I'm blaming Friday 13th..... and inexperience

This story happened on: 15/09/2013

Its Friday the 13th and our first caravan which we have owned for two weeks is in for a service at Widnes caravans. They were brilliant, any problems that they discovered they were on the phome right away to inform me, there was nothing majorly wrong only recommendations,  they were very nice and polite so I wasreally happy to have our caravan serviced there. 

So its 2.30pm and my wife says lets take the caravan out so I said ok, she phones up Royal Vale caravan park in Knutsford which we only left on the Monday!  (Which was our very first outing in the caravan) So yes we got the pitch booked, brilliant yes we can go. So bags get packed, food gets put in bags out of fridge and bedding and towels which have been washed get put in car for a quick getaway. All is good at this point. Jump in car to go pick the caravan up from Widnes Caravans after its service. They hitched up the caravan for us whywe paid inside and talked about the caravan to the lads who worked there, again they were good to deal with and they even hitched up the caravan for us to the car, so again at this point all is good.

We set off and arrive at Royal Vale, we were welcomed again verynicely by the staff and were told thatwe were on pitch number 16, it was also very nice to of been remembered from only being there a few days previously.  This is a small but very busy site, it is very popular and everyday each pitch seems to be fully booked,  there never seems to be an empty pitch on this site.

So we come up to pitch 16 and amy jumps out to watch me backing the  aravan onto the pitch so I avoid hitting the water pipe and tap. It took  me a couple of attempts to get it all where I wanted it, which seemed like a life time, its lashing it down with rain and Amy is getting soaked, she jumps back in car whilst I unhitch it, all seemed well, Amy shouts 'is it all ok? Can I pull off?' Me in a fluster shouts 'YEAH, go ahead' Then in slow motion I looked back down and saw the electric cable still attached!!!! A few swear words mixed in with stop came out of my mouth. Amy put window down and looked back in anger and shock. The cable had been stretched but not pulled apart, she backed up and I pulled the two parts away. Only two pins on show on the caravan end of the cable and the car end had been pulled up. So that was in my opinion It was 5.45pm and Friday 13th had struck. Wwhike levelling up the caravan I loked into the front window at the spirit level to see water!! Oh dear sprung to mind!! I lept into the caravan to see water all along the window sill on the inside and wet cushions, I was gutted. Widnes Caravans must of had front window undone and nor shut in properly and with the travelling loads of water had come in! It looked worse than it was but it still annoyed me. So then im setting up the caravan and almost all sorted and I come to get the water pipe that you put in your fresh water barrell and I looked in locker where I put it and its not there! Amys gone to shop for food all annoyed at me for not unplugging the caravan, then all inside is soaked which she doesnt know about and now we dont have water, now im angry and gettin wound up, and the rain isnt helping either, people must of been sat watching me having a right laugh and that was winding me up even more. I look in every outside locker on the caravan for the water pipe, then I head inside and look in every cupboard inside the caravan and again no sign. Now im fuming at Widnes Caravans, Amy gets back and I tell her and she fuming aswell, she says put kettle on whilst I phone them and give them a peice of my mind, and there it is, sat in the sink!! The water pipe.

So we get up early the next day concerned that the 13 pin connections are going to cost a fortune and we are not going to be able to take the caravan home on sunday. We head two minutes up the road to Spinney Motor Caravans, the staff were great, at first one staff member said that 2e would bave to bring the caravan to them but once the gentleman in the wlrkshop heard our story he jumped in his van and followed us to the site, luckily the car part was fine but the caravan end was gone and needed replacing, the cost of the part was £10.99 and labour was £45.00. A huge sense of releif came over myself and Amy. We got away with a cheap fix in our opinion.

After that was all sorted we were able to relax and continue enjoying our weekend. Sorry for blabbing on i hope you enjoyed our story

moorlander999 commented on 15/09/2013 19:30

Commented on 15/09/2013 19:30

our first weekend seemed traumatic at first...sleepless night before the day we set off worrying about everything from car breaking down to punctures etc....lots of running back and but  all went very well....well almost,

we only went local for two heights so that we could test everything out....packed everything but the kitchen sink but realised after we had sat down to our first cup of tea from the new kettle that I had left the freeview remote at home.....no tv !!

too far from wifi mast on the site to get a signal so stranded without  X factor on a Saturday night ((. Hurray on my part but not a happy wife !!))

hope that your next outing is more relaxing ??

 

regards,

 

simon.

milliehull commented on 15/09/2013 20:14

Commented on 15/09/2013 20:14

We did exactly the same with our electric connection while in France this year.  Unfortunately no friendly local caravan spares dealer so after OH managed after many hours to get the indicators (and nothing else) working we decided that we had to come home.  We have been caravanning for over 15 years and STILL made this silly mistake.  We shan't again - we are now extra careful.  Glad you got yours sorted out. Everything seems so much worse in the rain doesn't it.

amos1986 commented on 15/09/2013 20:48

Commented on 15/09/2013 20:48

moorlander999 its funnybthat you should also talk about the tv as when I was sorting out and paying for the repairs I thought I would buy one of these signal finding boxes with l.e.d lights, cost me £20.00 which I thought would be a good investment....... bad idea, once I used it it made the reception worse and got the other half brassed off and a telling off for wasting money, and queuing me to put the aerial back to its original direction.

milliehull im sorry to hear that you were so far from home and had to return. Fingers crossed we both learn from this and it never happens again!!

RowenaBCAMC commented on 16/09/2013 15:20

Commented on 16/09/2013 15:20

Sorry to hear you had a couple of unfortunate incidents. I hope everything dried out ok and pleased to hear you got the connections fixed and were able to enjoy the rest of the weekend away. :)

towseys commented on 17/09/2013 11:23

Commented on 17/09/2013 11:23

Oh dear, what an awful start for you. We had similar experiences in the past 5 months we have broken breakaway cable, set fire to microwave, blown main electric point outside, lost towing mirror and almost divorced over putting up awning for 1st time, but we could not be happier lol. My lovely OH is banned from cooking, i am banned from moving tow car and we "hopefully" know what we are doing now.

Best of luck for all future trips, maybe a good idea to stay home on friday 13th though lol

Wendy

Woman sitting in camping chair by Wastwater in the Lake District with her two dogs and picnic blanket

Follow us on Facebook

Follow the Caravan and Motorhome Club via our official Facebook page for latest news, holiday ideas, events, activities and special offers.

Photo of Wast Water, Lake District by Sue Peace
Visit Facebook