Campervans
For many people, a brand new motorhome is a great way to travel and take holidays.
Jerry and Deb Morris from Cwmllynfell near Swansea thought so, and for them a motorhome would also help them visit their elderly parents more regularly.
The couple had plans to travel to Europe to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary in February 2009, so last summer they set about finding their ideal wheels.
The Morrises visited 3As Leisure in Cross Hands and set their hearts on one of the brand new motorhomes on offer.
They part-exchanged their four wheel drive Freelander, which they were told was worth £11,000, and spent £32,200 of their own money. It was a big investment for them.
At the showroom in Cross Hands they'd been told that they needed a replacement window as one was cracked, but it was only when they had chance to fully inspect the vehicle, after they'd got it home, that all the faults became apparent.
Deb told X-Ray's Jessie Swinburn: "The day before we picked it up they rang to say the electronic key fob wasn't there.
"Then there were a few more problems with it like condensation in most of the lights. Round the door frame, you could see all the silicone around it, it hadn't been trimmed off.
"The rear bumper was out of line, and one side was sticking out further than the other. The door bracket was loose. Jerry noticed when he opened the bonnet that the terminals were rusty."
Having paid for the motorhome in August, the Morrises say they repeatedly phoned and wrote to the company to try and sort out the catalogue of problems they'd reported. They say it wasn't until 28 October that they were allowed to take the vehicle for repairs.
By then, it was almost three months since the Morrises had paid for their motorhome, and they'd only been able to use it once.
They were told that the motorhome had to be taken to another site to have the electronic key-fob encoded. It was then that disaster struck.
Deb told Jessie: "They said that on the way to get the key chipped they'd had an accident and a tree came down and hit the camper."
So Jerry visited the company's site in Pencader to find out what was going on."I went there to take pictures of the camper after I found this out.
"I went up into the office to see the manager, and I asked him what he was going to do about it and he just said 'It's out of my hands now, it's in the insurance company's hands', but my argument isn't with the insurance company it's with the firm that sold me the camper."
As well as the photographs he'd taken to show the damage to the roof of the motorhome, Jerry returned to the site to take video footage while he waited for the repairs to be made.
When they realised the extent of the damage they decided they'd rather cut their losses and asked for a refund.
Deb feels it's not the same motorhome they paid for. And Jerry says: "I just want my money back really, I don't really want to deal with the company again now. If I buy another camper it'll be from someone else, hopefully better after-service care."
So what are the Morrises' rights in this sort of case? Consumer law expert, Professor Margaret Griffiths told Jessie: "There are five criteria that you use for deciding whether or not goods are satisfactory. Two of them are the appearance and that they should be free from any minor defects.
"In this situation the customer seems to have had a lot of defects apparent in the goods very quickly and there's certainly no reason on that basis why they should reject them.
"Unfortunately, knowing your rights and getting them can often be two entirely different things, because obviously the trader with whom you're dealing has got to be prepared to stand by the legal rights that the customer has.
"Unfortunately the only thing you can do is go to court which obviously takes time and effort and money to do. I'm afraid there's never any guarantee as to what the decision of the court is going to be."
3As have admitted that there were some problems and warranty issues with the motorhome. But they fixed the window and other minor problems as soon as they could.
They say when the branch fell on the motorhome, it needed to be repaired by a specialist, as instructed by their insurers.
They told X-Ray on 6 January that the motorhome would be ready within a fortnight. Jerry and Deb have now been told that their motorhome has been repaired.
But they say they don't want it back and they're currently considering following Professor Griffiths' advice and taking legal action.
