Warranty Elddis Caravans

[alfiebash]

Owner of an Elddis Odessey 524L 2007 have had it from new,recently noticed pitting of the Gas Locker Door under the front window, discoularization of the GRP surface , am informed by Elddis that this problem is not covered by the warranty, apparantly one year is all you get, then they start to move the goal posts, with regards to what consitutes warranty and what does not, has any other reader had the same problems and if so how did they get on with Elddis

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Alfred,

are you getting confused between a warranty a and guarantee? A Warranty is statement about the conditions of a products at a particular point in time, and Guarantee is a statement from the guarantor of what action they will take if a prescribed set of conditions occurs. They are very different and have very different legal implications.

Under the Sale Of Goods Act(SoGA), A warranty is either written or implied that the new goods you have purchased were fit for purpose at the time and point of sale. If the goods prove otherwise, then you can expect the seller ( not the manufactuer unless you purchased directly) to remedy the situation. These are your statutory rights under SoGA. It is also worth noting that a warranty does not have a fixed period, but depending on the nature of the goods some warranty claims may be upheld for up to 6 years from date of purchase.

The manufacturers guarantee is a very different kettle of fish. Firstly it is not a legal requirement, and because of this the manufacture can stipulate almost any set of criteria about what is and is not covered. What they cannot do is to change the terms of a guarantee once it has been accepted or enacted.

If you believe the locker lid was faulty at the time of purchase, then your action should be against the seller, BUT because the product is more than 6 month old you will have to be able to prove the fault existed at the time of sale. Because warranty is part of your contract with the seller, the manufactures views on the condition or cause are not binding on you or the seller.

If you go down the Manufactuers Guarantee route, you are bound by the scope and limitations set out in the manufactures documentation you received with the new caravan.

Please note that the seller is the organisation or person you pay your money too for the product. If you used a finance house, they may be your seller rather than the dealer. If you intend to take any sort of legal action I recommend you seek professional legal advice.

the

 

[alfiebash]

Hello Alfred,

are you getting confused between a warranty a and guarantee? A Warranty is statement about the conditions of a products at a particular point in time, and Guarantee is a statement from the guarantor of what action they will take if a prescribed set of conditions occurs. They are very different and have very different legal implications.

Under the Sale Of Goods Act(SoGA), A warranty is either written or implied that the new goods you have purchased were fit for purpose at the time and point of sale. If the goods prove otherwise, then you can expect the seller ( not the manufactuer unless you purchased directly) to remedy the situation. These are your statutory rights under SoGA. It is also worth noting that a warranty does not have a fixed period, but depending on the nature of the goods some warranty claims may be upheld for up to 6 years from date of purchase.

The manufacturers guarantee is a very different kettle of fish. Firstly it is not a legal requirement, and because of this the manufacture can stipulate almost any set of criteria about what is and is not covered. What they cannot do is to change the terms of a guarantee once it has been accepted or enacted.

If you believe the locker lid was faulty at the time of purchase, then your action should be against the seller, BUT because the product is more than 6 month old you will have to be able to prove the fault existed at the time of sale. Because warranty is part of your contract with the seller, the manufactures views on the condition or cause are not binding on you or the seller.

If you go down the Manufactuers Guarantee route, you are bound by the scope and limitations set out in the manufactures documentation you received with the new caravan.

Please note that the seller is the organisation or person you pay your money too for the product. If you used a finance house, they may be your seller rather than the dealer. If you intend to take any sort of legal action I recommend you seek professional legal advice.

the

Thankyou John. for clarifying the difference between warranty and gaurantee, as you can appreciat the van is 2years old and have little or no chance of getting anyone to cough up for the repairs needed to rectify this problem.

was just a wee bit miffed as have never seen this prob before , and to me its poor manufacturing practise for this to occour in such a short space of time.

Regards Alfie.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello again Alfred,

If you genuinely believe the fault was a manufacturing problem, then you may have a case against the seller under SoGA, BUT the onus is on you to establish that "on the balance of probabilities" (the criteria for civil cases)the fault was present, but not necessarily manifested, at the point of sale.

One should also Bear in mind that there is a duty on the customer to take reasonable care to preserve and use a product correctly, the older a product is the more difficult it is to show correct care has been used, or that no activity has occurred that might have caused or exacerbated the apparent fault.

If you can get an independent caravan engineers report to describe the fault and its likely cause, and if that confirms your suspicion, then you may wish to consider presenting that information to your seller with a request for the fault to be put right under the requirements of the SoGA.

I must warn you though, if the seller resists the claim, and you choose to pursue it through the small claims courts, you should take professional legal advice before proceeding.

I expect you will be told by your adviser that each party is usually responsible for their own costs (i.e. The engineers reports, legal and court fees), and that if the claim is upheld, the award may be reduced due to the age and part of of the products normal life expectancy that has been used up.

You should also be aware that any remedy under SoGA is only to return the customer to the same position as if the fault had not occurred.

My heart says you should stick up for your rights. But my head tells me that may be difficult to establish the problem was present at the point of sale and in this case it may cost more to pursue the case, than to simply have the cover replaced.

 

[Guest]

As has been mentioned the SOG Act is a bit of a minefield. Most people when they buy an item expect it to be in 100% condition, however that is not necessarily the case. An item has to be fit for purpose, but not necessarily fault free to meet the SOG Act. For example if your van has a broken locker door, then it is not fit for purpose, however if it is not aligned correctly with the neighbouring doors, this does not mean the door does not function correctly. In that case you should try for a remedy under a guarantee. becuase claiming under the SOG Act will not work.

In Alfred's case he is not claimng his locker door is damaged merely that it is pitted and discoloured. If it is over 6 months old and he has not mentioned this to the dealer within that time, then his case is weakened in as such the dealer could argue the pitting and discolouration is due to his maintenance of the van while in his possesion. While Alfred is sure that is not the case, proving liability under the SOG Act will be very difficult.

Where does Alfred stand? In Law not very well. Basically he bought a van in 2007 and has had it for 2 years. He now sees a problem, but would be unable to prove it was a fault there at the time of purchase.

His answer? Basically if he is unhappy then he will need to buy a new locker door and put it down to experience. Blaming Eldis is fine for his peace of mind, but as Eldis probably bought the locker door from a 3rd party, that is not really relevant. Any manufacturer could have had the same problem.

In the real world Alfred should approach a professional ABS plastic repairer and see what they would charge to fill the pitting and respray the locker door to its original colour.

 

[alfiebash]

As has been mentioned the SOG Act is a bit of a minefield. Most people when they buy an item expect it to be in 100% condition, however that is not necessarily the case. An item has to be fit for purpose, but not necessarily fault free to meet the SOG Act. For example if your van has a broken locker door, then it is not fit for purpose, however if it is not aligned correctly with the neighbouring doors, this does not mean the door does not function correctly. In that case you should try for a remedy under a guarantee. becuase claiming under the SOG Act will not work.

In Alfred's case he is not claimng his locker door is damaged merely that it is pitted and discoloured. If it is over 6 months old and he has not mentioned this to the dealer within that time, then his case is weakened in as such the dealer could argue the pitting and discolouration is due to his maintenance of the van while in his possesion. While Alfred is sure that is not the case, proving liability under the SOG Act will be very difficult.

Where does Alfred stand? In Law not very well. Basically he bought a van in 2007 and has had it for 2 years. He now sees a problem, but would be unable to prove it was a fault there at the time of purchase.

His answer? Basically if he is unhappy then he will need to buy a new locker door and put it down to experience. Blaming Eldis is fine for his peace of mind, but as Eldis probably bought the locker door from a 3rd party, that is not really relevant. Any manufacturer could have had the same problem.

In the real world Alfred should approach a professional ABS plastic repairer and see what they would charge to fill the pitting and respray the locker door to its original colour.

Thanks to John and Scotch Lad for their comments re my prob with locker door, food for thought from both of you, will have to see which path to follow next.

Regards Alfie B.