Are you planning to buy a caravan? You might want to hold off on the purchase.

While the vehicles are popular among Aussies — one in 13 Australian households have a caravan, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia — customers are allegedly being treated poorly by the industry.

According to a survey by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 80 per cent of owners have experienced problems with a new caravan.

The most common complaints, you ask? There are multiple concerns, which include ‘consumer guarantee failures, misrepresentations by caravan suppliers and unexpected delays in the delivery and repair of caravans.’

Denise Tiyse is one of many new caravan owners who are experiencing buyer’s remorse.

Her story reads like a series of misfortunes, one after another, right from the moment she paid for the caravan.

‘They just treated us like garbage from day one, once they got our money,’ Denise shares with the ABC.

Last October, Denise purchased a caravan for $75,000 upfront using her inheritance. Like many owners, she and her husband wanted to enjoy a getaway.

One in 13 Australian households own a caravan.​

When the suppliers scratched their family car while attaching the caravan, the sellers denied responsibility. They only promised to do something about it if Denise pushed through with the purchase.

Unfortunately for Denise, the problems did not end there. Once they were on the road, they had to deal with broken accessories.

Among their requirements was a functioning oven. Her husband, who had suffered from salivary gland cancer, required a strict diet that had to be maintained during the trip. But the oven broke too.

Denise said that the suppliers dragged their feet after they called for help. And when they did actually fix the issue, they were not proactive enough to hire gas fitters. As it turned out, there was a major leak that eventually cost the Tiyses two nine-kilogram canisters.

At this point, you could be forgiven for asking if the purchase was even worth it.

Denise now regrets it after being accused of lying and consistently refused help by dismissive suppliers.

What began as a couple’s desire for an idyllic road trip ended with them losing a hefty amount of money and putting their lives in danger.

After the nightmarish experience, Ms Tiyse filed a complaint to SafeWork NSW, which then gave the supplier a warning.

The supplier, however, ‘took umbrage at the accusations’, and claimed they assisted Ms Tiyse as best they could. They then blamed Dometic, the caravan manufacturer, for faulty appliances and delivery of incorrect parts for causing the delay.

Many Aussies purchase a caravan with the intent to explore the country’s unique landscapes. Image Source: Open AI​

The supplier also insisted that they disclosed the broken oven to Ms Tiyse while awaiting a response from Dometic.

The ACCC has already warned the caravan industry about unfair consumer treatment. The watchdog has received more than 1,300 complaints from owners since 2017.

The commission argues that it is only reasonable to expect that any new purchases won’t have major issues, especially in the first few years.

‘Consumers need to be confident that, when they make a significant financial purchase like a caravan, they will be able to get a refund, replacement or a repair if there is a failure,’ Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the ACCC, said.

For many Aussies, a caravan is a major investment, with people saving for years before purchase.

If you own a caravan, have you experienced issues with it before? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

 

[Dougal129]

Are you planning to buy a caravan? You might want to hold off on the purchase.

While the vehicles are popular among Aussies — one in 13 Australian households have a caravan, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia — customers are allegedly being treated poorly by the industry.

According to a survey by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 80 per cent of owners have experienced problems with a new caravan.

The most common complaints, you ask? There are multiple concerns, which include ‘consumer guarantee failures, misrepresentations by caravan suppliers and unexpected delays in the delivery and repair of caravans.’

Denise Tiyse is one of many new caravan owners who are experiencing buyer’s remorse.

Her story reads like a series of misfortunes, one after another, right from the moment she paid for the caravan.

‘They just treated us like garbage from day one, once they got our money,’ Denise shares with the ABC.

Last October, Denise purchased a caravan for $75,000 upfront using her inheritance. Like many owners, she and her husband wanted to enjoy a getaway.

View attachment 4738
One in 13 Australian households own a caravan.​

When the suppliers scratched their family car while attaching the caravan, the sellers denied responsibility. They only promised to do something about it if Denise pushed through with the purchase.

Unfortunately for Denise, the problems did not end there. Once they were on the road, they had to deal with broken accessories.

Among their requirements was a functioning oven. Her husband, who had suffered from salivary gland cancer, required a strict diet that had to be maintained during the trip. But the oven broke too.

Denise said that the suppliers dragged their feet after they called for help. And when they did actually fix the issue, they were not proactive enough to hire gas fitters. As it turned out, there was a major leak that eventually cost the Tiyses two nine-kilogram canisters.

At this point, you could be forgiven for asking if the purchase was even worth it.

Denise now regrets it after being accused of lying and consistently refused help by dismissive suppliers.

What began as a couple’s desire for an idyllic road trip ended with them losing a hefty amount of money and putting their lives in danger.

After the nightmarish experience, Ms Tiyse filed a complaint to SafeWork NSW, which then gave the supplier a warning.

The supplier, however, ‘took umbrage at the accusations’, and claimed they assisted Ms Tiyse as best they could. They then blamed Dometic, the caravan manufacturer, for faulty appliances and delivery of incorrect parts for causing the delay.

View attachment 4739
Many Aussies purchase a caravan with the intent to explore the country’s unique landscapes. Image Source: Open AI​

The supplier also insisted that they disclosed the broken oven to Ms Tiyse while awaiting a response from Dometic.

The ACCC has already warned the caravan industry about unfair consumer treatment. The watchdog has received more than 1,300 complaints from owners since 2017.

The commission argues that it is only reasonable to expect that any new purchases won’t have major issues, especially in the first few years.

‘Consumers need to be confident that, when they make a significant financial purchase like a caravan, they will be able to get a refund, replacement or a repair if there is a failure,’ Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the ACCC, said.

For many Aussies, a caravan is a major investment, with people saving for years before purchase.

If you own a caravan, have you experienced issues with it before? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Name and shame them!!

 

[Cheb]

We had many caravans, updating every 5 years and never had a problem.
We always purchased new Jayco vans and they held their value very well.

 

[Chris P Bacon]

Name and shame them!!

Totally agree. Nothing like putting your issues in a monthly caravan or motorhome magazine to either make them lift their game or if they're that shonky then get out of the game. We don't need to support these sorts of Aussie companies.

 

[one2one]

We could not begin to tell you the trouble we had with our van which we purchased new from Jayco 2021. Our trouble started from the day we received a phone call in November 2021 saying we have some good news and bad news. “The good news your van has arrived bad news is your car is unable to tow it out of our yard” - even after they confirmed our car could tow it and was also confirm again by the Manager with the factory who make them. We were given the suggestion that upgrade your car …. Yep we have a money tree in our back yard . Option by Jayco Get a refund (we wish we did take the Refund but as we had waited so long we were given the option to have a van off the lot that our car could tow. On finally getting our van hooked onto our car and driving it out of the lot when taking it up a hill out front Tyers left the road . Frightened us no end that this happened but rang them and was told that right your car is front wheel drive ……..The list goes on and on and on and on. Our outcome we would never buy a van from Jayco and regret getting one and have only had one trip away in the van which was a our maiden trip of a 3 nights stay at a camp site , when it rained o. The second day yep you guesses the van leaked live a sieve., hand pump for water did not work so to get water out of our tank had to drain it by buckets from under the van - not impressed rang Jayco that day to advise, told they would fix it after a lengthy discussion when we bring our van in for the first service. so you can imagine when we got home I went over the van with a fine tooth comb . Hade photos and details relating g to our vans problems. As I mentioned the list goes on …. Jayco did fix all the problem eventually that is so say in by 2022. , although after our first service when we got home their was a problem that they said they fixed but it was still faulty. But that another story . We never got the van we originally ordered had to settle for another one and even then it was not safe to drive as mentioned above …… the only option left to us was to upgrade our vehicle to tow this van and NO we still do not have that money tree growing in our yard.. ……….

Buying this van has been nothing but disappointing and taken all our pleasure away from the excitement we anticipated we would have buying a caravan and exploring Parts of Australia . Thankfully If it had not been for the service centre in Tingalpa QLD I don’t know what we would have done as they fixed up all the problems over 27 of them At least we took photos of all the problems and have email back and forth to Jayco regarding this so should these issues continue as we will certainly take it further. I know we are not the only ones who have been mislead or disappointed with the quality the expected but never get. Shames on these caravan companies.
Sheron

 

[Ricci]

I was toying with the idea of buying a caravan but these stories do not fill me with confidence.

 

[Mistydolphin1]

We had a tyre blow out (new) and come up through the floor of the van. Demolished the lounge, all the things stored under the lounge unded up scattered along the road, cut the electrics and a few other things all in outback NT. That is not what you expect from a new van.

 

[casbah13]

We bought a brand new Nova Bravo Signature 216 9R van which we took delivery of on Friday 01 April 2022 and drove out of the dealership at 3.30pm. On Saturday 2nd April at 0930 we were travelling on the Bruxner Highway just outside Texas when we hit a large but shallow pothole. The result was the bolts holding the axel together snapped, the nearside rear tyre broke off and ended up wedged under the van and the front wheel was back where the rear wheel should have been. The wheels on the drivers side were also pushed out of alignment. We were very lucky that the van stayed upright and no-one was hurt and our car wasn't damaged.

We immediately lodged a claim with CIL Insurance but they have knocked us back twice stating fault due to manufacturing error. Nova (the manufacturer) knocked us back saying it was the chassis builder (AL-KO Chassis) who in turn put the blame on us stating damage due to road impact!

How can they just pass the buck without any responsibility for a van that cost us $93000 and was only 18 hours old! The customer service from NOVA has been absolutely disgraceful. Nearly 4 months later and without any positive response we are paying to have the van repaired ($15000) and have taken legal action.

 

[Ezzy]

Are you planning to buy a caravan? You might want to hold off on the purchase.

While the vehicles are popular among Aussies — one in 13 Australian households have a caravan, according to the Caravan Industry Association of Australia — customers are allegedly being treated poorly by the industry.

According to a survey by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 80 per cent of owners have experienced problems with a new caravan.

The most common complaints, you ask? There are multiple concerns, which include ‘consumer guarantee failures, misrepresentations by caravan suppliers and unexpected delays in the delivery and repair of caravans.’

Denise Tiyse is one of many new caravan owners who are experiencing buyer’s remorse.

Her story reads like a series of misfortunes, one after another, right from the moment she paid for the caravan.

‘They just treated us like garbage from day one, once they got our money,’ Denise shares with the ABC.

Last October, Denise purchased a caravan for $75,000 upfront using her inheritance. Like many owners, she and her husband wanted to enjoy a getaway.

View attachment 4738
One in 13 Australian households own a caravan.​

When the suppliers scratched their family car while attaching the caravan, the sellers denied responsibility. They only promised to do something about it if Denise pushed through with the purchase.

Unfortunately for Denise, the problems did not end there. Once they were on the road, they had to deal with broken accessories.

Among their requirements was a functioning oven. Her husband, who had suffered from salivary gland cancer, required a strict diet that had to be maintained during the trip. But the oven broke too.

Denise said that the suppliers dragged their feet after they called for help. And when they did actually fix the issue, they were not proactive enough to hire gas fitters. As it turned out, there was a major leak that eventually cost the Tiyses two nine-kilogram canisters.

At this point, you could be forgiven for asking if the purchase was even worth it.

Denise now regrets it after being accused of lying and consistently refused help by dismissive suppliers.

What began as a couple’s desire for an idyllic road trip ended with them losing a hefty amount of money and putting their lives in danger.

After the nightmarish experience, Ms Tiyse filed a complaint to SafeWork NSW, which then gave the supplier a warning.

The supplier, however, ‘took umbrage at the accusations’, and claimed they assisted Ms Tiyse as best they could. They then blamed Dometic, the caravan manufacturer, for faulty appliances and delivery of incorrect parts for causing the delay.

View attachment 4739
Many Aussies purchase a caravan with the intent to explore the country’s unique landscapes. Image Source: Open AI​

The supplier also insisted that they disclosed the broken oven to Ms Tiyse while awaiting a response from Dometic.

The ACCC has already warned the caravan industry about unfair consumer treatment. The watchdog has received more than 1,300 complaints from owners since 2017.

The commission argues that it is only reasonable to expect that any new purchases won’t have major issues, especially in the first few years.

‘Consumers need to be confident that, when they make a significant financial purchase like a caravan, they will be able to get a refund, replacement or a repair if there is a failure,’ Delia Rickard, deputy chair of the ACCC, said.

For many Aussies, a caravan is a major investment, with people saving for years before purchase.

If you own a caravan, have you experienced issues with it before? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

Typical of some manufacturers, make use of a bad situation & blame everyone else. If the product was faulty & incorrect parts supplied, all they need do is phone their supplier. This couple have been very unfortunate indeed. I am surprised they didn't blame Covid for the problems.

A gas leak could easily have led to an explosion dependant on where it was.

Many West Australians are now purchasing caravans from the Eastern States despite the long wait. My son-in-law is one who is waiting. I will relate this story to him.

The best thing l heard today was a lady who paid $5,000 to have her car engine fixed, over 2 years ago. The vehicle has been back & forward since. Today she received a phone call from the repairer to say he was scrapping the engine, was going to fit a new one & this was going to cost him $9,000. Of course, if this job was done properly over 2 years ago these ongoing problems would not have eventuated. Where have all the good tradespeople gone who took pride in their work?