Erroneous Description and Subsequent Illegal Sale of an Autocruise Starblazer Motorhome by Marquis Motorhomes June - July 2014
Introduction to Our Nightmare Barry and Margaret Williamson The Next File: The Initial Account of Events and Complaints See all Nine Marquis Files at: Marquis Malpractice This is the 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. This is a first draft and is subject to further development. Much more detail can be found by following the links below or reading through the other 8 files in this series.
This story is almost unbelievable. We lived
through it for over a month in the summer of 2014, not believing what was
happening, even as it happened. Almost every day produced another twist and
turn in the plot (mainly twists) and it has been quite a challenge to present
the many facets of the tale. Let's see how it turns out.
The
Stage
The action is set in the large rambling
site known as the South Yorkshire branch of Marquis Motorhomes on the western
outskirts of the town of Dinnington. We are just north of the A57 and east of
the M1.
Marquis acquired the site following the
bankruptcy and liquidation of its former occupants, South Yorkshire Caravans in
January 2014. We guess that this is the mechanism by which Marquis has
expanded, Brownhills-like, to its present size of 11 branches spread throughout
England.
The original staff were retained although,
as we shall see, their knowledge was limited to the sale of caravans. They
were being asked to advise on and sell motorhomes with little evidence of any
supervision or training, and motorhomes were taken to a local garage for servicing and repair.
Other scenes are played out in the
Riverside Caravan Park almost in the centre of Worksop, about 10 miles east of
Dinnington.
Cast
of Characters
The
Victims:
Barry Williamson
Margaret Williamson
The
Bit Players:
Mike Gratton: Experienced Caravan Sales
Executive
Andrew Milne: Experienced Caravan Sales Executive with some knowledge of
motorhomes Steve: Experienced Caravan Demonstrator
The
Barons:
John Ivell: Sales Manager, parachuted into an
unenviable role within the newly acquired business
Alan Doherty: Group Aftercare Manager. The man with power within a vaguely
defined role at Marquis Headquarters in Southampton Supporting Cast: The Readers of this Website
Behind
the Scenes:
Cath: The wonderful manager of the
Riverside Caravan Park in the centre of Worksop
Dean Brookes: The brilliant salesman at the excellent Brownhills Motorhomes of Newark
Preamble:
Barry and Margaret had spent the winter in
Sicily and spring in the southern Greek Peloponnese, living in their Lunar
Quasar caravan which was pulled by a 3.5 ton VW Crafter van. Contemplating the
coming summer, they decided that a caravan was great for living in, with the VW van good for
carrying up to 2 tons of essentials, but to be travellers again they needed a
motorhome. They had tried two tow-vans (Sprinter and Crafter) and three caravans
(Compass, Bailey and Lunar) and it was time for a change.
The motorhome had to be less than 3.5 tons to
match Barry's driving licence, which had lapsed from 7.5 tons when their
second American motorhome was sold in October 2011. Furthermore, in mainland Europe, road tolls increase
dramatically and become more complicated over 3.5 tons and there are
increasing restrictions on access and speed limits throughout the continent.
They also needed a 'garage', a large storage
area at the back of the motorhome for their bicycles and cycling equipment as
well as all the other things that wouldn't fit inside the motorhome itself. This
also necessitated a good payload within the 3.5 tons limit.
The
Enquiry:
Using a good internet connection near
Corinth, they sourced a seemingly ideal vehicle on the Marquis Motorhomes website: 3.4 tons,
large garage, overcab bed area for extra storage and a number of extras. They
completed the enquiry form in the website, mentioning a 3.5 ton limit and a
garage. The emailed reply from John Ivell put them in touch with Mike Gratton, defined
as a Sales Executive.
Barry sent an email to Mike Gratton, again
mentioning the 3.5 ton limit, and finally arranged to view the motorhome on 23
June 2014 after arriving back in the UK. This required a refundable deposit of £250 to reserve
the vehicle.
The
Plot Thickens:
The scene having been set, Barry and
Margaret now take over the telling of the story.
On Monday 23 June Mike Gratton showed us over the motorhome,
freely admitting that he had worked with caravans in the business's previous
incarnation as South Yorkshire Caravans. It was Marquis who now insisted that
he, and others, sell motorhomes as well as caravans. His lack of knowledge and
experience showed under questioning; he did reply '3.4 tons' when we asked him to confirm the maximum weight of
the motorhome. Probably he was reading from a placard but he never doubted
or checked this 'fact'.
Mike Gratton encouraged Barry to take a test
drive, without asking about his driving licence. The drive went well and we were
very impressed with the potential of the motorhome. So much so that we paid a
further £1,750 to confirm the deal, which included Marquis taking our Lunar
caravan (though not the VW Crafter) in part exchange.
In drawing up the financial agreement, we
noticed the inclusion of a Road Fund Licence (or Vehicle Excise Duty – VED) for only 6
months, but it was easily changed to 12 months at our request. The cost for this was
given as £230 which was reassuring – being the cost for a Private Light Goods
Vehicle, that is one weighing less than 3.5 tons.
Tragedy:
We collected the motorhome on 8 July,
having delivered the caravan to Marquis and paid the balance of the money due.
After a briefing by Steve, a friendly man though handicapped by the same limited knowledge of motorhomes as Mike Gratton, Barry drove the motorhome about 12 miles to our base, the excellent Riverside
Caravan Park in Worksop.
Later that evening, browsing through the
wallet of leaflets, booklets and papers provided by Marquis, we came across a
single sheet that was to change all our plans for the summer. It showed that
the motorhome had a maximum weight of 4.15 tons following the addition of rear air suspension several years ago!
Into
Action:
The next morning, Wednesday 9 July, we telephoned the
Sales Manager at the Dinnington branch about our findings and arranged to
meet him at 11 am. He was very concerned and reassured us that a solution would
be found. He explained that problems had arisen from the decision to retain the
staff from the bankrupted former caravan dealer. He also admitted that the maximum weight
had been incorrect in the original website advertisement for this Autocruise Starblazer motorhome. Later he was to discover similar errors in other advertisements.
His initial proposal was to explore the
possibility of returning the motorhome to 3.5 tons, suggesting that he would arrange for
it to be collected the following Monday, 14 July and have it taken
to a weighbridge.
Unable to wait so long, on Friday 11 July we took it to a
weighbridge in Worksop ourselves, where for £10 we found that 'unladen' it came in at
3.45 tons! No way (sic) could it be given a maximum weight of 3.5 tons - a payload of just 50 kg.
Trying to contact the Sales Manager with
this news on Friday 11 July, both the receptionist and the man himself proposed we take the
matter up with Mike Gratton, our original Salesman! Perhaps he thought we wanted to buy another
motorhome instead! Eventually the Sales Manager agreed to meet us at 11 am on Monday
14 July.
Preparing for the meeting, we checked the
tax disk and found that it was for a Private Heavy Goods Vehicle and cost £165 (rather than the £230 for a Light Goods Vehicle, listed on our invoice)!
A Private Heavy Goods Vehicle has a weight between 3.5 and 7.5 tons, requiring a category C1
licence. Despite a promise from the Sales Manager not to sell our traded-in caravan until the problem
was resolved, we noticed that it was already for sale on the Marquis website, and at a mark-up
of 40% on the price they had given us. This was after only 4 days, during which
nothing had been done to it.
All that had happened so far in this sorry story was
written up with copies printed ready for the meeting.
When we met, the Sales Manager's earlier optimistic mood had gone and he appeared nervous and tense. He had been through to his
manager, Alan Doherty at headquarters. All he could do was to ask us to write up our
experience for Doherty, along with a statement of what we wanted to happen.
We weren't given information on how to contact Doherty, so we emailed a statement and the chronological account to the Sales Manager for forwarding.
The
Empire Strikes Back:
By Tuesday 15 July, in a state of hubris at the helm
of 11 branches, Alan Doherty the 'Group Aftercare Manager' decided that we had
to sign an agreement to sell the motorhome back to Marquis and wait for the
money until we could give them the Vehicle Registration Document, which would come from the DVLA to our home address.
Through
John Ivell, Doherty provided a 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.
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 had 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 the final payment to be made on 5 August 2014.
But
why did Marquis try to stall and 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? While we were waiting for our money, Marquis had immediately advertised the motorhome
for sale on their website. But how could it be theirs to sell until we had been
paid for it?
Keeping
up the Pressure:
We continued writing to Marquis, with a
focus on discovering whether or not they had a complaints procedure.
Over 800 organisations involved in the
sale, maintenance, storage and camping of caravans and motorhomes are members
of the NCC. Major motorhome dealers like Brownhills, Broad Lane and Lowdhams
have signed up the NCC Code Of Practice. Among other things this binds them
into having a complaints procedure with the NCC itself, ensuring access
to low cost independent redress. Unsurprisingly, given our experience, Marquis
is not a member of the NCC and has not signed up to its Code.
Comparing Marquis with Brownhills
is like comparing Greece with Germany. Marquis
South Yorkshire occupies a desolate 50-acre site along a side road into the
former mining town of Dinnington. There is no signage around the site, except
for 'Reception' over the entrance to a single building. Inside there are no
facilities except the shared use of the small staff toilet. A
large number of caravans and a small number of motorhomes occupy the otherwise
empty site, with no clear indication of which, if any, are for sale. Or which
are open to inspection. An advantage is that you are unlikely to be disturbed
by a sales executive. By
contrast, the Brownhills site in Newark has easy access from the A1 and the A46.
The site is clearly signed from the outside and around the inside. There is
defined parking for visitors and a warm welcome from all the staff you may meet. Only motorhomes are sold on this site
and the advantages of this specialism are immediately obvious. All the motorhomes
that are for sale, used or new, are open for inspection and the sales staff are
immediately available but not intrusive.
Other
facilities open to the general public include an excellent and reasonably
priced cafe, a well-stocked accessories shop, good modern toilets and a machine
for free drinks (tea, coffee, soup or fruit juice) inside the vast indoor
motorhome showroom.
Buying
a motorhome gives automatic membership of 'Club Brownhills' with the following
benefits: unlimited free overnights with a hook-up and free WiFi; water-filling
and toilet-dumping, a swimming pool, Jacuzzi and sauna, coin-op washer and
drier, washing-up room, toilets and showers, TV lounge with books and games.
All this plus 10% discount at the café and the accessories shop. As long as you
continue to own any Brownhills-bought motorhome!
Buying
a motorhome at Brownhills is a pleasure, working through a competent and transparent staged process,
which is well explained and documented at every stage. Motorhomes are
thoroughly prepared, serviced and repaired in one of several specially built workshops
on the site. Accessories can be fitted at any stage before collection.
Where Did Complaints Procedure Come From?
Eventually, on Saturday 26 July,
John Ivell sent us a copy of what he called the Marquis Complaints Procedure,
claiming that we had been following it. But we were seeing it for the first time
and 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 had interfered to ensure that no complaints were investigated or dealt
with: rather he attempted to gag the complainants.
There was no mention of what
procedure could be followed if the complaints still remained unresolved!
In other
words Marquis had their own and hopefully unique form of complaints
procedure.
The 'complaints
procedure' was 5 brief paragraphs in a Word document on plain paper, with no date, no
ownership, no heading, no protection. It only took a moment to discover that it
was written in its present form at 10.48 on the morning of Friday 11 July, two
days after
we first made our complaint. It was written by Chris Bennion, the manager of
the Marquis Sussex branch. There were no previous versions of the file.
We put
this puzzling information back to the branch Sales Manager and the Group
Aftercare Manager, but received no response from either of them.
The Dénouement:
Learning that
the Registration Document had arrived at our home address on Thursday 31 July,
we hired a car to collect it and took it round to the Marquis South Yorkshire branch. The next
day, John Ivell took details of our bank accounts over the telephone (there
were three payment to be made, a small credit card amount for the initial deposit and a large debit card
repayment for the balance). He promised the rapid transfer of money.
The credit
card amount appeared on Saturday 2 August, the debit card payment on Tuesday
5 August, some 28 days after our first complaint.
However,
all was not lost. On the morning of Friday 11 July we had learnt the worst
after taking the Marquis motorhome to the weighbridge in Worksop. That same
afternoon we drove the Crafter van 25 miles south down the A1 to Brownhills of
Newark. Thus began a very pleasant process, led by salesman Dean Brookes,
towards the purchase of a 7-metre, genuinely 3.5 ton Corado motorhome with a garage.
We finally took delivery on Tuesday 29 July. Pictures of the Carado at: http://www.magbazpictures.com/new-carado-motorhome.html
Brownhills
fitted a comprehensive alarm system, Motorhome Medics in Cheltenham subsequently
added extra locks on all four doors, a second leisure battery and a solar
panel, and the excellent Autogas 2000 in Thirsk equipped us with two
lightweight refillable gas bottles, each with a capacity of 11 kg of LPG. Now
we are ready for the road after losing over a month to the unforgiveable
interruption caused by Marquis.
We
write this in Moffat on the Scottish borders, on our way to meet Dan on the
bonnie bonnie banks of Loch Lomond. On Tuesday 26 August we sail from Newcastle
to Amsterdam, hoping to catch up on some of the travelling and cycling we
missed this summer. The Next File: The Initial
Account of Events and Complaints See all Nine Files at: Marquis
Malpractice
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