airport if they tried! Our real problem was
that we had too much luggage (we are musicians and along with
our regular bags we were carrying three musical instruments). It
really is our only quibble with the Avis situation - the staff were
very competent and helpful but the location for most international
travellers is not great - a location at Roissy en France would be
much better.
We had booked one of the smaller RVs but I could see that look of
fear and apprehension in the eyes of others who were waiting to
take possession of larger units knowing that they would have to
navigate the 'beast' out of a very cramped yard and down some
fairly narrow streets.
Anyay back to us. The RV was fine and just as described. We drove
south through the Loire, Dordogne, Provence and down to the Med
and then crossed into Italy and eventually Slovakia and Croatia
(which is very beautiful). The gas (diesel) mileage was fine and the
vehicle (Citroen) performed flawlessly for the whole trip.
I am used to driving in Europe and so didn't have too much trouble
adapting to the road conditions and despite what others may say, if
you know what to look for, campsites are very easy to find -
especially in France.
I would highly recommend the experience to anyone - but I would
also suggest that they get themslves a GPS (or rent one rom AVIS)
Bon voyge

Laura from Florida , 07 july 2007
Our family had camped before in the States, but the campgrounds in Germany & Italy were better in some respects. Most had small markets, bars, and the restrooms were clean, and we never had to wait for a shower like you do in the States in the mornings. Great locations...but finding some of them! Yuk. The campground book given to us by McRent had terrible directions in it. I'd get the GPS next time.

Driving an RV on the autobahn was not a problem (of course I drive in South Fla), and the gas mileage was great.

We did not get the motorhome we had reserved in November. We were supposed to get a Group D6B vehicle, like the Dethleffs 7871-2. When we got to the pick-up they would not rent it to us because our US licenses (all 3 said something different) gave our weight class as less than sufficient to drive the motorhome. This was news to us because our reservation had said "though standard US domestic licenses suffice with respect to the Group D6 and Group D7 motorhomes, which have a gross weight greater than 3500 kg, standard European licenses limit their holders to vehicles less than this weight." We figured we had no problem. But someone at the AAA office where we got our Int'l driver licenses had incorrectly market we couldn't drive more than 5,000 lb vehicle. We had already rented and driven a larger motorhome in Alaska years earlier. Also my 15-yr old son's driver's permit said his license was sufficient to drive the motorhome. Too bad he was too young. We went to a website to show we had the correct licenses, they wouldn't budge. It's not like we were going to have obtained CDL licenses in the states just for driving a vacation vehicle! The Frankfurt staff had a smaller motorhome that they quickly cleaned and outfitted for us (over 3 hr check=in), but it was not as new or large and we were a party of six. I was dissappointed that we did not get the vehicle we had reserved so many months earlier.

But if you get the GPS, people from the US should not be hesitant at all about camping in Europe or using McRent. It was much more of an experience than staying in hotel rooms.

Godleman family, frankmaree54@netspace.net.au, 06 july 2007
We have just recently returned from a 4 week holiday in Europe. This was to (most likely) be our last family holiday with our 17yo son before he heads off to Uni & holidays with friends rather than parents. It was particularly important to me that it be a memorable holiday for all the right reasons rather than because it was the holiday from hell! It was all I had hoped for & more!!!! This was in no small part due to the excellent motorhome (Fiat Globebus from McRent in Munich) we had for our 3 week stint on the continent. We picked up from Sulzemoos (about 45 mins out of Munich)& did a loop through Austria (Salzburg), Slovenia (Bled,Ljubljiana & Potorosa), briefly into Croatia (Umag), Italy (Venice & Cinque Terre)across the Mediterranean coast to Nice, up through Frances Provence region (Orange) to Lyon, to Switzerland (Geneva, Rolle, Visp,Lauterbrunnen), Austria (Bregenz, Germany (Fussen, St.Alban on Amersee, and returning to Munich. I had travelled Europe as a single back in the 80's using Eurail which was great but this trip was absolutely awesome. My husband adapted really quickly to the left-hand drive & we did some 4500 Kms without feeling pushed or rushed.
The Munich McRent depot staff (Peter & Michael - who both spoke English thankfully as our German was non-existant) were extremely helpful & the vehicle check-in was both quick & thorough. Our motorhome only had about 1500Kms on the clock so was virtually brand new! Its economy was great fuel-wise. It came map-less though & we hadn't been expecting that so I'd advise that you organise a GPS before you go & take away the need for chasing up maps. I'd also agree with others that some of the Tolls are highway robbery - literally!! We found it to be worst across the Cote D'Azure region so would in hindsight suggest more minor roads if time permits. We could have spent much more time exploring & we would highly recommend both Ideamerge & McRent as very professional teams to deal with. I have read that some folks were not sure what standard of cleanliness was needed to receive their deposit - we had absolutely no problem in this regard. I suggest that as a guide, you return the vehicle in the same clean state in which it was when you picked it up - no hassles!!
If like us you are hesitating about going....DON'T hesitate....JUST GO!!!! Thanks McRent & Ideamerge, we have made incredible memories we will all carry with us forever!

Daniel Fraser, 03 july 2007
I found the IdeaMerge site very helpful and had all the information we needed. Factoring in the discounts the prices it was better than going to McRent direct. One negative point is that we thought we were geting A/C in the cab for our model - but in reality it didn't come with that.

We had a great holiday and traveled 4500km. Some advice is not to be too complacent with your valubles we had our cameras and bags stolen from within the main campervan (out of sight behind curtain, behind passenger seat) during the night while we were in the campervan sleeping! We were parked in a small Motorest just inside the eastern Czech boarder. The lock was forced and we heard nothing. We would now keep our valubles in a cupboard or up on the bed... Don't be put off though, we had a great time, just be careful with passports, cash and cameras, it will save you a lot of trouble.
Dan

Eve Meyer, ekm@frontiernet.net, 25 june 2007
From the start, the service we recieved from Doug Bredesen booking the motorhome, was amazing. Very quick to respond to any question, regardless of how trivial. We, a party of 4 women, rented a 21 1/2' Fiat motorhome to tour Norway for 21 days. This was the best idea I've ever had. None of us had ever driven a motorhome and I was a little apprehensive considering the roads in Norway, but it couldn't have been easier. Timo, in the Oslo rental center, was very helpful and accomodating. I would highly recommend them. The motorhome was a very economical way to tour a very expensive country. Just being able to have our luggage in one place, makes this the way to go...The convenience of being able to go anywhere, anytime, stopping whenever we wanted, was fantastic. We picked up in Oslo, drove over the Hardanager mountain range to Bergen, where we stayed 3 nights. Then through the fjords, over mountains again, seeing wild herds of rain-deer, lots of sheep, beautiful waterfalls, fjords, and headed up to Trondhiem, where we had family. They all wanted us to stay with them, but we were all more comfortable going back to "our home" each night. I highly recommend this way of travel, and would do it again, and plan on it in the future. The only recommendation I would make is for a percolator coffee pot,a bristle broom and for better side mirrors or beepers when backing up. Other than that, It was a great experience in a beautiful country. Will book with Ideamerge again with no hesitation. A very pleasant experience.

Jeff Kauk, jeffkauk@rogers.com, 25 june 2007
WOW...what can we say. Before I go any further if you are planning on renting book the motorhome first then find a flight.
We are from Canada and rented a motorhome for the month of May out of Stuttgart, Germany. Since we had booked our flight into Frankfurt already and couldn't get a motorhome rental in Frankfurt we had to take the train to Stuttgart...not a big deal. The rental place was great, our motorhome (Jerry..we gave it a nickname) was perfect for us. A bed, a kitchen, a toilet...what else do you need. If you are thinking of renting a motorhome....DO IT! We loved it...way better then a tent and much better then a hostel...for us atleast. To see pictures go here http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog/canadianmade/awayin07/tpod.html
We can't wait to do it again. Some tips to make the trip easier.
1. Don't worry about getting lost...you will...just keep driving in one direction and you will find your way out of the city!
2. Get the ACSI guide on DVD and take a laptop..the book in the motorhome isn't very good. The ACSI guide it much more detailed. They have a online map here. http://www.eurocampings.co.uk/en/europe/
3. Our motorhome had a safe so we were not worried about valuables..anyways all the parks were VERY safe. It's all older people except Amsterdam!
4. If you are from Canada then trust me when I say everything is MUCH closer to each other than it is in Canada or the States for that matter.
5. If you like to drive you will LOVE to drive in Europe. Some of the roads in Italy I thought were one lane were actually 2! It was great!
6. Campgrounds are amazing...bars, restaurants, no toilet paper or seats in France...it's a learning experience.
If you are on the fence about going.......just please go! It will be the experience of a life time!

Bob McLaren, 25 june 2007

My wife and I recently returned from 5 weeks in Europe. This was the 2nd time we have used Ideamerge to rent a VW California from DRM in Germany. Using Ideamerge is a no brainer; their website, the booking process and customer service is seamless. (Even easier than 2003) We picked up our VW in Frankfurt. Our plane arrived at 11am, by 1:30pm we were driving away in a brand new (1600km) camper. We drove 5200km to southern Italy and returned to Germany via Paris. The current VW camper is very refined and easy to drive and setup. It's perfect for 2 people, gets about 9l/100km fuel economy and is very comfortable. This time we slept upstairs in the "penthouse". which was very comfy and the views out the little windows were great. We brought our own lightweight cooking gear and sleeping bags etc. which simplified things for us. We particularly like the freedom the VW provides, in terms of size and convenience, to go anywhere we like. For instance, we drove the Amalfi coast road on a busy Sunday without any problems. Also, the switchbacks in and out of the Gargano peninsula (Vieste, Italy) are not to be missed. Also, this time we brought along a Garmin NUVI GPS unit which was very helpful.

The return of the vehicle was easy and we our deposit was returned promptly.

Some suggestions: Bring a tire gauge and check your pressure regularly. One of our tires was quite underinflated upon pick-up and it can affect your handling. Also, the VW manuals are all written in German, so any problems you might have can be hard to decipher.

Another great experience and highly recommended. Happy travelling.

Steve, 20 june 2007
We rented a Motorhome for a 4 week trip around Europe in April/May 2007. We picked up our motorhome from McRent in Frankfurt and had a bit of a slow start as there were some delays in getting our motorhome ready. Once on the road we had an excellent family adventure (5 of us). We traveled almost 7000 Km and toured 7 countries. I was very impressed with the motorhome and the fuel consumption was a pleasant surprise compared to the big North American units. We found the camping guide book, provided with the motorhome, to be an excellent resource (But bring a GPS or really good maps !). Never once had a problem finding a nice camp site (pays to go in the off season !) Ideamerge, especially Doug was excellent for answering our questions and getting our booking established. If you are reading these reviews trying to decide if a motorhome is the way to visit Europe, I can certainly recommend it as a fantastic way to travel!(and I would not hesitate to recommend you book through Ideamerge). Our family had a wonderful time. Thanks

Tim, tim@missionsafari.net, 20 june 2007
We had the trip of a lifetime thanks to Ideamerge. After living in Africa the past 3 years we decided to tour Europe on our way back to the U.S. I had never rented a RV camper before so had no idea how to get started. So, I just "googled" "RV Camper Rentals in Europe" and fortunately came across Ideamerge. It had the best information and the best rates.

The camper was awesome and we traveled throughout Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, and France. The only surprise we had were the toll road costs in Europe. More information on the website would have been helpful for budgeting.

Also, understanding the insurance would have been better. Unbeknownst to us, a tree limb made a small dent on top. When we turned in our camper after our trip, the guys at McRent went crazy with everything. Not only did they keep our deposit, they charged us 150 Euros for not "cleaning" the inside (we had washed all dishes, swept the floors, and wiped down the counters, but apparently forgot to wipe out the burners). Not knowing what was expected on cleaning cost a lot.

All in all, we would do it all over again. We will soon forget the dent, the loss of deposit, and the cleaning fee, and remember all the great things that happened during our trip!

Peter Schulte, 19 june 2007
Dear Mr. Bredesen,

First of all i like to thank you for the handling of my questions.
Second, i want to make a compliment for your company and its workers for how we've been treated and helped all along the way. This have helped us getting to a jumpstart for a good and relaxing vacation as we needed, and i'm pretty sure we'll come back soon to enjoy the lovely people and counties of Nova Scotia.

With warm greetings,

Peter Schulte

Alan Morris, 18 june 2007
We have just returned from Europe and a 7 week hire from DRM. Whilst we were in Germany (Berlin) a large branch fell off a tree (we were in a camp site) and wrecked the camper, it happened around 10am, before the end of the day we were "back on the road" with a new vehicle.
Fortunately no one was hurt but I think DRM should be commended for the excellent way they handled the situation, unlike the campsite who had insisted we park where we had and then charged us for our overnight stay and the tea and coffee (offered to calm us down, two people were in the van at the time but escaped unhurt). We were unable to shower as most of our towels were wet due to the large hole in the roof.
We were also delighted to be told that due to the circumstances we would receive our deposit back, so all in all DRM were delightful and the campers were on the whole "first class"

Regards

Alan Morris
AustraliaAlan

Thor Larsen and Jeanne Rucker, 13 june 2007
During the October planning of a May 2007 trip for 5 adults to visit family in Norway, I reserved a motorhome through Doug Bredesen / IdeaMerge. Doug's service, from the initial booking through to the followup after the trip, has been little short of amazing.

The Oslo representative met us at the airport and took us to the motorhome lot where we were given a thorough briefing on the motorhome and all related equipment.

The motorhome was spotless. It was far above what I had envisioned waiting for us. Timo's service was also impeccable and did his very best to ensure a positive experience for us.

The moho was comfortable although we in Canada are used to a little more room inside. All the equipment worked well and it saved us a huge amount of money, if you're familiar with Norwegian prices.

I would not hesitate to rent from IdeaMerge again.

Jennifer Brian from Oregon, U.S., 10 june 2007
We booked a VW van for two for just over one month. We found the
service and information provided from the time of our initial inquiry,
to reservation, to actually picking up and returning the vehicle to be
superb. The van had very few miles on it, lots of great features and
they even lent us several detailed map books and a europe-wide
campground directory. When we picked up the vehicle we had a great
lesson on how to work everything, where the grocery store was, the
nearest fuel station and a small map of the area which was of great
use for the return.
We plan to travel in europe again next year and will definitely rent a
VW again from this company. We had a great experience.

David Steele, 04 june 2007
We picked up and dropped off an MC Rent motorhome in Dusseldorf, Germany, with an 11 day rental. We had selected the "Standard" sized motorhome with carseats for our 4yo and 9mo old children. When we arrived we found things all ready for us, with the exception that they had two forward facing childs seats instead of a rear facing infant seat for the baby. We showed them the IdeaMerge paperwork clearly showing the ages and weights of our children. After a few minutes of consultation, they sent a technician out and purchased a new seat for our use. It was a little difficult getting the seats installed but they obviously were interested in doing what it took to keep us happy. The motorhome was 6 months old with 24,000km and in excellent condition. It even came with a backup camera to help us parallel park in the crowded German cities, which we very much appreciated. We'd definitely do it again, although I'm not sure whether we'd bring the kids...

Lindsey and Keven Grogan, lin-kev@bigpond.net.au, 28 may 2007
We would like to post a complimentary review of booking our motorhome to travel Europe... although this will not take place until March 2008 - we have booked early for various reasons and we have found that Doug Bredesen has been unbelievable with his help... seems that nothing was too much trouble and here we are downunder in Australia and he has made the booking of our Motorhome so easy... I wondered if he ever slept - as I would email with a request and would awake to find his reply... nothing was to hard and he made it all so simple for us and so generous... We can highly recommend him to make your bookings so simple... I cant wait to be able to post yet another review after we come back.. We will be making this motor home - "our Home " for 134 days and we just cant wait... thanks again Doug... your the best..Lindsey and Keven Grogan -Beerwah - Australia.

Garduño Fam, mxgm49@hotmail.com, 24 may 2007
thks to IDEAMERGE specially to Mr. Doug Bredesen because he always show special interst to solve the little problems that we have.

William Anderson, wbacurb@yahoo.com, 22 may 2007
We were met at the Malaga airport and taken to the motor home. It was a great unit with plenty of pep and good fuel economy. It worked out very well. We dropped it in Madrid. At the drop point, we arrived ahead of time but were treated very well. The entire experience was great. This is the third time we have rented in Europe.

Debbie Longman, 22 may 2007
We rented a Roadbear RV for 30 days with pickup from Los Angeles. During this time we drove 3,000 miles. Doug from IdeaMerge provided a great service, particularly as we only organized the rental a few days before we left Australia. Nothing was too much trouble even extending our rental for us. The staff at Roadbear (Tracey in particular) were very helpful giving us the option of an early pickup and making sure we had sufficient warm bedding for the cold areas we were heading to. The RV was very new and well equipped – the only thing missing was a kettle. We noticed that some other reviewers have mentioned that the mattress was not comfortable – we had a very comfortable bed. We have rented RVs previously from other companies and have found their vehicles to be shabby, poorly equipped and the staff nowhere near as helpful. Overall a 10 out of 10 for both Roadbear and Doug from IdeaMerge.

Regards

Debbie

Paula Rich Beckwith, pbeckw1044@aol.com, 31 march 2007
We picked up and dropped off the RV in Paris in March 2007. Picking up and dropping off was considerably easy and very pleasant. We booked the first and last night at the Camping du Bois de Boulogne, which is only about 15 minutes from the RV place, I would recommend it. Great location to catch the bus to the metro. The RV was like new with no problems. We ordered the pickup and drop off at the airport option, the drop off went wonderful, the pick up was very confusing especially considering it was 6 AM, we had to call 2 times and then had to walk to an outside car rental area. Overall the whole trip went off without a hitch. This is our second RV rental from this company, last year we picked up in Frankfurt, Germany. We would surely rent from them again in a different part of the country. They were very helpful and informative. Thanks again

Linda Lawrence, lit2lulu@aol.com, 26 march 2007
Planned on doing the California Coast - weather was not so good...but we went anyway. Had spectacular views and an awesome adventure.
The Road Bear staff in Los Angels were friendly and efficient. We were given an upgrade because the rental unit we wanted was not available, and the 31ft RV was well equipped, spacious, easy to drive and loads of fun. We traveled approx. 450 miles from L.A. to drop off in Hayward, Ca.
A few suggestions;
The mattress in the 31 foot Freelanders needs to be replaced with a regular sleeping mattress for a better sleep. Also, if you are planing any side trips a car rental is helpful. It was a little hard maneuvering a 31ft motor home through city streets, such as down town L.A. and the Bay area to go sight seeing.
We will definitely be renting RV's from Road Bear in the future - what a fabulous way to see the country.

Paul and Patti, ritchied@sympatico.ca, 20 february 2007
Planned on doing the California Coast - weather was not so good...so we headed in a different direction - you can't do that if you stay at a hotel.....

The Road Bear staff at the Las Vegas depot (pick up and drop off) were friendly and efficient, the pick up service from the airport was a tremendous assistance to us as we were not familiar to the Las Vegas area. The 31ft RV was well equiped, spacious, easy to drive and loads of fun. We travelled approx. 1100 miles at a fuel cost of just under $300.00 for a house on wheels. Suggest if you are planning to RV in the USA you purchase a membership to "Passport America" 50% off discounts and/or "Good Sam Club" - 10-20% off per night max 3 night stay.

A few suggestions;
The mattress in the 31 foot Freelanders needs to be replaced with a regular sleeping mattress for a better sleep. Also providing a nicer comforter in the convenience package would be helpful. Less usage on the generator for cooler evenings in January/February.

We will definitely be renting RV's from Road Bear in the future - what a fabulous way to see the country.

LEE, OKKYOUNG, 22 january 2007
I had enjoyed a wonderful journey with a wonderful motorhome of Avis-Caraway(Paris Depot of Ideamerge). I can't forget their kindness and hospitality. We had no trouble during our journey as long as 40 days. It gave us a lot of interesting and beautiful memories. Also, I strongly recommend the motorhome if you have a baby. My 18-month baby can manage 40 days journey with motorhome, otherwise she couldn't do it.

Sherry, sdb0123@hotmail.com, 14 december 2006
We picked up our RV in Rome. The vehical was in great shape and easy to drive. The staff was very friendly and helpful, when we dropped off our RV they drove us to the train station and also gave us directions so we would safely arrive at our next destination. How nice is that! Very happy with the service and would recommend it to anyone renting an RV in Italy.

Brad Brioux, 25 october 2006
The unit we got was brand new a Citroen Pilote model D2, their were three guys and it was perfect. Very easy to drive with an excellent turning radius, and super fuel efficiency, excellent interior layout very efficient use of space and comfortable sleeping arrangements. We went from Paris to the 24 hours of LeMans and stayed at the camping area they provide. After that we went to the Loire valley and camped in various areas near the river. On the way home prior to having to return the RV we stayed at the Boise de Bolgne camping area and it was super. In fact after we returned the RV we went back their and stayed in one of their mobile homes they have for rent which was very reasonable. All in all the trip was fantastic and thanks for helping us out with the superb RV rental.

Regards Brad Brioux

David Rosalyn Hampson, Surrey, UK, david.hampson@henrybutcher.com, 20 october 2006
The Road Bear crew at both San Francisco (pick up) and Los Angeles (drop off)were friendly, efficient, and quick. The 28ft RV was well equiped, spacious, easy to drive and fun. We were impressed with the slide out section, the air conditioning, generator and warm air heating; we used all these in our trip. RV's in the US seem so much bigger and better than those in Europe, however the fuel cost was significant, at about 7 mpg.

A few suggestions;
1.the main double bed was incredibly hard and uncomfortable. Can you get the supplier to fit thick sprung mattresses, not thin sponge. It makes a huge difference to have a good nights sleep.
2.The comfort pack gave only one pillow per person. Be more generous and supply two per person.

We had a great vacation and would definitely use Road Bear again. Thanks

Danny Julie Giesbrecht, wngntt@shaw.ca, 18 october 2006
Thanks very much for the follow up! We picked up our motorhome in Frankfurt on Sept 18th. The staff (Claudia) was extremely helpful and kind. They offered us maps and useful hints which made our vacation trouble free. Speaking of trouble free, the motorhome ran like a clock and was easy to drive, especially in the busy cities. We travelled through Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria and back through Germany to Frankfurt. With 4600 km of driving, I can say that i did not feel tired once. The vehicle was very comfortable to drive, eat in, and sleep in. Even when i got stuck going in circles in the roundabout at the "arc de triumph", i felt comfortable driving.
Ideamerge made our honeymoon a trip of a lifetime. Thankyou very much, and thanks again to Claudia in Frankfurt for her assistance and her big smile.
We are already planning for our next trip, 2 years from now. Ideamerge will be our first reservation.

Danny & Julie

Park, Insung, bakis@catholic.ac.kr, 16 october 2006
The motorhome added to our Europe travel usefully. I was very happy and reduce the travel cost. But I appeal you to change two conditions.

1) The insurance system need to be changed. The consumer's resposiblity is 1,000 Euros. Under 500 Euros, customer will feel safe.

2) The time of picking up and replacing should be changed. I wasted my time for travel to wait the motorhome. Without any extra charge customer can hire it, it would be very comfortable and useful.

Thank you for your kindness and help.

Ian Andrina, 16 october 2006
Great way to see Europe with kids (as long as you stop for a few days in one spot to give them some space)...van pick in Frankfurt was friendly and easy with all paper work in order (except take time to watch the video...we didn't realise you could extend the beds even further!)...drop off was also very easy with a no fuss check of the van and the deposit was put credited back into our account there and then at the office!!!...including cost of some minor repairs to the table that we had to undertake enroute...certainly recommend the ideamerge/mcrent frankfurt team

polly schonfeld hermann platschka, polly8@earthlink.net, 09 october 2006
We picked up our van after a long flight from new york city. The staff was helpful, personable and friendly and even offered additional brochures for the trip. The van was a great car and performed beyond our expectations. We drove over 7500 kil. and gas milage was unbelievable. We fell in love with the westphalia and the camping experience. We are already planning our trip next summer and plan to rent another vw from Ideal. Polly & Hermann

FRANK SHERI KOENIG, FRANKKOEN7@AOL.COM, 09 october 2006
WE JUST RECEIVED YOUR EMAIL. THANK YOU FOR WELCOMING US BACK TO THE USA. OUR WHOLE EXPERIENCE WAS "FIRST RATE". WE PUT OVER 2000Km on our RV and we didn't have one bit of trouble. Everything was fantastic with the camper. We got to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary in style! Everyone we know thinks we were crazy to go in a RV, but we put them STRAIGHT! As far as we are concerned this was the only way to see the country's. Our camper was small but compact for us. We loved the bed. You couldn't go to bed mad that was for sure. It was especially nice to have a bathroom. As one gets older we seem to have to make late evening visits and its nice to have that convenience. Driving on the Autobahn was a blast. We never got a ticket, (or got caught). The people at McRent in Munich were very knowledgable and helpful. The RV came fully equipped. We so enjoyed being able to eat outside with our awning and table and chairs. We felt very secure in the RV with all the safety equipment. The only criticism we would like to convey is that they need to make a bigger refrigerator to accommodate all the beer and wurst! Thank you again. We had a WONDERFUL TIME.

Sincerely,

Frank & Sheri Koenig
40+ years

Nigel Dick, nigel@nigeldick.com, 09 october 2006
With 30,000km on the clock the RV was still in very good condition with a external few bumps and grazes we had to agree on before I left the yard. Though the truck (based on a Renault chassis) was the smallest on offer it was still the biggest vehicle I've ever driven but quite sprightly and I soon got used to driving down tiny lanes and narrow streets. It also sported much more storage than I expected.

On returning the vehicle I got a heavy reprimand for parking outside the gates while waiting for the operators to get back from lunch (there was no place else to go!) and that leisurely 2 hour lunch-break effectively added another day's rental onto my bill.

Apart from that it was a great experience and my only other advice is: The campsites in Florence and San Gimignano are wonderful but the one in Siena was closed and, with the closest alternative 40 km away, there was a long line of RV's outside cursing the owner of the place. I expect his karma balloon will be badly deflated when he returns next summer!

Royce Moncur, moncur@latrobe.net.au, 08 october 2006
A great experience! Driving on the right hand side was a challenge at first [us Aussies drive on the correct side!].
We toured for two weeks through six countries.... that much driving would just about get you across Ausralia. Magnificent.
Great service from a company found 'pot luck' in a web search. Also pretty good service from the rental company... BUT!! Surely Europe can catch up with our part of the world. You basically have to wait for 'business hours' to pick up and drop off these motorhomes. Why aren't they set up like hire cars? We had to hire a car for a couple of days before we could get our motor home. The other problem is that they are set up in an industrial estate well away from anything. In Australia I fly into an airport and the van meets me at the airport. Small gripe in the scheme of things though. On the first day I reversed into a small post. Crack through the lightweight rear bumper. $460au cost. Blast! To finish.. great service from Ideamerge and pretty good from Duetsh Riesmobile

Steven Horne, steven.horne@skynet.be, 08 october 2006
Ideamerge were great and the vacation excellent - shame about McRent RV rental of Dusseldorf. Pick-up was shambolic, no guide in english to wagon, no english speaking staff at that time and the chaop we did get didn't really know basics like what the battery indicators meant. very swift look around van - huge mistake!! Took nearly 3 hours to get out of there. Taking back similar pain - this time they really wanted to look at wagon and found a 2-3cm scratch on side - scrape of paint proabably caused by car door or shopping cart. might have even been there when we picked up. Huge fuss and later a 200 euro reduction in deposit supposedly for re-spray. never seen the invoice for this and it took them a month to put rest of deposit back onto card.
Great organisation by ideamerge, great way to see germany, Denmark etc but lousy local rental company.

Damien Byrne, 06 september 2006
just a quick note to thank you for your excellent service through your website. My friends and I used ideamerge last year for our trip around Germany and were so impressed with how smooth everything went there was only one vendor we were going to use when we arranged this year's trip to the USA. - Many Thanks.

Margo Furbert, 06 september 2006
My husband and I returned from our vacation last week and I must tell you that we truly had an enjoyable time driving around the Yukon and Alaska. We had an Okanagan van camper and it was the perfect size for the two of us and we had no problems handling it at all. Thanks for all you did to assist us in the rental arrangements.

Philippe BIZOT, 01 september 2006
We got fantastic vacation with our RV.
We were renting an RV for the first time in our life and the vehicle was 32 feet long...meaning enormous.
Everything went extremelly well, the value chain is well organized and very professional. The team with Doug for administrative topics, the local team for showing all the informations on the vehicle and finally the RV itself. This is going to be vacations that we will not forget.
Thanks for all your support
Philippe

Shane and Fiona, 28 august 2006
What can i say except our Motorhome experience in Germany was well.....interesting...
Let me start by saying the company in Germany (Deutsch Riesemobile)were not the most organised lot which is unusual for German people.(This was no fault of Ideamerge) Our pick up time for the MH was 3pm, we did not leave the place till 7pm. They had no capming guides in English, which made finding a place to camp very hard at times.(We hired the MH for 21 nights taking in 9 countries) They had no english speaking staff to show us the motorhome functions on the day of arrival. Once again, made things a bit hard to figure out.
On the day of return to Deutsch Riesemobile things seemed a lot more functional and we had no trouble with the language barrier as there was an English speaking staff member there.
But all that said, the staff at Ideamerge were fantastic in organising our MH given the high demand during the World Cup.
Doug Bredesen in particular was very professional and punctual in all his dealings with us and should be commended for his good work.

Karen le Roux, kleroux@comcast.net, 24 august 2006
This was my e-mail to the motor home company we used in Italy. We will highly recommend them and it is worth it to tour Italy in a motor home if you have young children.

Dear Valentina,

At the middle of July we rented a motor home for 9 days from Freedom Holiday. I just want to take this opportunity to really thank you for a very pleasant experience. You and Ugo were very helpful and friendly, you even helped us called the airline that lost our luggage. Good quality bedding that was clean and smelled so fresh. It was a pleasure to sleep on them at night. Thank you for all the camping information and the use of your roads maps/books. It was all the little details that made us really enjoy renting a motor home from Freedom Holiday. The motor home was also in a good condition and very clean when we got it from you. Your English was very good so it was easy to communicate with you. Overall we had a very good and pleasant experience and we will definitely recommend your company to anyone who wants to see Italy via motor home. According to us, of course, it’s the very best way to see an amazing beautiful country.

Thank you again.

Dirk and Dixie Havlak, HavlakRD@comcast.net, 24 august 2006
We rented in France. The motor home was easy to drive for a big vehicle and was a fun way to travel. Considering that we had 6-7 adults in it, it was well designed and although crowded, fun. There was enough storage space. Although almost new, it was in need of better repair and maintanance. One of the bench seats collapsed when two people sat on it at once, a problem since we needed it for our big group. One of the big drawers had a latch that didn't work and flew open on turns. The refrigerator latch didn't always work, and we couldn't get the refrig to run for the first two days until we met some Germans with a similar rig. It never did work on one of the electrical options. The dishes and glasses provided were glass, a terribly impractical option as they rattled around the entire time. The blankets were wool, also a terrible option as it was very hot and they were hot and scratchy. There was AC in the cab but not in the back of the vehicle and it was very hot inside, so we slept with mostly no covers.

The training video in English was good, but did not show us where the electrical outlets were and we could not find them so were unable to charge batteries, cameras, etc., which was aggravating.

Driving near Paris is scarey and difficult, especially if you are inexperienced, and better instructions and maps for driving and for taking public transportation would have been useful.

In summary, I would recommend motor home travel and the arrangements made through IdeaMerge worked well, but I would seek a better rental agency (than Avis Car-Away) if there were other options in the Paris area.

Markus and Family, 24 august 2006
I was very happy how smoothly our Germany RV rental went. The vehicle was clean, new and the staff at the pickup depot were very helpful. I would be delighted to recommend using IdeaMerge for renting an RV to anybody travelling in Europe.

Diane, 24 august 2006
We had a great holiday in our motorhome. We were picked up from our Paris hotel and taken to the depo to collect our vehicle which whilst daunting at first sight proved a doddle to drive. We headed south west to Bordeaux and to the coast. It provided a comfortable wasp free retreat after long days of surfing and sunbathing. The down side: the state of pre booked picnic table and chairs was shoddy to say the least, broken and rusty. I would recommend checking that sort of thing over carefully before taking posession. Sad