Damage to my motorhome (1 Viewer)

[Lanerboy]

Hi All

I would like to see what you all think about the position I have found myself in.

I took my 66 plate Rapido into a company to have some work carried out I wanted doing, the company did the work but have in the process damaged my new motorhome, they have screwed into a panel in my locker and used screws that were too long and the ends of the screws have come all the way through the panel and are sticking into my bathroom area (please see attached image)

I spoke to the company and they admitted there error and asked me to return the vehicle to them so they could repair it, so I did this and left it with them for a full week but on collection the repair is very poor and still very noticeable. I told the company I was not happy and they agreed the repair was not there specialised subject and agreed to pay a professional to repair the damage.

I then obtained a quote of £300 plus vat for the repair and forwarded it to the company who damaged my vehicle. They have now said the cost to repair is unreasonable and have offered to pay £75 towards the cost of the repair and no more. They also suggested they supply the round wooden look alike stickers and I should stick these over the damage which I found quiet ridiculous to be honest.

My next step now I think is to go legal on this as I have emails of the company admitting to causing the damage and an email saying they will pay for the repair

What would you do next

 

[ambulancekidd]

Small claims court should take your side on this one, go for it, that work is shockingly poor.

 

[sallylillian]

You might be able to get a complete computer cut panel replacement from the manufacturer. I know that N+B keep all the CAD files and can produce to order with the van number for me. You then have to get it fitted? Alternatively if you can stand it is change the screws for countersunk machine bolts, and put them through from the reverse. You then have 3 flat chrome heads which you could cover with vinyl circles. All a bit much on a new van. I did a similar mistake on my RV and did exactly this and you could not see it.

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[Baldeagle7470]

Agree with the above,you would have thought they would have noticed after the first screw??
To be honest it does look awful and there is no way they could not have admitted liability and offered to pay!
No way is £75 quid going to cover that ( excuse the pun).

 

[Hollyberry]

Small claims court, definitely. You'll win.
Might be worth an email to them stating your intention, might make them pay up. What idiots!

 

[Lanerboy]

I can have it repaired via a company called plastic surgeon ltd they guarantee an invisible repair for £304 + vat but the company who caused the damage is saying this is an unreasonable cost of repair for 4 screw holes

I want it back to original quality I don't want to see any screw heads, round stick on wooded circles, I want it so it can't be seen at all surely this is not too much to ask on a 66 plate motorhome which was the best part of 70k

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[androidGB]

My only concern would be if the £300 repair was not acceptable, where do you go from there if it isn't.

I would look at the possibility of getting a replacement panel, and as others have suggested pursuing a claim through the small claims court.

After all, why do you need to put up with a compromise, it wasn't your fault

Andrew

 

[Shrimp]

Name & shame but get the money back first!

 

[JackieP]

The small claims court will take time and you need action now.

First you need to work out exactly what it is you want to happen re the repair. A lot of times people have a complaint but don't know what it is they want. Research your options, pick the best one and stick to it.

Get all your evidence together and find a solicitor willing to allow you to pay for only twenty minutes. Ask them to write to the company giving them the legal stance and tell them what you want and what is going to happen if you don't get it. .

A letter from a solicitors office still can have the desired effect.

In the meantime, don't sweat it. It's two holes in a bit of wood and it can be repaired. (but I would also be raging at both the incompetence and the failure of responsibility).

Have a rage, then calm down and get to work.

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[Jimbohorlicks]

I would go back to your rapido dealer and get a price to have the panel replaced ,which I suggest would be a lot more expensive than the invisible mend and offer this to the garage that caused the damage, as an alternative to the invisible repair ( which must be guaranteed) . If they still refuse to pay -take them to the small claims court for the replacement panel.

 

[MikeD]

Shockingly awful repair, totally incompetent workmanship.

One screw might be considered a error - but four!!!

I suspect small claims court may be the only option.

 

[sallylillian]

Mental block by someone who did not know what they were doing. Which was?

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[gus-lopez]

I would go back to your rapido dealer and get a price to have the panel replaced ,which I suggest would be a lot more expensive than the invisible mend and offer this to the garage that caused the damage, as an alternative to the invisible repair ( which must be guaranteed) . If they still refuse to pay -take them to the small claims court for the replacement panel.

What he said

 

[Kool Kroozer]

Bloody awful workmanship, but then again i have seen just as bad if not worse from so called experts who deal in nothing else but Motorhomes - its the main reason i always opt to do any work myself if i can... All damage that our MH has occured has been done by so called proffesionals, and its in the catergory of your blunder... I would be tempted to get in touch with a no win no fee company - you may have to stump up the money for the repair yourself in the meantime and make sure you keep the invoice for work carried out - I am pretty sure they will pay up, they just need a little persuation at the moment... Fkin annoying when someone does this kind of shit and wont pay up for it, maybe you should get a qoute from a dealership to replace the whole panel inc labour - that £300 will look like a trophy payment !

 

[hilldweller]

Never mind the end of the screw sticking out, think what is in the middle, not a lot usually because walls are made of the lightest possible material for obvious reasons. If those screws are carrying a heavy load they may well pull through first big bump you go over.

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[funflair]

Obsolutely inexcusable and incompetent, if it was my company I would die of embarrassment, although I do know somebody who added a blown air heating duct to the bathroom in his caravan and when he had finished he couldn't get the table out of the cupboard between the wardrobe and the bathroom

Martin

NO not me.

 

[androidGB]

Who is it said motorhome builders only have two sizes of screw, one that is too short and the other which is too long

Andrew

 

[DavidG58]

It would be interesting and possibly useful to see the after repair photos as well

But if it were me and they hadn't accepted a very generous offer on your part to accept a repair, I would be doing as suggested above, getting an estimate for complete panel replacement, actually I wouldn't I would be getting the company to get the quote don't use more of your own time / effort, or maybe better ask them for their insurers contact details so you can contact them directly for a direct resolution

I then suspect you may very quickly get a cheque for the repair estimate

But I do hope you are then happy with it, impossible to think it will be totally invisible, especially if you can see it while sat down for a moment or two's thinking time

Best of luck with it

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[pyro]

Very easily sorted out. You are entitled to have the vehicle restored to the position it was in immediately prior to the loss. I would nip down to an authorised dealer and get them to prepare a pro forma invoice for restoration (full replacement of the panel), and then submit to the dealer who did the work via a local solicitor, adding in their costs as well.

If this doesn't elicit a satisfactory response, then use claims online to have it dealt with in the small claims/fastrack. Alternatively, these people are very reasonable http://www.thomashiggins.com/

I don't usually deal with small claims, but it is the sort of thing we used to do all the time. An LBA (letter before action) will cost you £3, a £500 claim will cost you around £125, and all costs are recoverable in any case. And Thomas Higgins are seriously aggressive about getting payment

As an afterthought, if you have household insurance, it is possible they may cover a claim relating to goods and services. That way it will be free

 

[Lanerboy]

I just need to be 99% sure that if this was to go via the small claims court that I will win this case, does the company in question have any chance of winning in court given I have emails from them admitting the damage was there fault

Could I get my own insurance company involved and get them to fight my corner and recoup all my repair costs

 

[Dave K]

I don't think they have a leg to stand on, this is a very obvious mistake and I just wonder who discovered the issue, did they notice at all and let you know or did you find this after collecting the van?
If it was my van I would go all out for a replacement panel, I think for them to offer £75 towards the cost is derogatory, as others have said I would start the ball rolling with an email stating your intention that if the issue isn't resolved satisfactorily then you'll be seeking guidance from a solicitor. Good luck with it.

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[tofo]

I just need to be 99% sure that if this was to go via the small claims court that I will win this case, does the company in question have any chance of winning in court given I have emails from them admitting the damage was there fault

Could I get my own insurance company involved and get them to fight my corner and recoup all my repair costs

Did you pay for the work by credit card
If so the card supplier may help

 

[Jasz]

They ought to have insurance to cover themselves for things like this, they may feel it's worth using it if you go for the replacement panel. For a cheaper repair they would want to keep the cost down as they would pay for it themselves. ( I had to have insurance as a sole trader, fortunately never needed it).

 

[wizzer59]

No chance at all

I just need to be 99% sure that if this was to go via the small claims court that I will win this case, does the company in question have any chance of winning in court given I have emails from them admitting the damage was there fault

Could I get my own insurance company involved and get them to fight my corner and recoup all my repair costs

They have no chance at all, listen to Pyro he knows what he's on about

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[Theonlysue]

Ask for their public liability insurance details. By law, their certificate must be on display in a public area.
They won't like this.
Speak to their insurers and explain what has happened, and you expect it to be as it was before they worked on it.
I did this with a company who had Norwich union as their insurers.
Cost the company nearly £4000, which they settled promptly.

 

[Mi58ck]

Don't go through your own insurance,why should you lose your no claims bonus ?

 

[Minxy]

Do not go through your insurers, its nothing to do with them and would only penalise you if you tell them.

To put it back to how it was originally will need a major dismantling of the MH cabinet/panels to try to get the old one out without damaging the surrounding area, it may not even be possible as most of these are build before the outside walls are put on, never mind then trying to put the replacement in.

One solution is to put a very thin veneer/board over the panel of the same colour/design as the original and 'bond' it to it, but that would be an expensive repair and obviously how successful it will be is debatable.

I can well understand how infuriating this is but personally, having had experience of this sort of thing myself, I'd go for the throat and get the cost of a full reinstatement from them/their insurers and then decide if I wanted the hassle of having it done bearing in mind the risks involved. As it's behind the toilet it is unlikely to be overly noticeable so I'd be tempted to then get the £300 'invisible' repair done and enjoy a holiday with the rest of the dosh!

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[Just smiffy]

It has to be a replacement panel because the thing that is screwed on from the other side will have to have the screws taken out and then you can't put shorter screws in to replace them, it won't hold, as @hilldweller indicated the panels are like egg boxs's, there's not a lot in between.... I like @Minxy Girl idea of a veneer placed there but that would take a competent cabinet maker to do but would be cheaper then replacing the whole panel, but the screws will still need to come out and possibly be moved slightly to avoid going in the same hole...

An invisible repair will always appear.... eventually

What is it that the screws are fixing to the orther side..?

 

[Minxy]

It has to be a replacement panel because the thing that is screwed on from the other side will have to have the screws taken out and then you can't put shorter screws in to replace them, it won't hold

... unless shorter but 'fatter' screws were used, in which case they should hold. I've just had to affect a repair to one of the drawers in the camper - a screw that had pulled out of one of the drawer fronts - I used the old-fashioned bung a load of matchstick pieces into it and then put the screw back in ... worked a treat!

 

[Just smiffy]

... unless shorter but 'fatter' screws were used, in which case they should hold. I've just had to affect a repair to one of the drawers in the camper - a screw that had pulled out of one of the drawer fronts - I used the old-fashioned bung a load of matchstick pieces into it and then put the screw back in ... worked a treat!

The good old matchstick, a little pva glue in there too helps...

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