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Good luck with your claim. It seams stupid that a company will risk its reputation under these circumstances. I think they rely on people giving up and not bothering to reject a van.

We have rejected a caravan and it was not easy but I am so glad we did, as well as contacting trading standards I think we had legal advice through the caravan club.

Stick to your guns, their behaviour is deplorable.  The Dealer is hiding behind Bailey and that is entirely wrong.  Do you have legal protection cover on your home insurance or caravan insurance?  If so, get onto them and get their help.

Ali

Up date
  Well  we  were planning like most caravanners to use our van this bank holiday ,  but  are  very disappointed  with the DEALERS and BAILEY.
 
So we've missed 2 bank holidays because of  our DAMP RANGER  VAN AND   UNHELPFUL DEALER
 
I believe this will be a long a drawn out  battle  to get a replacement or as we  are now thinking a FULL REFUND + COMPENSATION 
 
BUT I am  now accepting the fact the dealer will try and drag it out so we get fed up and give up , but I WILL NOT  GIVE UP as the sale of goods act  and trading standards , and our  solicitor  all  agree,  I  have a good  strong case  , so even  if the  dealer drags it out further  it  will end up going to court  to resolve  it . I am going  to look in to hiring a replacement  van , but  prefer  looking into getting a  loan  to buy a replacement  van   so my  family  can   enjoy  whats left of this  seasons   caravanning holidays. that way  whether it  goes on 1 month or  2 or  24 we can leave it to the courts  to get our refund / compensation  off the dealer   and  go and enjoy  our holidays.   :cry:    

I can't remember if you have mentioned the dealer?  Or at least the area he is in?  Thanks for telling us of your troubles but if we want to avoid the same happening again we need to know the dealer's name so that we can all boycott him.

Keep trying and hopfully there will be a happy ending to all this for you and your family

Up date

The van is back at the Dealers, but I believe all BAILEY have done is to dry it out and replace the flooring! We believe this may have been due to the fact  that we sighted "undue delay for the repair process"  as Bailey stated originally that the  FAULTY ALLOY SIDE PANEL  + INNER WALL PANEL  WOULD HAVE TO BE REPLACED , BUT THIS WOULD INVOLVE REMOVING BOTH THE FRONT & REAR PANELS TOO , & THEIR WARRANTY DEPARTMENT WAS SO BUSY THAT IT WOULD TAKE UNTIL  JULY !!!

Baileys COMMENT ON our  Damp & mould   was to suggest  "IT WAS OUR FAULT, "  : As THEY BELIEVE WE HAVE LEFT THE WINDOWS OPEN !

I was TRULY OUTRAGED TO SAY THE LEAST.    But I  DID NOT RISE TO THE BAIT , I spoke again, to the DEALERS Service
Manager  and asked him to speak to his highly trained Technicians  TO CONFIRM WHAT THEY HAD FOUND  ie  the faulty rippled alloy panel  where the  hole  for
the  window did not follow the profile,  the hole  was too big/and not flat looked like the cutter had caught the alloy when cutting out the shape and gone off line.

The Dealers Tecs  had worked out the fault  originally and that's why  they called a Bailey Rep  and they both agreed it was a major repair !

The DEALERS  TECS damp meters were recording 80+percent damp figures, the same as mine. (I was advised that I could  use the Dealers Tecs , &  their findings in
court if need be).  The dealer asked for a Bailey Rep to relook at the van and speak to the dealer tecs on what they found  originally , and  after this, it appears the dealer may be  changing their view point /position ,  AND HAVE TOLD ME  THERE SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN A "MISCOMMUNICATION"   and are now chasing BALIEY up to see if they will  help them resolve this situation.

After a lot of further heartache  and further discussions , the dealer did  offer a  partial refund, as they said our van was 2nd hand etc  , (we have only used if for 9 days !!!),    which I refused  straight away .
 
We have been asked to keep a record of all the time  we spend  on this FIASCO  so we can  justify compensation when we go to court. We are up to 66 hrs of our time lost  so far , + solicitors fees , (hire of a  Caravan  for the 2nd bank holiday  whilst our van  was being repaired)  this would equate to  over £2000 so far 
 , + if we accepted a refund we would end up losing 6 months caravan insurance, + THE UNTOLD HEARTACHE THIS  SITUATION HAS COST OUR FAMILY , + the missed holidays, ie this week I'm off work WAS PLANNING TO GO AWAY, but still no caravan. 

After further chasing I have spoken to the Dealers Director, and  she has now offered me a full refund.

But  we have our  last  Family holiday booked  for August, and really NEED A REPLACEMENT  VAN , if we took a refund , ordered a  NEW  van we are loooking at Sept/ Oct ,   NO GOOD to us so we lose out again.
So,  we checked to see what our dealer had in stock and they had a GT60  version of our van,  so we asked  if they would supply this as a replacement ,  but I BET YOU CAN GUESS, WHAT THEIR REPLY WAS , SORRY ITS  NOT AVAILBLE  NOW !   I  HAD A LITTLE BET  WITH MY WIFE  THAT THIS WOULD BE THEIR RESPONSE. 
 
My 11 year old suggested  we Put our DAMP & MOULDY CARAVAN ON all the CARAVAN FINDER, Ebay, sites etc to see what people think/would pay for it , we can list the supplying dealers details  etc  and detail the whole  FIASCO,  but although I am very tempted to make this as HI PROFILE AS POSSIBLE I think this would be a last resort if we miss our booked August holiday.

 I  feel  we  as normal  working people   should be treated  fairly  and  not have to fight to get a fair deal like we are. 

I  have also  been  speaking to Baileys  EXCELLENT KELLY on their  HELPLINE,  as  we  believe  [b]Bailey Managing Director  Nick Howard [/b]has now become involved , and we have asked to see if  he will speak to us directly  to understand our view  and try to  help  resolve  this situation, ie we would like a replacement  caravan with the same upgrades we had originally, before our August  holiday please , or can he help OUR DEALER FIND THEIR ONE !!!!

SO THE QUESTION IS "DO BAILEY/THEIR DEALERS REALLY CARE?         &                  LOOK AFTER THEIR CUSTOMERS  ?
OR
ARE THEIR CUSTOMERS JUST A SOURCE OF££££££££!

As a follow on ,

Coud any  members who have also had issues with any of BAILEYS  CARAVANS please briefly list their  details 

As  if we can  prove that   this is a  COMMON  PROBLEM / DESIGN FAULT/ MANUFACTURING  FAULT  it will strengthen  our case , ie  and highlight  how they deal with their customers

IE someome posted on another site that they were informed  by their Bailey dealer that  Bailey had  fitted a faulty batch of panels , , and were WAITING  for the customers  to get DAMP INTO THEIR VANS  and send them back  for repair , !!

We also found  on the net  last night another member with A RANGER 5 540/6  LIKE OURS  WITH THE SAME  WATER /DAMP INGREES PIONT , IE Tthough the bunk windows , we wonder if  this is the same fault  IE DEFECTIVE  A SIDE PANEL

I agree with everyone elses comments .

We thought Bailey were one of the better Manufacturers, but after reading the disgusting  way you are being treated , I have changed my  view ,

It seems to be their REPUTATION on the line here , and they don't seem to care.!

Let's hope Baileys M.D will become personally involved  and cut through the BULLS*** as he has the power to resolve this matter today if he chooses, & prove they are an Honourable company to deal with.

Seems you're getting the same treatment we're getting with our Sterling Europa, and though it's no consolation, at least you'll see that no one caravan manufacturer or dealer is any better than their competitors.

I'd suggest you name the dealer though, and that'll warn other of the service, or lack of it, you've had. Not for spite, but to make others aware that investing their hard earned money in buying a new caravan will not mean that things will go smoothly in every case. As a thought, were not a stock of caravans damaged in the floods early last year? Is your one of them perhaps? Read this............http://alfrescocaravans.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Itemid=29

We've been too long in the habit of just accepting the 'facts' as presented by the trade and caravans are big money now, hence the fact that dealers and manufacturers will take bigger shortcuts to pump them out and bigger risks in selling poor quality items, and tell bigger lies. Sorry, I should say that they will become more 'economical with the truth', and only give the answers you'll accept.  Trust me; I've heard a few!

Our problems have been posted here as a warning to others................. http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/chatter/display_topic_threads.asp?ForumID=8&TopicID=158326&PagePosition=2

.............and that saga is ongoing, though we see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Given our luck it'll be a bloody train coming the other way. 

If reasonable negotiation with the dealer fails your case will be presented by them to the manufacturers with a bias toward the dealer, who is after all out to make money from you and accept little or no responsibility for paying out any of that profit. Their story will be seen as truth, so anything you say will be otherwise. In that case I'd say that you should stick to your guns, keep your temper and get trading standards involved, your local councillor, your MP, and the local paper. Make a noise, name the parties involved and give them red faces, which will eventually eat into their profits if folks go elsewhere. I know two friends who are on the verge of buying new/trading up and have had second thoughts after our troubles.

If that's what it takes, do it, it's your hard earned money at risk, but only a fraction of the profit the dealer/manufacturer will turn around in a year!

The trouble is, we're up against it with so many crooks in caravanning, so why don't the decent dealers and manufacturers see genuine caravanners who buy within the trade in a better light and let us all work together?

Update:

We have had several conversations with Nick Howard but a replacement caravan has not been offered even though we have offered to pay towards one and wait until they next make Rangers.  Our dealer who had a new Ranger 540 in stock (not available to us) it is still for sale!  So we were left with either taking back our original caravan after missing several bank holidays, or a full refund + Nick Howard has offered us -  if we buy another Bailey, he will supply the same extras that we had plus ATC, I believe if I hadn't have pushed and got Nick involved we would now be at Court. 

So, we have reluctantly accepted a full refund, we are reconsidering whether we want another new caravan after all this?  But of course we have no caravan for our summer break!!

I am disappointed that this could have easily been sorted out very early on by the dealer.

I hope no one else has to go through what we've been through this year, it has really soured the experience of buying a new caravan for us.  If anyone else has a similar problem it shows that perseverence is what is required.