RV FEATURE
WAKE-UP CALL ISSUE 66
In 2022, the ACCC shone a spotlight on the Australian RV industry, specifically in relation to manufacturing compliance concerns. Releasing a report entitled New Caravan Retailing: Ensuring Industry Compliance with Australian Consumer Law, the ACC detailed a host of concerns in relation to a lack of compliant manufacturing, aftersales service and some manufacturers not properly honouring their warranty obligations under the Australian Consumer Law.
The report was based on a survey of 2270 owners of new caravans, 80 per cent of whom reported a failure of some kind with their new van. While the RV industry described the report as a‘ wakeup call’, it cautioned that the report wasn’ t truly representative of the industry.
This ACCC report was a watershed moment for the Australian RV industry.
“ The ACCC is concerned that many consumers alleged suppliers had made misrepresentations to them about their new caravans and their consumer guarantee rights. It is a breach of the ACL( Australian Consumer Law) for a business to make statements to their customers that are incorrect or likely to create a false impression,” the report said.
Performance capabilities, towing weight and the availability of repairs were among the“ misrepresentations” highlighted by the report.
In GoRV’ s experience, the industry took this report seriously – we attended multiple positive educational sessions in which industry leaders discussed the report with manufacturers in a bid to address the ACCC’ s concerns. In some ways, this report represented a watershed moment for an industry that had been long beleaguered by allegations( some well founded) of dodgy practices.
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CONSUMER LAW CONCERN
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