25 January 2023 , 13:13
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A veteran’s holiday plans were ruined after he used his war pension to buy a £28,000 caravan that was deemed “unfit for the road”.
Tony Porter bought a luxury caravan from Swift Group in East Yorkshire back in September 2019.
The 63-year-old and his wife Julie both suffer from health problems but investing in the expensive caravan gave them “an escape from inside their four walls” they hoped.
It allowed them to get out into the Great British countryside to enjoy it with friends.
But since forking out for the Elegance 565 Tony and Julie have had to return to the dealership 14 times for repairs and he says it’s now been off the road for almost seven months.
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The luxury caravan Tony splashed out £28,000 on (Duncan Young)Things have gotten so bad that the couple planned to go away on a Christmas break but had to cancel when their caravan couldn’t be used safely.
Tony said: "We have had far too many problems to list with the caravan. Windows have fallen out, so did the locking mechanism, the bathroom door was warped, both taps leak, the overhead locker slams, which almost trapped my wife's fingers, and the rear panels have cracked."
Every time something goes wrong, Tony has to travel 60 miles from Rotherham all the way to Cottingham to get the caravan fixed under its five-year warranty.
Julie was reduced to tears after the couple had to cancel their Christmas break due to the faulty caravan (Duncan Young)Sometimes the factory has the caravan in for weeks on end before eventually returning it to Tony.
Tony continued: "We bought the caravan so we could enjoy our retirement. It cost £28,000 and I used part of my war pension to pay for it.
"Me and my wife both have health issues but like to get away in the countryside instead of looking at the four walls. It has now been seven months that the caravan has been off the road, meaning we had to cancel our Christmas break.
The caravan was bought from The Swift Group in Hull (Duncan Young)"It has reduced my wife to tears many times. Going out in the caravan is an escape for us and it's a relief to get away.
“The dealership has been reasonable with me and has tried to help but the caravan is poorly-built and unfit for the road," HullLive reported.
Swift Group has since offered Tony and his wife a "goodwill gesture" of £500 but he has declined.
The couple have been unable to use the caravan for the last seven months (Duncan Young)He is hoping to get a better deal and a caravan that is finally up to scratch.
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A spokesperson for Swift Group in Hull said: "We are aware of some issues that Mr Porter has had and we are liaising directly with him and via the dealership where Mr Porter purchased his caravan.
“Customer service is very important to us and we hope that Mr Porter will continue to communicate with us to bring this to a satisfactory outcome."