Storage site insisting on their servicing

[GeorgeandAde]

Hi.
Our van is at a storage facility and they also sell brand new Adria caravans.
They have their own workshops with suitably qualified technitians.
One of the stipulations when I signed the agreement to store it there,was I had to let them carry out an annual service on it as the vans are parked next to each other and wanted to make sure they are "safe".
Anyway,I was talking to a member of staff at a different dealership today,and he reckons that what they are doing is against the law with regards to me having to use them for servicing.
Anyone know if he is correct?

 

[otherclive]

Hi.
Our van is at a storage facility and they also sell brand new Adria caravans.
They have their own workshops with suitably qualified technitians.
One of the stipulations when I signed the agreement to store it there,was I had to let them carry out an annual service on it as the vans are parked next to each other and wanted to make sure they are "safe".
Anyway,I was talking to a member of staff at a different dealership today,and he reckons that what they are doing is against the law with regards to me having to use them for servicing.
Anyone know if he is correct?

If there’s no gas or battery on board what on Earth would render them unsafe. I would contact your Club legal helpline for advice. Presumably you signed the T and Cs. If it’s an unfair contract how would you pursue such a case. At the end the site owner probably has it in the conditions that they can terminate your contract with some notice. Then you would have to find an alternate site. Difficult situation that you are in. Perhaps the sites own insurer requires the vans under storage to be serviced annually.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thank you otherclive.
I know what you mean.......I dont want to "upset the apple cart".
The storage is only 5 miles from me and I do realise the importance of regular servicing .
You could be right about it being in their insurers terms.
Thanks

 

[JezzerB]

if you knew this was a condition of storage and signed up for it why would you not be happy. They havent changed the rules . You can of course move storage sites I suppose.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thanks Jezzer.
Yes I do agree with you.
I did know what I was signing up for but didnt realise that what they are doing could possibly be unlawful.
If I hadnt have spoken to that chap at the other dealership today,I would have been none the wiser.
Im happy for them to service my van every year (ive always made sure all of my vans have regulare services) but his comment just got me wondering a bit.
Thanks 👍

 

[ProfJohnL]

I presume the service requirement was made clear before you agreed. I think it might stand because it's not the same as a manufacturer of a product insisting that you use their service providers.

We would need to see the exact wording of the agreement before an informed opinion can be given.

 

[otherclive]

I presume the service requirement was made clear before you agreed. I think it might stand because it's not the same as a manufacturer of a product insisting that you use their service providers.

We would need to see the exact wording of the agreement before an informed opinion can be given.

Irrespective of the wording I would be surprised if the contract did not include a clause fir the site owner to terminate the agreement. For blatant non compliance it is usually instant, but for other infringements It may due notice with/ without refund.
It’s quite a difficult question for the OP but he could find it difficult to find a better alternative. My storage site is over 500 with a substantial waiting list. When I rebooked it in March 2019 it had four pitches to chose from. If the OP site does AWS servicing I think that I would use it as required by the contract. Life’s too short to engage in what can be fruitless battles.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Irrespective of the wording I would be surprised if the contract did not include a clause fir the site owner to terminate the agreement. For blatant non compliance it is usually instant, but for other infringements It may due notice with/ without refund.
It’s quite a difficult question for the OP but he could find it difficult to find a better alternative. My storage site is over 500 with a substantial waiting list. When I rebooked it in March 2019 it had four pitches to chose from. If the OP site does AWS servicing I think that I would use it as required by the contract. Life’s too short to engage in what can be fruitless battles.

I wasn't suggesting a battle! But the wording of the agreement is what controls the situation, and as so often happens we only have the writers interpretation, not the root document which might not be as draconian as has been reported.

 

[Damian]

as so often happens we only have the writers interpretation

I dont see any problem at all with what the OP has said, it is very simple:

Quote " One of the stipulations when I signed the agreement to store it there ,was I had to let them carry out an annual service on it "

There is no room for error or misinterpretation.

You certainly do not need to see any "root document"

It is not uncommon for storage sites to stipulate who they will allow on site, or not .

However, unless they are AWS registered, in which case they are capable of doing servicing, but a problem may crop up should any warranty work need doing which is out of their remit and is the responsibility of the supplying dealer.

 

[otherclive]

I dont see any problem at all with what the OP has said, it is very simple:

Quote " One of the stipulations when I signed the agreement to store it there ,was I had to let them carry out an annual service on it "

There is no room for error or misinterpretation.

You certainly do not need to see any "root document"

It is not uncommon for storage sites to stipulate who they will allow on site, or not .

However, unless they are AWS registered, in which case they are capable of doing servicing, but a problem may crop up should any warranty work need doing which is out of their remit and is the responsibility of the supplying dealer.

Wouldn’t you then take it back to the supplying dealership ?

 

[Damian]

Wouldn’t you then take it back to the supplying dealership ?

Yes you would, but it then raises the scenario where the supplying dealer would insist on doing their own investigation, which may involve extra money being charged.

I actually do not like the terms as outlined by the OP, it seems to be a way of gaining extra income by their insistence.
As far as storage sites go, it is quite reasonable to demand that vans are serviced but the choice of service agent should be at the owners discretion.

 

[Marsh Harrier]

Is it unfair or illegal?

The OP was told by a competitor that its illegal and unfair!

Well considering if you rent a house from an Housing Association they will tell you any car kept on the property has to be taxed! Considering there's no legal requirement for a car to have tax, mot, insurance when its parked on private land, the only legal requirement is that if you're not taxing the car it needs to be snored. Could be classed as unfair even illegal. (Housing Associations seem to think a car is 'safe' if taxed!) But its not, just one of the conditions of tenancy.

Yes could be an issue with any warranty given my another company, but surely you'd would look into at the time of purchase and signing any storage agreement.

Yes its one way of generating income for another arm of the business, but assuming that they are a dealership for a manufacturer it must be assumed that they have full qualifications in aspects of the servicing and repair.

Personally I think its ideal with no need to faff around getting your caravan to a service centre and back to storage they do it all...

Then if the service centre and sells then another advantage is that you have staff around most of the time, which is probably a better deterrent that any CCTV...

So if you're happy with the arrangement, you feel that you're getting your value for money and servicing is done to high standards.. Why worry

 

[Damian]

but assuming that they are a dealership for a manufacturer it must be assumed that they have full qualifications in aspects of the servicing and repair.

Nothing can be "assumed",.
Just because they sell a certain brand of van does not mean they are allowed to carry out warranty repair work on other makes.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Agree with all the replies....thank you.
I did know what the terms and conditions were when I signed up for the storage pitch,I was just curious as to what that salesman told me.
QI am more than happy for them to service it annualy.Basically,after work,go to compound,hitch up and move it approx.600 yards to the workshop,then maybe the next day after work,collect it and return it to its "plot".
By using the storage workshop,it saves me taking time off work (twice)to deliver/collect caravan.
I do understand though,if any warranty work needs doing,It will probably have to go back to supplying dealer.
The compound is so close to where I live,its perfect for me so I dont want to upset "the apple cart" by approaching them to ask if they can actually insist on the annual service.
As someone commented earlier.....more income for them.

 

[Buckman]

Simply take the caravan off site to the dealer from whom you purchased, let them do the servicing and then take the caravan back to the storage site. It would be unlawful for them to then insist that the caravan is serviced by themselves as they cannot undertake warranty work on another brand of caravan. In addition, you would lose any protection from CRA 2015 if you have bought another brand of caravan and they insist on doing the servicing. Start looking around for another storage site as the current one is imposing an Unfair term even though you agreed to it to get storage initially.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thank you Buckman.
I do understand your comments,but by allowing them to service van,its saving me a days holiday from work plus there are no more secure storage sites near to me.
Its just so handy to pop up to the caravan to clean,or any small jobs that I can do,even travelling up to site after work before I go home.
Thanks👍

 

[RogerL]

Nothing can be "assumed",.
Just because they sell a certain brand of van does not mean they are allowed to carry out warranty repair work on other makes.

And just because a dealer is franchised to sell a particular make doesn't mean they're authorised to repair that make - there are instances where dealers have to meet their SoG/CRA liabilities by having the work done elsewhere, depending on the nature of the issue.

 

[Buckman]

Thank you Buckman.
I do understand your comments,but by allowing them to service van,its saving me a days holiday from work plus there are no more secure storage sites near to me.
Its just so handy to pop up to the caravan to clean,or any small jobs that I can do,even travelling up to site after work before I go home.
Thanks👍

What about any warranty work. Are they an approved NCC or AWS dealer as that is significant for CRA 2015 and any warranty work?

 

[ProfJohnL]

Simply take the caravan off site to the dealer from whom you purchased, let them do the servicing and then take the caravan back to the storage site. It would be unlawful for them to then insist that the caravan is serviced by themselves as they cannot undertake warranty work on another brand of caravan. In addition, you would lose any protection from CRA 2015 if you have bought another brand of caravan and they insist on doing the servicing. Start looking around for another storage site as the current one is imposing an Unfair term even though you agreed to it to get storage initially.

GeorgeandAde has already answered they were aware of the condition, and willingly accepted it as the site is very convenient for them. They are not in dispute with the site, so there is no need for them to take the caravan from the site.

I think you are confusing two aspects of work on a caravan, service and warranty are not the same thing by a long chalk. Warranty is controlled by the warranty holder and the T&C's will specify who can undertake warranty work. A service is not warranty work. Service is at the owners discretion who undertakes it, but where a warranty or finance is still in effect, the warranty T&C's may require the service to be carried out but it may be any approved service facility. Failure to comply might invalidate any remaining warranty.

Loss of CRA cover would not happen. The CRA is mostly based on the condition of the goods at the point of sale. Subsequent service work will not change the sellers liability if the goods were to be shown to be faulty when purchased.

The OP has not claimed the service condition in his storage contract was unfair or that he wants to get away from it. It is at this stage unclear if the contract term cold be judged as "unfair" as it was a conditional offer and this site was not a sole provider, G&A could have chosen another storage site. It was a free and informed choice.

 

[Raywood]

I suppose the first thing to ask, is the servicing cost competitive and secondly are they NCC approved, if the caravan is under guarantee. If you are happy with these points then there should be no problem.
There is a possibility that the clause breaches the Unfair Contract Clauses regulations, but this may not be true and challenging it would be potentially dangerous to challenge it. The contract might allow them to terminate the contract f you do not follow the requirements even if you win an unfair clause dispute and you certainly would not get the storage renewed when the current period expires.
Putting it bluntly is it worth the hassle of moving to another storage site for the sake of getting the servicing done elsewhere? Only you can answer that.

 

[otherclive]

I suppose the first thing to ask, is the servicing cost competitive and secondly are they NCC approved, if the caravan is under guarantee. If you are happy with these points then there should be no problem.
There is a possibility that the clause breaches the Unfair Contract Clauses regulations, but this may not be true and challenging it would be potentially dangerous to challenge it. The contract might allow them to terminate the contract f you do not follow the requirements even if you win an unfair clause dispute and you certainly would not get the storage renewed when the current period expires.
Putting it bluntly is it worth the hassle of moving to another storage site for the sake of getting the servicing done elsewhere? Only you can answer that.

I agree that there is a difference between service and warranty work. If the sites workshops are AWS then servicing should be okay. And remember George saves a days leave by having it serviced on site. That’s a good cash equivalent plus less hassle than having to tow it elsewhere. This all stemmed from a possibly ill informed comment on “ unfair or illegal” contract. Up till then all was okay. George just needs to watch his warranty position should warranty work be required.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Thank you for all the excellent replies.
Their workshop is AWS and MCEA approved so regular servicing shouldnt be a problem.
It says they can undertake warranty work depending on Make/Autherisation.
So im more than happy to stay put.
They can service van every year.
I think warranty work would be best left to supplying dealer.
Prices for single axle service is £210 inc.vat plus parts.

 

[GeorgeandAde]

Oh.......im Ade.......wife is George(Georgina)😂😂😂

 

[JTQ]

I feel the salesman who intimated it might be illegal was for whatever reason, just lobbing a rock into the pool.

It appears from what we are told the OP entered a contract for "storage with costed servicing", by Company XX, not stand alone storage that Company XX seems not to offer; where is there any hint of unfairness let alone illegality?

 

[JezzerB]

Not a bad price tbh for the convenience of it I would be happy with that.