Beware Vango's warranty - Have just discovered that it does not cover UV degradation. Fair enough but no guidance is given as to what is excessive UV exposure. I paid £600 for a Sapera Tall Motorhome awning that started leaking quite badly. After returning to Vango for assessment they have advised it is not covered by their 2 year warranty. The awning has been erected for a total of 35 days over 5 different occasions yet Vango has determined that it has had excessive UV exposure. If this is excessive I guess the warranty will only ever be valid if you never take it out of the bag! Not good customer service or value for money. I have already met someone who had exactly the same awning leaking in the same place and it was the 1st time he had put it up! It's obviously a design fault although Vango will not admit this. To add insult to injury Tamworth Camping have advised that I have to pay £15 to have my faulty awning returned to me - Buyers beware.
I'd take the matter to your local Trading Standards office at the Council. Goods must be fit for purpose to comply with the Sale of Goods Act, and I think Vango's stance is open to challenge. They'd be the people to do this - they have the power to prosecute. And if you bought it with a credit card, that gives you certain rights with the card company too - worth checking.
Hi
I may be wrong but I don't think peggy is saying the tubes are leaking air, they are well covered by fabric etc, none of the air bladder is exposed to the sun. I think peggy means the fabric is leaking water due to Vango saying its had to much sun.
I cannot comment on this case as I have not seen the fabric etc but yes the sun can affect fabric. When the fabric has had a lot of sun it will need re proofing. I will say that 35 days and nights is not enough to affect the fabric.
As for going to Trading Standards I would ask firstly how long have you owned the awning. If its over 6 months old then i'm afraid it is up to the consumer to prove the product is faulty, if it is under 6 months old its then down to the retailer who the contract is with, not Vango. Just stating some facts for you and not taking sides.
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
Go on the Companies House website and find the name and address of the CEO of Vango. It will only cost you a couple of £'s to get the information sent to your computer. Write a letter to the customer services dept of Vango and CC the CEO in on the letter. Chances are you will get a response. Has worked for me in the past and I have advised clients to also do it (with success). Hope this helps.
------------- August 2013 - Kingsbridge, Devon
April 2014 - Ladram Bay,Devon
May 2014 - Whitehill Country Park, Paignton
July 2014 - Rivendale, Derbyshire
Fact is if Vango or any other supplier of this latest crop of inflatable tents/awnings refunded/replaced without question for every fault that is likely to appear on these tents then they would make no profit. You can look at Karsten & see how inflatable tents are supposed to work but built down to a price that most campers are prepared to pay these tents will be short life, I think.
Probably ideal for their target market which may well be folk who try camping for a fortnight for couple of yrs & then move on but I think the regular camper hoping for several yrs trouble free use is likely to be disappointed. The suppliers know the law & are likely to stick to the letter of it on this, I think.
Just an observation, based on looking at these tents & reading the posts on here about them since their introduction.
I think a lot of the larger companies often say no in the first instance in the hope that the majority of people will accept that and go away. This doesn't make the company right. I would be mightily cheesed off if I used, what is an expensive piece of kit, for only 35 days before it started to leak. A £600 awning is not a disposable item.
The decision not to replace the awning needs to be challenged again and again if necessary. Too many companies get away with not dealing with faulty goods because the individual person is told by the company that the company is in the right and they, the consumer, is wrong.
Companies do get it wrong and if it was me I would be taking the matter as far as I could go.
Rant over .
------------- August 2013 - Kingsbridge, Devon
April 2014 - Ladram Bay,Devon
May 2014 - Whitehill Country Park, Paignton
July 2014 - Rivendale, Derbyshire
Thank you for all your replies. After posting a similar post to this on Vango's facebook page they have actually contacted us directly and said they would investigate so watch this space.
To clarify the awning is leaking water through the seams not air. It was purchased on 29th May last year and I contacted the retailer Tamworth camping in January to report the water ingress problem. In the nearly 7 months we had owned it, the awning had been used for 2 x 7 night holidays and 2 x weekend breaks. It had started getting leaky before we took it to Portugal where after 16 nights we had to take it down as everything was getting soaking wet every morning. Vango say that the problem is caused by UV degradation and there is a warning on the inside of the bag to this effect. The problem is you have to purchase the item before you read this warning and it gives no advise as to what they consider excessive exposure. Personally for £600 I was expecting a lot more than 35 days use. There is also no advise on their website as to what they consider normal usage. Sadly the retailer Tamworth Camping didn't help matters by saying if we want the awning back we have to pay a £15 delivery charge!!!
To be fair to Vango they have now offered to investigate matters and will be in touch in a few days time so I'll update when we've heard.
Thank you to all who took the time to reply and show support. Complaining is so frustrating when it falls on deaf ears!
Yes, the normal life of a nylon tent is usually reckoned to be about average 16weeks erected, In strong, say southern Europe sunlight it might be a fair bit less, but the fabric gets crispy when reaching end of life.
If the awning is leaking through the seams though, this would not necessarily be UV degredation & this can be sealed with seam sealer & its always a good idea to include a tube of this in your tool kit. Was there heavy overnight rain because you can get heavy condensation so heavy that it drips off but this would usually be inside a tent with people sleeping, not a caravan awning?
This is an easy fix, seam sealant or a good spray along the affected seam and job done. If you have to pay for the spray and seam sealant or the retailer gives you this or even sprays the awning for you is up to you and them but it is an easy fix. The fact the awning is not new and has been used then a reasonable out come would be a good fix re reproofing. I take it it was just a section of a seam leaking, it would not be every seam.
------------- Gary Cross - The masked camping guru.
Just for info, my Acrylic Inaca awning is 15 years old and used on a seasonal pitch and still does not leak.
every year i say to myself ill buy a new one next year but its still going strong.
Why would anyone buy an awning if they knew it was going to last 16 weeks
Quote:
Why would anyone buy an awning if they knew it was going to last 16 weeks
Think that's the point...Buyer beware as OP says...I assume that there is still no joy from Mr Vango or trading standards....£600 for 35 days use is absolute pants and Vango should hang their heads in shame if they insist that you have no come-back or replacement unit.
------------- Snowmen fall to earth in kit form........
Every day is a gift..That's why it's called the present.
Sorry I forgot to update this thread. Vango proved to be an absolute nightmare to deal with!! After the awning was returned to them they were adamant the failure was due to UV degradation so was not covered by the warranty. We even had a phone call from the sales director who was really rude to my other half as he had posted a comment about this matter on their facebook page. They said as a 'goodwill gesture' (laughs out loud) they would offer us a replacement awning half price for £300. When we asked what they would do if the awning failed again they advised that that would be their final offer. We declined as we felt in all we would have spent nearly £1,000 if we had of taken them up on this and to be honest we had no confidence in the awning anymore. To add the final insult to injury we had to pay £15 to get our 'useless' awning back from Tamworth Camping. They advised that as Vango had said the fault wasn't covered by the warranty then they were not liable for postage. All in all it was a horrible experience and I would certainly NEVER recommend Vango or Tamworth Camping to anyone!
If I read your post correctly, they say UV damage was the cause?
In 35 days use?
So if you pay £1600 (ish) for one of their Airbeam tents do they expect that to fail in 35 days too?
Next to useless imho.
I would add more info on their Facebook page stating the ridiculous offer they have made...It's the only way to alert other potential customers to their poor after sales record.
------------- Snowmen fall to earth in kit form........
Every day is a gift..That's why it's called the present.
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Topic: BEWARE - Vango Airbeam Awnings
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