Erroneous Description and Subsequent Illegal Sale of an Autocruise Starblazer Motorhome by Marquis Motorhomes
June-July 2014

The Ultimatum from the Group Aftercare Manager 

Barry and Margaret Williamson

Start with: Introduction and Overview

The Previous File: Note for the Group Aftercare Manager 

The Next File: A Summary of Complaints

See all Nine Files at: Marquis Malpractice   

This is the almost unbelievable story of how Marquis Motorhomes failed to deal with any of the several complaints we made arising from their mis-advertising and mis-selling of an overweight motorhome from their South Yorkshire branch and how they refused to refund the money we had paid without inordinate delay and draconian conditions. 

Alan Doherty, the Marquis Group Aftercare Manager, wrote the following letter on 17 July 2014. It was handed to us as a printed document by the Marquis South Yorkshire Branch Sales Manager on the same day.

Below is the statement that we were peremptorily asked to sign, with no opportunity to take further advice. The only alternative given to us was the prospect of lengthy, expensive and further time-wasting litigation. And the mighty Marquis Group would be able to employ specially trained and expensive lawyers.

But why did Marquis try to gag us? Were they so ashamed of the way they were treating us? Why not live up to their own propaganda and send us away content that their mistakes had been rectified and we had been recompensed? 

The clever (almost to the point of being admirable) result of this manoeuvre by Marquis was that they avoided responding to or taking any responsibility for the multiple mistakes they had made, up till then and later. In effect, rather than simply taking the motorhome back and reimbursing what we had paid for it, they were buying it back on their own terms.

Not least, this made things look good on their books - they sold a motorhome, they bought a motorhome - but it gave us the second worst possible outcome. There was no response to our complaints, no compensation and a long wait for the refund of our money. Having sent the Registration Document to the DVLA on 6 July 2014, the Sales Manager said it would arrive within 2 weeks and payment would be immediate thereafter. It actually took 25 days to return and a further 5 days for payment to be made finally on 5 August 2014.

While we were waiting for our money, Marquis immediately advertised the motorhome for sale on their website. But how could it be theirs to sell until we had been paid for it?

Letter from Alan Doherty, Marquis Group Aftercare Manager

The Agreement that Alan Doherty asked us to sign. There was no alternative!

All this was done without any reference to a possible Marquis Complaints Procedure, despite our several requests for one in writing. The version that eventually appeared on 27 July had been hurriedly written as a brief unattributed Word Document by Chris Bennion, the manager of the Marquis Sussex Branch on 11 July, two days after we had made our first complaint!

The document named Alan Doherty, the Marquis Group Aftercare Manager, as the second line of complaint if the matter couldn't be resolved within the branch! The matter could have been resolved amicably within the branch, but Doherty interfered to ensure that no complaints were investigated or dealt with: rather he gagged the complainants.

In other words Marquis had their own and hopefully unique form of complaints procedure. 

Start with: Introduction and Overview

The Previous File: Note for the Group Aftercare Manager 

The Next File: A Summary of Complaints

See all Nine Files at: Marquis Malpractice