We bought a new van only it wasn't new!

loskie

I think you are all being harsh to the OP added to that a good dose of the usual forum bullying. If you buy new you rightfully expect it to be in A1 tip top condition not rust a few months later. The OP is right too in that it will seriously devalue the van for resale. Why should that be accepted?

AdrianC

loskie wrote: »

If you buy new you rightfully expect it to be in A1 tip top condition not rust a few months later.

Who mentioned rust?
We're talking about some poor paintwork. Which is going to be re-done.

The OP is right too in that it will seriously devalue the van for resale.

Why will it? Once the paint's been redone, properly, obviously. Nobody will even know.

shaun_from_Africa

loskie wrote: »

I think you are all being harsh to the OP added to that a good dose of the usual forum bullying.

Could you please post the examples of what you consider to be "forum bullying".
All I can see are lots of people pointing out to the OP that repaired damage to a new vehicle is far from unusual and although this obviously isn't what they wanted people to write, it's hardly bullying.

The repair was done to a poor standards but provided that this is rectified then the OP will be in the same position as if they had a van that hadn't been repaired.

RichardD1970

Having worked in vehicle manufacturing for over 30 years it is quite common for vehicles to need rectification work even before leaving the factory.

The last figure I saw for a fairly large manufacturer, but by no means one of the big boys, was £1 million a year in paint repair alone (and that's at cost with no astronomical labour charges or markup on materials).

Yes, the van should have been repaired properly first time, and that is a failing of Ford or their agents, but as long as it is done right this time I don't see the problem.

motorguy

loskie wrote: »

I think you are all being harsh to the OP added to that a good dose of the usual forum bullying. If you buy new you rightfully expect it to be in A1 tip top condition not rust a few months later. The OP is right too in that it will seriously devalue the van for resale. Why should that be accepted?

That is correct. Thats why Ford are repairing the vehicle now, to that standard.

And if its repaired to a high standard - which i expect it will be if Ford are involved - then wheres the "serious devaluation" coming from?

motorguy

loskie wrote: »

I think you are all being harsh to the OP added to that a good dose of the usual forum bullying. If you buy new you rightfully expect it to be in A1 tip top condition not rust a few months later. The OP is right too in that it will seriously devalue the van for resale. Why should that be accepted?

Wheres the bullying please?

Any comments i've read have been factual.

motorguy

Skibird wrote: »

Are you seriously telling me it's OK to sell a van as NEW when it has been damaged and repaired and you have not been told about it? Then they denied it until 2 independent inspections were done.

What more am I entitled to? A van that is actually NEW.

We know our contract is with Hartwell but FordUK ignored Hartwell's request for documentation on the vehicles journey from production to them, and have also not once said "go back and deal with Hartwell".

There were only 400 of these special edition vans made and it is not OK to find out the one you bought was damaged and repaired before selling it as new. It is not new and it's re-sale value will be effected beacuse of this repair.

Yes. It is.

Whats not OK is that it was done to a poor standard.

Ford are rectifying that.

Skibird

Thank you everyone for the replies, I must admit that some of you did come across harsh, and although I didn't actually feel bullied, you know what you are doing when you speak to someone in a forum the way that you did/do, and you clearly get a kick out of it. It doesn't worry me, but it should worry you. Do you speak to your family that way, your manager, your employees etc if you don't agree with them?

Manners cost nothing, and although I still don't agree with much of what you said (you know who you are), there are ways of getting things across to people without being rude, such as:

"you are probably not aware, but it's quite normal for vehicles to be damaged/repaired before being sold on as new", or words to this effect, not some of the statements I received.

fred246

Sadly plenty of people post on this requesting help from fellow consumers. All they get is the usual response from the 'industry insiders' who behave in the usual 'the customer is an idiot' style of customer service pretty standard in the motor industry. It's not very helpful. People who are capable of giving good advice stay away. Any paintwork repair I have ever had done has shown obvious signs as the vehicle ages. They may respray it again and even again but there will be a point where they will refuse. The only advice I can give is to publicize your plight as widely as possible and try to shame them into finding a solution acceptable to you. If you buy a new van you don't expect it to be smashed up and then repaired.

Skibird

Thanks Fred :-)