Jayco is in hot water after denying refunds or replacements despite major failures with its caravans.
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Perhaps the well used phrase “about time it happened” is very apt here.
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“largest maker of caravans” maybe 
oooh picky and it’s only Thursday. I believe the largest van they do is around 25 ft.
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Definitely not the largest vans at 25ft 
. I think they have the largest dealer network, so we might need to clarify that one.
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That’s one down.
I believe that a broom needs to be taken through the whole camper industry covering the rest of the caravan industry, camper trailer manufacturers, and camper-van camper-bus manufacturers.
Far too many of them manufacture and sell substandard, or even non compliant products.
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A case of 1. A $75,000 fine will surely get Jayco’s attention. Surely it will? Now will they pay up?
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Well, Jayco’s not a Telco many Ozzies love to hate, is it?
As a comparison Telstra have just been fined $1.5 million for refusing to port phone numbers early in 2020. Which is less expensive to walk away from, a Telco, or a lemon caravan?
To the staff and legal team at the ACCC, perhaps they need to get out a bit more?
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Jayco’s revenue in 2015 was $500 million in comparison to Telstra’s revenue in 2020 of $26 billion, so with some 50 times the revenue of Jayco, Telstra’s fine was only 20 times as much as Jayco’s fine.
Go camping in a Jayco?
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I have said it before and say it again that many/most/all of the fines meted out seem paltry in relation to the offences. I often think the fines are just considered everyday cost of business, an annoyance like an itch, but once paid it becomes just business as usual.
I also believe that as a deterrent they really don’t change behaviours other than in some cases make behaviour more ‘sneaky’ They many even start to use what I term ‘weasel words’ so they can continue on their merry path but avoid ACL consequences in the future. Fines need to be really painful, such that bonuses and similar perks for the management are not paid because of the financial outcome. Deterrence needs to be strong enough that a business would not practice what they thought would be subject to that pain.
On top of this I strongly believe when it is underhanded practices, that the upper echelons of a business caught doing so should face personal fines, and if warranted time spent behind bars. Not at all likely to see those outcomes in the short to medium term particularly in the political climate we currently live in. Long term term I guess it may be somewhat more likely but again not holding my breath in that hope.
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MAY I SAY - The timing of this decision was so “on point for a battle that I was having with a Kickstarter project.”
I requested a refund as the project was 8 months over timeline and was informed that I was not entitled to a refund. After using the ‘choice articles’ and contacing the ACCC for advice I wrote to the project creator (who btw used to live in Australia and now lives in USA hiding behind international law) along with an article featured about his company from a major news source…And VOILA - refund actioned!!
KEEP UP the good work CHOICE and everyone who posts here, you gave me the strength to fight this!!
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Can you name this grub so as to forewarn others?
Chargeasap… Uses crowd funding from Kuckstarter and Indiegogo along with minor investment partners. This project has amassed over $2.6 MIL on both of these platforms. There. attitude was "we got your money - you’ll get your item when we want to ship it.
As stated as soon as the Jayco prosecution along with the federal legislation was presented, all of a sudden the refund was possible.
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I bought a Jayco Journey Outback 2018 model only 10 months from build date of may 18. Has just run out of its 2 year warranty and the problems have gone out of control.
(1) Delaminanating of the ensuite & vanity area due to ingress of water from bad sealing on the roof along with cracking of the roofing section. (2) cracking on the front of the van at least 6 cracks. (3) a ripple in the centre of the interior floor ( structural I believe ) has a 5 year warranty. (4) edge strips on cabinet trim coming away. I contacted Jayco regarding the problem & was flogged off due to just out of 2 year warranty. The structual part where the floor has a ripple through it, I was told that structual warranty only covers the 1st owner. My dillema being is that Im not structual the van is so why does’nt it follow the van.??? another way out for Jayco! Since I have contacted the ACCC & have never heard back from them., very dissapointing as I thought they would at least reply. I then sent off an email & contacted Jayco head office & have never had a reply. This all took place back on march 19th.
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Hi @raybabe,
I merged your post into this germane older topic. Based on your experience Jayco does not appear to be a good ‘business citizen’ that does the right thing.
A related topic you may find insightful is
The ACCC rarely if ever takes on individual cases so it is not surprising you did not get a reply. What you need to do next is read about your rights under the Australian Consumer Law - there are many links on the Community to both Choice and ACCC advice and laws - use the Community search, or network search for them.
Write a formal ‘letter of demand’ per the ACL and deliver it to Jayco. Cite the problem, your rights under the ACL, their responsibilities under the ACL, exactly what you want and by when. It has to be written much like you are a silk in front of a magistrate, and the magistrate knows little about your rights or the case so you need to clarify it for ‘him’. If Jayco fail to respond (unfortunately that seems likely based on their history) your next step would be taking them to your xCAT tribunal.
Some companies have been seen to fob off their customers until they go formal religiously following the ACL and keeping copious records.
With Jayco’s history of ‘attentive customer satisfaction’ and ACCC action in 2017 I often wonder how they stay in business excepting for their name (same with AMP).
A last word is that when anyone buys a used product one’s rights may be but are not always congruent with the original purchaser’s rights, so be attentive to that aspect.
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It appears that Jayco could use some free publicity on Four Corners.
