A TOTAL *******
We originally purchased our Gypsey Romany Caravan from Benoni Caravans so when we retired last year down to the Western Cape we decided to sell the caravan and went back to Benoni Caravans. We spoke to Pinkie and Ryan and they were quite happy to have the Van on the lot, in their words "it's a small caravan and there is a big demand, it will sell quickly." They also told us that the one shock absorber needed to be replaced at an estimated cost of R500.00. In the 14 months that our Caravan stood there not ONCE did they make contact with us, we had to constantly call, emails were ignored. Every time we phoned we were told that someone had seen it 'yesterday' was interested and they were sorting out financing. Which obviously never happened. Eventually after many emails to confirm that everything was still in the caravan (tents, spare wheel, jack, etc) my husband and a friend drove up last week as arranged to collect it.
When my husband arrived he was taken to the caravan and then handed an invoice for R1667.77 ( broken up as R 980.00 for the shock absorber and R598.50 for 1 1/2 hrs labour for the replacement of the shock absorber, the van was jacked up ready for him to hitch it to the car. After a 17 hour drive back to the Cape we placed the van and in jacking it down we first of all discovered the jack wasn't there, ok so maybe they forgot to put it back. Then Hubby noticed that the shock absorber was definitely does NOT look new in fact it looks like the original one. (See photo) When I walked into the van the first thing I noticed was our mattress was not there. Due to physical needs we had replaced the original mattress with a very firm, expensive, 10 inch mattress which we recovered properly. Currently our caravan has a very cheap 5 inch mattress covered in calico. Obviously we phoned immediately only to be told that the shock was definitely replaced and they had no recollection of any mattress issue. When we called back later they 'suddenly remembered' that "about a year ago the dogs in the yard got into the caravans one night (how if the vans are closed ?) and ripped the mattress so they had to replace it. When we asked why no one contacted us to discuss the matter there was no answer forthcoming. The only email we have received from Ryan was last week stating the above. We then sent him a photo of the existing shock absorber and asking if they would like us to publish on social media what has happened. We have heard nothing further. Comet Caravans quoted R726 inc VAT for replacing the Shock Absorber. On Saturday my husband took the shock off and replaced it to see how long it would take (he's never done one before on a caravan) it took him 25 minutes from start to putting tools away.
Benoni Caravans is part of the Camp World Group and we will be sending this complaint to them as well. Currently we are now out of pocket (apart from all the phone calls) R1667.77 for the alleged repair and approximately R1400.00 for our mattress.
The frustration we feel is immense as we hit a brick wall with them, they don't respond. They have spun us along for 14 months, and being retired we are now seriously out of pocket.
How does a business continue to operate with such little regard for their clients ??