currency
Any special IdeaMerge discount we apply is applied to the entire, tax-inclusive rate.
(Thus we effectively discount the tax as well.) And we do not require you to pay in full earlier than normal
to receive this discount.
Our motorhome and campervan rental
rates (apart from any special IdeaMerge discount) and policies match those of our vendor and therefore the rates
are calculated in New Zealand Dollars (NZD).
This means we do not inflate our rates to cover ourselves against the threat of
our home currency, the US Dollar (USD), declining versus the NZD.
Moreover, we do not impose a credit card transaction
fee.
And we do not truncate the exchange rate
(which is another way companies can favor themselves).
Furthermore, we use the
minimal retail exchange rate — alias the
"credit card" exchange rate
(as published
on www.oanda.com) —
to change from the vendor's currency into our currency
(USD) for actual charging.
Finally we present all this math in the detailed confirmation
voucher that we e-mail to you soon after booking the rental. …
In these and other ways we carefully save our clients from suffering
hidden costs.
reservation
In accord with the automobile rental industry standard,
reservations may be made for a vendor's particular vehicle category
(what we might call a vendor's "group") only, not for a specific vehicle.
Which is to say,
although the various images, model numbers and vehicle specifications presented
throughout the IdeaMerge motorhome rental pages — especially on the
vehicle-specification pages — are carefully selected to accurately
and precisely indicate the vehicle that you will get, the vehicle model
(and layout) you get might not be identical to what is indicated by said
information.
In the very unlikely event that
a vehicle in the reserved category is not available upon the pick-up date, the
rental company reserves the right to substitute a comparable or larger vehicle
with the same equipment and the capacity to accommodate the number persons you have delineated (in terms of, say, adults and children) as being in your party. In this case there will be no additional charge for a larger
vehicle. However, the higher ancillary costs associated with a larger
vehicle — such as ferry charges,
tolls, and fueling costs — are to be borne by the customer.
Of course IdeaMerge will not charge your credit card unless the vendor you select does have availability in the
particular vehicle category you select.
After you place a complete online reservation request with IdeaMerge (i.e. including your credit card details), IdeaMerge will straightaway query the vendor.
If a vehicle in the selected vehicle category of that selected vendor is indeed have available, we will immediately book the rental with that vendor and charge your card —
binding you per the cancellation policy noted below. Either way, we will then inform you as soon as possible,
often within an hour but most certainly within 24 hours
(or perhaps 48 hours if you enter the reservation request on a Friday or Saturday,
since the booking facilities of some vendors are closed on weekends).
downpayment
IdeaMerge charges a 20 percent downpayment (minimum NZD 250).
upon booking a client's reservation request.
However, for rentals occuring in conjunction with the
Rugby World Cup in New Zealand September–October 2011 the downpayment is 50 percent
and is not refundable.
balance
The balance is charged or due 35 days prior to the pick-up
date. (If a reservation is placed within that time window, the whole
amount will be charged or due straightaway.)
We require early prepayment because KEA requires prepayment and
because KEA imposes cancellation fees.
Necessarily and simply reflecting that schedule of fees,
IdeaMerge's cancellation policy is as described below.
However, for rentals occuring in conjunction with the
Rugby World Cup in New Zealand September–October 2011 the
balance is due 4.5 months before the pick-up date.
cancellation fees
However, for rentals occuring in conjunction with the
Rugby World Cup in New Zealand September–October 2011 the
cancellation policy is such that
cancellations made 120 days or more prior to the pick-up date entail a cancellation fee equal to 50 percent of the gross rental amount
(i.e. the non-refundable downpayment listed above), whereas cancellations made within 120 days of the
pick-up date entail a cancellation fee equal to 100 percent of the gross rental amount.
changes
Any change to a booking — especially of the rental duration, and
whether requested before, during
or after the pick-up — is subject to
authorization by the rental company. Do not expect to be able to make
such changes upon the pick-up occasion.
A change to a booking does not necesarily entail a change fee, per se.
However, if within 14 days of pick-up the client changes the pick-up location or return location, a relocation fee may apply.
Also, if within 14 days of pick-up the client reduces the duration of the rental,
no refund will be given in connection with this reduction.
Change of the rental return location after the rental has commenced must be approved by KEA; and if approved a relocation fee may apply.
However, for rentals occuring in conjunction with the
Rugby World Cup in New Zealand September–October 2011:
if within 120 days before pick-up the client changes the pick-up location or return location, a relocation fee of NZD1000 will apply,
and if within 120 days before pick-up the client reduces the duration of the rental,
no refund will be given in connection with this reduction.
Minimum duration is 5 calendar days except when the pick-up occurs in
the span 20 December through 5 January, when the minimum duration
is 10 calendar days.
One-way rentals are available. For pick-ups
from October through March the one-way fee is NZD 300 (NZD 350 after March 2010), otherwise there is no one-way fee.
Refunds are not offered for early return of the rental vehicle.
If after the rental has commenced the client wants to
change drop-off location, the client should first obtain authorization
from the destination depot and ascertain the additional charge; the
minimum charge is NZD 750.
If after the rental has commenced the client wants to extend
the duration of the rental, the client should obtain authorization
from the destination depot. The extra cost must be paid by credit card
over the telephone. Failure to obtain such authorization will result in
a daily fee of NZD 150 in addition to the daily rental rate (which rate
will be the present rate, not necessarily the rate the vehicle was booked at).
security deposit
Upon pick-up, the vendor requires of the client a security deposit.
The form of the deposit (whether an actual charge to a Visa or
MasterCard credit card or
merely an imprint of such credit card) and its amount
(whether NZD 5000,
NZD 2000, or NZD 500)
depend
on the client's choice of insurance option (e.g. damage waiver):
the default security deposit is
NZD 5000 to be actually debited, i.e. charged, to a credit card
(namely Visa or MasterCard)
or accepted in terms of cash or traveler's check;
damage waiver 1 reduces this amount
to NZD 2000 and entails a mere imprint of a credit card rather than an
actual debit, cash or traveler's check;
damage waiver 2 reduces the amount to NZD 500.
If a credit card is used to place such deposit,
the card holder must be present upon the pick-up
occasion and is jointly and severally liable for any damage to the
rental vehicle.
Unlike much of its competition, KEA New Zealand does NOT
impose a credit card surcharge on the optional items and/or the security deposit or possible traffic fines or penalties and such they themselves charge locally (i.e. upon the pick-up and/or return occasions).
IdeaMerge, like KEA, imposes no credit card surcharges on the transactions we process.
KEA is of course not responsible for any associated
surcharges that might be levied by the credit card company nor for any fluctuations in
the applicable exchange rate (if any) between the time of the charge and
the time that the vendor credits the charge (in
full or in part) back to the card.
Generally the security deposit is fully refundable
on return of the vehicle to the agreed location, on the agreed date,
with no damage incurred to the vehicle or third party property and
with the toilet cassette and waste water tank emptied and no items
lost or damaged. In case of any damage to the KEA Campers vehicle
or third party property a second security deposit will be collected
by KEA Campers to cover the deductible for any subsequent damage.
Of course as is generally the case in the auto insurance industry,
the insurance deductibles apply per occurrence, i.e. per accident/incident.
Vehicles should be returned with a full fuel tank. Refuelling at the KEA depot will be charged at a minimum of NZD 3 per liter of
fuel plus a handling fee of NZD 25.
All vehicles should be returned to the agreed location, on the agreed date in clean condition with no damage
incurred to the KEA Campers vehicle or third party property, with the toilet cassette and waste water tank
emptied and no equipment lost or damaged. A fee of NZD 100 will be charged if the toilet cassette is not
emptied or the vehicle is not returned in a reasonable clean condition.
age and license(s)
The minimum age limit for renters and other drivers of KEA's vehicles
is only 21 years. KEA requires from drivers
75 years old or older a written statement from a medical practitioner
noting that the client is fit to operate the booked vehicle (the vehicle being characterized by
its weight, dimensions, and transmission).
In the instances of a manual transmission vehicle being hired, the driver must be a competent and experienced operator
of manual transmission vehicles.
Upon pick-up the vendor requires of the client
a valid, non-provisional resident-country drivers license, held for at least one year.
Moreover, if said license is not primarily or secondarily (i.e. in parallel)
written in English, the vendor also
requires of the client an international drivers permit (IDP). Such IDPs are available
for a small charge (about USD 20) from the automobile club offices in the
client's country of residence (but not outside their country), and
a person need not be a member of such club to obtain the IDP from the club.
See the IdeaMerge "Resources" page for more about IDPs.
Drivers must of course possess their valid domestic drivers license.
The Australia and New Zealand motorhome and camper van rental
vehicles presented on the IdeaMerge Website are designed such that relative
especially to the laws of Australia and New Zealand
virtually all non-provisional domestic drivers licenses suffice for operation of these
vehicles, even in nearly all cases where the inherent limits of such
license (i.e. relative to your domestic laws) would preclude the holder from
driving the vehicle in his/her own country. (Which is to say, standard foreign
drivers licenses are translated by the laws of Australia and New Zealand such
that these licenses basically function in Australia and New Zealand as
standard Australia or New Zealand drivers licenses.)
Nevertheless, you might be interested in researching the inherent limits of
your drivers license. To do so you can
check the back of your license and visit the Website of the
governmental agency that issued your license.
You can also see the following Wikipedia articles:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Driver's_license and, say,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Driving_Licence_codes.
animals
No animals other than humans and possibly seeing-eye guide dogs are
permitted to use the vehicles.
no smoking
Smoking is not allowed in the vehicles.
what's included
All KEA's New Zealand camper rentals include unlimited kilometers,
airport or hotel transfer to/from depot and
nationwide roadside assistance via a toll-free helpline.
The rates also include the 12.5% federal tax (GST).
Moreover, the total rental cost computed by
the (highly specialized) IdeaMerge online reservation software includes
any other charges that might apply,
even if certain of those other portions of the total will actually be
paid locally by the client upon the pick-up occasion instead of
up-front to IdeaMerge
— e.g. charges for optional extras
insofar as said fees are indeed paid for locally instead of pre-purchased
as part of the vendor's "inclusive package" of optional extras.
The IdeaMerge online reservation software automatically
determines whether the vendor's inclusive package is the best deal for the
client, this based
on the particular options selected by the client.
There is no charge for additional drivers.
In what follows, a figure following a slash "/" indicates
the post-March 2010 value.
Furthermore all KEA's
New Zealand camper rentals include liability insurance
(i.e. third party insurance).
The KEA camper rentals also include collision and
comprehensive insurance.
All these aspects of the included insurance inhere a deductible
(a.k.a. excess; applicable no matter who is at fault) of NZD 5000, but
clients can reduce this figure to either NZD 2000 or all the way to zero
by purchasing
one of two optional damage waivers (a.k.a. excess reductions):
See our KEA "Insurance, etc"
page for details concerning the included insurance.
Clients may store luggage free of charge at the depots;
and for NZD 35 per item KEA will forward luggage to the drop-off location,
if you like.
And again, KEA does not charge the client for refill of the LP Gas.
The following are included by default at no extra charge:
multiple rentals
Multiple rentals are also accommodated nicely.
If via IdeaMerge — and at the same time — a client rents
consecutive KEA
vehicles in Australia and/or in New Zealand and the pick-up dates are
within 360 days of each other,
IdeaMerge will effectively combine
these otherwise separate rentals
by applying to each rental a rate or rates based on the sum of the
durations (thus perhaps effecting long-term discounts).
Moreover, only one security deposit need apply to combined rentals if the
pick-up occurs in the same country and no damage or claim occurs to the rental(s) preceding the final combined rental.
If a client makes such a set of bookings but does not place all the
bookings at the same time, the booking or bookings placed later, i.e.
the new one or ones, qualify for such discounts relative to the original
booking but they do not
qualify the original booking for such discounts as well.
Note: Given this policy and
the cost of transporting a vehicle between Australia and New Zealand,
such transport is prohibitively costly. Our online reservation software,
although highly specialized, does not
allow customers to place more than one reservation at once. Therefore
IdeaMerge will manually and at the client's request account
for multiple rentals as described above.
Our online reservation software, although highly specialized, does not
allow customers to place more than one reservation at once. Therefore IdeaMerge will manually
and at the client's request account for multiple rentals as described above.
"diesel tax recovery" fee
Unlike much of its competition, KEA does not charge a Diesel Tax Recovery fee.
infringements
The vendor (KEA) reserves the right to charge the client for any speeding or parking
fines, associated administration costs and/or accidents including third-party
property damage not reported by or upon the termination of the rental duration.
The administration fee will be only NZD 25 per fine.
road restrictions
The vehicles may be driven on sealed/bitumen/macadam/paved or well
maintained roads only.
No vehicle shall be driven on Skippers Canyon Road (Queenstown), Ninety Mile
Beach (Northland), Ball Hut Road (Mt. Cook),
nor on any unsealed ski access road.
KEA reserves the right at its sole discretion
to restrict vehicle movements in certain areas due to adverse road or
weather conditions.
breakdown cover and repairs
For starters, the fleet of vehicles is modern and frequently upgraded,
the average age of a vehicle normally being less than 1 year.
All the vehicles do include roadside service nationwide,
accessible from 8:00 to 22:00 (10:00 pm)
by way of tel. 0800 52 00 51 (toll free).
Any problems associated with the vehicle, including equipment failure,
should be reported to KEA
as soon as possible within 24 hours, this to give KEA the
opportunity to rectify the problem without delay. Failure to report
as such will compromise any client claims for compensation;
KEA does not accept liability for claims submitted after this duration.
Repairs costing up to NZD 100 may be effected without
authorization from
KEA and will be appropriately reimbursed if the client provides the repair receipt
to KEA. For amounts estimated over NZD 100, the
client should obtain authorization from KEA. Receipts relating to
any repair should be submitted to KEA.
a slight disclaimer
IdeaMerge takes special care in representing our vendors (i.e. the actual rental companies) so to maximally benefit our clients.
Thus we present such information using various careful emphases and an overall style which is decidedly complementary to
the legalistic style that necessarily constrains the terms and conditions presented by our vendors.
The information on the IdeaMerge Website is merely designed to assist our clients.
Yet in asking IdeaMerge to make a booking for you, you agree to the relevant cancellation policy presented to you by IdeaMerge.
In accord with the auto rental industry standard, you will be obliged upon the rental pick-up occasion to sign a contract
directly with the vendor and to thereby agree to their terms and conditions.
Thus the terms and conditions of the vendor supersede the information presented by IdeaMerge.
Likewise in accord with the auto rental industry standard, the vendor’s terms and conditions are subject to change without
notice prior to the rental pick-up occasion. Such modifications to a vendor's terms and conditions as these apply to a booking are rare,
and when they do occur they are usually very minor. The vendor nonetheless reserves the right to make such modifications without informing the client.
In practice, however, if a modification to the vendor's terms and conditions is likely to be consequential for a client,
the vendor typically informs IdeaMerge about it and we in turn endeavor to inform the client.
In contrast to terms and conditions, the rental rates and various mandatory and optional prices are, like the cancellation policy,
officially agreed to by you and IdeaMerge when you ask IdeaMerge to make a booking for you; in this sense they are not subject to change.
If applicable, certain fees and taxes imposed by governments and charged by the vendor upon the pick-up or return occasion (rather than upfront by IdeaMerge)
are of course subject to change. For similar reasons, insurance coverages are also subject to change — although such a change affecting a booking is truly rare.
KEA New Zealand's terms and conditions
Click here for KEA New Zealand's terms and conditions.
warning
The vendor always reserves the right to refuse, at its discretion, to rent to a particular client.
Although motor travel in New Zealand is not generally considered prohibitively dangerous, there are, of course, associated risks — including death. For quantitative measures of these risks, please see the Association for Safe International Road Travel (ASIRT) http://www.asirt.org.
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