Problem with Dodgy Dealer
Being a brand-new caravanner, I bought a used caravan from a dealer rather than off eBay or Gumtree, trusting that it would be safer as I knew little or nothing about caravans. I bought a 15-year old Elddis Mistral GT from Kirkcaldy Caravans in Kirkcaldy.
It's a lovely little van but I'm having some problems with it and the dealer.
Friends had recommended the dealer but what we didn't realise was that things had changed since they'd been bought over a couple of years ago.
I was assured that there would be a service before I picked up the 'van and that they had serviced it for the past couple of years. I was annoyed to be told that the fridge wouldn't work on gas when I went to pick it up - "to be expected with that age of
caravan" - as I'd made it clear that I often camped (with tents, previously) where there were no facilities. I also feel that this should have been discovered
before it went on sale. Some of the remedial actions that I'd pointed out to them had been done.
Since then, more and more has come to light. The paperwork for all those services is missing and I have grave doubts as to whether it has been done at all. I actually took the van to them before I went away for the weekend the first time as they wouldn't
answer my emails and told them to fix various things - such as an incredibly stiff jockey wheel action, non-working road lights and a missing promised mains cable (I'm still waiting for the promised towing electrics adaptor) - before I picked it up that evening.
I was verbally told that I had a three-month warranty - nowhere is that written and mine is the only signature on the paperwork I have. At least they informed CRiS who have sent me some paperwork to fill in.
This weekend, I had trouble hitching up the van. The jockey wheel actually fell off and some sort of electrics connector fell out from the underside of the A-frame which then had to be jury-rigged up with rope so that I could tow. I have not been able to
get the gas at all for the stove to work though the electric pump and water heater works excellently well; I haven't dared to try the fire yet on gas or electric.
I took the caravan into Wallace Caravans, also in Kirkcaldy, who are main Elddis dealers (though tucked out of the way so you really have to know about them rather than pass them) this afternoon. They are going to do a full service with damp check for me,
sort out the jockey wheel, the incredibly jamming handbrake, run the towing electrics properly without a join and giving me new plugs (rather than ones held together with tape), and check that the gas is working properly amongst other things. Oh - and the
tyres are possibly dangerous!
I want to send a list of all the things they find to be wrong with the caravan to Kirkcaldy Caravans, the original dealer, with a copy to their parent company and another to Trading Standards. It has been suggested that I may be able to take them to the
Small Claims Court if they won't pay the bill for the caravan to be made safe and in the condition it should have been when it was sold to me.
Has anyone ever done this before and, if so, do you have any advice?
Needless to say, my advice is to avoid Kirkcaldy Caravans like the plague!