El Monte RV Rentals

Terribly disappointing. What began as a well planned, exciting family road trip from NJ to Michigan to see the rival Thanksgiving Michigan/Ohio game, turned into a ripple effect of let-downs due to the RV malfunctions and lack of customer service. Because it was Thanksgiving Weekend, Roadside assistance and phone support was difficult. Our windshield wipers fell off the windshield during a severe downpour 3 hours into our 10 hour trip. No windshield wipers, no roadside assistance, dangerous, tense, slow driving to stay safe on a major highway. Because of this, we arrived hours late to our $300. RV parking place and were placed the farthest away from the stadium in the back of an old warehouse building. And it gets better....
We woke at 3am with all power turned off noticed by the frigid drop in temps inside the RV. We reached customer assistance and were told to unplug our from our power source and run engine. The heat turned back on but in the a.m. we realized the refrigerator had also shut off and did not return with power. Much of the food we had prepared and packed for the weekend was spoiled obvious by the smell when we opened the refrdge door. Some was salvaged by transferring it to the coolers and borrowing ice from RV neighbors.
Although we made the best of our situations, we lost time, heat, safety and expensive food that was to last a full weekend for 2 families. El Monte RV was defensive and credited us a only tiny portion of our expensive RV weekend for our difficulties.

Terrible place. The generator broke in 30 minutes. Took an entire day of my vacation at the shop to find out it cant be fixed. Stuck in 100 degree heat with no electricity in a sauna. The stairs to get in broke on day 2. Spent the third day at ER for a sprained ankle. That was on top of unclean bed, terrible alignment, and poor brakes. So I have been trying to get the manager to return my phone call, 7 days no answer. Called corporate number, still no answer. Go somewhere to rent an RV or your gonna wish you stayed at home.

we rented a 32 footer it was a pretty good experience road nice the shower door did not work that good for driving but other than that we had a good time and the unit was in very good shape will be renting in August again.

Online quotation was much lower than final price. Vehicle received was somewhat disappointing: 7 years old, the alignment was way off, there were non functional power outlets, non functional 12V outlet on dash, the RV door didn't lock or unlock from the outside, faulty sensor on door caused step to slide out while in transit, cabinets inside didn't latch properly to stay closed... and other annoyances. I'd look elsewhere next time.

This is a terrible company. We reserved an RV for a five day vacation in Vermont over the 4th of July. We arrived at 2 pm on July 3rd to pick up the RV. Though the internet booking system suggested it would cost around $1300, by the time they were done nickel and diming us, we were in for over $2K. But at least, the saleslady said, we were going to have a great time in their fantastic RV.

When the "fantastic RV" was finally pulled up front after 3, it was infrested with ants, had over 100K miles on it and the interior was in very poor shape. They offered us a 2006 model with over 115K miles that they said had been recently reoutfitted. By that point it was close to 4 and we were facing a 7 hour drive so we took it. When the replacement RV was finally pull out front to be inspected, the power door locks and passenger side window did not work. Now nearly 5 pm, we took it any way. We should have just walked away.

The RV was a mess to drive. Handling was loose, brakes were low, and the transmission was sticking. By sundown, we had barely made it 120 miles and we realized the dashboard lights didn't work either. With the transmission failing in a downpoor and unable to see the speedometer or tachometer, we tried to find a campground but gave up and paid for a hotel. El Monte Roadside assistance reported they couldn't do anything for us until July 5th.

We set out early on the morning of July 4, but we didn't get far. Within 30 min, the check engine light came on. Shortly thereafter the transmission started making notices, and when I pulled off the interstate the transmission was leaking boiling transmission fluid. Once again, roadside assistance wasn't helpful. The woman on the phone could not find a tow truck or a replacement RV. Ultimately she agreed that I should drive the RV to the closest Ford dealer and leave it there. And, she made a reservation for a rental car. The ordeal took 6 hours and cost me $90 in cab fare and $700 to rent a car. Then I needed to buy a tent and air mattress, as we had left ours at home thinking we'd be sleeping in the RV. By 4 pm on the 4th of July, we were finally on the road -- more than 24 hours behind schedule and over $1200 over budget.
July 5th we heard from the manager in Linden, who reported that he would refund the cost of the rental, but that there would be no replacement RV and we would not be reimbursed for any of the out of pocket expenses. We cancelled our reservation at the RV pack on Lake Champlain -- and forfeited our $50 deposit.
On July 6th we contacted the car rental agency to find out where we should return the rental car near Linden NJ. We were surprised to learn that the El Money Roadside assistance woman had reserved us a car that could only be returned in Hartford, Ct. When I called El Monte, a customer service manager named Judy instructed me that this was my fault and my responsibility. So I rented a second car to drive us from Hartford to Linden to get our car, to be returned in Newark. Cha-Ching -- there went another $208!

El Monte is the worst kind of Company. When I found out that Cruise America didn't haven't any RV's available for the 4th of July, I never should have called them.

Beware!