Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 11:45
I've just been reading the horror stories in the van
forum blog by a repairer. What a shocking tale of no action by all our hordes of regulators who have no doubt had many complaints made to them.
The answer as to why no action is of course the same old story of the regulators being in the pockets of those being complained about.
We've got an 18 month old van and although we haven't noted any leaks as yet, we've had plenty of other problems.
When going away last July for a month tenting where no van dared go even if it was supposedly an off roader, we took it to the retalier complete with a list of things needing fixing.
Upon our return back we went to pick it up and were told several things weren't covered by the 12 month warranty but anything requiring a blob of silicone had been fixed:
Curtain lining material riddled with holes _ this was said to be insect infestation but no one could find an insect or say what type caused holes in straight lines through the material.
Nearside tyre scalloping badly - said to be wheel alignment so not covered. This is independent
suspension and the camber etc is set at manufacture and I could see no visible way of adjusting it so off to an independent to be checked. Nothing wrong with alignment but nearside shock very weak so back to retailer who just ignored us.
I gave them 10 days to come up with new shocks and a replacement tyre. No answer and I contacted Consumer Protection WA who eventually after a bit of prodding wrote to the retailer.
This resulted in new shocks and a new tyre but all came from the manu in the east at their leisure. Bugger us and a van we couldn't use was their attitude.
New curtains were provided after the girls in the retailers service/warranty section pushed our case and they arrived bundled up tightly into a football sized package and were so creased they all had to be ironed before fitting. Shows just what they thought of people who dared make complaints about their product.
But our complaints don't stop there, new tyre fitted and the steel wheel was found to be badly buckled so I took the other 2 to be checked, another was also badly buckled and 1 was "just" within tolerances.
This time I didn't bother with Consumer Protection but wrote a letter stating we wanted 3 new wheels fitted, balanced etc or I'd take them to court. Again no answer except the old bloke whose name is on the company said "inappropriate use" as an explanation for the buckling.
Only gravel road used was the GCR and that at low speed with less pressure in the tyres.
No answer again to our claim so I took out a small claims action through the court and claimed all costs associated with the alignment checking, new wheels, fitting and balancing etc and the manu paid up in about 10 days.
Now we've got a problem with the nearside brake where a part off the handbrake has broken possibly caused by all the shaking and vibration from the original buckled wheel.
Thinking it would be quicker and less hassle to approach the brake manu in the USA I sent pics to them and they quickly agreed to replace the brake via their
Melbourne distributor.
And that's where it's at at this moment, at least 3 weeks, a few phone calls and e-mails later (never relied to), many nice words from the distributor who assure us it's been sent (handbrake assembly only) and still nothing. Australia Post isn't that bad at getting things from East to West so it's obviously not been sent.
Methinks there's collusion going on between them and the maker who no doubt they contacted after I'd forwarded the e-mail from the US to them.
The van is not useable as we can't guarantee being able to set up on level ground and taking into consideration the fact that out of 18 months ownership we've only had about 6 months when we've been able to use the van, and all the other problems not listed above, I think court action is warranted to show the thing is not "fit for purpose".
Happy wanderings folks.
AlanH.
AnswerID:
512721
Follow Up By: AlanTH - Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 18:58
Friday, Jun 07, 2013 at 18:58
Just after posting the above we received the replacements for the broken brake part.
The US brake maker said they'd replace the "brake' but I presume the Oz distributor thought that was over the top and un-necessary!
It'll do though to get the thing going so I can sell it.
AlanH.
FollowupID:
791239