Kratzmann Caravans ordered to refund Qld woman for lemon caravan

A Queensland woman has won a $90,000 refund from a Brisbane-based company after her brand-new caravan was found to have 12 defects.

A Queensland woman has won a $90,000 refund after it was found her new caravan had 12 defects.

A Queensland woman who claimed she “lost $1m” when her lemon caravan had a dozen defects, has won a $90,000 refund from a Brisbane-based company which is part of one of the world’s biggest mobile-home businesses.

In a decision handed down on June 18, Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal member Danielle Brown ruled that Northgate-based Apollo Investments Pty Ltd, trading as Kratzmann Caravans, must refund Tanya Rose Thompson her purchase price.

Apollo Investments is part of dual-listed Tourism Holdings Rentals Limited (THL), and grew out of a motorhome company started by the Brisbane-based Trouchet family with one camper van in 1985.

Luke Trouchet is the director of Apollo Investments. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

THL was created out of a merger between Auckland-based Tourism Holdings and Apollo Tourism & Leisure in 2022 and has 7200 rental campervans under brands including Britz, Maui and Apollo, and also has a sales arm.

Ms Brown made the refund ruling after declaring that the list of 12 defects in the brand-new Windsor Genesis 220MD caravan Ms Thompson paid $89,395 for in 2022 amounted to a “major failure”.

“The Tribunal finds that the combination of the defects in the caravan at the time of supply are a major failure,” Ms Brown stated in her 16-page decision.

The defects included a faulty electronic water tank, damage to the vinyl flooring due to a raised screw damaging it, misaligned and warped cupboard doors and drawers, a lack of sealant around the storage hatch and kitchen sink, problems with the shower edging, a missing clip on the jockey wheel, movement in the external front plate, hanging wiring, gaps in the entry step and the toilet roll holder falling off.

Expert reports tendered in the QCAT stated that the caravan had the 12 defects “at the time” Ms Thompson took possession of the van on September 30, 2022.

Apollo Investments unsuccessfully argued that all of the defects were “minor defects”, so a refund was not necessary.

“The Tribunal finds that a reasonable consumer would not expect a new caravan, in this price range, to have this many faults at the time of supply and a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the state of the caravan at the time of purchase would not regard it as free from defects and durable, and therefore the tribunal finds it was not of acceptable quality,” Ms Brown stated in her decision.

The tribunal rejected Ms Thompson’s claims that she had lost $1m.

Ms Thompson bought the van after seeing it at a caravan and camping expo at Nambour showgrounds, the QCAT heard.

Originally published as Kratzmann Caravans ordered to refund Qld woman for lemon caravan