Disappointed with Practical Caravan

[glegin]

We own a Unicorn 3 Vigo that we got in December. Read the review of a Unicorn 3 Valencia with interest in the January edition. Whilst it is clear that the magazine must not offend the manufactures too much or there will be a loss of advertising revenue, it was a bit pathetic how unchallenging that review was. Our Vigo is a nice, comfortable and well built 'van with a very good level of equipment but it has design faults. It has the same front end as the Valencia. It review showed photos of the van sat in a field but I would doubt if the reviewer spent more than half an hour in it. Water was not connected up or the awkwardness of the tap in the kitchen would have been mentioned. There was no discussion of the redesign of the front nearside nor of the moving of the external gas point. The reviewers (for PRACTICAL caravan) can't have put up an awning, at least not a porch awning since that won't fit without blocking the front window. No mention was made of the delay in production of all the single axle Unicorn 3s with doors at the front end of the van due to essential redesigning work or that the model tested was not what would be in the showrooms later.
I used to buy and read the magazine regularly, but this review has been so superficial and obsequious to Bailey and so useless to potential buyers, that I never will buy another copy.

 

[Damian]

All the items mentioned in your post are purely from your own point of view, so can hardly be taken as relevant to the number of vans of that model produced.
Practical Caravan can only review the van they have in front of them at the time, they cannot be held in any way responsible for what the Bailey factory do after, or the reason for delays.

Every single caravan ever built has design faults, its just a matte of personal preference as to whether or not they are so serious as to spoil the enjoyment of the van or not.

Practical Caravan are not averse to reporting bad manufacturing , it is one of the things they will do IF it is deemed necessary.
As for saying you would not purchase another copy of the PC Magazine, that is the sort of retort I would expect from a junior school playground.

Oh, and by the way, I moved the topic to its correct part of the forum as you are not a "New Member" and this posting has nothing to do with being one.

 

[glegin]

Interesting reply that is similar to the review I discussed in that you, like it, have avoided answering the central issue. As you say, your magazine can only review the caravan it has in front of it, which really the point I was making. What was supposed to be a live in test cannot have lasted longer than the time to take the photos. This was not a live in test at all. My concern with the review is that, as a subscriber to your magazine who uses it and a variety of other information sources to make decisions about major financial commitments, any faith in your reviews, or tests, is pointless.
Anyway, with its faults, I have bought the 'van and have had a satisfactory 45 nights in it so far. At least my live in test has involved living in the 'van, unlike yours.
Thanks for the clever school kid reference, so mature of you. Since I'm clearly so childish,all I can say is - it's my pocket money anyway, and I won't be spending it in your shop.
Excellent way to keep customers, bravo.

 

[colin-yorkshire]

Interesting reply that is similar to the review I discussed in that you, like it, have avoided answering the central issue. As you say, your magazine can only review the caravan it has in front of it, which really the point I was making. What was supposed to be a live in test cannot have lasted longer than the time to take the photos. This was not a live in test at all. My concern with the review is that, as a subscriber to your magazine who uses it and a variety of other information sources to make decisions about major financial commitments, any faith in your reviews, or tests, is pointless.
Anyway, with its faults, I have bought the 'van and have had a satisfactory 45 nights in it so far. At least my live in test has involved living in the 'van, unlike yours.
Thanks for the clever school kid reference, so mature of you. Since I'm clearly so childish,all I can say is - it's my pocket money anyway, and I won't be spending it in your shop.
Excellent way to keep customers, bravo.

hi. I would just like to point out from one forum member to another. the moderators on the forum have no relationship with the haymarket cooperation who produce and print the practical caravan magazine , along with various others .
the moderators are just like you and me ordinary members who have out of their kindness give and continue to give their free time and effort to keep this site troll free. and running smoothly.
if you have a issue with the magazine take it up with them, write and complain or put a question in the "chit chat" section to whom it may concern. as some of the staff for PC often read the forum.
just don't address the mods as being employed by practical caravan they are not no more than either you or I are.
by the way I have not had a copy of the magazine for over 10 years. thought it was rubbish with 99% of the contents just adverts. also the forum is about people, the members who use it the problems advice and repairs plus much more.
if you stick around long enough you will realise this as fact.

edit

ps, while we are on the subject Bailey caravans have just as many problems as others do had one from new for 10 years, nice van no problems with it except for the first 6 months I kept saying to myself why the hell have they done this!!! two long 2 mtr bunks at the front with little or no storage space underneath two small cupboards near the door that could only be used if you stood outside the van, a shower room door the opened the wrong way onto the cooker oh and pink carpets, come on in a caravan. but hey I changed the carpet turned the doors round and bought an awning for all the stuff that that would not store in the van.
then it was a van I was happy with.

 

[Raywood]

I do read the reports and while they do tend to concentrate on the good points minor problems do crop up on some reports. As Damian says the things you mention are possibly a problem for you but not for others so are possibly not faults. Things that do not work doors that hit each other and the like are problems that must be reported and yes I do think that reviews should include living in the caravan even if just overnight as you need to do this to be sure of what you say.
The reports in all magazines including the two clubs could be more critical and the motoring press would certainly not report on a car without driving it so the caravan press should do the same but on the whole they do not do a bad job.

 

[JonnyG]

some interesting responces to the original poster..umm As this is practical caravans forum one should assume its the best place to complain about PC mag content.And if the moderator responds with what sounds more like a company response rather than merely their own opinion, one could assume they are speaking on behalf of the mag? well i for one thought so...personal dont think PC mag is any worse than any other caravan mag but thats not a good thing....
when i am looking for a replacement car i have always looked for info on said cars.in the old days through purchasing of car magazines and in newer times using the internet as well... and its easy to draw a decent picture of products you are looking at..
now caravans! that's a totally different thing. bought stack loads of mags a decade back even joined both caravan clubs and acquired 8 months of info before even going looking for a newish caravan..
our own opinions and experience do count but clearly its not ever an expert opinion, whatever that means. Compared to car mags, caravan mags really do come across as merely selling brochures that seriously
gloss over things. build quality issues mainly! add damp problems and its as if we should expect them in this age! "faults" indeed someone stated as much! of course as a comparison i am using cars . cars too can have issues concerning build quality and i say "can" .but if they do its normally quickly reported . the quality of build is always being compared to its rivals or the vehicle it replaced .. i could name a handful of cars that were slated each and every year in car mag for inferior quality or faults .mind telling me a few caravans
that got the same treatment in caravan mags??? OP makes a valid point magazines should be full of decent info we are not talking £20 kettles here,but tens of thousands of pounds worth of caravans and when i read about dampness and build quality issues on newish caravans on forums. i do wonder if by leisure industry they mean they can leisurely take our money and rip us off. because its a so called leisure?! car build quality has improved enormously over the year,heck i buy cars 4 or 5 years old having been used/driven for 1000s of hours and more that barely squeak having passed the 100000 mile mark. everything still fits good it does not have damp and new cost no more than a caravan . no car manufacturer could get away with such poor quality and lack of RD, car magazine feedback would have them lynched..some might think its ok say they all have faults..me why do they all have faults why dont caravan mags pick up on them more so? or maybe we the caravan buyer deserves to be ripped off?. if it childish to say "i wont be buying the mag any more"!!! it must be a hangable offence to complain about the quality of something you just gave an extremely large amount of money for ...!!...

 

[woodsieboy]

I think the OP made a valid point about the porch awning, I see many porch awnings used on site, which I take to mean they are a popular choice,and in the case of the Unicorn mentioned it is very difficult to see how a porch could be used. The locker doors, windows ,fridge vents all conspire to leave no space for the rear poles to fit, add to that the mains hook up feeding in to the caravan on the awning side, it left me feeling that who ever designed this van at Bailey intended that a porch awning could not be used. Perhaps PC could report on suitability for porch awning in future caravan reviews?

 

[Dustydog]

A number of forumites last year complained bitterly about the direction PC Mag had gone. Downhill
We received a rapid response and a number of good editorial changes made.
I did cancel my subscription but latterly have renewed at a very attractive rate .

like it or not I have to accept the caravan manufacturers are major financial contributors to the magazine. Sadly it is not politic to cut off the hand that feeds you.
Equally as already stated our Mods work dam hard for no return. A labour of love and one is a well qualified caravan engineer who freely shares his vast knowledge base.
ok nothings perfect and wouldn't we love to see the manufacturers warranty / guarantee frequency and costs? In your dreams.
Sadly I suspect the Laws on Libel do tie the magazines hands. However we are allowed to discuss problems on here and that is probably far better and quicker than the magazine itself.

 

[Parksy]

Personally speaking I know that the Practical Caravan editorial team have some tow vehicles and caravans on long term loan, and the reviews on these particular models tend to be in greater depth than reviews of caravans which are loaned to the magazine for relatively short periods, often new models.
I'm no expert on these matter,s but from what I read it looks to me as though sometimes the reviews are based on the testers impressions rather than on the caravan being used for any length of time in real situations.
Sometimes niggles and faults are mentioned and sometimes they are not noticed in the alloted time, and you could be right about there having been no awning erected during a test. You could always write to the editor or email him to request that a porch awning compatibility test is included in the reviews, it seems like a good idea to me.
As has been mentioned, the best place to check on faults which real owners find over time is on internet forums such as this one, simply state the make and model you are interested in finding out about and ask away
You will be highly likely to receive honest appraisals involving real situations from people who have, like yourself, spent their own money buying what they hope is a great product.

 

[sosij]

I'm a bit surprised that PC remains a print medium Surely, it would be far better to simply release the mag in a digital format only, thus cutting out the very considerable printing and distribution costs.

The absurdity is that the magazine is produced (like all magazines) as a digital file, which then gets translated into paper & ink. Why?, why not simply design it, and make it available at half the cover cost (at least)?

There are very few people, these days, who do not access the web, so why cling to anachronistic production methods?

For better or worse, print media has had its day - surely it's time to move on and offer new features like interactive content?

 

[WoodlandsCamper]

It is available in electronic format.

 

[sosij]

It is available in electronic format.

Wow! - that was quick!, not 24 hours after giving them the benefit of my advice, and they have produced a digital version... :lol:

Now to submit my consultancy fee...

 

[Sproket]

It is available in electronic format.

Wow! - that was quick!, not 24 hours after giving them the benefit of my advice, and they have produced a digital version... :lol:

Now to submit my consultancy fee...

I have been getting the online version for a few years no more piles of paper and can be viewed on multi platforms

 

[LizziePope]

Morning all! Rest assured, the Practical Caravan team does check the forum and has read your messages. Thank you very much to Parksy and Damian, our moderators, for their responses. As others have said, i'd like to remind forum users that our moderators are volunteers who help out on the forum but aren't part of the Practical Caravan editorial team or Haymarket.

Not being involved in the testing of caravans, this isn't a topic I can comment on, but feedback is always valuable and the team does read it.

We hope you enjoy the magazine – in its paper and digital forms! B)

 

[pensioner]

I'm finding the info in this topic rather reassuring as I thought the problems I've had with a new van were rare, but reading the comments it's very common and I've gotten off lightly.
As for contacting PC that's a different matter, I keep E'mailing on a matter from December and still have had no reply.

 

[Robtel]

The caravan reviews are one person's views and may or may not match the readers own opinion. On several occasions I have read either caravan or car reviews in different publications of vehicles I have owned at some point and don't think I have ever entirely agreed with all the pros or cons listed.
On the matter of not being able to fit a porch awning to the Valencia without blocking a window, you definitely can, being doing it with my current and previous Unicorn. It is a tight squeeze between the door and the front side window but can be done with a little bit of positional adjustment before final pegging out. If I had ever bothered to master posting photos on this site I would upload one as proof.

 

[woodsieboy]

Are you able to open your locker doors and open the caravan door back against the side of the caravan with your porch awning?

 

[Robtel]

Are you able to open your locker doors and open the caravan door back against the side of the caravan with your porch awning?

Caravan door, yes. Locker doors, it's the unicorn 2 I have so no locker immediately under front side window but I can open locker under fixed bed towards rear of van.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Robtel
In the photo used on PC review there is a locker door on nearside which would not open if using a porch awning
between the window and door, which I think supports the view expressed by the original poster. I assume from your comments that Unicorn 3 has been changed since Unicorn 2 with regard to the locker.

 

[Dustydog]

I've read this thread with interest and indeed some sympathy.
We use an Isabella Magnum porch awning on our Wyoming. There is a trade off. We have to cover part of the NSF window which then allows us to use the side wet locker and exterior satellite point without difficulty.
It seems to me there are so many variables in size and style of a porch awning no one situation will be the same.
Now if the full size awning didn't fit without causing an obstruction I would be :woohoo:

 

[weyr]

I have enjoyed reading Practical Caravan and I have read the reviews with interest in the hunt for "Our Van "

but I have to say you were not quite right about the reviews on the dealer special major 4FB shower

You were correct it is not lined, which is something that did bother me

You were quite wrong saying the shower had room hmy:

I managed to back into one and almost needed a shoe horn to get in
once inside I could hardly move inch:

I am not small chap but I am not huge either

It was a darn tight fit :S

We abandoned the van as a candidate the second I stood in the shower and realised there was no way I was going to be able to scrub or pick up the soap if I dropped it !

Generally speaking it was a nice van as per your review

but no way could the shower be described as good size and we could have done with a more accurate assessment of the shower size. Maybe next time one reviews a van and comments on the shower, stand in it might be a good idea before saying it is a good size

 

[Robtel]

Hi Robtel
In the photo used on PC review there is a locker door on nearside which would not open if using a porch awning
between the window and door, which I think supports the view expressed by the original poster. I assume from your comments that Unicorn 3 has been changed since Unicorn 2 with regard to the locker.

Yes, there has been a design change re lockers on the unicorn 3. As far as I can recall the front side lockers have been done away with and replaced on the near side with a locker located in the region of under front side window. From reading reports on another forum with a fairly large and active Bailey sub forum it seems that originally this locker would have been obstructed by a porch awning but after this was drawn to Baileys attention it was moved forward slightly to alleviate this problem. Have never checked personally to verify that and can't recall one way or the other where locker was located on the Unicorn 3 models I viewed.. Might be possible the one pictured was one of the originals before the modification was implemented?
When erecting the porch awning I take a bit of time making sure the end pole its located between the catch to hold the door open and as close to the front side window as possible without touching it. Would be better, imho, if the door opened towards the rear.
Think Dustydog sums it up well, there is such a wide variation in shapes and sizes of both porch awnings and the distances between van doors and windows.

 

[woodsieboy]

Hi Dustydog
When we changed from our Wyoming the porch we had been using would have covered a window in our new van, rather than buy a new larger porch we had our existing one extended,very pleased with the result and when it came back from the company that did the alteration,they had altered the bead that fits into the awning channel so that it could be attached to the rear upright poles using the plastic 's' pieces like the Isabella system, now tend to use the porch for most trips,full awning only used for longer trips with friends.