Potty discount an ‘urban myth’
Freedom campers’ belief they will get a discount if they return their campervan toilets unused could be encouraging them to poo in public places.
On two recent occasions Akaroa residents who challenged freedom campers to prove that their vehicles were self-contained were shown toilets still wrapped in plastic.
Campers told them this was in order to claim discounts of up to $500.
The residents did not notice the names of the rental companies. They said campervan companies actively discouraged customers from using on-board toilets by charging high ‘‘no-use bonds’’ or offering substantial discounts if portable toilets were returned unused.
Tourism and rental industry spokespeople have dismissed the ‘‘potty discount’’ as an urban myth, and suggest some travellers may refuse to use onboard loos because of the ‘‘yuck’’ factor of emptying them, or to avoid paying dump fees charged by holiday parks.
Responsible Camping Forum convenor Steve Hanrahan said the claims have circulated for a couple of years, but inquiries among forum members, who represent 80 per cent of the country’s motorhome rental fleet, found no evidence of the practice.
It was possible the myth arose from confusion over surcharges applied if toilets were returned unemptied, he said.
New Zealand Motor Caravan Association (NZMCA) chief executive Bruce Lochore said about a year ago the organisation came across a small campervan company with a rental contract saying it would charge customers $500 if the toilet was ‘‘not clean’’ on its return.
To prevent confusion, the hire company reworded it to say ‘‘not emptied’’.
‘‘After all, if you saw $500 and ‘not clean’ then you could easily take that as ‘don’t use it’, because who decides what clean is?’’
Tourism Holdings Ltd (THL) has a fleet of almost 2000 self-contained motorhomes. Chief executive Grant Webster said his company did not offer discounts for unused toilets and he was not aware of others doing so.
Customers were shown how to empty toilets when they picked up their vehicles, which came with a demonstration video, and the CamperMate app displayed more than 470 dump stations for safe waste disposal.
THL customers who failed to empty their toilet cassettes before returning them were charged $125 extra.
However, with free dump stations at all its rental branches, they could avoid the charge by simply emptying the toilet when they arrived, Webster said.
Jucy marketing head Katy Medlock said Jucy had a similar arrangement and rarely ended up charging a $250 fee for unemptied toilet waste.