New Bailey Ranger 540/6 damp and mould found !

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Mar 14, 2005
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Hello Frank,

I am very sorry to read of the problems you have had with your caravan, Caravans have been manufactured using the same basic construction methods for over 30 Years, and they still can't stop vans from leaking. I find that situation unbelievable. The car industry used to have problems with leaks but very few have now, and I know that the car industry is much bigger and can throw more money at a project but 30 years is a hell of long development time for no apparent gain.

I am sure you are probably aware that under the sale of goods acts, the warranty (not manufacturers guarantee) is exclusively held by whoever sold the caravan to you. As a retailer they cannot avoid that responsibility - it is the law. That does mean that if you used Hire Purchase agreement, then the seller is the HP Company - not the dealer.

Under most HP agreements, the title or ownership of the goods remains with the HP company until the last closing payment is made, and if the goods are faulty (as yours is) the HP company will not only be breaking the law for selling faulty goods, but their investment (the caravan) is not worth as much as their books show - which is an accountancy crime. If you have used HP tell them and see how quickly things get sorted.

On the other hand if you paid the dealer directly, then the dealer is responsible. Bear in mind that your contract is with the dealer - not Bailey directly, and if the caravan is judged faulty by any reasonable person or expert, then the dealer has no option but offer a remedy under the SoGA. It does not matter what Bailey say or do it is the dealers sole responsibility and is one of the business risks that a retailer has to endure.

On the basis of the information you have supplied, I think you were right to reject the dealers PX offer. I should point out that the SoGA is not an excuse for either the retailer or the customer to make pecuniary gain from a situation. The remedy to a problem should ensure that the customer is no worse off than if the product had not failed.

I admire your fortitude and restraint from naming names. This is the correct way, as any disclosure of such details would weaken and compromise your position.
 
Apr 28, 2009
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Well we were planning like most caravanners to use our van this bank holiday , but are very disappointed with the DEALERS and BAILEY.

So we've missed 2 bank holidays because of our DAMP RANGER VAN AND UNHELPFUL DEALER

I believe this will be a long a drawn out battle to get a replacement or as we are now thinking a FULL REFUND + COMPENSATION

BUT I am now accepting the fact the dealer will try and drag it out so we get fed up and give up , but I WILL NOT GIVE UP as the sale of goods act and trading standards , and our solicitor all agree, I have a good strong case , so even if the dealer drags it out further it will end up going to court to resolve it . I am going to look in to hiring a replacement van , but prefer looking into getting a loan to buy a replacement van so my family can enjoy whats left of this seasons caravanning holidays. that way whether it goes on 1 month or 2 or 24 we can leave it to the courts to get our refund / compensation off the dealer and go and enjoy our holidays.
 
Apr 26, 2005
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Hi Frank,

I think you are absolutely right to stick to your guns, although you should not even be in this position.

It seems to me that both Bailey (who I thought were a reputable company) and the dealer should be trying to resolve the situation with you, after all it would be seen as good customer relations - how many future customers are they going to lose as a result of this fiasco.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Regards,

Ron.
 
Feb 26, 2008
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Bought a brand new Bailey Ranger in July 2006.....Had it serviced twice by Barons/Discover in 07 and 08 who didnt find 100% water ingress on either occasion (at a cost of almost
 
Mar 14, 2005
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Hi Frank sorry not answered before but been away fvor the past 25 days up in northumberland.

Traded in my new Ranger for a series 5 Pageant, what a test the weather put us through, torrential rain, gusty winds no problem at all.

I would never ever buy a brand new van again you loose so much cash ,
 
Apr 28, 2009
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The van is back at the Dealers, but I believe all BAILEY have done is to dry

it out and replace the flooring! We believe this may have been due to the fact

that we sighted "undue delay for the repair process" as Bailey stated

originally that the FAULTY ALLOY SIDE PANEL + INNER WALL PANEL WOULD HAVE TO

BE REPLACED , BUT THIS WOULD INVOLVE REMOVING BOTH THE FRONT & REAR PANELS TOO

, & THEIR WARRANTY DEPARTMENT WAS SO BUSY THAT IT WOULD TAKE UNTIL JULY !!!

Baileys COMMENT ON our Damp & mould was to suggest "IT WAS OUR FAULT, " :

As THEY BELIEVE WE HAVE LEFT THE WINDOWS OPEN !

I was TRULY OUTRAGED TO SAY THE LEAST. But I DID NOT RISE TO THE BAIT , I

spoke again, to the DEALERS Service

Manager and asked him to speak to his highly trained Technicians TO CONFIRM

WHAT THEY HAD FOUND ie the faulty rippled alloy panel where the hole for

the window did not follow the profile, the hole was too big/and not flat

looked like the cutter had caught the alloy when cutting out the shape and gone

off line.

The Dealers Tecs had worked out the fault originally and that's why they

called a Bailey Rep and they both agreed it was a major repair !

The DEALERS TECS damp meters were recording 80+percent damp figures, the same

as mine. (I was advised that I could use the Dealers Tecs , & their findings

in

court if need be). The dealer asked for a Bailey Rep to relook at the van and

speak to the dealer tecs on what they found originally , and after this, it

appears the dealer may be changing their view point /position , AND HAVE TOLD

ME THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A "MISCOMMUNICATION" and are now chasing BALIEY

up to see if they will help them resolve this situation.

After a lot of further heartache and further discussions , the dealer did

offer a partial refund, as they said our van was 2nd hand etc , (we have only

used if for 9 days !!!), which I refused straight away .

We have been asked to keep a record of all the time we spend on this FIASCO

so we can justify compensation when we go to court. We are up to 66 hrs of our

time lost so far , + solicitors fees , (hire of a Caravan for the 2nd bank

holiday whilst our van was being repaired) this would equate to over
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Hi Frank,

I was away when you first posted this BAILEY problem.

I fully concur with all the advice given. Get your Solicitor to issue and serve a Writ asap on the Dealer, naming BAILEY as a Third party Defendant. Demand every penny back plus costs and interest. Trust me here, you cannot lose. This BAILEY RANGER was delivered to you in October 2008 with and inherent defect maing it totally unfit for purpose.

To change the entire floor is a major exercise. Have you ever seen the BAILEY video how they build them in 3 hours or less? The floor is on of the first components to be placed on the chassis!

Frank, Go down the legal route.

I'm amazed and indeed as a BAILEY fan , extremely disappointed that neither KELLY WATTS nor NICK HOWARD MD haven't nipped this in the bud earlier. Swift and Elldis must be having a real laugh!

Keep us posted. Good luck.

Cheers

Dustydog
 
Apr 28, 2009
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Posted: 2009-06-12, 08:24:12 Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As a follow on ,

Could any members who have also had issues with any of BAILEYS CARAVANS please briefly list their details

As we can prove that this is a COMMON PROBLEM / MANUFACTURING FAULT it will strengthen our case , ie and highlight how they deal with their customers

IE someome posted on another site that they were informed by their Bailey dealer that Bailey had fitted a faulty batch of panels and were WAITING for the customers to get DAMP INTO THEIR VANS and send them back for repair , !!

We also found on the net last night another member with A RANGER 5 540/6 LIKE OURS WITH THE SAME WATER /DAMP INGREES POINT , IE Though the bunk windows , we wonder if this is the same fault IE DEFECTIVE A SIDE PANEL we will be contacting them to get the full details and help them proceed with their case,

Thanks TO EVERY ONE for the support and advice we have received, , its such a shame that this is still dragging on
 
Apr 30, 2009
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We were wondering what had happened as it's been a long time since you last posted.

Can't believe this is still going on as it is a manufacturing fault. Why didn't they just offer to replace the van or give you a refund two months ago when you would have had chance to organise a replacement van.

I can understand your frustration if it were me I would go with your 11 year old and put it on as many sites as posible straight away.

Do you have pictures of the fault/mould, if so I would include these.

Surely it's Bailey's problem as they supplied the faulty van in the first place, they should offer the dealer a replacement van for you, maybe with an upgrade for the nightmare you are going through. We laughed at your comment of the dealer's van suddenly not being available - old trick, they are stalling. This only shows them in a poor light - who are they?

I don't think I will be buying a Bailey if they can't be bothered to sort your problem out when it's obviously of their own making!!

Did you see the Range Rover owner who resorted to driving round with the faults listed on the side of his car. Hmmmm

Hope common sense prevails soon and you and your family get their well deserved holiday.

Keep us posted.
 
Apr 28, 2009
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Well some good news at last ,

Nick Howard M.D of Bailey phoned me briefly last friday to discuss my issues, and again to today, where he explained, he had looked to see if he had any Ranger 540/6 available, but he couldn't find any at present.

We also discussed, the option of the GT60 Ranger 540/6, where I

offered to pay towards it as it's a slightly higher spec than my S5 Ranger was (we had specced ours up quite a lot, but if you buy a 540 you may wish to consider a front chest and rear heater outlet by the bunks we found these both very good mods).

I have also suggested that I could, hire a van for our August holiday and wait till they build some more 540/6's, as I am trying to be resonable .

If any one out there has a mint (dry) Ranger Series 5 , 540/6 , for sale , please contact me as, this would be another option for us,

I must say whether or not Nick Howard can find us a replacement van or not, I am impressed that he has taken the time to become involved.
 
Apr 28, 2009
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Update:

We have had several conversations with Nick Howard but a replacement caravan has not been offered even though we have offered to pay towards one and wait until they next make Rangers. Our dealer who had a new Ranger 540 in stock (not available to us) it is still for sale! So we were left with either taking back our original caravan after missing several bank holidays, or a full refund + Nick Howard has offered us - if we buy another Bailey, he will supply the same extras that we had plus ATC, I believe if I hadn't have pushed and got Nick involved we would now be at Court.

So, we have reluctantly accepted a full refund, we are reconsidering whether we want another new caravan after all this? But of course we have no caravan for our summer break!!

I am disappointed that this could have easily been sorted out very early on by the dealer.

I hope no one else has to go through what we've been through this year, it has really soured the experience of buying a new caravan for us. If anyone else has a similar problem it shows that perseverence is what is required.
 
Jun 20, 2005
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Hi Frank

Some three months later I'm very pleased to see you have your money back.

I know you have lost a lot of the summer season but other than the two weeks in June the weather has been rubbish!

May I suggest you but your next caravan from a different dealer.

The sad fact is that almost all UK makes seem to have post delivery issues.

Quality Assurance and Quality Control still isn't good enough.

At least we all know both Swift and Bailey have stood up and been counted and most of the time resolved difficult problems; that should never have been a problem in the first place.

Good luck with whatever you buy next.

Cheers

Dustydog
 
Mar 14, 2005
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So glad that you have at last received compensation from the Md, I know how you are feeling, as I went through the same feeling of being let down, the dealers do not like doing repair jobs as they do not receive payment for the work,sooner consentrate on cash payable work.

Go to www.caravanchannel.com click onto the Bailey production films qty 3 you will see how the caravans are produced , to see a complete side panel balanced on a 1 wheel trolley one man pushing it through to be fitted onto the side of a new van, no jig drilling, as for the cutter man doing a front window .

Take care when selecting a new van, best of luck in your hunt ,

Royston
 

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