Caravan Industry, Caravan Reviews, Dealers

Jul 30, 2017
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Hi everyone, new here but have to rant.

We love caravanning having upgraded from a tent, however our experience of caravan dealers and manufacturers has been poor everytime we have had anything go wrong. My experience shows that this is a "cottage industry" - an industry that is firmly stuck int he 60's and hasn't made any leaps forward in service or quality control. In fact if this were any other industry, it would have failed years ago.

What strikes me is the poor after care service. I speak from sour experience dealing with Bailey who were just downright rude and arrogant, and now more recently Lunar. To be fair, Lunar have been an improvement on Bailey, but not by much. We recently bought our new van investing some £23k from a large Welsh dealer, and everything to the point of sale was brilliant. As soon as we drove through the gates, that was it as far as they were concerned. After sales is non-existent to the point of it being a bunch of lies.

Why is it? Why does this industry think it can get away with terrible service? Why when you spend so much money in buying new, when things go wrong, no-one gives a hoot?

Any why is it you never see a negative caravan review? Every review I have seen from this magazine in particular is the same. Never a bad one. If I had been reviewing the Lexon 580 for example, it would have been honest showing all the faults and design flaws I have identified since buying it. Note to editor: Living with a van is a whole new ball game to sitting in a new one and admiring the colour of the decor. From ill fitting cupboards, to faulty taps, to sharp edges in bathroom, exposed wiring, poor workmanship, bits missing, bodges, and fitter sheer laziness.

The sad part is we felt we were taking a step up to Lunar from Bailey - but it seems it doesn't matter which manufacturer you choose. They all appear to be very much in cahoots within one another and Practical Caravan tow the line, not wanting to upset anyone.

An it isn't just me. I hear from others when on holiday the service they get is just plain poor from dealers and manufacturers - some more than others.

So why is it? If you drove a car off a forecourt and the door fell off, or the boot lid wouldn't shut, would you just say "oh well, that's part of owning a car".

I think this industry needs a kick up the proverbial and it needs dragging into the 21st Century.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Bluejonny

Welcome to the forum, and I cordially invite you to join the queue of contributors who are fed up with the quality of caravans.- So you are not alone.

Can I correct a point though, the Forum is not the "magazine", it is only hosted by the magazine, so your negative comments will remain provided they continue to follow the forum etiquette. If you want answers about the magazines editorial policy you will need to contact them directly.

The lack of quality in caravans is well documented on this forum and others, and whilst we all know its really the manufacturer's to blame for not putting the effort into building their caravans properly, legally the end user only has a contract with the seller who is usually the dealer or may be finance house jointly.

The problem has been compounded over the years becasue the UK caravan buyer has come to expect caravans to have faults, and thus do not make enough fuss and take the time and trouble to fully inspect the caravan before accepting it from the seller.

If more of us we of a mind to fully inspect a product or caravan and to refuse to accept it from the dealer if there is any deviation from it being perfect, then the dealer's would have to start doing what they are paid to do; which is fully inspect products (or put in place a quality assurance programme with their suppliers) to prevent faulty products being passed to customers. That is in essence the law. - So if a dealer sells faulty goods they are in breach of the Sale of Goods Act or the Consumer Rights Act from 2015..

Interestingly we have had some success on the forum in encouraging some readers excising their right to reject faulty caravans under teh CRA which has some real legal teeth.

So continue to read and post .
PJL
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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It is an ongoing problem I am afraid, lack of care building, poor service and bits coming off, or missing , welcome to the world of caravans!!!!

I note from your post that you are not happy with the Industry as a whole, but you went ahead and presumably after inspecting your chosen van, continued to purchase them, and get tied into the "Contract is with the dealer" situation.
So, whilst I understand your frustration, YOU are agreeing to accept poor quality vans !!!, and a such you are perpetuating the makers and dealers selling "faulty" vans.
 
Aug 9, 2010
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A point I have made repeatedly on this forum Damian! If people stopped buying new vans, or rejected the rubbish that is sold as new, then the manufacturers would have to look to better (or even some) quality control.
I have never bought new, but have met many people in my 50+ years caravanning who have, and without exception they are disappointed with their purchase. Then they go and do the same thing again a few years on!
I fail to understand the logic!
 
Jul 22, 2014
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bluejonny said:
My experience shows that this is a "cottage industry" - an industry that is firmly stuck int he 60's and hasn't made any leaps forward in service or quality control.
I'm with you on many points, but I would not say (as you imply) that other industries have made "leaps forward", although I am unable to compare with the 60's :). Generally "service" these days by typical corporates is giving you a link to a user forum where users are expected to discuss and solve each other's problems.

Cottage industries tend to be better in this respect - somone actually answers the phone and deals with it. As for quality control, most manufactures seem to have stopped doing it; instead they use the purchaser to act as the QC tester, and simply exchange the item if you complain; it is cheaper for them that way, especially as so many people don't bother to complain anyway.

There an upside though - these days many manufacturers (and their retail outlets) will change the item or refund without question, something they would never have done in the 1960's. I had three pond fountains sent to me by courier before I got one that worked, and Tesco refunded my money on a new TV set because I complained of poor sound quality without even glancing in the box - I could have put a couple of bricks in there.

bluejonny said:
In fact if this were any other industry, it would have failed years ago.
Nope. Plenty of other industries are similar. Don't get me started on software quality for example :angry: The mods here won't allow me to name names.
 
Jun 20, 2017
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As a returnee, my wife and me are in the market for a new, old stock van. The van we want is a coachman pastiche but the more I read about industry problems the more I find myself considering what to do!

Kevin
 
Aug 6, 2017
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It would be interesting to know what percentage of brand new caravan purchasers are content compared to the percentage of 2nd hand purchasers are content. Of course its impossible to compile such stats, but I'm reflecting that there are loads of benefits of buying private and 2nd hand as there are a lot of well cared for vans out there that are dry, sound, and have everything working. I also reckon that if they are still dry there is a reasonable chance they will stay dry for the next chapter. In that sense they are more of a proven entity than a brand new caravan!
 

Damian

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Mar 14, 2005
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Kevin2306 said:
As a returnee, my wife and me are in the market for a new, old stock van. The van we want is a coachman pastiche but the more I read about industry problems the more I find myself considering what to do!

Kevin

If you are buying from a dealer, then spend a LOT of time examining every single inch of your prospective van, have them connect up the electric and water and insist on seeing everything working correctly.

It will annoy the hell out of the dealer, but stick to your mantra..........you DEMAND a fault free van !!
If you are not too familiar with the workings, either take someone who is with you, or get a mobile caravan engineer to go over the van for you.
If the dealer refuses to let an independent engineer look at the van, walk away !!!!!
 
Jul 22, 2017
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I was intending to buy a used caravan from a local dealer. I wasn't, however, too happy with the people I met.
Anyway, I "accidentally" let slip that I had booked a service for the day after the intended collection of said caravan.
At that the salesmans face was a picture (the wife is still laughing) when he immediately said that they always did a PDI on all vans before collection, and why would I want to pay for a service.
So I explained to him that a Pre-Delivery Inspection is NOT a service, nor is it any kind of guarantee that all is well with the caravan.
That was on a Friday.
The following Monday I received a phone call from him explaining that they had just discovered damp in the caravan, and were unable to sell it to me, and that he would like to refund my deposit, if I could pop round as soon as possible.
I popped round immediately and got my deposit.
'Nuff said.
 
Aug 29, 2017
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I fully agree with you. In 2012 we purchased a swift challenger sport and it had ingress at 3 of the 4 services and at the other it was recalled by Swift for more work. We tried to get compensation but they weren't having it, their customer services department couldn't care less. In the end I found an ex director on the net who escalated our complaint and we got compensation. We are now the proud owners of a swift challenger 510 Alde on our first outing had a list of faults as long as your arm. Control panel hanging by its wires, loo door handle fallen off, cupboard door fallen off, tape flapping around on roof, front window not shutting properly, trim at base of loo door falling off, oven grill mantle hanging down by a single screw and unusable. I'd buy a foreign van to be honest. Can't continue.
 
May 7, 2012
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timhowarduk said:
It would be interesting to know what percentage of brand new caravan purchasers are content compared to the percentage of 2nd hand purchasers are content. Of course its impossible to compile such stats, but I'm reflecting that there are loads of benefits of buying private and 2nd hand as there are a lot of well cared for vans out there that are dry, sound, and have everything working. I also reckon that if they are still dry there is a reasonable chance they will stay dry for the next chapter. In that sense they are more of a proven entity than a brand new caravan!

If you look at last years survey results in the magazine you will find there is not a lot between the satisfaction level between new and second hand buyers, but second hand buyers are generally a few percentage points higher than new buyers. Coachman 84.9 against 83, Eldiss 84.5 against 76.7, Lunar 83.7 against 80.4 Swift 83.6 against 81.3, and Bailey 84.9 against 81.3. Compass buck the trend though with new 82.6 as against used 81.1 as do Sprite with 87.5 new against 82.2 used.
Not sure what you can read into that particularly as both Compass and Sprite are built on the same lines as Eldiss and Swift.
 

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