Eterniti Caravans in administration

[Surfer]

It seems that another start up caravan company has gone into administration which is a shame as many people have lost their jobs and consumers have lost deposits unless they sued a credit card to pay the deposit.

 

[Sproket]

More can be read about it here

Shame I realy liked them ....

 

[starlightdj]

In deed it's always sad when a company goes into Administration.
I feel for the staff whom have changed the boundaries for caravanning.
But my thoughts mostly goto any customer who has paid a deposit & not taken delivery.
Their dreams must be shattered, I trust they manage to reclaim and don't loose out.

Administration can be the new & legal way of wiping out some of the debts, giving chance for the company to be bought and rebranded / re incorporated. Let's hope the Administrators can find a rescue package.

Best wishes to anyone involved
John

 

[Raywood]

A sad loss as they wer something new and looked a good caravan. Lets hope they can be sold on but some people are bound to lose out.

 

[Parksy]

Very sad for all involved, Eterniti had healthy order books but the financial side of things let them down.
I hope that one of the more established manufacturers decides to rescue the firm.

 

[LizziePope]

Click here to read the latest blog from Practical Caravan's Group Editor Rob Ganley as he bids a sad farewell to Eterniti Caravans.

 

[Parksy]

I have to say that despite their perceived popularity, for me Eterniti were an expensive niche product with reported problems surrounding build quality, and no dealer network which meant that repairs had to be done at the factory.
They'd have had to have a proven track record for me to ever consider buying one even though I liked the idea behind the design.
Swift, Bailey, Elddis et al might seem a bit staid and boring at times but at least these companies are firmly established and appear to have ridden out the global financial crisis, recession etc.
I'm sorry for those who have lost their jobs, but I feel very sorry indeed for those who ordered Eterniti caravans, paid substantial deposits and have little or no prospect of a refund unless they paid by credit card.
There are also people who allegedly traded in caravans against as yet undelivered new Eterniti models and they too appear to have lost out.
Eterniti were allegedly still taking orders and substantial deposits from potential customers in February and March according to comments on other caravan forums, they were at the February NEC show.
Sorry Rob, but some fellow caravanners have bid a sad farewell to their savings and any chance of ever owning a new caravan again, and my sympathy is reserved for them.

 

[TonyG]

Good posting... and sums up the feelings of the majority

I have to say that despite their perceived popularity, for me Eterniti were an expensive niche product with reported problems surrounding build quality, and no dealer network which meant that repairs had to be done at the factory.
They'd have had to have a proven track record for me to ever consider buying one even though I liked the idea behind the design.
Swift, Bailey, Elddis et al might seem a bit staid and boring at times but at least these companies are firmly established and appear to have ridden out the global financial crisis, recession etc.
I'm sorry for those who have lost their jobs, but I feel very sorry indeed for those who ordered Eterniti caravans, paid substantial deposits and have little or no prospect of a refund unless they paid by credit card.
There are also people who allegedly traded in caravans against as yet undelivered new Eterniti models and they too appear to have lost out.
Eterniti were allegedly still taking orders and substantial deposits from potential customers in February and March according to comments on other caravan forums, they were at the February NEC show.
Sorry Rob, but some fellow caravanners have bid a sad farewell to their savings and any chance of ever owning a new caravan again, and my sympathy is reserved for them.

 

[MichaelE]

Yes they were still taking order at the Feb NEC show.
Speaking to a guy at the Broadlands show the weekend he nearly bought one but the deal was £14k upfront and his van in part ex straight away for a delivery in June.
I wonder how many others were tempted?

 

[Parksy]

According to reports on other forums there were certainly one or two, probably many more who placed orders at the NEC with little or no prospect of a caravan being built or delivered.
The deposit seemed inordinately high plus the old caravan in part ex straight away rather than just before the handover.
That alone would be enough to put me off but it's easy to be wise after the event.
I read Editor Rob Ganley's blog with interest, it mentioned slower than expected sales as one of the reasons for the company's demise, and gave details of how exciting some thought this new range of caravans may be.
I'd have appreciated a blog about how buyers can avoid losing hefty deposits using credit card payments more than a piece mourning the loss of what on the face of it looked a risky venture into caravan manufacture, and those 'lucky' enough to have already bought an Eterniti now face having to buy some sort of breakdown insurance rather than having the manufacturers guarantee that they should be entitled to so advice for them wouldn't have come amiss.
As is usual with touring caravan buyers, the customer or end user is last in the queue again.
We've put up with the cottage industry mentality amongst caravan manufacturers and dealerships for far too long, but with the price of a new tourer approaching and in some cases well in excess of £20,000 we are not paying cottage industry prices and when something like this goes badly wrong there are ordinary hard working people who are well out of pocket.
As someone who reads about caravan problems week in, week out I have to strongly disagree with the editorial blog, in fact there's almost steam coming out of my ears!
One would hope that somebody somewhere would stand up for customers interests rather than manufacturers, dealers and industry insiders.
It would make a refreshing change.

 

[Mel]

According to reports on other forums there were certainly one or two, probably many more who placed orders at the NEC with little or no prospect of a caravan being built or delivered.
The deposit seemed inordinately high plus the old caravan in part ex straight away rather than just before the handover.
That alone would be enough to put me off but it's easy to be wise after the event.
I read Editor Rob Ganley's blog with interest, it mentioned slower than expected sales as one of the reasons for the company's demise, and gave details of how exciting some thought this new range of caravans may be.
I'd have appreciated a blog about how buyers can avoid losing hefty deposits using credit card payments more than a piece mourning the loss of what on the face of it looked a risky venture into caravan manufacture, and those 'lucky' enough to have already bought an Eterniti now face having to buy some sort of breakdown insurance rather than having the manufacturers guarantee that they should be entitled to so advice for them wouldn't have come amiss.
As is usual with touring caravan buyers, the customer or end user is last in the queue again.
We've put up with the cottage industry mentality amongst caravan manufacturers and dealerships for far too long, but with the price of a new tourer approaching and in some cases well in excess of £20,000 we are not paying cottage industry prices and when something like this goes badly wrong there are ordinary hard working people who are well out of pocket.
As someone who reads about caravan problems week in, week out I have to strongly disagree with the editorial blog, in fact there's almost steam coming out of my ears!
One would hope that somebody somewhere would stand up for customers interests rather than manufacturers, dealers and industry insiders.
It would make a refreshing change.

Hear! Hear!
mel

 

[DeliDave_]

Well said Steve,we have looked at changing ours and around 22k plus awning and motormover is a serious amount
I've seen on another forum how hard its hit the owner of Eterniti which I'm sure is true but losing your deposit and van is heartbreaking and I can never understand how the business can apparently start up with no reponsibilities to previous buyers.The customer as you said is bottom of the pile.

 

[starlightdj]

Well said Parksy

Its a pity & I cant see why company Law cant be changed to force companies to have separate client accounts for deposits

The consumers deposit should be ring fenced and protected the same way a solicitor has to have a separate client account to hold funds.

In the event of a company going insolvent at least the deposit could and should be returned.

We here of this same type of incident all too often, ie furniture shops, Christmas hamper clubs etc. I really feel for anyone that has lost funds, The insolvency practitioner should be very carefully checking the full conduct of the directors whom still allowed receipt of the deposits, when it must have been clear even at the beginning of the year, that they where over trading.

Hopefully a full forensic examination of the accounts should bring out the truth of the matter and perhaps if the insolvency practitioners fees are reasonable, it might lead to a dividend to the creditors in this matter.