We purchased a new caravan in November 2025 and have had to lodge several warranty claims through the manufacturer’s online warranty portal, as required.
Our experience has been:
No acknowledgement that the warranty claim has been received or entered into their system. (no record of lodgement)
Waiting months before receiving any response.
No updates on the progress or status of the claim during that time. (unable to know if the Dealership is the holdup)
Once a claim is finally approved, the wait for a repair booking is often another or more month.
From reading caravan owner forums, this does not appear to be an isolated experience.
My question is whether Australian consumer law places any expectations on manufacturers regarding communication and timeliness when handling warranty claims. Is there an obligation to acknowledge claims, keep consumers informed, and resolve warranty issues within a reasonable time?
More broadly, if delays are commonplace across the industry, could prolonged warranty processes have the practical effect of reducing a manufacturer’s warranty liability—for example, by pushing repairs beyond the warranty period or discouraging consumers from pursuing smaller claims? If so, are there consumer protections that address this?
Partly, the Australian consumer law doesn’t cover communications in relation to warranty claims, however, states that:
The manufacturer guarantees that:
goods will be of acceptable quality
goods will match their description
they will honour any express warranties
they will provide repairs or spare parts for a reasonable time.
The questions is what is a reasonable time? The ACCC gives some guidance for services, namely:
What is ‘reasonable’ can depend on factors including:
the nature of the services
weather conditions
availability of parts or materials.
Being around 7 months, the inaction by the caravan manufacturer/retailer may be considered unreasonable, especially if the defects are significant and prevent you using or enjoying the use of the caravan.
I would be formally writing to the manufacturer rather than using online forms. This guideline provides some useful guidance on what to do:
Irrespective if the manufacturer is tardy in their actions, it doesn’t affect you has you notified them within the warranty period.
Notwithstanding this, the Australia Consumer Law has consumer guarantees which are mandated by law, unlike manufacturer warranties which are seem to be voluntary under the Act. The consumer guarantees also provide protections outside the manufacturer warranty period is is based on how long a particular product based on this value, should be defect/fault free.
What would constitute proof of notification? My concern comes from the fact we lodge the defect via their “portal”, receive no confirmation , leaving it our word against theirs. Would a screen capture of the entry screen suffice which included the date/time in the lower right corner?
