When the dealer keeps wasting your time with visits (drawing it out months apart) and still doesn't fix the problem , hoping you will go away , where do I go next ?
Still waiting on a reply from manufacturer.
Legally where do you go, I think it will be the only way to get them to act.
The National Competition and Consumer Legislation that was introduced in 2010 was for adoption by the various States and Territories and it is those jurisdictions that are responsible for enforcement of the intent of the legislation. In other words, it is NOT the manufacturer who is in the barrel (as such). It is the responsibility of the dealer who sold the product to make good the problem. In short, the Office of Fair Trading in your State is the place to take the matter to and if you do not get satisfaction from them, then I suggest you get legal advice and/or take the matter to the Civil and Administrative Tribunal (or Small Claims Tribunal) for Civil remedy against the dealer. Just because a van is manufactured in another State does NOT exempt the dealer from having to fix the problem! The Dealers are well aware of this fact!
Such a shame when it gets to this point. We know we have been there with a vehicle not the van. From considered experience your first port of call should be Consumer Affairs. Your contract is with the dealer, not the manufacturer and consumer laws are very clear. Consumer Affairs will act on your behalf. Make sure you have all documentation, a record of all contact with the dealer in regards to the problems and any other info you can supply them with. The law is pretty simple, the dealer has to fix, replace or reimburse you for the problems. Good luck and stick with it. It took 2.5 years with the vehicle but eventually the vehicle was bought back from me - an excellent outcome for us and all done via Consumer Affairs
Sorry to hear about your problems, had a few with our van as well ,but I managed to fix a few things myself ,and haveing to drive miles out the way several times to the dealer was A dreadful pain in the butt.
Water leaks and seriouse electrical problems are hard to solve , just curious what are the problems with your van,there's no name and shame here for the forum if the name of the manufacturer and the dealer is not mentioned, and you may receive some good information most things can be fixed and then happy days....
The Dealer is responsible for the first 12 months of your warranty, then it falls to the manufacturer.
You must address all your warranty claims in writing (email is fine) and give them a reasonable time to respond - usually 7 working days to your request for repairs.
If they are not responding, then email whichever one and tell them that if they do not reply within a further 7 days, you will complain to the ACCC (who looks after consumer complaints) or your State Fair Trading Dept (all states and territories have one). After your 12 month warranty it becomes an "implied" warranty under the Trade Practices Act and accompanying consumer protection legislation. Generally the ACCC considers an RV for most of it has an implied warranty of 3-5 years (structural is 5+ years).
If they still do not complain, then phone the ACCC or your State organization. They will ask you to put your complaint in writing (they will email you a complaint form) and attach to it all your previous emails to the Deaaler/manufacturer.
I have a van that is now 2 years old and after threats of ACCC and implied warranty, the manufacturer has agreed to fix faults on what they call a "good will" gesture lol.
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Thanks for all the responses. Certainly know what to do now.
Its been ongoing now for 17mths since new , numerous issues , been back 14 times , they've had it about 3 months in total, fixed most things. The last time 2 weeks ago , they had it for 3 weeks and it still came back with 2 out of the 4 issues , one was a recall 5 minute fix , they made me wait 3 months for that appointment . I have over 40 emails in correspondence and everything is documented. I think if the Lemon Laws were in I'd have a good chance of getting a refund. I didn't expect all this grief when I handed over 180k for a new Motorhome. Luckily we weren't ready to take off on our lap as we wouldn't have got far.
Thanks
Mick
If you have been complaining about the issues since new or within the warranty time frame, they have absolutely no come back and something must be done about them, even now and by the dealer, not the manufacturer. I can not stress this enough and that is the one thing that I had drummed into me by consumer affairs during our situation...your contract was with the dealer and they should be well aware of consumer laws. Unfortunately you have to be the strong one here and with all your documentation they should not get away with it. May be we were lucky with the consumer affairs person we dealt with but she took over our case and kept me up to date at all times. As I said I had major problems 6 months after purchasing the vehicle and it took over 2 years to get an outcome but I was determined to see it through.
leajoy,
I have been complaining since I drove it out the gate.
I will be seeing this through , you can count on that.
I would like to name and shame them but I had to sign a non disclosure statement on one item before they would change it , as I caught them out. I feel sorry for the ones who don't know , that's all I can put it down too if they didn't want me to tell others. This is what you have to put up with in this industry.
Mick
Hi goldcoaster - lets have a guess at the manufacturer - the biggest RV maker in Australia??????
They wouldn't try to enforce the non-disclosure document anyway - too costly and time consuming and can you imagine what the Court would say when all the facts were presented !!
My lemon came from Supreme and the only thing that's changed after 62 warranty repairs, is we still have more.
They are frightened when you start quoting "implied warranty" and the ACCC.
If you choose to use your State consumer agency and don't get strong support, dump them and go to the ACCC
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Thanks Bruce and Bev you hit the nail on the head.
Haven't had as many issues as you but what I have had feels like 62 repairs because it keeps going back for the same issues over and over again.
I emailed dealer a week ago telling him I still had issues and I would give him a week to get back to me . The week was up yesterday and I emailed him and asked what he intended to do , I always put a read receipt on emails , so I know he read it. Got no response so now we go further.
Thanks for all the info , will keep you posted as I wouldn't want anyone else to go through what we have.
Mick
