We have been working and travelling for the last two years, currently in western NSW working on a station. We needed to updated from a pop top to a full van with a little more comfort, we had been shopping around for about 6mths.We finally found the van that had everything we wanted, was a 2008 Excellent condition and photos showed the van to be very neat and no damage. We decided to buy it from this dealer after asking many questions, our 1999 Windsor Windcheater was in Excellent condition so we did a trade in.On arrival the van had been towed from Sydney, was supposed to of been on the back of a truck, it was wet and dark so we had a quick look and swapped vans and hit the road. The next day we were totally devastated to find out that the van had not even been detailed, mouldy curtains, mouldy fridge, dirt and grime everywhere and worst of all the toilet had floating objects in it, just disgusting(mind you we were ask to make sure our porta potty was left empty and clean).Than we started to find out all the damage to the van, break cable broken,dints,massive dint in the door, warped ply wood under seats(thats why seats were creaking),damage to a wall around the shower this is obviously from water damage. Large crake in roof and the list goes on, there was also missing annex, awning poles, DVD player, BBQ connection and the TV didn't even work. We begged the dealer for our old van back but asked us what we wanted. After days of negotiation we finally came to an amount to be refunded, and were told once we had received the refund we were never to call the dealer again. Shame on them for the van they have delivered, their attitudes and the stress they have caused to me and my husband.
If anyone is able to help us we would like to take this further (name and shame) as we do not want anyone to have to go through the same devastation we have been through (and still not sure if we have purchased a LEMON).
We have spent two days cleaning the van and we are trying to make it feel like home, this is our home on wheels and hope we eventually feel the same comfort as our last van.
PLEASE BEWARE OF BUYING OFF THE INTERNET, MAKE SURE YOU SIGHT THE VAN (touch and feel).
Never buy any thing un seen, i know they just re post the same photoes on the adds over and over again. Maybe take your complaint to Fair Trading , give them a ring i think it is a toll free number. Good luck and yes name and shame is the only way to weed this kind of business out , and to let us all know to stay away from them.
What a shame, hope you can get it to a level where you are happy again Alcath. "Buyer beware" is a good lesson to us all. You can always name the dealer by pm if anybody asks.
As the others have said, Never buy sight unseen. Having said that, at the time you received your new?? van and realised it was that bad, I would have taken it straight back and sat there until the transactions were reversed, you got you old van back and a refund for what you had paid them. I suppose its ok for me to say that, you sould say, but I made a similiar mistake buying my van although I saw here before buying from a car yard but still had no idea how much it was going to cost me to get her back on the road. All I can suggest is to go the appropriate authorities, fair trading, ACCC, even the current affairs programs. They have certainly done you a bad deal and definitley should not be threatening you.
Hi Alcath and I too can only say sorry to hear it. There is a web site notgoodenough which is an excellent medium for giving shonks the negative publicity they have earned. The name of this particular dealer should be made public by whatever means possible and to the devil with slander/defamation laws. Being of the old school and bush born and bred I personally have a method to bring dishonest persons into line but you have to be prepared to get hit back occasionally. Not everybodys cup of tea. Caveat emptor does not preclude the right to justice.
I saw a caravan once that had a slogan on its tyre cover something like "we got ripped off by (the name of the caravan dealer". Could be a good way to spread the word!
I saw a caravan once that had a slogan on its tyre cover something like "we got ripped off by (the name of the caravan dealer". Could be a good way to spread the word!
+1 I like it!!!
My friend took a change this 2 years ago on a Merc Sprinter van.... paid in full sight un-seen, thankfully he had a trustworthy private seller... his van has been brilliant and better than could be expected.
What i would like to add though is, through being a member on many forums, i actually had a friend that lived not far away from the van, he was happy to check it out for me, so i could inturn pass it on to my friend whom was buying.
So maybe that is an option for some? Especially if the purchase is interstate
We were driving through a place some time back and parked on the side of the road was a NEW BMW ( car ) with a big sign written THIS IS A LEMON DO NOT GO NEAR( name and address written )...So what i am saying is i think who ever owned that car was not a happy camper for what ever reason.
I saw for weeks a Motorhome I wont say what Brand, But it sat our side a garden nursery the hole of the back of the motor home, was in Big black lettering Would YOU BUY This listing all the fault it must have worked as its gone now, I don't know if it was someone in the Nursery who bought it, or it was bought from there
Thanks,we actually had it delivered and we asked 4 times for them to return our van and take this back,if it was to go back we were going to fill it with lemons.Would have love to have seen there faces when they opened the door,PRICELESS.We are still in the process of reporting them so no one else has to go through the stress we have gone through.
