‘Unbelievable’: Failed caravan maker ‘deceived’ customers with fake orders
Customers at a collapsed caravan maker in Melbourne’s north say they were “deceived” into paying tens of thousands of dollars for vans before the business secretly cancelled their orders.
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Customers at a collapsed Melbourne caravan maker say they were “deceived” into paying tens of thousands of dollars for vans before the business secretly cancelled their build orders.
The alarming claims come as liquidators pick through the financial wreckage of Tango Caravans whose collapse has left more than 50 customers from across Australia facing losses of up to $100,000.
Tango was a caravan dealership but also produced its own range of vans built by third-party manufacturers.
The business was operated by Sarah Horter and headquartered in Somerton in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Sunbury resident Sylwia Logan said Tango demanded she pay her customised van in full and then cancelled the build order with the manufacturer after pocketing the funds.
Ms Logan paid an initial $15,000 deposit in December and handed over the remaining $61,000 in May after she was told by Tango her caravan would be ready to pick up in two to three weeks.
She took out a loan to cover the cost of the van, taking her total losses to more than $90,000 when interest payments are taken into account.
“They (Tango) said I must pay the remaining fees and then as soon as I did that they stopped contacting me,” she said.
Ms Logan said she managed to work out who was manufacturing her caravan by using her order number and approached the business located in Melbourne’s north.
“They said Tango had cancelled the order,” she said.
The manufacturing business did not respond to questions from the Herald Sun.
A fed up Ms Logan said she confronted Tango employees at the Somerton office in early August, demanding a refund.
“When I said I’m not going to leave this place until you refund my money (an employee) tried to physically threaten me,” she said.
Tango eventually promised to refund her – making the pledge in writing – but the business collapsed days later.
Ms Logan said she believes Tango never intended to build her van.
“It’s unbelievable someone can do this to so many people,” she said.
“To the last minute she (Ms Horter) was taking money from customers.”
Ms Logan has lodged complaints with Victoria police and a number of regulatory agencies.
“I still haven’t lost hope,” she said.
“When I think logically it’s very unlikely (I’ll get my money back) but I still have hope and some sort of justice prevails.”
The Herald Sun understands Tango branded caravans were made by a number of specialist manufactures including Xplore RV, New Design Caravans, Bushwalk Caravans, Ausflex Caravans and Holiday Caravans.
The Herald Sun has also spoken to a Tango employee who said upwards of 10 local manufacturers are facing losses running to $400,000.
“I’ve got so many customers that paid in full, their vans are just sitting there collecting dust as they (manufacturer) never received payment,” the employee said.
“I’ve had customers call me saying that they’ve dipped into their super, that their wife’s got cancer and it was their last trip before they have to start making arrangements.”
The employee said shortly before he left Tango an angry customer threatened to plough their truck through the business.
“I remember coming back to work on a Monday and all the locks had been tampered with – someone had obviously tried to come in to get their van,” he said.
In a video posted online earlier this year, Ms Horter said the business had grown to become “Australia’s largest range dealership”.
She is the granddaughter of caravan industry veteran Ian Grant of Ian Grant’s Caravans.
Tango liquidator Andrew Yeo, from Pitcher Partners, told the Herald Sun he had been contacted by about 50 customers who have paid deposits for undelivered vans.
“Whilst we continue with our investigations, we understand that amounts are owed by the company to customers, the ATO, and to the suppliers of the caravans,” he said.
Tango was contacted for comment.
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