Many of us have seen this; many of us have fallen foul of this pitfall. Having decided to purchase a brand new Caravan based on manufacturer list prices, to suddenly discover there will be an extra £495 - £545 added onto the price to cover ‘additional services’ is upsetting. The manufacturers typically call this charge a ‘Recommended Dealer Delivery Fee’ but to lots of us it is still referred to in slang as a ‘P.D.I.’ or ‘Post Delivery Inspection’
“We have written to the National Caravan Council (N.C.C.) to ask them to look into the matter,” Alex Murphy, Managing Director of Stealth Caravans has announced today. “It seems very unfair on the customer to not be able to see the full price of the caravan they want clearly written. We want the industry to adopt transparent pricing to help the customers and prevent people being put off by unexpected charges. We know our industry and we don’t want it to seem that caravan manufacturer’s hide charges from their customer. ”
“We understand that in a competitive industry each manufacturer is forced to copy another’s methods. By making a noise about this we hope that this will allow all manufacturers to adopt clear pricing without then appearing more expensive to the consumer than their competition. We’re confident none of the manufacturers want this messy form of pricing but have historically been forced to retain it.”
“At Stealth Caravans we always publish the actual on the road price for a Stealth Caravan with no extra costs and we think it would help the customer if other manufacturers would too.”
It is important to remember that this isn’t a charge the dealer has added – this comes from the Manufacturers price lists. In many ways, Dealers are just stuck in the middle. This extra £495 - £545 needs to come from somewhere and typically it comes out of the customer’s pocket.
Stealth Caravans will be pushing their campaign at the Motorhome and Caravan Show, 11th to 16th October 2011 at the NEC. For the first time, this show will be run by the NCC and Stealth hope that by making an impact over the issue, the Industry body can react to better protect customers.
Many may argue that this charge covers valuable services carried out on a brand new caravan before the customer can come and collect it. “We understand that, but why does this charge typically have to be in a small paragraph at the bottom of the manufacturer’s price list?” Alex Murphy continues. “We would like these charges to be built into the price, just as they are when you buy white goods from a high street retailer. It takes away any nasty surprises for the customer when they have already fallen in love and decided on a new tourer.”
Manufacturers websites often show a price for a new Touring Caravan then have the details of the ‘Recommended Dealer Delivery Fee’ in the small print of a price list. This can often mean that a caravan advertised at £19,699 could actually cost as much as £20,244 on the road.
Stealth Caravans are known for their bold ideas, both in terms of design and the unique way they allow their customers to buy. Selling directly to the public, Stealth Caravans are different from the 5 largest caravan manufactures’ as customers collect their new Touring Caravan from the Stealth factory, avoiding the type of ‘Recommended Dealer Delivery Fee’ other manufacturers charge.
Within the last few weeks, the Office of Fair Trading has told many companies, including lots of Budget Airlines, to remove hidden charges not shown until the final purchasing screen and instead to publish these extra charges from the outset of the buying process.
“As we have such a revolutionary, eye-catching design, we often end up talking to new Caravanners looking to by their first tourer,” Alex explains. “They are shocked to learn that the other caravans they are looking at are typically £500 more than they are advertised. People do seem to appreciate our honesty.”
“The recent OFT ruling shows that customers won’t stand for hidden charges. This is why we will be writing to the NCC. If we don’t regulate our own industry, an outside body will come in and do it for us, and that wouldn’t be good for the reputation of anyone.”
Stealth Caravans are hoping that Journalists, Magazines, customers and even Dealers will join the campaign and say YES to Transparent Pricing, NO to Hidden Charges, in the hope of changing Manufacturer price lists to show all costs and charges included in the price.
