Twyla! I am glad you asked…. Well, I’ve got a story to share.....(2 actually).
AVOID
http://www.bootscootinrvrental.com of Taylor. I sent this in a PM to someone on the TON a few mos ago, who was asking about a Toy Hauler Rental. His reply, “you should post this to warn others”.
I knew he was right. But I was tired of dealing with the issue, I did not post. Well, I am finally posting this story on the TON as a warning to others.
Here’s a long letter I wrote last October as result of renting a Class C.
Back in September, 2007 I rented a Class C Jayco Eagle from “Boot Scootin’ Campin’ & RV Rentals”, located in Taylor Texas. The owner is Jay Schutz. As part of the agreement, I gave a deposit of $500.
I picked it up Friday, 08/30/07, and returned the RV on Tuesday, 09/04/07. I drove it from my home Friday to the MX Outdoor Nationals in Freestone. I returned to my home N. Austin on Sunday, same weekend. That was all I did.
I leased the RV for four days: Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday. Monday Sept 3 it sat on my driveway. I only wanted it for three days, but since Monday was a national holiday, and the RV rental was closed, I had to agree to lease it for four days. I did not drive it or even start the motor or the generator on Monday Sept 3. All I did was wash and clean it.
On Tuesday Sept 4 I returned the RV, and Jay Schutz and I inspected it. There was no damage to any part of the RV. The total mileage was about 300, well below the max allowed per day.
The issue of this post is the generator hours that I was charged. The lease contract allowed 4 free generator hours per day. Any hours more than 4 would be charged $4 per hour.
When we inspected the generator hour meter together, we both agreed that the total hours I used was 29. This seemed very reasonable and correct to me. I was very frugal with the use of the generator, as I knew it would cost me.
We verbally agreed that the total hours used were 29, and that I was going to pay 13 extra hours (16 hours at no charge, and 13 at $4 per hour). I owed $52 for 13 generator hours. I agreed to this.
Jay Schulz wrote the generator hours on the side of his file. I did not write down these numbers, and that was my mistake. At the conclusion of the inspection, I asked him for a copy of the paperwork. He quickly said that it would be mailed to me. It was not.
I knew that I owed $52 and I expected that a charge of $52 would be deducted from the $500 deposit,and the balance would be mailed to me.
I finally got a letter dated October 15, 2007 with my refund. The letter said that the Generator hours used were:
Out: 12946.1
In: 13175.3
The difference between these two numbers is
229 hours (rounded to whole number)! If you divide 229 hours by 24 hours per day, you’ll see that
this is equal to 9.5 days of hours! I only had it 4 days!
The letter states that the total hours used was 129 (why, I’m not sure), and I was charged for 113 hours (129 minus the 16 “free” hours). $452 was deducted from my $500 deposit! I fully expected a check for about $448 ($500 less $52).
Instead, I got a refund deposit of $46.40. I immediately called Jay Schutz. I explained that there obviously was an error (and how the heck does a generator hours get up to 13 thousand, anyway?!)
I was sure he accidentally transposed the numbers. How could the difference be "EXACTLY" 200 hours off (229 instead of the 29 hours we agreed to)! I suggested that maybe some numbers accidentally got switched somewhere in the notes.
I explained that If I ran the generator non-stop for ALL four days (4 x 24 = 96 hours), I would not have reached one half of 229 hours, nor would I have reached 129 total hours shown in the letter!
Jay Shutz’s reply was that I was present when the numbers were recorded, and that he only reported what he wrote down. He repeated this over and over. I was incredulous and stunned!!!
When I pointed out that the difference was 229, not 129 hours, you won’t believe his reply. He said, “yep. that was an error, you should have been billed for 229, not 129 hours!”.
I replied clearly there was a mistake. He only repeated the same reply several times. I entreated him, that it was physically impossible for me to run up 9.5 days of hours during a 4 day lease! Finally he could not say anything else --- and he simply hung up on me!!
At first, I assumed an honest error by an accountant, maybe? But shortly after my initial phone call, it dawned on me that he had blatantly and boldly just plain stolen the deposit from me. He must have known that I had no written proof of the recorded “out” or “in” generator hours. He knew I had no recourse of defense. I had no proof.
It was obvious to me that he must have been desperate for my deposit money, and probably already spent it.
How did he ever come up with “out” and “in” hours that show a difference of 229? I have no idea….
How strange and suspicious is it that he charged me exactly 100 hours more than we agreed!
You may notice another very thing: Why did Jay Schutz charge me for only 129 hours instead of 229 hours that he said I actually used? Was he being generous? Giving up $400?! My guess is that he already had $400 as part of my $500 deposit. So he could easily add a $400 charge, by adding 100 hours, and just keep the money he already had.
Keeping $400 of my deposit did not require any additional charge on my credit card. He had my credit card number and he could have charged me for the full 229 hours. If he had charged my card again, that would have brought him under much more scrutiny for an unauthorized charge.
I guess he was content to just keep the $400 by over-billing me for 100 hours, instead of trying to get $800 for over-billing me 200 hours!
This was a very frustrating experience, but I am not writing here on the TON for sympathy. I am writing this to advise everyone: don’t do business with Jay Schutz of Boot Scootin’ Campin’ & RV Rentals, (formerly of Gattis School Road, Round Rock). And, spread the word.
I wrote the above text back in September and posted it on a national, very active RV Forum. I got a LOT of very, very supportive replies! I emailed my story to many of the other Central TX RV Rental companies, and advised them to never refer clients to Boot Scootin RV Rental. Several replied that they too had already heard bad things about Boot Scootin RV Rental.
I considered a lot of responses: small claims court, etc. I was frustrated for quite awhile. But now, the matter is closed now.
Also, Marcus wrote, “I believe there is also one on IH35 west access road in Georgetown (just south of Inner Space Caverns) that does rentals too but I don't have any personal experience with them...” Two years ago, I rented a Class C from that same place and went to Cross Creek. It was also a bad experience because the RV was very poorly maintained, (the roof leaked during the rain during the night). When I returned and complained they played ignorant and dumb. They took over a month to return my deposit, too (apparent cash flow problems). If they are the same people, you should avoid that company.
I hope this post helps anyone who ever thinks about renting an RV of any kind.