Lunar Caravans Administration
Comments
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Here are comments on company from staff. Makes dire reading, and gives an insight into why the vans have such a poor reputation.
https://www.indeed.co.uk/cmp/Lunar-Caravans/reviews
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Two weeks ago whilst in France with friends we discussed going to the NEC in October but agreed that whilst we will go for the day out we are happy with our van, a two year old Lunar Clubman, so would not be looking to change.
Took van for service last week and pointed out minor issue with window alignment. They said not to worry we will sort it without bothering Lunar as they are so difficult to deal with.
As said it is a sad day for staff who are facing an uncertain future.
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swift reported increase in MH profit in early part of year but, with a totally flat sales profile since, they are warning of a very tough outlook ahead...
but in MHs, there is far more continental sales penetration compared with caravans....
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😱, wow now that is a company that deserves to fold. If only to save countless pain to customers & injury to the workforce. It seems the birds are coming home to roost. Perhaps the root & branch change many have been calling for May just be starting👍🏻
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Doesn’t surprise me. The 2 dealers in Norfolk gave up with Lunar due to quality and delivery issues. Sussex caravans stop stocking them this year for the same reason. When you read the article below most of the employees are on temporary contracts so I'm not surprised at the quality problems
Glad I got rid of mine as I would never have got it repaired, new front windows/floor etc
See below
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"god help anyone who buys a lunar caravan seriously. Everything is so rushed that it's impossible to get the job done so the caravans just go through with screws etc missing and covered up with caps. Put it this way, you'd be safer in a tent inside a volcano than you would be inside a lunar caravan on your driveway."
If this is an assessment by production staff, it is no wonder they are in trouble. Is this the start of the demise of the UK caravan industry? There do seem to be parallels here with the yacht building industry in the UK. Household names like Moodys, Westerley and Macwester are all history, replaced by European volume manufacturers.
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Having been the happy owner of our previous Lunar for 6 seasons and over 750 nights away using about 110 sites I am sorry to read the news.
The caravan constructors seem to use a lot of seasonal and agency staff with resultant poor job security and poor reviews are not a surprise.
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They may then have lost their jobs for that too😕. It was a very 80’s thing was the ‘intimidating work environment’, it doesn’t surprise me that the odd company still clung to the past.
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You clearly have very little idea about the HSE. They are ridiculously understaffed and barely have the recourses to turn up if there is a serious incident or death in the workplace. Additionally, it doesn't sound as if anyone caught whistleblowing would be welcomed by the company. I expect their P45 would be in the post.
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It is galling David. We do a similar annual towing mileage and, with one minor exception, our repairs were limited to auxillary bits and pieces such as fridge 230v element, grill unit, one spotlight and toilet pump. The one minor exception was a top locker hinge becoming loose on first usage.
I suppose the difference was probably due to poor line management of short term seasonal work force. One inefficient worker with a sealant gun or power driver can cause an awful lot of problems.
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We had a Lunar Lexon, 9 years ago, it was a lovely van and we were very happy with it.
At the first service however they noticed cracking on the rear panel. This was reported to Lunar and a warranty job was raised, no fuss no problem new back panel sent and fitted.
It's such a shame when you hear that a company has had problems and that things have not been right for the workforce for awhile.
I do hope that they get new buyers and that things improve. We need competition in the leisure industry not just one or two big companies.
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The vast majority of Lunar Workers are on short term contracts. To me, this shows a lack of commitment towards recruitment, training and staff retention. All will have severe repercussions on the quality of product, as quite frankly, no one gives a damn so long as units turned out reach the dealers and unsuspecting buyers. I don’t single out Lunar, this so called business model is deeply entrenched now across all aspects of UK working life, and it’s why some companies operate morally disgusting None Disclosure Policies. It’s got so bad that even corrupt, illegal and downright dangerous working practices and cost cutting are being covered up.
I have a great deal of sympathy for those workers, short term or fully contracted who might lose their jobs. I have even more sympathy for those at the other end of this sad story, who might be investing a very large sum of money into a lottery of buying what they hope will be an enjoyable new holiday life. I have no nice thoughts at all for those at the top, or owners at Lunar. They haven’t been doing their jobs properly and it cascades down. I hope it’s a wake up call to other manufacturers.
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It's a very serious situation for the workers who no doubt have families to look after and mortgages to pay. A few unknown disgruntled individuals on a web site who run down the company is not a realistic indication of the true situation which appears to involve cash flow and "challenging" times ie order books, bank lending etc.
I have sympathy for all of those involved.
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Sadly brue, it’s not just those that work there that paint a less than savoury picture of Lunar life. Product and after sales care reviews are not very positive either. It smacks very much like the old BL car industry at its worse, with quality control at source totally inept. Very much a lotteryin terms of buying a good one, or ending up with a nightmare.
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I have the same sympathy, however I’ve known & heard of some companies so bad at being companies by cutting corners(the first to go being H&S) they have caused life to be lost. I would prefer a company to fail than cost life or limb, I’m odd like that.
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My thoughts are similar Rocky, and sadly what is known about poor management only comes out when a full blown crisis reaches the news. I also find it deeply frustrating that too often a rescue package only seems to come from a none British takeover. Speaks volumes about culture and acceptance, as a Nation we are owned and serviced by the rest of the World at far too high a percentage. 🙁
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good luck to all at Lunar but this post has highlighted (again) a quirk of the English language....
is the word 'non' not in the Northern vocabulary? I guess it's a dialect thing?
ive noticed for ever on ct that some posters use 'none' (all appear to be from the North) where others (perhaps from the South?) might use 'non'...
none disclosure (non disclosure)
none British (non British)...
etc....?
no criticism, merely interested....
not much else to say about the Lunar situation, hopefully a rescue plan will be forthcoming....
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I'm not aware of fatalities or otherwise at the company mentioned on this thread, maybe you know more than me Rocky? (I hope there haven't been such issues.)
I'm wondering how those who have ordered vans will be affected, what are the financial implications for them?
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