A caravan park has responded to a grandad who claims he has been left £45,000 out of pocket and forced to sell his holiday home after the ground rent was increased by £5,000.
Christopher Jeff and his wife, Ida, are faced with selling at a loss or spending their pensioner years drowning in debt.
The pair, aged 60 and 54, claim their annual fee for the plot is now £8,161 – almost £5,000 more than the first year’s charge at £3,127.
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It was hoped using a chunk of their pension to snap up the caravan at Haven Holiday’s beachfront park, Doniford Bay, would provide happy memories with their grandson [not named for privacy reasons].
Now, it’s only left a bitter taste in their mouths.
Speaking to Jam Press, Haven says it is “committed to ensuring full transparency at every stage of the buying and selling process and clearly communicates with owners the different options available to them.” [see full comment further down].
Christopher claims this isn’t the case.
“All the terms and conditions were not explained fully to me when I bought the caravan from them,” the retired lorry driver, from Bedworth, told What’s The Jam.
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“I had to purchase [a] fridge freezer because the one Haven supplied stopped working after three months and they refused to honour the warranty that their paperwork stated, which is still valid until next month.
“A lot of the issues we have had have been caused by the incompetence of the Haven staff on site.”
Christopher and Ida, who have been left £45,000 out of pocket, say they have forked out on a new microwave, fridge freezer and bedding, totalling £5,000.
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They claim to have been “encouraged” to also pay out for new decking, costing £4,500, as well as a storage box, £300, and a bench for £120.
A spokesperson for Haven Holidays said: “Haven is committed to ensuring full transparency at every stage of the buying and selling process and clearly communicates with owners the different options available to them.
“Including the total site fees for that year, the basis for subsequent increases and the period the park is open during the year – as well as any associated terms and conditions.
“The decking was installed at Mr Jeffs’ request; however, the other items mentioned (including the storage box, microwave, fridge freezer, bedding, and bench) were not purchased from Haven, and we are therefore unable to comment on them.”
To cover the mounting annual costs, the Haven salesperson allegedly told the couple that they could rent out the holiday home privately.
But to do so, they’d need to have someone staying in it every single week of the season for £450, including passes.
He said: “If we were using it some weeks ourselves, we would have to charge even more than that.
“Haven were undercutting us by renting their own caravans cheaper all season long – sometimes £150 for a week in the off-season.
“We managed to rent out for a few weeks [last year] – five in total – but my wife, Ida, is still working in sales and all of her commission was used up covering the shortfall in rent.
“Also the park is closed for three months.
“That’s a quarter of the year we can’t even advertise it for rent.”
Now, they are desperate to sell the secondhand caravan, which originally cost them £14,859.
The couple have tried to sell the caravan back to Haven, though claim to have been told they have “too much stock already and couldn’t make an offer” unless they upgraded to a more expensive unit.
The best offer they’ve had so far privately is £3,000 and with the added 15% commission to pay the park on any private sales, they’re looking at a gut-wrenching £12,450 loss.
He added: “Even that offer fell through due to the costs involved.
“Nobody wants to buy a caravan and take on the commitment of paying over £8,000 for nine months of caravan access.
“Especially when you can’t rent it out and break even because it’s cheaper for guests to go directly through Haven.”
European Consumer Claims has been called in to help get the couple’s money back.
Greg Wilson, CEO, said: “When we first started looking into holiday park consumer abuse, we were aware that there were issues.
“However, the sheer scale of wrongdoing was shocking, even to us.”
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