Section 75a Motorhome not fit for purpose

Rainbow_Liberty

****UPDATE****
Been quite a while since I started this process, sent to both Halifax as paid deposit with their credit card and also Black Horse who the balance finance was with after our part-ex and savings had been put towards it.

Just had a phone call.

Guess what..... our section 75a has been accepted. They are taking back the motor home. I want to cry with happiness.

After they had sent out an independent assessor who found the garage/boot/rear locker space contained 70% damp and that the seal around the panoramic roof window had not been repaired to a satisfactory standard and would require to go back into the dealer for more work to be done. Along with the long standing issue with the battery.

They have upheld our complaint, I am so pleased. It's been a long slog but thankfully it's going to be taken back and we wont have to deal with it again.

Thank you Blank Horse.

****Update****

BN motor home. Not fit for purpose.
We took delivery of a brand new motor home on 1st December 2018. We had previously had caravans but as my health issues prevented me from helping with the setting up etc and meant I was completely reliant on my partner, I conceded defeat and we purchased our motor home. 

The intention was I would be able to take our daughter away for weekends when Dad was working and also for the majority of the school holidays without needing to be beholden to him. Both she and I love theme parks and more than happy to sleep wherever we end up. Ie pub carparks etc. Dad not so. He likes sites with plug in electric. 

Last March I notified the dealer that the rubber around the habitation door was ripped and needed replacing. I offered that if they sent it to me I'd be happy to install it. Despite numerous emails etc the rubber was never forthcoming. 

My daughter and I went off on a roadtrip together with the intention of visiting Chessington World of adventure, Thorpe Park, legoland and all the London Merlin attractions that we had never managed to get to previously.

The battery was fully charged before we went, there's a 100w solar panel on the roof and as it was summer and spending all day in theme parks our consumption of power was going to be limited to phone charging overnight. 

After our second day away, for no reason at all the habitation door stopped locking and my daughter would have to lock it from inside then exit via the drivers door. 

As we were on the road heading towards our next location there was a very annoying beeping sound. I couldn't investigate as I was driving, she struggled to locate it (she's autistic) and so after ringing home, describing it and still not being able to correct the fault I was left with no option but to cut short our trip and drive the journey home. This caused a great deal of pain to me and disappointment to us both for having our trip curtailed abruptly. 

Dad checked it the following day to announce the battery was flat. Despite our usage being minimal and a motor home is designed to be able to be used off grid. Many people we know have camped for weeks at a time without the need to recharge their batteries and we had been away 2 nights, in summer, with a solar panel. 

Assumed it was just something I had or hadn't done so left it at that. But it knocked my confidence to take our daughter on my own again so we were back to only going with Dad. Not why we bought it. 

What we didn't expect though was driving along in the rain for me to get dripped on. Looking up water was coming in from the closed skylight panoramic window above the driver/passenger seats. 

I dried up the water and the pool of water that had congregated. Contacted the dealer and arranged to it to go in just before Xmas as we were due to be away for new year. 

Collected and told they had done a temporary repair which would stop any leaking and were still awaiting the rubber for the door I had requested IN MARCH. 

Went away on New Year's Eve with the full intension of Wild camping around Scotland. Excitement towards the trip was very shortlived as due to the weather we had lots of rain. Much to my dismay I was getting dripped on still and now so was the driver. I had to stick sanitary protection around the window for the leaks. Not great in a hardly used van. 

As dad prefers electric hookup we only stayed off grid twice. However he kept an eye on the battery and it was still showing as low. We tried new fuses as suggested by forums. He tried a number of things. But on what quickly became our last day, the continuous beeping began again with no way of turning it off. We had no option but to drive 11 hours home. 

The second time our adventures had been thwarted by the motor home. 

On contacting the dealer they took ages to take the van in to look at, it was sat on the driveway for 2 months before they accepted it going in. Despite assurances that they would keep me informed of any work they were going to do they haven't told me anything. And if it wasn't for my son taking me to collect it on the day we got locked down I've no idea when it would have been returned. They had already had it a full month. I asked when I collected what had been done to be told they weren't sure????? 

There are so many issues with it (others I haven't even mentioned on here) that I told them I no longer have any faith in it, it hasn't been fit for purpose or for its intended use and yet they are not prepared to do anything. 

We haven't been able to use it at all since New Year, I'd like to know where we stand and how we go about claiming under section 75a as it is just a huge noose around our neck. It would be unfair to sell it on and that's before we get to the amount of money we would lose because of VAT etc and the extras we had paid to have installed before delivery.

Any help pointing me in the right direction would be gratefully appreciated. Deposit was by credit card over the phone and there is some finance on it via Black Horse. 

Thank you in advance and sorry its such a longwinded post. 

DesG

Assuming the MH cost more than £30,000, section 75 does not apply.

eskbanker

DesG said:

Assuming the MH cost more than £30,000, section 75 does not apply.

....which will be why OP cites section 75A, which does apply above £30K (assuming its other criteria are met).

Nebulous2

Repeated niggling faults with Motorhomes are common. Your dealer appears to be particularly useless though. I’d have thought they could have sealed the roof light at least. 

It’s hard to work out from your description what is going on with the battery, but you’ve certainly had the Motorhome long enough for the leisure battery to become damaged and it might need changing. 

Its a pity your experience has been ruined so much, and I’m not an expert, but I think you will have to demonstrate it isn’t fit for purpose to quite a high level after 18 months. That will mean an expert report. 

Have you contacted the manufacturer and Black Horse to say you want to reject it? They might help where the dealer hasn’t. 

sleepyjones

Can you overcharge a battery?
I wonder if you left the solar controller on over winter or a period of not being used and it's damaged the battery?
I don't even know if that's a thing, just having a brain fart

Can maybe ask on the Motoring forum, see if anyone there can help ... this doesn't help with your section 75a, which I don't know much about, but might help you get to the bottom of the problem.

reliquit

sleepyjones said:

Can you overcharge a battery?
I wonder if you left the solar controller on over winter or a period of not being used and it's damaged the battery?
I don't even know if that's a thing, just having a brain fart

I'm pretty sure that a solar panel will not overcharge the battery. If you left it connected to the mains so that the mains charger was permanently connected then its possible for damage to occur, but I have never heard of a trickle charger causing that sort of problem.

Rainbow_Liberty

I've had more than 30 useless emails from the dealership purchased from and totally lost any faith in them.

Wrote (via recorded post) to Black Horse approx one month into lock down with photos and copies of all emails. Had absolutely no acknowledgement from them whatsoever.

Month later remembered deposit was on credit card. Filled in online claim form and then sent exactly same package of information to Halifax(Lloyd's). They have asked for proof of purchase invoice, warranty docs and a number of other items which I've emailed across.

Don't know if that's a hopeful sign or not. 

Anybody else had anything like this. Any idea which way it could be leaning or am I aiming in the wind

Nebulous2

reliquit said:

sleepyjones said:

Can you overcharge a battery?
I wonder if you left the solar controller on over winter or a period of not being used and it's damaged the battery?
I don't even know if that's a thing, just having a brain fart

I'm pretty sure that a solar panel will not overcharge the battery. If you left it connected to the mains so that the mains charger was permanently connected then its possible for damage to occur, but I have never heard of a trickle charger causing that sort of problem.

They’re no intended to be run totally flat. If they are flattened it can damage a cell and then you need a replacement. I know someone with a caravan who claims to have gone through 3 leisure batteries in 3 years. 

born_again

eskbanker said:

DesG said:

Assuming the MH cost more than £30,000, section 75 does not apply.

....which will be why OP cites section 75A, which does apply above £30K (assuming its other criteria are met).

>>This section does not apply where—

(a)the cash value of the goods or service is £30,000 or less,

(b)the linked credit agreement is for credit which exceeds £60,260 [F2and is not a residential renovation agreement], or

(c)the linked credit agreement is entered into by the debtor wholly or predominantly for the purposes of a business carried on, or intended to be carried on, by him.<<

So a linked credit agreement in this case would be against Black Horse.

Not Halifax, where S75 is only up to £30K

born_again

Section 75A

Where the purchase was between £30,000 and £62,260 and you used what is called a “linked credit agreement” to fund the purchase but the supplier of the goods or services has not performed the contract or refunded your money when asked or gone bust you could claim against the finance company.  Common linked credit agreements are found when you have new kitchens/bathrooms or wardrobes fitted.  The kitchen company for example would sell the debt (your purchase price) to the credit company and at the same time you enter into a credit agreement with that company.

Another common area whether section 75A might be relevant is for new car purchases which are often on finance offered and arranged through the car dealership or other significant purchases such as solar panels, kitchen, bedroom or other home improvements.

molerat

Is the dealer also the coachbuilder / convertor / manufacturer.  If not have you spoken to the manufacturer ?