Cracked shower wall

[DandP]

Hi all. I have a 2011 Bailey Olympus with separate shower enclosure which is now starting to crack in the curved corners. Bailey have refused liability as the caravan is now out of warranty. However, I have owned this van since new, it has been annually serviced at a Bailey dealer, should the service team pick up on the fractures before the warranty expires which on closer inspection are plentiful? After all they did say they had replaced these in the past so they do know of the problems. Secondly is this fit for purpose? Should a plastic shower wall be due for replacement every 3 years? I think not!

My options now are to replace the part myself(but could be difficult to purchase the part) or pursue a claim, what are your thoughts?

Thanks in advance, Dan.

 

[Pablo1]

I had a similar problem on a Coachman VIP. Fortunately the walls were flat and square. Just still under warranty so was fixed by Coachman's supplier at my home. Simply "glued" a new sheet on top of the cracked one.
Material used is incredibly thin, and it may be flexed around the corner (adding stress) in your van, so maybe it is a single sheet. Try contacting the shower suppliers; should be details in the handbook. My repair took about 1 hour and looked like new.

 

[DandP]

Thanks Paul.

Yes it is it one piece and it's the corners where it is fracturing as you say due to the strain. I thought of maybe doing the same ie going over it with another thin sheet. This could be the way to go, cheers.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Dan,

Sorry to read of your problem, and I can understand how you may feel you have been let down.

Servicing is usually carried out to a prescribed list of items. However I would expect you to be advised of any glaring problems that stand out, but technicians would not have time to make close inspections of all fittings within a normal service programme. So if you want a close inspection you must first of all specify it, and be prepared for your service and inspection to cost quite a lot more.

Just thinking about it, if the cracks have only just become apparent, How could the dealer possibly have warned you about them earlier? If the cracks have been there during preceding services, why didn't you tell the dealer about them then?

You should always advise your dealer as soon as possible of any faults of this nature. This maximises your chances of getting repairs carried out under warranty.

On the face of it I don't think the dealer has negligent on this matter.

You should read you warranty documents carefully to see if the shower tray was covered, and if so for how long, but I'll bet Bailey are probably right about it being out of warranty, well at least out of Bailey's Manufactures warranty, but that is not necessarily the whole story.

In your post you use a phrase "....is this fit for purpose?" so I suspect you are aware of the Sale of Goods Acts (SoGA) which gives you some quite powerful statutory rights. Manufactures warranties can only add to your statutory rights, they can never override them. But given the circumstances you outline in your post, SoGA is not necessarily going to be easy to use, partly because it seeks to be fair and reasonable offering no advantage or disadvantage to the customer over another customer with a fault free product.

In a nutshell, SoGA automatically comes into play as soon as you make retail purchase, and it requires the sellers to sell goods of satisfactory quality.

Don't forget that even though the tray appears damaged, it has not stopped you using the caravan, and you have had value from it so it has not been a total loss. I suggest you considerately approach your seller and point out that its unreasonable for a shower tray to fail in this way in such a relatively short time. In the light of SoGA, would they consider replacing or repairing it, even just contributing to the repair. That might work.

However if they flatly refuse then you may have to consider using the small claims court and SoGA - Its not going to be easy, because the matter hinges in how the cracks were caused, is it due to an inherent design or manufacturing procedure or weakness, or has there been any opportunity for the tray to be damaged or used inappropriately precipitating the damage since the purchase.

The onus is on you to be able to prove that on the balance of probabilities, the fault was inherent in the design or workmanship, and not caused by inappropriate use or even the wrong cleaning materials. Bearing in mind the length of time you have had the caravan, the chance that something has damaged the tray is considerable, and proving otherwise is going to be an uphill struggle.

The choice is yours, but based on the information so far provided I seriously question whether the hassle, time and cost is worth the effort, when I guess there is less than a 20% chance of winning.

 

[DandP]

John

Thanks for your reply. Firstly it's not the shower tray but the shower wall lining. The lining is curved in 2 corners and has began to crack. The cracks are appearing on the 2 corners as I believe the plastic liner to be under strain in these areas. The problem has only come to my attention now as the cracks are appearing(visible) but on closer inspection there are many other areas where the fractures are visible and will soon be cracked also.

My service dealer is currently putting me a cost together for repairs but have also mentioned how they have replaced these before. This means to me that the dealer and Bailey are aware of the problem, they know where to look for the fractures and in April(service) I strongly think they should have checked these areas. It only takes seconds to look.

You mention how the van is still usable etc so is not a real issue. It's still usable to me as I am in the building trade and it's not difficult to temporarily seal a few cracks. It could however have been much worse if water had escaped etc.

The problem here is a manufacturing fault in the curved plastic lining under strain on the corners and over time splitting. This in my eyes is not a wear and tear issue and should have been picked up sooner knowing there's a problem.

I no doubt will end up replacing this myself but I feel it's fair for someone at least to supply the part. A shower wall should last more than 3 years.

Thanks Dan.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Dan,

My apologies for referring to the tray, A tray was mentioned in in of the posts, and I must have cottoned onto the wrong part. However the principle of my post is still right.