The recent consumer watchdog report that lifted the lid on the poor standard of some RVs in this country looks set to spark some changes within the industry.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) survey showed 80% of respondents had experienced problems with their new caravan.
And consumers also reported widespread guarantee failures, misrepresentations by caravan suppliers, and unexpected delays in the delivery and repair of RVs.
Stuart Lamont, the CEO of the Caravan Industry Association of Australian (CIAA), told the Grey Nomads that the organisation had a strong relationship with the ACCC and would undertake a number of educational initiatives based around the report to remind industry businesses of their legal obligations.
There are more caravans on the road than ever before. PIC: Cizza
“We will also be introducing a number of tools to assist industry and give greater confidence to consumers – warranty factsheet, indexed Australian Consumer law guide for industry (similar to the existing RVSA Ready resource) – and launching a salespersons accreditation program which will improve understanding by salespersons through the purchasing process,” he said.
However, Mr Lamont stressed the vast majority of industry businesses already understood their obligations, and said the examples reported by the ACCC represented only a small percentage of caravanners.
“It is sad to hear there are individual circumstances when this expectation gap has not been met and the ACCC report provides a timely reminder that, in these instances, we can do better,” he told the Grey Nomads.
Mr Lamont said Australia constructed some of the toughest caravans in the world and consumers should continue to have confidence.
“At a time of much stress through the supply chain and Covid-19 absenteeism coupled with unprecedented demand, it is a source of frustration that the expectation gap on some purchases has been left short,” he said. “This report should serve as a wakeup call for industry businesses to revisit their processes and make sure they are of the highest standard.”
The CIAA says consumers should do their research, ask lots of questions, and satisfy themselves there is a clear service network in the event that something does go wrong.
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Consistency (nationally) and truthfulness regarding compliance plate weights?
we hopen they also police the rouge repair places
It needs it badly, we got a motorhome a few years ago and was told that a service dealship for the front part is in the process of being appointed, now 8 years later we still have to travel 500km to get our unit serviced by some one that knows whet they are doing, had I known that I would have changed Brand that is local for service, any thing just to get a sale
Will manufacturers and dealers be fair dinkum with weight disclosure?
Typical answer from the CIAA, always diverting issues by minimisation of the true issues.
It is the majority of caravaners who got issues, listen to your customers, only than the industry can improve, listen!!!!
Get the weight right way a new caravan Full of Water & Gas each van should be weight as new not just put a plate on it
How about transfer of Warranty to new owners when selling a van. No transfer of warranty Caravan Industry to a new buyer of a second hand van still under warranty ? Why NOT ? This is a con and should be against the law ?
Been waiting 2 and a half years for warranty work to be done. Now going into court. ACC USELESS
Taking vans back to the dealer you purchased from us ludicrous. We didn’t purchase our van to stay at home near the dealership we bought it to travel around in. The notion of going back to a dealership when you are 100’s possibly 1,000’s of km away is insane. Dealers need to be bought into line. If something goes wrong with our van we have to fix it ourselves these days. No quality or customer service from any dealers and it doesn’t matter how small or large your vans are. Agree with another comment and that is consistency (Nationally)