☀️ Part 1: Our first caravan collection
We originally visted TB Motorhomes (TB) on 20th May 2023 as we were looking for a caravan, they seemed helpful and genuinely willing to assist and sell. We completed the purchase and collected our Bailey Pegasus 514 on Friday 2nd July 2023. We headed straight to Clumber Park for a weekend away to test. We had a few minor issues as you do but the big one was our water pump stopped working, which TB claimed had been replaced prior to our pickup already. We took it straight back on the Sunday to be looked at.
TB kept it for two days and fitted a further two new water pumps (our 'new' one was dead, then the first replacement dropped pressure yet again). The third one they fitted they claimed was all good and nothing to worry about.
🚾 Part 2: Our second time out
For our second trip, we went to Ferry Meadows in Peterborough. With the issues fixed we were pretty confident. On our arrival the locker door smashed open and cracked the top of the locker - due to a faulty lock. TB never did get round to replacing this before preceeding events happened.
Our arrival was fine and everything worked!! Woo!. On the Saturday, we then went for a walk to Peterborough and everything was good. We came back from Peterborough and of course that streak couldn't stay... no water again, no life in the pump. Went for a quick visit to the carvan toilet and.... no flush. I spoke to one of the sales reps at TB Motorhomes who was again helpful and said bring it back on Sunday and they'll take a look.
When we got there on Sunday we weren't even known about - we were told 'well you need to go through the warranty now - it's not our problem' despite these issues being around since delivery. After a bit of huffing (and trying to blame me for the pump breaking - due to 'leaving it on'??) one of them agreed to come take a look, tweaked around with the pump and flush and said all was good now - fixed...
⚡ Part 3: Our third time out, and the end of caravan one
For our third visit, and being confident that all was now fixed, we ventured further out to Buxton. All set up again and all good - we went out for a bit and then my partner said 'can you smell burning?'. I investigated and found a melting fuse - after pulling that out the pump died again. It turns out TB had simply replaced a 5A rated point with a 10A fuse. A
MASSIVE safety and fire risk. And to top that all off - the toilet flush went again :).
We went to look at the warranty and with a £500 limit it was pretty much useless. Knowing that a new pump was expensive (and our current one was dead again), then there would be a diagnositc as no one knew what was causing these issues and then a fix for whatever issue we'd easily breach the £500 mark. After an email or two, we had an agreement we would change the caravan with them.
🆕 Part 4: Our new caravan
On Friday 28th July we picked up a newer Elddis Breeze 504 from TB. All seemed well, no major issues and they walked me through everything but couldn't locate the radio anywhere. They ended up saying to me they'd come fit a new one within the next few days. Here we go again...
The radio was never sorted - I ended up purchasing my own at my own cost. There was multiple other bits missing when we collected but I knew how unreliable TB would be - so I ended up sorting myself
- Marker Light (Completely missing the outer unit)
- Multiple Curtain End Rails
- Door Latch
We also spotted an issue after getting a motor mover and BBQ point fitted - our engineer pointed out the LED and gas mode didn't work for the fridge. We thought this would be the perfect chance to use the warranty to claim. So, I rang their warranty company. TB had 'forgot' to register our new warranty and it didn't exist.
The warranty was then registered but as these issues then predated the warranty start date, the warranty wouldn't cover it. No issue TB said, our guy will come sort. After much chasing (see images below) they eventually said they'd come on the 2nd October...
As you can see from the images, they never did turn up and I never got a call back to explain what happened (Tom (the owner) did eventually blame their caravan fitter SH Caravans but I wouldn't believe that too much).
We ended up getting the caravan fixed through our own guy, at our own cost (£450+). Whilst fixing the gas on the fridge he also found that the pipe connection was cracked. Again TB missed a potentially
MAJOR issue. Our engineer said that someone had clearly had a go on it before and overtightened it - causing it to crack. This means either the previous owners, or TB. So it was either missed in their 'pre delivery check' or their engineer had caused this and given up trying to fix it. Obviously, we can't prove either way.
💵 Final Part: Take our money and go
After we followed up with a negative review on TB Motorhomes we suddenly got an email from Tom, he'd fund everything but we would have to take the reviews down and agree to never post again. We called his bluff and agreed to this, silence. For a week or so he didn't reply again, until we followed up and said we'd be updating the review further.
3 days ago we heard back - he'd still do it as long as we agree to those terms. We tried agreeing again... and silence. He's trying to work out the cost of our reviews and if we're worth it clearly. Pictures may follow once discussions are continued.
➕ The summary
In summary, avoid TB Motorhomes if you want a stress free buying experience. They recently rebranded once and we imagine they'll dissolve and phoenix their company again once it starts to get too much. Here's some other recent reviews I've compiled from other places (incase they're paid to take them down):
I'd recommend going to Brayford Leisure, CamperUK or elsewhere for a stress free experience.
🚨 WARNING: False Reviews
Personally I would recommend disregarding any positive review against TB Motorhomes, as they seem to be reviewing themselves now... (see below)
