My new caravan has turned out to be a shed!

Jun 29, 2013
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Hi
After a bit of advice please. We bought a caravan just under a yr ago from new. We have had nothing but problems with it. Lies were given on the collection date like when items were not working but they said don't worry it's meant to work like that ( faulty heater switch and alarm not connected!). Body work (a paint job) was visible soon as I got it home as it was not polished out properly. Fixings missing on fittings.
Got the initial items fixed on warranty. All a massive inconvenience as they should have been found before the sale.
Then main transformer blew when on holiday. Had to come home early with 2 children and a baby. More inconvenience getting it resolved on warranty, eventually done. Then hiki roof light dampers broken, table bar broken (as fixings only engage by a few mm!), microwave display faulty, and major wood covering de-lamination in several areas. Then to top it all off, on the first service water ingress found in 3 different places (readings of 30, 20 and 18).
All this in the first year!!!
I have got to the point where I can't go on with it anymore. It's just not been fit for purpose. We, as a family, have had no enjoyment out of it. It's not been used for so called 'leisure'!
I am asking for the dealer to buy it back off me. I have been sold an absolute shed on wheels, with no build quality.

The dealer stance is that they are not answering any of my questions, saying things like you were clearly happy with the van because you bought it! They also say that Elddis are not willing to offer any buy back so therefore they can't! I know the sales of goods act states my contract is with the seller not the manufacturer. They refuse the faults existed at the start despite me having all the evidence. They are just saying we want to do further repairs.
I will stay strong and will not stop. I'm in contact with NCC, trading standards and have emailed some solicitors. Any help, people to contact etc would be very welcome. Dealers like this should stand up to their responsibility - it gives the caravan industry a bad name.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Sorry to hear about your problems and if it is any comfort there have been other people on this forum who have been in similar situations,I think you have done pretty well everything right as you have given the seller the opportunity to put right the defects,and it seems reasonable to expect them to have been corrected.The line that Eldiss do not buy back is a complete red herring, that is not your problem, your contract is with the seller. If you have used a finance agreement,or paid more than £100 by credit card you may have some comeback through them.Look out for a post from 'Professor John' he normally has good advice with regards to the Sale of Goods Act, or you could search this site for historic posts regarding the same problem as yours.i think there was a BBC programme that featured a similar story a few weeks back,which was also an Eldiss van,might be worth trying to view a recording of that as well.
Good Luck with whatever you decide and hopefully this has not put you off caravanning.
 
Aug 4, 2004
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How did you pay for the caravan? This is a very pertinent question because if you bought it paying by credit card even if it was just the deposit, you can do a charge back for the full value of the caravan. As per this thread on this forum. There is some good advice offered on this thread on another forum and it also involves Elddis unless it is the same one.
Firstly you need to reject the caravan under Sale of Goods Act. Send a "polite" letter by registered post for a signature outlining why you wish to reject the caravan under SOGA and request an answer in writing within 14 days. Do NOT engage in conversation with them on a telephone unless you have a recorder and then ylou need to notify them that you are recording the conversation. Doing this you are creating a trail that can be produced in a court of law.
If they do not respond then also notify Trading Standards. You can get advice from Citizens Advice Bureau, but some aren't very clued up. At the same time come back for further advice here as I am sure that Prof John & myself can offer good advice.
BTW I meant to add that if you are a member of the CC or the C & CC you can use their legal departments for advice free of charge.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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It's only fair point out that we only have one side of the story, so there might me points that we are not aware of, but based on what we have been given then there's nothing much further to add at this point, except to reinforce the fact that your contract is with your seller, so unless you bought direct from the manufacturer you should not involve them unless they make you an satisfactory offer.

On a general point, It really makes me mad when retailers don't check the goods they sell, before they sell them. They are legally responsible for the condition of items they sell. Retailers have the right not to accept faulty goods from have their supplier, or to arrange with their supplies to rectify faults but all too often with goods like caravans they simply don't do enough and they rely on the customer to do the Quality Control checks. Dealers are paid to to do PDI's on caravans why don't they do them properly? To add some balance, clearly there are some types faults that may not be found even with a good inspection, for example water ingress may not be predicted just from a visual inspection, and it would be unreasonable to expect a dealer to dismantle furniture or body joints to inspect hidden features. So there has to be a little give and take, but dealers must understand their responsibilities and do more to ensure they meet them, and to support their customers properly and fairly.

Its all down to Quality Control or more to the point the lack of QC without good QC you cannot produce Quality Assurance which is what every one involved with caravans should be striving for.

If this goes to court then you will almost certainly exceed the limit for small claims so you will need to engage the services of a professional. Check with with your various insurances regard legal expenses cover.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Hi Wreptile

I'm very sorry you have had a bad experience with your new caravan.

There are a number of ways of skinning the cat, a lot of which have been mentioned already by our Forum Gurus.

Firstly let me say this, without wishing to upset you, all new
caravans I have bought have come with gremlins , all of which were fixed swiftly by the dealer.
By the first anniversary everything was perfect and anything that broke subsequently was fixed or with my agreement the parts sent to me. I then replaced them.

I've said it many times on here a first class reputable dealer is the most important factor in buying your new caravan.

OK. Let's look at your case.

The Prof is quite right insofar as we only have your version of events.

However, you tell us the damp readings are imdicative of water ingress. This is serious with anew caravan.

Elddis have given you a Manufacturer Water Ingress Guarantee. This is over and above all the Consumer Rights you have with the Dealer.

Write A detailed letter to Elddis that Guarantee.

How did you pay for the caravan?

Surfer has explained some of your options.

You do need to write a carefully worded letter to the Dealer, Elddis and all othe financial parties involved setting out how your position has been prejudiced by the failures.

In Law you do need to have been seen to have taken a reasonable attitude and afforded the parties involved every reasonable opportunity to remedy the defects.

Time off road should be carefully documented and retained for future negotiations.

I'm away for the next 10 or so days but if you require some free impartial letter drafting then please authorise Parksy to send me your e_mail address. I'll then contact you no strings or promises, merely some guidance that will hopefully help.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Dustydog said:
............ Elddis have given you a Manufacturer Water Ingress Guarantee. This is over and above all the Consumer Rights you have with the Dealer.........
Hello Dusty,
I think you may have just not realise quite what you have inferred. The manufactures warranty/guarantee cannot suppercede your statutory rites enshrined in SoGA. It can be in addition, but never over and above.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Prof John L said:
Dustydog said:
............ Elddis have given you a Manufacturer Water Ingress Guarantee. This is over and above all the Consumer Rights you have with the Dealer.........
Hello Dusty,
I think you may have just not realise quite what you have inferred. The manufactures warranty/guarantee cannot suppercede your statutory rites enshrined in SoGA. It can be in addition, but never over and above.

Semantics I think John.

But by all means say in addition. However the Guarantee is of course between the manufacturer and the Owner. Thus the Owner IMO must put the manufacturer on warning over and above or additional to all his her actions against the dealer
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Dusty and Roger,

I jknow the difference may not be apparent, and as I hope I alluded in my reply to Dusty, that it was just an over sight but its not just semantics, and its not the quite same, Its an important legal difference. SoGA affords legal rights and obligations which are non negotiable , witnessed by the the ususal quote on documenstion "Does not affect your normal legal rights" Nothing a manufacturers does or says can force a customer to relinquish their normal leagl rights.

A customer may elect to relinquish their rights but they cannot be forced to by a manufacturer.
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Ok Roger,

So its question of personal interpretation. But at least it's intention is now fully explained.
smiley-smile.gif
 
Jun 29, 2013
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Thanks for your advice so far. Good to hear I have people support this kind of terrible situation. I'm starting to feel quite ill over all this as it's becoming very stressful.

Yes, I paid the deposit (£900) on a credit card. I will be in touch with them. Do they have an obligation to help out?

The other thing to point out is that I have been in contact with the selling dealer at every point (most of which via email).
As I live over 100 mile from them, they agreed for the past warranty work to be done at a more local Elddis dealer. I have an email for them suggsting other names. In the warranty T&C from Elddis, they say that this is ok at the supplying dealers discretion.
The point I made to them is that even if I had brought the caravan back to them for rework, the damp and all the remaining issues would still have existed. They had the opportunity to rectify the initial issues pre-sale!

Incedentally, when I first reported the damp issue to them a few weeks back, their initial response was, well you'll have to get the guy who servied your van to do it. They have since said, they want it back and want to repair the van themselves.
Why should I have to go through even more inconvience due to terrible quality? Why should my family be in a position where we cant book our holiday this year?

They really need to step up to the plate. Irony is, if they bought it back off me, got all the work done by Elddis, they would probably break even on it when they sell it on the forecort.

They seem to be arrogant, subborn and very unsymathetic. They wont give me any answers as to why the van was sold in such a state and the history behind the repair work pre-sale.

So, I will contact the credit card company, and ask Dustydog to help draft a letter.

Many thanks again!
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Wreptile.

This is not an easy situation and I have much sympathy for you. I feel I must reiterate that you would be well advised to seek professional legal advice, as there seems to be multiple issues and solutions because the value of the caravan is above the limit for small claims

The credit card company is jointly liable for the supply of faulty goods as explained in section 75 of the consumer credit act

See:
http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/31/creditcards-31.htm

Now regards the repairs for the damp, If the dealer has said they want to do it, then it seems they have accepted it is their obligation, which puts it into the realms of SoGA. If this is the case then the seller is obliged to minimise any inconvenience to the customer, this includes arranging to collect faulty and return goods at the sellers ir expense. This aspect of SoGA is often conveniently overlooked by sellers. The principal of SoGA is that the customer should not be disadvantaged by the failure of the seller to supply goods to contract - i.e. fault free.

If they renage on this position and say the're invoking the manufactures warranty on ingress then the situation may be different and will be determined by the T&C's of the warranty.

In principal its simple but it seems you dealer is not playing by the rules, so it's become complex and I really think you need proper professional support and guidance
 
Jun 29, 2013
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Dustydog said:
. I'm away for the next 10 or so days but if you require some free impartial letter drafting then please authorise Parksy to send me your e_mail address. .

Hi Dustydog
Can you let me know how I let Parksy give you my email address
Thanks
 
May 7, 2012
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I agree the posiyion as assessed by the Professor, your contract is with the dealer rather than Eldiss. If the dealerr elects to repair it you have the right to ask them to collect and deliver and to claim compensation for the loss of use while it is being repaired. They can say that they will only deal under the warranty terms but that is not the legal position. SOGA makes their position clear and if they do not act in accordance I am afraid if you cannot get the press or TV involved your best option is to sue both the dealer and Eldiss.
 
Aug 4, 2004
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Raywood said:
I agree the posiyion as assessed by the Professor, your contract is with the dealer rather than Eldiss. If the dealerr elects to repair it you have the right to ask them to collect and deliver and to claim compensation for the loss of use while it is being repaired. They can say that they will only deal under the warranty terms but that is not the legal position. SOGA makes their position clear and if they do not act in accordance I am afraid if you cannot get the press or TV involved your best option is to sue both the dealer and Eldiss.
They cannot sue the manufacturer, but they can call the manufacturer as an expert witness.
 

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