Warranty - A cautionary tale
We had a Unicorn S1 with a 10 year damp warranty. It twice went back to the factory for extensive damp repairs so we sold it after 4 years. Due to the history we traded it in for a new Motorhome rather than sell it privately as the history of damp would have made it difficult to sell. The dealer did a damp check, everything was sound, they were happy and paid us a good price as trade-in.
The dealer moved it to another branch and sold it to a lady who has subsequently been in touch with me. The van has extensive damp (again!) and the dealer wants over £5000 to fix it. They have a limited £1000 warranty. The lady was trying to trace the history so I told her about the previous problems.
The point of the story - the new owner failed to register the warranty with Bailey who still had us down as the owners. They were not told to do this by the dealer and hadn't worked it out for themselves. No come-back. A sad tale!
Comments
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It proves the old adage "buyer beware" and the poor customer care or ignorance of the dealer not to have advised of the warranty details ,i do not think i would let it rest and go to the dealers for a better result,and it being a series one Unicorn i take it it was the known front locker problem where the damp was found,was it done correctly in the first recall from Bailey to the original dealer
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In the initial recall a large section of the front floor was replaced. Six months after we collected it the next service was carried out and damp in the rear was spotted so a section of the rear floor was replaced. Our very experienced dealer said that it was a lack of mastic sealant applied during the manufacturing process alll along the sidewall to floor joint.
The other annoying thing was that we had a lifetime Tracker subscription. We passed the details to the dealer and he said that he would pass them on; the subscription would not have been valid but I assume a new subscription could be taken out without the need for a new Tracker to be fitted. Again, the new owners had never been told and didn't even know what a Tracker was.
Of course, the dealer is out of pocket also for the repairs so it was in their interest as well as the customers to tell them about the warranty. Either lack of experience or just incompetence.
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i thought you said there had only been one case of 'Bailey damp'?
as V9 says, a sad indictment.....also pretty blooming crap customer care from the selling dealer, i think Id be giving him a good kicking, legal come back or not.
how to let down your customer, not tell them theres a transferrable manufacturer warranty and offer up some tiny limited effort instead
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The lady needs to be made aware of The Consumer Protection Act or The Sale of Goods Act (depending on the date of sale) which gives her rights against the dealer irrespective of the so called warranty and she possibly has additional rights if the dealer did not arrange the transfer of the Bailey warranty.
Details of her rights can be found on The Citizens Advice website and there is a helpline which she can use to discuss the matter. Never be fooled by dealer who quote warranties, they are avoiding their own responsibilities and without knowing what the extent of the damp is £5,000 sound ridiculously high in most cases.
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The Club needs a name and sham section. If a member has a problem the club checks a few facts, then asks the offender for their reply, it no action, then name and sham. How many members do we have in the club, enough to have some pulling power BUT (sorry not aloud to use upper case) the club will never do it as it might mean doing something for nothing for its members! Unlike regulating how we type.
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hi,
what lots of people need to look at is their home ins. or bank account. Nowadays a lot of these things come with 'legal advice'. These new owners may or may not have a little more help this way. The cost of these items is huge and Trading Standards or whoever should be involved in the production standard in my mind.
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Both clubs have legal advice lines if the lady is a member but I assumed not. You can get these with some house insurances or union membership if that helps.
If not Citizens Advice are very good but personally I would be looking for an independent opinion and quote for the work as well as £5,000 is very high although I do not know the extent of the problem but it would need to be very extensive to justify that figure.
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