By William Coleman
The caravan holiday is one of the most relaxing holiday types one can take. From the freedom to go wherever you like to having new neighbours every time you pitch up. But underneath all the fun is a side of the industry I hope you never face. The holiday scam.
The Unfortunate Side Of Touring
Scams and crimes to do with holiday homes, caravans, dealers and sites come in many different forms and can be very hard to spot until it is too late. Maybe the caravan world is targeted due to having a larger amount of older people who are seen as being “vulnerable”, not my world but that of current speculative reports on fraud crimes toward caravan folk.
With the rise of so many web based sales outlets and the current boom within the caravan world it seems as though the leisure industry has become “easy pickings” for the undesirables. So here are a list of scams to keep an eye out for.
‘<' . strtolower('Array')>The Dodgy Dealer
The phrase too good to be true rarely ends with someone walking away with the deal of the century. When buying a leisure vehicle this phrase is extremely relevant and should be at the forefront of your mind when you “stumble” across the offer of a lifetime.
While doing some research I did find a few potential wolves in sheeps clothing. I thought my dream had come true last week as I found a 2010 Swift Challenger 625 twin axle 6 berth for £7999 ONO. Anyone in their right mind would snatch this bargain up and never look back.
As I dove deeper the deal got better; after market deluxe awning, recent service with new air con and a full history, oh and only 1 previous owner. Not wanting to “miss out” I messaged the seller right away. After a few messages back and forth I was asked to make a bank transfer for a holding deposit. I had not seen the caravan and only sent a handful of messages before being asked for money.
This may sound like something only a fool would fall for buy this is just one example of an online add that may not be all it seems. Some of these scammers have very complex and convincing methods. Some even invite you to view the vehicle and then want a deposit once you’ve fallen in love, only to never been ever again.
Sites such as eBay, Gumtree, Facebook Marketplace or even reputable sites like Autotrader are places where you can find every type of leisure vehicles at rock bottom prices. The issue here is the fact that these are private sellers who may just want to shift a vehicle for a quick buck or scam an honest buyer.
The warning signs for bad ad or scam listings are:
- Limited photos of the vehicle
- Photos not showing key parts of the vehicle, interior, facilities, dash, mileage etc
- Very brief product description
- Seller having little to no feedback from previous sales
- Private sellers randomly listing a vehicle with no previous vehicle sales
- Low price for a high ticket item
Online can be a minefield to navigate through when making a purchase and especially one as extravagant as a motorhome, camper or caravan.
They are not all out to get your hard earned cash but it is a lot more common than what you’d think. So my tip top advice would be find a local dealer, buy used and approved and get to know who and where you are buying from. I was taught the hard way that if you buy cheap you buy twice.
The Misleading Review
Have you ever been in the unfortunate situation where you’ve decided visit totally new location for your holiday only to arrive to something which is the total opposite of what you’d seen or read online? The CaravanTimes team have, more than we’d like to admit too.
The internet can be a wonderful place when it comes to doing your holiday research, but can you trust what you are seeing?
My better half has made it her mission to not only use but also contribute to TripAdvisor every time we want to or have visited somewhere new, so much so she is in the top 15 reviewers in London! From all the holiday review sites you can use TripAdvisor is the one I truly trust as it has so many users it’s hard to find a misleading reviewer.
One such place where you can find a bit of an misleading breakdown of a site or location is Google Reviews or sometimes the companies whose campsite you visit.
When doing your research be weary of:
- Short reviews with little to no detail such as “great site, 5 stars”
- Reviews from people with the same surname, family run sites get relatives to go online and review to build up the numbers of online reviews
- The same review multiple times, nothing worse than a copy and past job
- Reviews that do not match photos used online
Always use a third party review website and always try to see as many images as possible before committing to a booking. You do not want to turn up to a waterlogged field with a portable toilet posing as a 5 star site with washroom facilities.
The Mis-Selling Sales Guys
Having spoken with, visited and dealt with a lot of dealers all across the UK I can say, hand on heart, that the lying salesman is not very easy to come across when you use well known dealerships or buy direct from the manufacturer.
With companies such as Marquis Leisure, Lowdhams, Broadlanes and Salop Leisure, to name a few, you can trust that when you visit them you will get an honest opinion from trusted sales reps as well as onsite management. Companies who have spent decades building up a positive reputation are not going to risk everything by employing cowboy on the forecourt.
There a lot of smaller dealerships who are just a trustworthy that have been in operation for as long as, if not longer, than some of the major ones so do not shy away from them whatever you do as these are where some fantastic deals can be had.
The second hand market for motorhomes, campers and caravans is gargantuan. According to NCC there are 555,000 touring caravan, 365,000 caravan holiday homes and 225,000 motorhomes in circulation throughout the UK. So over 100,000,000 leisure vehicles are owned by the general public and more than half of which has had a previous owners.
A lot of second hand sales are made via dealers but not all second hand vans meet the standard requirements for resale. So make sure before you buy you get all your questions answered and you are provided with whatever paperwork you require to do your checks. Also if you buy private avoid online marketplaces as a rule as you really do have no idea what you are buying.
If you are in the market for a new or used motorhome caravan keep an eye out for the following:
- Sales agents who dance around your questions
- Non direct answers
- Overuse of jargon/technical speak
- Being shown vans they want to sell you and not the van you actually want buy
- The phrase “we’ve got someone else coming to look at this van today”
- Pushy sales people who force a decision to be made there and then
- Deposit requests without confirmation of interest from buyer
- Deposits without paperwork stating you’ve paid
- Refusal to show vehicle history or other paperwork
- Massive price reductions to make the sale, as the van may not even be worth that if they drop 25-30% right away
- Extortionate finance offers
The Risky Rental
Now for the last part of our rogues gallery of fraudsters and scamming scallywags. The rental scam may be the oldest trick in the holiday book but it seems to be the one that has the most victims. The rise of the World Wide Web has lead to thousands of holidaymakers being left out of pocket and nowhere to go on their holidays as it has removed the face to face or over the phone aspect of bookings.
Why is this form so popular amongst scam artists? Well to put it bluntly they prey on the people who have a smaller budget and are out looking for a bargain. Some people cannot afford the thousands to stay at a Haven Holiday park or get a 4-6 berth static on a 5 start site.
Naturally those on a budget still want to get away and give the kids nice holiday memories, and this is where the sharks start to circle. A lot of private ads all bare similar marks that are clear warning signs that indicate this could be a bad idea.
Just like buying leisure vehicles you really do want to avoid using social media sites or market place style ads. If something has a certain value and you find it well under that price the alarm bells should start to ring.
One clear sign, which if ever mentioned you should immediately log off and look elsewhere, is the mention of PayPal. If someone asks for any form of payment for your holiday using PayPal only ever send it as a payment for goods or services. A seller will ask you to send the payment as a gift or payment to friend or family to avoid paying PayPal’s commission. I am all for avoiding commission but you will pretty much waive for right of PayPal’s protection leaving you well and truly in the deep end.
So you’ve paid your deposit, which usually is a high one, turn up on site with the family and a car full of kit to find that the caravan is either not there and totally not what was advertised. At this point you are up the river without paddle. You’ve sent it as a non protected payment and now the holiday is all but ruined with you being very much out of pocket.
If you are going to rent a van, motorhome or static holiday home from an online ad head these points:
- Avoid Facebook or other online market ads, Gumtree in particular
- Seller asking for high up front deposits
- PayPal payments
- Professional photography pictures if its an older/used van or static, you are going to want up to date images
- Use a reputable and well known booking agent as they offer protection and up to date site/van info
- If you do book a site with a van call the site and make sure it is actually there and in good shape
This list is just the tip of the iceberg of horror stories that a lot of people in the UK have come across. These issues have been reported all over the web, radio shows, BBC’s Watchdog and Rogue Trader as well. Make sure that you do the research and do not rush in as you may live to regret it.
