Great motorhome but £1,200 security deposit not returned

We hired a motorhome at the end of February and returned it on 12 March 2018. Hiring the motorhome was easy and the depot staff were very helpful HOWEVER the whole experience has been ruined as our £1,211 security deposit is yet to be returned.

We were slightly put off by the high security deposit but appreciated that the van was new, such vehicles are very expensive and the company needed to protect its assets. We paid the full amount of £1,250 understanding that as long as the vehicle was returned in the same condition it was hired, we would get all our money back within 28 days.

We agreed an early collection at a cost of £39 which was to come out of the returnable deposit so the outstanding balance is £1,211. We waited until 20th April to chase up the refund to find out that it was not processed automatically and that we had to accept a statement which would then trigger the refund and ensure that we received the funds in 3 - 5 working days. This did not happen. We chased again to be told that it was 'unusual' for refunds not to go through. We waited a few more days before chasing again and have been told that the refund has had to be done manually and is dependent on the speed of the merchant provider. No further details have been given and we don't know when we can expect our money to be back in our account.

The vehicle was returned EIGHT weeks ago and the company still has over £1,000 of our money. As a young family with an eight month old baby and one income, this just isn't acceptable. It really stretched us to hand over such a huge amount at the beginning of the hire - far more than the hire itself cost - and now we are really struggling. I think it's awful that the refund wasn't processed automatically and that we are still waiting with no date confirmed of when the money will come back to us. The company hasn't been proactive in this matter at all and I feel like we have been exploited.

It is a real shame that this last part of our experience has led to a 1 star review as we couldn't actually fault the vehicle or the Durham depot staff.