Anyone else having trouble with warranty work on Bailey Caravans

Aug 19, 2022
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We collected our new Bailey caravan in March and immediately noted a couple of issues that were reported to our dealer. The dealer eventually confirmed that Bailey had agreed that the issues were covered by the warranty. and that s as far as it has gone. We have repeatedly contacted the dealer for updates as they never contact us and also written twice to Bailey who have ignored us. We are told that parts are hard to find but no one is keeping us informed. Once they have your money as they say!
 
Jul 18, 2017
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We collected our new Bailey caravan in March and immediately noted a couple of issues that were reported to our dealer. The dealer eventually confirmed that Bailey had agreed that the issues were covered by the warranty. and that s as far as it has gone. We have repeatedly contacted the dealer for updates as they never contact us and also written twice to Bailey who have ignored us. We are told that parts are hard to find but no one is keeping us informed. Once they have your money as they say!
If you brought the issues to the attention within the first 30 days, you are entitled to reject the caravan and claim all your money back. Maybe remind the dealership that you have this option.
If you reported the issue after the first 30 days you need to give the dealer one chance at a repair before rejecting the caravan and getting all your money back. Again maybe a gentle reminder of your rights may motivate the dealer.
Your contract is with the dealer and contacting the manufacturer is a waste of time and money.
 
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Oct 8, 2006
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Write to the Dealer Principal (by name) and send it recorded delivery - signed for and mark it P&C. Send a copy to the MD of Bailey of Bristol for reference. You can find the names of the people concerned by a company search.
 

Sam Vimes

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Sep 7, 2020
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Within the first year of ownership of our van - a different make from yours- we had two problems which were covered under warranty. There was no quibble about the repairs under warranty.

Neither problem affected our use and enjoyment of the van.

Parts for one of the problems came to the dealer from the manufacturer fairly quickly but the other had to come from the original part manufacturer - a window. It took several months.

The van manufacturer was not really interested in supporting an earlier procurement of the part despite the fact that they were still building and shipping the same van so obviously had stock. Spares don't earn them money. As mentioned once they have your money its not their problem anymore but the dealers.

While you may consider it an option to reject the van completely - terms and conditions allowing, there are some things to take into account.

1. You lose use of the van and may have to wait sometime to get another one.
2. Another van may cost you more because of supply and demand and inflation.
3. Another van may still have the same or even different problems so you're back to square one.
4. I can't think of point 4 :)

The dealer was good at communicating but their hands were tied by supply issues. The manufacturer, less so and only communicated when I pushed them, although it had no affect on the outcome.
 
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Mar 14, 2005
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Al the replies so far have been giving advice based on Consumer Rights Act 2015.

I suggest you do an internet search for


and read up about how to use your statutory rights.
 
Jul 18, 2017
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Write to the Dealer Principal (by name) and send it recorded delivery - signed for and mark it P&C. Send a copy to the MD of Bailey of Bristol for reference. You can find the names of the people concerned by a company search.
The contract is between the consumer and the supplier and not between the consumer and the manufacturer so probably a waste of time writing to the MD who probably never reads letters from consumers anyway. Probably read by his secretary who then decides whether it is worth passing on or binning.
 
Aug 6, 2022
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Your dealer has agreed to the faults being covered by the warantee, I hope that you have that in writing as with any faults before 6 months the dealer has to prove where the problem is but after 6 months you have to prove it. Can we ask what the faults are or what parts they are waiting on?
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Your dealer has agreed to the faults being covered by the warantee, I hope that you have that in writing as with any faults before 6 months the dealer has to prove where the problem is but after 6 months you have to prove it. Can we ask what the faults are or what parts they are waiting on?

Hello joanie,

You confusing the way the manufacturers warranty and a customers statutory rights work. The 6 month time scale only related to claims made under the Consumer Rights Act.

In this case the faults were reported to the dealer who has already obtained approval from the manufacturer to have the repairs carried out, it just taking a long time, which I agree is taking much longer than is perhaps reasonable especially as the manufacturer is still making the same model. The important thing here is the faults have been acknowledged and accepted so any time limit on reporting has already been met and that stops any time limit clock for reporting either for manufacturers warranty or is it happens the CRA in this case.

The OP now has options. He wishes to continue with the manufacturer's warranty, then he is in the hands of the manufacturer regarding how long the process might take. However he also has the right to insist the repairs are carried out under the auspices of the CRA, in which case the manufacturers timetable is not relevant as it becomes the sellers responsibility to under take the necessary work.

However there is a spanner in the works, as it seems the necessary parts are only obtainable from the manufacturer, so the problem may still be the same long delay in obtaining the parts.

Technically the OP might consider rejecting the caravan, but that for reasons given in another comment may not offer any significant benefit as a replacement of refund may not actually advance the buyers position.
 
Nov 6, 2005
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For all it's faults, the car industry works very differently - since courtesy cars are provided during warranty work almost universally, in some cases like-for-like hire cars, this puts pressure on the manufacturers to supply spares on a timely basis.

It's not really practical for dealers to offer courtesy caravans but there really needs to be some way of applying economic pressure on manufacturers to include spares demand in their supply arrangements.

If only there were some sort of club that caravanners could join which would represent their interests as consumers against the manufacturers !
 
Oct 8, 2006
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The contract is between the consumer and the supplier and not between the consumer and the manufacturer so probably a waste of time writing to the MD who probably never reads letters from consumers anyway. Probably read by his secretary who then decides whether it is worth passing on or binning.

You should read again what I wrote. I said write to the Dealer Principal with your complaint and COPY it to the MD at Bailey. I didn't say expect the MD to do anything about it (although he is a keen caravanner and does take up poor service personally) you are just putting more pressure on the Dealer by virtue of the fact that Bailey know about it.
 
Aug 6, 2022
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Hello joanie,

You confusing the way the manufacturers warranty and a customers statutory rights work. The 6 month time scale only related to claims made under the Consumer Rights Act.
ProfJohnL
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my advice was for the OP to make sure he has it in writing whatever was agreed between him and the dealer, things do get forgotten over time, as he has repeatedly contacted the dealer and has been ignored. , My follow up re. the 6 months was from my own experience when we had a fault with a car at 7 months. it took me anther 3 months to get the dealer to put things right as he kept saying it was my fault and it was then that I learned about the 6 month rule.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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my advice was for the OP to make sure he has it in writing whatever was agreed between him and the dealer, things do get forgotten over time, as he has repeatedly contacted the dealer and has been ignored. , My follow up re. the 6 months was from my own experience when we had a fault with a car at 7 months. it took me anther 3 months to get the dealer to put things right as he kept saying it was my fault and it was then that I learned about the 6 month rule.

I'm sorry you had difficulties with your claim. It seems the circumstances of your claim and that of the OP's are rather different. In the OP's case it was brand new, and the faults were reported well before 6 months, and well within the manufacturers warranty time limit to report faults, and both the dealer and the manufacturer have agreed there is a valid claim, so any delays that either the manufacturer or the dealer create cannot change their liability to rectify the problems.

In your case, did you buy new or second hand? and were you claiming under the manufacturers warranty or the dealers warranty, or under the CRA? The CRA does have a 6 month limit in which if a fault is reported within 6months of purchase, then the CRA assumes the fault was present at the time of purchase and it is up to the seller to prove the fault was not present, but after 6months it is up to the customer to prove the fault was present or at least latent at the time of purchase. Your description seems to suggest that might have been the case.
 
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Jul 18, 2017
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However there is a spanner in the works, as it seems the necessary parts are only obtainable from the manufacturer, so the problem may still be the same long delay in obtaining the parts.

I am not sure, but I would think that many items fitted into a caravan are also available in the domestic market, just under a different brand?
 
Mar 14, 2005
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I am not sure, but I would think that many items fitted into a caravan are also available in the domestic market, just under a different brand?
We don't know what parts the OP needs for his caravan, but I would assume that they required parts are likely to be parts made for the OP's model of caravan sand thus not widely available anywhere other than the manufacturer, - hence the difficulty in supply.

Unfortunately caravans are small spaces and many domestic appliances and fittings are just too big and too heavy to be practical for fitting into caravans.

Its also one of the reasons that caravan items tend to be considerably more expensive than similar domestic components because of economies of scale.

The reasons why caravan fittings are often inferior to the domestic equivalents, is because the owners of the proven domestic designs are often not prepared to allow their proprietary designs or intellectual property to be used in caravan products, so caravan parts manufacturers' have to create new designs rather than using proven designs.
 
May 7, 2012
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Not knowing what the parts needed are it is not possible to advise more than generally. To reject the caravan it would need to be shown that the problems are not just minor but justify this action. You therefore need to know this before you can advise. The delays do seem unreasonable, but if the parts are not available then that is the situation, if they are simply scarce and being used just for new models that is unacceptable.
 
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