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 Australia Dollars (AUD).
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 AUD.
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
upon booking a client's reservation request.
This downpayment is fully refundable until 21 days* prior to
the pick-up date.
(These days are determined according to the time in Sydney, Australia.)
balance
The balance is charged or due 25 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 Maui requires prepayment and
because Maui imposes further cancellation fees starting at the 6-day threshold.
Necessarily and simply reflecting that schedule of fees,
IdeaMerge's cancellation policy is as follows ...
cancellation fees
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 may entail a change fee, the amount of which is
usually modest/nominal yet is generally commensurate with the degree to
which the change compromises the vendor's ability to rent out the vehicle.
In most cases the fee is USD 25.
Minimum duration is 5 calendar days for 2-berth vehicles,
7 calendar days for other vehicles or when pick-up occurs in
the span 15 December through 5 January, in which cases the minimum duration
is 7 calendar days, and except for one-ways as noted below.
One-way rentals are available for a fee of AUD 250.
However, if the one-way involves the Alice Springs, Broome, Darwin, or Perth depot, the one-way fee is AUD 350.
The minimum duration for one-ways is 7 calendar days.
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 that would
apply, which charge could be as high as AUD 550.
The Broome depot entails a remote-location fee of AUD 650 that
applies separately to pick-up and drop-off and in addition to the one-way
fee that may apply. Pick-up at the Hobart depot entails
an AUD 16.50 fee.
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 AUD 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 AUD 7500,
AUD 2500, or AUD 220, AUD 440 for 4WD)
depend
on the client's choice of insurance option:
the default is
AUD 7500 actually debited (i.e. charged);
insurance option 1 reduces the amount
to AUD 2500; insurance option 2 reduces the amount to
AUD 220 (AUD 440 for 4WD) and entails a mere imprint rather than an actual debit.
For security reasons, only a credit card (namely Visa or MasterCard)
can be used to provide the
security deposit. The card holder must be present upon the pick-up
occasion and MUST BE THE HIRER.
Maui and Britz impose a 2 percent credit card surcharge on the
Visa/MasterCard transactions they themselves process
— and a 4.5 percent surcharge on the American
Express transactions they themselves process —
i.e. insofar as they charge
the optional items and/or the security deposit or possible traffic fines
or penalities and such locally (that is, upon the
pick-up and/or return occasions).
Maui and Britz do not refund their credit card surcharges.
The vendor is of course not responsible for any associated
surcharges 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.
Of course the security deposit is fully refundable provided the vehicle is returned
on time, to the correct location, undamaged, with a clean interior and
with appropriately full fuel tanks (fuel being gasoline/petrol, diesel, and LPG gas). The
vendor reserves the right to retain an AUD 220 "soiling" fee if the vehicle
is not returned with the interior in a clean condition. The toilet and
waste water tank (if present) should be emptied prior to the return of the
vehicle, or the vendor will retain a separate AUD 220 fee.
age and license(s)
The minimum age limit for renters and other drivers of Maui's vehicles
is only 21 years. Maui 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).
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 USD20) 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.
There is no charge for additional drivers.
no animals
No animals other than humans and guide dogs are permitted to use the vehicles.
no smoking
Smoking is not allowed in the vehicles.
what's included
All Maui Australia camper rentals include unlimited kilometers
and 24/7 nationwide roadside assistance via a toll-free helpline.
All the Maui prices include the 10 percent federal tax (GST)
and Maui's 3 percent
"stamp duty and local tax surcharge."
Moreover, the total rental cost computed by
the (highly specialized) IdeaMerge online reservation software includes
any applicable one-way fee and
other charges that might apply,
even if 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, Broome's remote-location fee,
Hobart's airport surcharge, and said 3 percent
local surcharge
insofar as said extras and fees are indeed paid for locally instead of
pre-purchased as part of the vendor's "premium package" of optional extras.
The IdeaMerge online reservation software automatically
determines whether the vendor's premium package is the best deal for
the client, this based
on the particular options selected by the client.
…
All Maui Australia camper rentals
include liability insurance
(i.e. third party) which also covers (although very partially) personal injury to
the client and to members of the client's party).
Meanwhile the included collision and
comprehensive insurance inheres a deductible (a.k.a. excess; applicable no
matter who is at fault) of AUD 7500, but
clients can reduce this by purchasing
one of two optional damage waivers (a.k.a. excess reductions):
These insurance options also have positive effects in terms of the security
deposit charged by Maui upon the pick-up occasion:
the default security deposit is
AUD 7500 to be actually debited, i.e. charged;
damage waiver 1 reduces the amount
to AUD 2500; damage waiver 2 reduces the amount to AUD 220
(or AUD 440 for 4WD) and entails a mere imprint rather than an actual debit.
For security reasons, only a credit card — namely Visa, MasterCard,
or American Express — can be used to provide the
security 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.
If the deductible/excess is reduced to zero, one windscreen and two tires are covered for accidental damage.
Damage to the overhead or underbody of the vehicle is not covered unless
the customer buys damage waiver 2 (noted above) and enhances that waiver
by purchasing the …
Clients will be reimbursed for taxi fare (with receipt) to the pick-up depot,
insofar as that fare is equivalent to the typical fare from the airport to
the depot. Clients incur the cost for their travel from the depot upon completion
of the motorhome rental, although the depot personnel will of course
call a taxi upon request.
There is no charge for additional drivers.
Again, the IdeaMerge online reservation software will
determine whether the vendor's premium package is the best deal for the client, based
on the rental parameters chosen by the client.
The following items are included by default at no extra charge:
multiple rentals
If via IdeaMerge — and at the same time — a client rents consecutive Maui
and/or Britz
vehicles in Australia and/or in New Zealand and the pick-up dates are
within 92 days of each other, IdeaMerge will effectively combine
these otherwise separate rentals by not charging twice for any
overlapping day or days
(this by waiving the lessor cost or costs of the overlapping days) and
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 multiple hires are within the same country and the total, combined days
exceed 50, only the maximum charge applicable to the excess reduction option
of the premium package will apply, this maximum being the higher of all such
maximums that happen to be involved. However, in the case where a Maui hire is being
combined with a Britz hire and the packages have either the premium package
or the bonus pack these components cannot be combined to have a maximum charge
applied, but the vehicle rates can have a long-term discount applied.
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.
infringements
The vendor 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 AUD 60 per fine.
road restrictions
The 2WD campers may be driven on sealed/bitumen/macadam/paved roads only,
the single exception to this rule being well maintained access roads to designated
motorhome campgrounds and the roads on Kangaroo Island (South Australia).
The 4WD vehicles can also be driven on recognized tracks.
The 4WD vehicles may only travel to the following areas with the written
permission of Maui: Simpson Desert, Strzelecki Track, Gunbarrel Highway, Old Gunbarrel Highway,
Cape York, the Bungle Bungles, Oodnadatta Track, Birdsville Track, Tanami
Track, The Plenty Highway, and Gibb River Road.
Maui vehicles are NOT permitted on the Canning Stock Route, the Lost City
in Litchfield Park, and the Telegraph Road section of the road to Cape York
during the months December through May.
Maui reserves the right at its sole discretion to restrict
vehicle movements in certain areas due to adverse road or
weather conditions.
Maui also reserves the right at its sole discretion to restrict the
distance driven to nominated destinations in relation to
the hire duration.
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 24/7 roadside service nationwide.
Call toll-free 1300 363 800.
Any problems associated with the vehicle, including equipment failure,
should be reported to the vendor
as soon as possible and within 24 hours, this to give the vendor the
opportunity to rectify the problem as soon as possible. Failure to report
as such will compromise any client claims for compensation.
The vendor does not accept liability for claims submitted after this duration.
In the event, please contact the vendor toll-free at tel. 1300 363 800.
Repairs costing up to AUD 100 may be effected without authorization from
the vendor and will be appropriately reimbursed if the client provides the repair receipt
to the vendor. For amounts estimated over AUD 100, the
client should obtain authorization from the vendor. Receipts relating to
any repair should be sumbitted to the vendor.
See our "Insurance, etc"
page for details concerning the included insurance.
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.
maui australia's terms and conditions
Maui Australia terms and conditions for non-residents of Australia or New Zealand.
Maui Australia terms and conditions for residents of Australia or New Zealand.
warning
The vendor always reserves the right to refuse, at its discretion, to rent to a particular client.
Although motor travel in Australia 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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