damp meter - sharp practice?

[TonyAsh]

I am about to change my caravan and want to avoid a situation I had three years ago when I last changed models.

I had spotted a caravan to buy and asked about trading in my older model. I had expected a trade in of around £2,500 but was told trade in value would be £3,300, (my caravan unseen). I went ahead and agreed to exchange, when I went to collect my newer caravan the salesman did a damp test on my old van and told me there was a damp patch in the top corner, I doubted this as no reports had been made about damp during service a couple of months earlier. The trade in value was then reduced by £300 - still more than I expected but I suspected a bit of sharp practice, is it possible to 'doctor' a damp meter in any way, or to give a false reading in order to gain a substantial lowering of trade in value from a customer. This was three years ago but it still makes me wonder of the integrity of this company and I'm certain there was no damp there when I took it in.

 

[CliveV]

Hi Tony

Any salesman that gves a trade in price over the phone that is more than you expected is playing games.

Get you there, get you sat down, get you sold to!

I have little experience of caravan sales guys as we have a dry 'van tha suits us and have heard too many horror stories to risk a change. But what about buying your own damp meter, they are not that expensive.

If he comes up with another "trick" just say "show me" and get your own meter out to check.

 

[metz]

Hi Tony, To answer your question, yes it is easy to "Doctor" a damp meter reading if you are that way inclined, whilst buying a damp meter for yourself is a good idea for checking a caravan before purchase please be aware that the cheap (

 

[Guest]

No disrespect but you still made 500 more than you expected, so came out ahead. Ok, maybe the salesman boobed a bit with his initial offer and had to make a 'get out' excuse. What was the forecourt price they put on your van? Was there a big markup?

You did always have the option to say 'no thank you' and walk away and try elsewhere.

I am sorry but life is too short to get upset about 300 pounds

 

[Lutz]

To get rid of any damp is relatively costly and quite likely more than

 

[ProfJohnL]

I do not trust sales men with damp meters for a number of reasons. I conclude that most users are not actually competent to use meter and to understand and accurately interpret the readings they give.

They are in the business to make a sale, and will interpret any reading to their advantage.

Having encountered a number of damp proofing "sales experts" a significant proportion do not know how to use a damp meter to establish a reliable reading

The meters most "sales experts" use are not maintained and calibrated against national standards thus their calibration and accuracy is not known. Or they have been out of calibration by time or damage.

The experts did not know or did not allow for the effects of relative humidity and temperature when taking a reading,

They did not take account of the wall construction.

They did not know how to take account of the uncertainty of measurements.

The damp meters you can purchase at the local DIY stores are in reality not much good for caravan, for two reasons, Firstly they are designed for plaster/brick work, and secondly they are not properly calibrated.

If you have to endure a sales man telling you have damp patches, ask to see the users certificate of competency to use the meter, The meters' current and valid certificate of calibration. And the correction chart to allow for variations wall construction, temperature and humidity. There should also be chart or table published by the meter manufacture that gives recommended readings of acceptable levels of moisture in the construction under scrutiny.

Without the above, the salesman and you cannot have any confidence in the interpretation of the readings.

 

[BrianStAlbans]

I had this about 3 vans back when they tried to drop the price by

 

[TonyAsh]

Not suer about the markup price by the dealer but I was happy with the outcome, my comment was about the sharp practice which was going on. I consider that I did Ok out of the deal but just dont want to have this occur again.

Tony

 

[tj_4]

Some dealers have the practice of damptesting part exchanges some don't even look at them. I first encountered the issue when buying oue 3rd van. Mine was OK but the guy in front of me in the queue was offered