Swift Oakmere Caravan Problem - At my wits' end - help needed...

[JGX]

Hi there,

My first post on here and apologies if this sort of thing has been covered before - I did a search but couldn't find anything.

In September last year, my wife and I bought our first caravan - a Swift Oakmere (Charisma 555) - from Discover Delamere. We used it a few tines over the winter months and enjoyed it greatly. In January/Feb this year it started to develop some faults and most seriously, whilst we were away on holiday in it in Dorset over half term, the consumer unit failed. After much jumping up and down we managed to get an appointment for them to look at it on the 24th February and they said that they would have to order in a new consumer unit (and a few things to look at the other 'snaggy' faults). It's been with them ever since (five weeks to date) and despite countless calls no-one has got back to me with a resolution (apart from a call from the service manager late (9pm) last Wednesday evening "wanting to know what the problem was"!!) Obviously, we've had to cancel our Easter break in the van and this was the final straw.

I have spoken to the Caravan Club legal helpline and Consumer Direct and they both said that I should now exercise my statutory rights and ask for a refund or replacement; and so here's my question: has anyone ever been in a similar situation and if so or even if not, can anyone please offer any tips or words of wisdom?

Thanks in advance,

JGX

 

[ValA.]

Whilst I can't help regarding 'rejecting' your caravan, perhaps you should try joining the Swift Forum, and posting a question to the staff at Swifts, who seem to be doing their very best to sort out problems. There are already some similar-sounding problems with the consumer unit, so it might be worth having a look.

http://www.swift-talk.co.uk/

 

[JGX]

Thanks for the tip Val, have now posted there also.

 

[ValA.]

It's a credit to Swift that they have created a public forum, and I hope you manage to get some help from Swift personnel, who appear to be monitoring the website very closely.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello JGX

Under the Sale of Goods Act it is one of your legal rights to demand a full refund for goods that are faulty as defined by the Act. It is relatively easy to launch an action in the small claims courts and the principal is exactly the same for a purchase costing 1p or several thousand pounds, but I am sure you would agree that to loose out due to a legal technicality would have rather different consequences for a 1p item compared to a caravan that is going to be worth several thousand pounds.

Mainly because of the greater financial risk a caravan represents, I very strongly recommend that you obtain professional legal advice/representation before pursuing the claim. Check out your domestic insurance policies, as sometimes they include cover for legal fees in some actions.

The CC and Consumer Direct will offer general advice, but often the devil is in the detail, and only a properly briefed professional who has access to all the necessary documentation can mount the most effective case on your behalf.

Having said that, and I do appreciate that you may have lost confidence in the dealer, pursuing a refund is really a last resort especially where the repair will not devalue or reduce the specification of the overall product. You may well find that your solicitor will be able to produce a letter that makes the dealership kick-start the repairs, and actually start to talk and explain why there has been such a delay.

It will do no harm tell Swift caravans of your plight, but please be aware that as Swift did not sell the caravan to you, they have no legal obligation in the matter, as your contract is with the seller. No advice offered by Swift is binding on you or the seller in this matter.

If you used a finance house or credit card to purchase the caravan then they may actually be the legal seller, and an approach to them may be bring some results. Your solicitor should be able to clarify the situation, far better and certainly with more authority than we can on this anonymous forum.

I sincerely hope that the matter can be resolved quickly and satisfactorily to all parties.

 

[Guest]

Swift may not have any legal obligation, but I am pretty sure they would not like to see their product hauled through the Courts with negative publicity. After all, they made the thing, not the dealer. Basically, the dealer should tell Swift, or whoever to cough up a replacement pronto. It would be the cheapest option in thee long run.

 

[JGX]

Thanks all for your responses.

I faxed both Discover and Swift (and have also sent copies via Special Delivery) and (maybe because of a Google search of my name), things have started to happen! Miraculously, Swift have dispatched the new consumer unit which will be with Discover in the morning and they say it will be fitted and they will look at the rest of the faults then.

I have addressed the letters to Trevor Parker and would like to arrange an interview with him in the next week or so.

Will keep you posted and thanks again.

Moderators Edit:

Part of this post was removed because it was in breach of forum etiquette Rules 3 and 4.

Parksy (Moderator)

 

[antrimboy]

I may be wrong, but I feel that the reason for the Swift (excuse pun) action is very possibly due to your participation on the Swift Talk forum earlier to-day.

It's good to know that things are starting to move in the right direction, and here's hoping you get all your problems sorted soon.

 

[DavidKlyne]

I suppose its quite possible that a lot of Swift owners are unaware that Swift take part in internet forums and now even have their own. Consumers are forever being told to go back to where they purchased the item from so when this avenue appears not to work this leads to frustration which is often expressed in places such as this. At least Swift, having been made aware of the problem, are being proactive in resolving the issue which I hopes gives the OP some comfort.

David

 

[Parksy]

I hope that the problems are sorted out to your satisfaction soon.

I must however point out that anyone who experiences problems or delays regarding caravan repairs really needs to look at forum etiquette which is found at the top of this webpage or Here

There are statements that as a forum we cannot allow, we understand the frustration of caravan owners but complaints should be in general terms only please.

 

[JGX]

Apologies for the etiquette breach - rules read and understood!

Swift's response and intervention has indeed been superb, it's just a terrible shame that it has taken all of this fuss to get the dealer to fulfil it's obligations. The part will (hopefully) be with them today and we'll have to see what happens next!

 

[Philspadders]

very often the only way to deal with reluctant warranty or gaurantee claims wether its a caravan, a PC, a car or washing machine is to make a real a nuiscance of your self with the particular retailer/ dealer. Also , copying the sale of good act and presenting them with a copy can have very rapid results.

A large computer chain tried in vain to charge me for what was a repair to a faulty machine with a known fault. They tired to get me to send to the manufacturer at my expense and argued this until i presented them with a copy of the relevant sections of the sale of goods act. I got my repair and the customer service was excellent.

 

[JGX]

An update. . .

Well, I have the caravan back, after many dramas this week as to whether or not the van would actually be fixed on time for the bank holiday weekend.

In the end it was but thanks only to the intervention of Swift (who I contacted via swift-talk following the kind advice on here and who were appalled to learn of the dealer's behaviour) and of the Customer Service Director of Discover themselves who really went out of the way to get matters sorted (he even went so far as posting a part required to the branch himself!).

My wife was angry than when we went to collect the van, it was filthy (having sat outside at the dealers for 6 weeks) but I was just glad to get the hell out of there.

We won't actually know if all the faults have been fixed until we plug the thing into the mains but so far so good. What wasn't so good, however, was the amount of jumping up and down it took to get the dealer's to fulfil their obligations under the terms of the warranty.

To this end, as I stated on another thread on here, I intend to look into the whole issue of caravan warranty repairs. A website should hopefully be online in the next month or so which will allow us to take matters further and heighten this issue but in the meantime, could I ask people to email any tales of caravan warranty woes to me at:

caravanservicestories@googlemail.com

Please try to be as specific as possible - naming dealers (contact numbers if possible), year, model and make of van and also state if the faults/problems were resolved to your satisfaction or whether they are still on-going.

Thanks to all for their assistance and I hope everyone has a pleasant (and as rain-free as possible) Easter weekend.

JGX

 

[jag.19v]

An update. . .

Well, I have the caravan back, after many dramas this week as to whether or not the van would actually be fixed on time for the bank holiday weekend.

In the end it was but thanks only to the intervention of Swift (who I contacted via swift-talk following the kind advice on here and who were appalled to learn of the dealer's behaviour) and of the Customer Service Director of Discover themselves who really went out of the way to get matters sorted (he even went so far as posting a part required to the branch himself!).

My wife was angry than when we went to collect the van, it was filthy (having sat outside at the dealers for 6 weeks) but I was just glad to get the hell out of there.

We won't actually know if all the faults have been fixed until we plug the thing into the mains but so far so good. What wasn't so good, however, was the amount of jumping up and down it took to get the dealer's to fulfil their obligations under the terms of the warranty.

To this end, as I stated on another thread on here, I intend to look into the whole issue of caravan warranty repairs. A website should hopefully be online in the next month or so which will allow us to take matters further and heighten this issue but in the meantime, could I ask people to email any tales of caravan warranty woes to me at:

caravanservicestories@googlemail.com

Please try to be as specific as possible - naming dealers (contact numbers if possible), year, model and make of van and also state if the faults/problems were resolved to your satisfaction or whether they are still on-going.

Thanks to all for their assistance and I hope everyone has a pleasant (and as rain-free as possible) Easter weekend.

JGX

Hi JGX,

Your post and mine are complete mirror images of our events this week. It can't be a coincidence that we both own a Swift 'van, and the dealer's were miraculously galvanised into action. This is the customer service that SHOULD be the norm, not an exception every time some poor owner has had to kick up a fuss. We shouldn't need to. I like to think my issues were dealt with by a caring dealership, providing the after sales service we take for granted when we purchase our new 'vans, but somehow I feel a word may have been whispered into someone's lug-hole, from a secret helper! Maybe one who reads this forum?

 

[JGX]

A further update . . .

Well here we are set up for the weekend. . . STILL with no heat!! Why? Because the fan in the Truma heater that was meant to be fixed and because the dealers had failed to screw the front panel on the heater back on so during the course of the journey down, it had worked itself lose and was hanging off by the thin cables. . .

I tell you, heads are going to roll on Tuesday!!!!

 

[JGX]

A further update . . .

Well here we are set up for the weekend. . . STILL with no heat!! Why? Because the fan in the Truma heater that was meant to be fixed still isn't working and because the dealers had failed to screw the front panel on the heater back on so during the course of the journey down, it had worked itself lose and was hanging off by the thin cables. . .

I tell you, heads are going to roll on Tuesday!!!!

 

[JGX]

A further update . . .

Well here we are set up for the weekend. . . STILL with no heat!! Why? Because the fan in the Truma heater that was meant to be fixed still isn't working and because the dealers had failed to screw the front panel on the heater back on so during the course of the journey down, it had worked itself lose and was hanging off by the thin cables. . .

I tell you, heads are going to roll on Tuesday!!!!

 

[SBS]

I really hope you get your 'van sorted. Incidentally, the cover of the Truma heater isn't designed to be screwed to hold it in place. Provided that the heatshield has been installed correctly, the springclips should hold it on under normal conditions.

The fan is not neccessary to use the heater as it will work as a convector without it. The two systems are separate but they should have checked it before you collected the 'van.

Mike