Can I claim compensation

[Camperuser]

Hi

 

We bought a campervan in Scotland earlier this year. It is a three berth campervan, designed to take two adults (parents) and our daughter. The van was in stock. We specified a third bed kit when ordering the van. The salesman looked in the manufacturer's brochure to find the price, £295, and added that to the overall cost.

 

When we collected the van we commented that the third bed kit wasn't to the same standard as the rest of the van. The salesman said that he hadn't seen a third bed kit and that this was what came from the manufacturer.

 

The first time we tried the third bed it collapsed when my daughter sat on it, leaving a piece of wood with 4 long screws sticking out lying on the floor next to her.

 

When we told the salesman he first claimed that this was that was sent from their UK supplier, but eventually admitted that they had the faulty third bed kit made as it would have cost them ~£860 to buy the correct third bed kit from the manufacturers.

 

Eventually, they agreed to replace the bed kit with the correct one. Their initial timescale was 2 weeks, increasing to 3-4 weeks. However, it has take over 10 weeks to get to this point and it is still not complete. The bed was delivered in sections, with the first delivery missing a number of vital items that the supplier had not noticed were missing until I informed them. It took them several deliveries to fix this. There is still one small, but important, piece missing.

 

The firm has emailed to say that they will no longer accept emails from me and that I have to send anything else by recorded delivery. This is since I put a post on the manufacturer's FaceBook page asking for help.

 

I have had to chase the retailer for any information, and have written at least 27 emails.

 

We have not been able to sleep properly in the van for this 10 weeks as my daughter has not got a proper bed.

 

As the main reason for buying a campervan is to sleep in it, and that the reason we cannot sleep in it is due to their failure to provide the bed kit that I thought that I had ordered from the manufacturer, and that the supplied kit failed, is it reasonable for me to be able to claim compensation for:

 

a: the cost of my time in sending emails and chasing them up, and

 

b: a sum for loss of use/enjoyment of the vehicle during the time I had to wait for the replacement? This is particularly relevant as we have just had half term and have not been able to use the van during this period.

 

Any assistance would be gratefully received.

 

Thanks

[unclebulgaria67]

You are making it sound like the campervan is your main residence !

 

The campervan company made a mistake and tried to cover it up, but failed. Now there are problems with getting the correct third bed with all the parts. Obviously you have sale of good act rights to receive what you ordered and can enforce the contract in court if you had to. But you can only claim reasonable costs in chasing this up, not the time to send 27 emails, as a Judge may see this as excessive. You could try to claim some loss of use, but this may only be a small sum to recognise inconvenience. Normally you are expected to take reasonable actions so you can still use an item. I.e your daughter could have used an inflatable bed or other option.

 

You should avoid using court time. You are expected to communicate with the supplier in a way that looks to gain an acceptable solution. Therefore i would suggest that you write to them in an amicable way that looks to achieve your aims, which is to get the bed fully operational, so you can enjoy the campervan fully. You can mention the issues and loss of use, which you would like to be compensated for within reason, as you would wish to avoid taking it further, which would be time consuming for both parties.

 

Nb. You should consider whether you should remove the Facebook entry, as that may have embarrassed the Camervan supplier and it might not help you. They have lost money due to their mistakes.

[Conniff]

Can you confirm that you bought the van from a dealer and not from the manufacturer and was it 'new' or used ?

[Camperuser]

It was new and from a dealer.

[Conniff]

My first action now would be to contact the maker and ask about the cost of the bed and if they can supply it to you direct.

Armed with that you can then approach the dealer giving him a deadline to supply (and fit if that was part of the order), and saying that failure to complete by the date will be taken as a failure to complete the paid for contract.

You can tell him that after that date is reached if no complete and fit for purpose bed is supplied, you will obtain it yourself and send him the bill.

 

Do this by letter, preferably by recorded. That will then put the ball squarely into his court and the way will be open for further action.

[Conniff]

Have you had any satisfaction with this camperuser ??