Anyones caravan had to go back to the factory?

[Mark_374232857]

We have a year old caravan just had first service (at approved service centre not main dealer). It has 60% damp in the end bathroom. Swift have requested it go back to their factory for approx 6 weeks in feb. It has to be totally emptied (inc. upholstery) we used it this year on a seasonal pitch (not towed) and it is packed with equipment we have to pay approx £30 per week for storage of contents whilst in factory. We have paid winter storage costs, if we do not have the caravan back in time we will lose the start of our season, if we wanted to go away in feb half term we can't. we contacted swift about compensation as we are going to be greatly out of pocket and they aren't interested. We saved hard to buy a brand new van, we have had more problems and expense with this one than with any of the three secondhand vans we previously owned.

Has anyone found the same problems or got any advice? We don't think its fair that we should be out of pocket after buying a caravan of 'excellence & quality'!!

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

How maddening, my sympathies go out to you Mark. If there was any justice they should be made to replace your van with a new one. Unfortunately there isn't :O(

 

[Bazz1]

Mark sorry to here about your troubles, its really annoying when this type of thing happens. Are you members of any of the 2 major clubs if so they have a free legal advice line, I would also seek out the nearest CAB unit. they are usually good with this sort of thing. Did you get any Finance out for the purchase of the C/Van, if so they should be told of the situation, and what has the dealer had to say about all this, surely he could lone you a van from stock, even if it is a second hand one. Best of luck anyway for 07, Bazz.

 

[Bri2]

Mark

My Bailey Ranger had to go back and had a new front panel fitted. Stress fractures where discovered where the panel meets the roof on both sides. This was where the roof and front panel are screwed down and sealed and was getting water ingress. It took awhile for them to decide it was going back to Baileys, but was there and back in 2 weeks and didn,t cause any disruption to our plans. Again, van was only 12mnths old at the time and I was told they had had a few problems with this panel!!!!!

Brian

 

[Bri2]

Further to my last post, I contacted the CC legal service to find out what my position was, and they advised me to allow them to repair it as this would not mean it could not be taken further in the future if the repair was not acceptable or the problem returned. If your in the CC, contact the legal service, they are quite good.

Brian

 

[Anthony3]

Sorry to hear of your plight, Mark. It seems an all too common problem suffered by the owners of various makes of caravans.

I know two people who rejected their caravans as 'unfit for use' and used a form of words given to them in advice from the CC, when writing to the dealer formally rejecting the caravans.

They both said the CC were very helpful

Damp still seems far too prevalent in UK 'vans, and in 'vans barely a year old!!

Years ago I had to have a Mardon repaired back at their factory and the thing leaked again 18 months later, by which time they'd gone bust!! Had to repair it myself, but it was over 5 yrs old by then.

Good Luck.

 

[Surfer]

Our caravan has to go back to the factory in Preston at the end of January because in the middle of the caravan the outer walls have bowed away from the inner walls. Our dealer, Chichester Caravans in Bromsgrove, West Midlands has very kindly allowed us to select an equivalent caravan to use for the duration that our caravan is away at the factory in Preston.

I suggest you approach your dealer and mention refund or compensation under Sales of Goods Act and caravan of unreasonable quality etc etc. If they reject it, no problem send them a registered letter asking for either refund, repalcement or compensation and if no response, take it to the small claims court as more than likely you will win and be paid compensation. Normally when they get the summons they cough up because before that they probably thought that you would not proceed with any action.

 

[Dusty1]

Back in 1984 we bought a new Swift Corvette. After 2 years we found spongy interior panels due to water leaks. The 'van eventually went back to Swift who virtually rebuilt it. We were never happy with it after that because some of the interior fittings did not fit quite squarely and by the next service we had a long list of faults to be put right. We ended up part-exing it against an end of season Swift Challenger. We kept that for 13 years but that was not without its problems with water ingress.

 

[AndrewWimborne]

Hi. I had a brand new Swift Corniche that on first service had a damp problem. That went back to Swift in Hull for fixing.

I now have a new Bessacarr 2006 which has leak problems around windows despite new seals and new windows. They now want that back but I have held off at the moment because I have solicitors on the case with the dealers. They did not really want to know until i got the legal people involved.

 

[hymerman1]

You have reminded me why I opt for Hymer caravans, they may be heavy but always fit for the purpose.

 

[GillC1]

Mark,

We bought a new sterling sapphire, less than 6 months after we bought it it was back in the factory for a total rebuild within the first year it spent more time at the manufacturers or the dealers than it did with us. No matter how many letters you write or phone calls you make we still never got a replacement. We were the same as you, worked hard to pay for a new caravan it has put us off buying new.

 

[AndrewWimborne]

Our caravan has to go back to the factory in Preston at the end of January because in the middle of the caravan the outer walls have bowed away from the inner walls. Our dealer, Chichester Caravans in Bromsgrove, West Midlands has very kindly allowed us to select an equivalent caravan to use for the duration that our caravan is away at the factory in Preston.

I suggest you approach your dealer and mention refund or compensation under Sales of Goods Act and caravan of unreasonable quality etc etc. If they reject it, no problem send them a registered letter asking for either refund, repalcement or compensation and if no response, take it to the small claims court as more than likely you will win and be paid compensation. Normally when they get the summons they cough up because before that they probably thought that you would not proceed with any action.

Not quite as easy as that I can assure you.

 

[ThePlotter]

I had a two year old Abbey Freestyle (dealer special) which had to go back for a new roof to be fitted,the cross beam(wood)high technology build!had broken.A previous comment refers to if you have finance this applies onlt to if you had the finace through the supplying dealer if so it is a connected agreement under the consumer credit act 1983 and the finance company is jointly and severally liable in this case(for this reason I always take finace from the dealer even if slightly dearer,usually is not)Also if all or part of the deposit is paid by credit card so long as over

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Mark,

My reply may not sound too helpfull but, you should be made aware that a fault as serious as the one you are describing in my opinion is actually coverd by teh Sale of Goods act, and it would seem that the caravan is not of merchantable quality.

see:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/index.html
This is matter for the seller to resolve, not the manufacturer.

I strongly suggest you should contact your seller and point this out to them.

If you have any doubts contact the CAB/Solisiter or Trading Standards for proffesional advice.

I do not think you should be entering any negotiations with the manufacture, you should be only dealing with the seller. Incidentally , the seller is who you are paying, in which case it would be the finance house if you used one.

 

[Anthony3]

Hello Mark,

My reply may not sound too helpfull but, you should be made aware that a fault as serious as the one you are describing in my opinion is actually coverd by teh Sale of Goods act, and it would seem that the caravan is not of merchantable quality.

see:

http://www.dti.gov.uk/consumers/index.html
This is matter for the seller to resolve, not the manufacturer.

I strongly suggest you should contact your seller and point this out to them.

If you have any doubts contact the CAB/Solisiter or Trading Standards for proffesional advice.

I do not think you should be entering any negotiations with the manufacture, you should be only dealing with the seller. Incidentally , the seller is who you are paying, in which case it would be the finance house if you used one.

I totally agree with John L.

That's what two of my friends did this year following advice from the CC legal department, who seem to have to give this advice out pretty regularly!!! I actually saw the letter that one was sending to the dealer rejecting the caravan; very well drafted letter written along the lines suggested by the CC.

They have both got completely new caravans.

One was a SWIFT product (bit of a trend there, they still seem unable to produce caravans to a decent, long-lasting quality!!) and the other was a Bailey, who seem to have had increasing quality problems during 2006.

All of which confirms my (and Hymerman's) decision to buy 'continental'.

When I ordered my Hobby in 2001, NO UK maker gave a warranty exceeding 1 yr.

At that time Hobby had a 5yr warranty and Hymer a 6yr warranty; a bit of a 'no-brainer' as they say nowadays!!!

 

[Mark_374232857]

Thanks for all your advice and comments, we are going to get in touch with the CC and the CAB. Will let you know how we get on.

 

[DeliDave]

our sterling jewel went back to factory for new floor and it was never the same again,I would spend some money on legal advice,we had a load of screws not put in,draughts where sponge was not replaced sliding door fell off as the screws used were too short,spent ages sorting it out ourselves and really disappointed.

 

[Terry_5112949]

our sterling jewel went back to factory for new floor and it was never the same again,I would spend some money on legal advice,we had a load of screws not put in,draughts where sponge was not replaced sliding door fell off as the screws used were too short,spent ages sorting it out ourselves and really disappointed.

Wow, after reading all these comments I don`t think I would even think about buying a brand new caravan. There again how many new vans have been sold that have happy owners?