Consumer watchdog targets shonky caravan operators
ACCC to focus on consumer law compliance in booming caravan marketConsumer watchdog ACCC has warned it will continue to go after RV manufacturers and dealers that fob off consumers stuck with poorly built or non-compliant caravans.
Speaking at the annual address to Committee for Economic Development Australia (CEDA), ACCC Chair Rod Sims said that one of the ACCC’s compliance and enforcement priorities for 2021 is to pursue RV businesses that fail to comply with consumer law obligations in regards to defective vans and warranty issues.
"Not surprisingly the local caravan sector has seen significant growth in 2020 as a result of the international travel restrictions," Sims said.
"The ACCC continues to receive a number of complaints and concerns about failures by caravan manufacturers and dealers to comply with their consumer guarantee obligations.
“In 2021 the ACCC will be looking to improve industry compliance with consumer guarantees across a range of high value goods, particularly motor vehicles and caravans,” he said.
More court action threatened
The consumer watchdog indicated it would continue to take legal action against RV operators if necessary, despite limited success in a recent Federal Court case involving Jayco.
"A number of decisions by the Federal Court last year highlight some of the difficulties that we face bringing cases against conduct which, on its face, appears to result in significant consumer detriment," Sims said.
"However the Court took a different view; two such matters were the Kimberley Clark flushable wipes and the Jayco Caravans cases. Despite these setbacks we will continue to take on cases we believe are in the public interest."
Concerns around 'lemon caravans' and rogue RV operators remain a hot topic in the Australian RV industry, with the Caravan Council of Australia recently blaming smaller, under-resourced businesses for many of the consumer complaints it had received in 2020 about non-compliant or poorly-built caravans.
"The number of problems and complaints against newer and smaller companies is significantly disproportionately high, in relation to the number of vehicles sold by them," the CCA's Colin Young said.
Related:
Caravan consumer complaints continue
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