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‘The customer is always at fault’.

To my readers you may remember my previous posts last season about the internal wall that sprung and the subsequent repair by Dunster’s engineer.

It appears I gave praise where it wasn’t due as I believed that the fixings for the internal walls were akin to flat pack furniture – it isn’t !.

We noticed on our first outing this season that we had difficulty opening and closing the internal door to the toilet area and that a gap had appeared between the frame and the internal wall. I prised off a plastic cover to discover that it was a simple woodscrew not any type of bolt arrangement.

Better then staples I hear you say – yes I agree, but not if they have been over tightened during assembly and were not gripping. This was also true for the cause of the shower screen frame springing and pulling the enclosure wall with it and several gaps which had appeared elsewhere.

Over the 12 months of owning the Stealth we had also found 4 small chrome screws lying in the floor in the main area of the caravan but did not fathom where they had come from.

Last year when we had taken the caravan back to the factory we had mentioned that the cooker doors had kept swinging open during each trip which we had never experienced before – well not as often. We were told that there was nothing that could be done as this was a normal occurrence.

We now use brown packing tape to keep them secure !.

On our 2^nd trip this season the wife was putting something in the lower storage compartment of the cooker when it moved in her hand – nothing to do with me, I wasn’t near her !.

On examining the cooker’s fixing points I saw that there was only 2 screws in place and only 1 had a grip. The 2^nd one just turned in the hole. I had kept the other 4 (well I’m an Aberdonian) and they also turned in the holes.

I  sent an email to Dunster House reporting the faults – 3 year warranty remember.

To be continued .

The customer is always at fault’.

Another problem that I raised with them was the design of the front lockers. There is no rubber flange to prevent water / rain gaining access and a bucket I keep there for cleaning duties was regularly filling up with water !. I was concerned about the floor getting continually soaked and seeping into the main part of the caravan. Also it isn’t good for the equipment stored there to be continually soaked.

I asked a local dealer who I had gotten to service the caravan to look at it but he said that the corners were too acute for a rubber seal to be fitted which would make  them water tight.

I had to wait a week for a reply about the screws and gaps and it was to request photos of the missing screws ? and the gaps. These I promptly sent.

To be continued

‘The customer is always at fault’.

I resolved the front locker problem with household draught excluder tape which I stuck round the locker edges – this simple fixit has reduced the water entry by about 95% !.

After about a week and a half Dunster House replied to me about the gaps, overtightened screws and the cooker.

They blamed the gaps to ‘overjacking’ causing the chassis to twist ! and no mention of the overtightening of the fixing screws !. They offered to replace the screws for the cooker ! – what good that would have done as they couldn’t grip any wood in the original holes !.

I hand wind the steadies up and down and would think that it would be difficult to ‘overjack’. I have had about 10 caravans in 30 years of caravanning and have never had gaps in any of the other ones.

I had to replace 6 screws around the door frame and reposition 2 brackets to get the door to open and close freely.

I drilled 7 new holes in the cooker sides and it is now firmly secured..

This last weekend we had our 7^th outing with the Stealth and again something was found amiss. I’ve to sent an email to Dunster House so will give details later.

On an aside, a couple of months ago I was speaking to a local dealer who said that a Stealth owner had tried to trade in his Stealth for a Swift. The dealer recognising that the Stealth was a niche caravan and not wanting to be ‘lumbered’ with it phoned Dunster House and asked if they would take it off his hands if he accepted it as a trade in. – Their reply ? – NO !. Says a lot doesn’t it !.

To be continued.

This is truly disgraceful - i don't know how you're being so 'patient' with them over all the problems you've had! Spending that amount of money and having nothing but problems - they shouldn't be allowed to sell these caravans!

I'd want my money back! What happens after 3 years - you're left with an imperfect 'van and still have top sort out their problems?

And according to the above, unable to trade it in!

Been through all that. The ball is in their court - they don't have to refund you or replace it if they are willing to sort it.

The problem is the warranty which states that the customer has to take it back to the factory - Lincolnshire. Did it once last year and had to take a week off my work !.

They will charge me £1000 to sent an engineer up here !.

They are obviously not worried that my posts must be costing them sales !.

It would have been easier and simpler to swap vans with a newer one !.

We would NEVER buy a Stealth....as i'm sure many other wont after reading this.....

And the first one I saw on a pitch...feel sorry for the owners not the envy I'm sure Dunster set out to portray!!!

They ought to be so ashamed...an absolutle disgrace

‘Built to last’

Last weekend was our 7^th trip in the Stealth and we went to Speyside. On our arrival I needed to get something from the storage area under the double bed and had great difficulty in raising the bed.

The reason became clear when I managed to do it. The struts are anchored to the bed base and are screwed to lengths of wood which are attached to the internal walls at each end of the bed.

Well thought out you would think !– well it would have been if they had used top quality wood !. The length of wood on the right hand side had split length wise and was no longer fixed to the wall. On closed examination I could see that the wood had split along a fault line which can normally be found radiating away from knots and should have been easily spotted !.

I’ve sent details to Dunster House asking for any suggestions. They’ll probably reply that the bed wasn’t designed to be used as much and offer to send me a replacement length of wood !.

I go on holiday for 3 weeks from the end of next week and we’ve no confidence that nothing will go wrong. The wife says that she expects that it will slide off the chassis as we drive along – must remember to check underneath !.