Leeds leisure Vehicles

[Lesley1414]

Has anyone else apart from Myself and BrianM had any problems with Leeds Leisure vehicles?

I bought a Toyota campervan from them in Nov 2012 and it didnt even get me home when the gearbox went. Even though they assured me they would take care of the bill there has been no payment and it is becoming increasingly obvious they have no intention of paying.

[Conniff]

Welcome Lesley, tell us the full story ie make and model, year and mileage and amount paid?

[Lesley1414]

Welcome Lesley, tell us the full story ie make and model, year and mileage and amount paid?

 

The story so far:

 

I bought a Toyota Hiace campervan on 1/11/12 from Leeds leisure It is R reg,had 107415miles on the clock and had been converted from a panel van by them. I paid £6195 for it. The van had a 12months warranty and as the bodywork was in good condition I thought I was safe.There was a cupboard door to put on so I left the van with them for a week while the work was done. After the van was picked up it started to rain and I discovered the roof vent was leaking so back it went for a repair.

 

I live in the North of Scotland and had to go home by this time. The van was in Leeds Leisure for another fortnight until I could get back. I collected the van and set off for home. By the time I got to Glasgow it had developed a whine in the gearbox so took it into a garage there. The chap at the garage told me the gearbox had failed and probably wouldnt get me back to Leeds.

 

I phoned Leeds to let them know what had happened and was told to get on to the warranty people - which I did only to be told that as the oil had leaked out it wasnt covered by the warranty.

 

I phoned Leeds Leisure and was told -not to worry,they wouldn't leave me in the lurch they would source another gearbox. Weeks went past with numerous phone calls to Leeds Leisure each time was fobbed off with excuses and nothing was done.

 

Eventually I offered to pay half the cost of a reconditioned gearbox in order to get things moving. They agreed to this -promising to pay the rest of the bill. More phone calls -no gearbox forthcoming - in spite of them phoning the garage to get the failed gearbox crated up. More weeks went past Leeds Leisure admitted they hadn't found a reconditioned gearbox and asked me to tell the Glasgow garage owner to get the gearbox reconditioned and complete the repair.

 

The repair cost £1197.30, the reconditioned gearbox was £850 of which I had offered to pay half,£425, leaving £772.30 to be paid by leeds leisure. To date they haven't paid. Each time I ring they assure me they will pay but giving ridiculous reasons why they havent, short staff, someone forgot,lost my bank details etc etc.

 

I inspected the van thouroughly before I bought it,and there was no oil leak. It is likely that there was no oil in it to start with, which should have been one of those multiple checks they brag about. And I discovered, just to add insult to injury, the fridge doesnt work either.

Edited March 4, 2013 by Conniff

[Conniff]

So we can take it that the van won't be released until the bill is paid ?

 

Did you pay for the warranty ?

[Lesley1414]

I have paid the garage as I needed the van and I didn't see why the garage owner should have to wait for his money.The warranty was included in the price I paid to Leeds leisure - all their vehicles have this warranty.

[candoula]

Has anyone else apart from Myself and BrianM had any problems with Leeds Leisure vehicles?

I bought a Toyota campervan from them in Nov 2012 and it didnt even get me home when the gearbox went. Even though they assured me they would take care of the bill there has been no payment and it is becoming increasingly obvious they have no intention of paying.

The people at Leeds Leisure are a total disgrace who operate/have operated under many different company names and laugh at the police/AA/Trading Standards. They are well known to trading standards as there are many others who have suffered because of them. I finally got my money back under section 75 from my bank and thanks to advice from my local Citizens advice Bureau but it took many weeks of stress and a lot of research. Do keep detailed records/photos of ads/emails/problems etc. if you can. It seems small claims courts are pretty useless because even if you win there is no guarantee that you will get any money back.

 

Keep fighting!!!

[Manxlabradoodle]

The people at Leeds Leisure are a total disgrace who operate/have operated under many different company names and laugh at the police/AA/Trading Standards. They are well known to trading standards as there are many others who have suffered because of them. I finally got my money back under section 75 from my bank and thanks to advice from my local Citizens advice Bureau but it took many weeks of stress and a lot of research. Do keep detailed records/photos of ads/emails/problems etc. if you can. It seems small claims courts are pretty useless because even if you win there is no guarantee that you will get any money back.

 

Keep fighting!!!

Hi

 

I bought a campervan last year from Leeds Leisure, totally agree they are a disgrace, they claim that their vehicles go through this checking system. The van had gone through a new conversion. It had about 50,000 miles on clock. We live in the Isle of Man, so paid the deposit and booked our flights to collect. LLV's appeared on the surface to be reputable as leading dealers for major camper companies. The day before they rang and told us that the van had failed the MOT but they would sort this out and have it ready as planned. On the day we waited until nearly 7pm for it to be ready, were told they were working on the brake pipes. It subsequently passed the MOT, As the can was not taxed and this couldn't be done as we live on IOM they gave us trade plates to get us to the ferry and home. We got home and noticed that they were out of date. The government in IOM insist that all cars over 3 years are tested before it could be registered here. After the test I was td that the whole bottom of the van was badly corroded and that spray fibre glass has been used on the main support of the van. It failed badly, they advised that we ask for a refund. An independent garage confirmed that the van was unroadworthy and would cost in the region of 5K to fix, in their opinion it was unsafe to drive and should never have passed a MOT. In fact it was only fit for scrap.

We rang LLV after it failed the test and they put the phone down on me, subsequent attempts to speak to someone failed! After advice from our consumer people here, I wrote to them on day 6 after purchase and rejected the contract on the grounds of not fit fit purpose and faulty goods. We couldn't get it registered or taxed here because of its unroadworthiness. Again after 3 letters, no reply, all letters were sent by registered post. On the next occasion, our consumer dept sent the letter on our behalf, we received a reply then offering a fix or replacement. I rejected this offer on the grounds of our mistrust in their ability to provide a suitable alternative And we looked at the accounts of the garage they used and there total assists are only 1k on paper so did MIT believe they had the capacity to fix it. We wrote back and reiterated that we wanted a refund, we had no reply again.

 

I was not given the name of the manager or owner when asked so I done some research to find out if the company was connected to any other, it was not and is owned by a 22 year old! I looked at the MOT company records and those of Cordoba who do the fitting.

 

I paid for the van with my VISA debit card and although LLV were separate companies the VISA receipt was from cordoba! I applied for chargeback and sent in a detailed account if events and 22 photos. They advised that I took the van back. At great expense the van was delivered by Greenflag, it had to go on the back of the trick as to drove it would be unsafe and illegal. When the van driver put it on their forecourt he was asked where was it from, when he said IOM they demanded that it was nothing to do with them and it must be removed from their property. Luckily we had driven to Leeds and my friend drove it into their showroom, locked it up and took photos of it back on their showroom. They threatened to call the police and the manger left at speed from the facility, the atmosphere was hostile.

 

I had planned to go into the office and put the keys and paper work on their desk, However, felt quite unsafe at this time and we left .

 

I know this is a long story, VISA refunded our money through the banks chargeback system. We are still about 1k out of pocket!

 

Be very wary about buying anything from this company, they do not live up to their advert, and don't rely on the fact that they have major dealerships.

[candoula]

My heart goes out to you

 

Trading Standards appear to be "toothless tigers"!

 

Leeds leisure Vehicles also trade under/share the same VAT number/Director or address as some of the following:

 

The One Stop Gold Shop Ltd

Active Special Vehicles Ltd.

Cordoba Leisure (see article 15th June 2010 in EPR Automotive News)

Cordoba Gold

Hippo Automotive Ltd

 

I swear that I aged 10years because of this company and hope that this information is of some use to others out there caught in the same nightmare!

 

Do leave a frank review on Yell.com and anywhere else you can find.

 

Good Luck All!

[fastcamper]

Car Parts Counterfeiter Curbed

 

4th November 2011

 

 

Bradford Company Director Shahidhur Rahman Chowdhury of, Shipley has today been sentenced to 4 months in prison, suspended for 12 months and 200 hours of community work, at Bradford Crown Court. Mr Chowdhury was found guilty of 12 counts of possessing and exposing for sale counterfeit branded car accessories, following an investigation by West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service.

 

West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service visited Hippo Automotive Ltd, formerly of Essex Street, Bradford in January 2009 and made test purchases of Ford and Vauxhall branded goods. The goods were subsequently examined by the brand owners and confirmed to be counterfeit. The premises were then visited in February 2009 by a team of Trading Standards and West Yorkshire Police officers. Almost 60,000 items were seized suspected to be counterfeit bearing the trademarks of Ford, Vauxhall, Land Rover, Snap On, Harley Davidson and many others. 17,000 of the items were fake Bosch windscreen wipers mistakenly spelt Bocsh by the Chinese manufacturers. The estimated value of the goods seized is around £600,000.

 

As well as the premises in Bradford, Chowdhury was also selling these items through various eBay accounts the proceeds of which have funded his lavish lifestyle.

 

All the items seized were examined by the brand owners the process of which took several months to complete. Mr Chowdhury did not offer any explanation for his activities and failed to comply with requests to produce documentation relating to his business made by Trading Standards Officers.

 

The case was heard before Bradford Magistrates Court in June 2011 and sent to Crown Court for sentencing. A financial investigation under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 is now being undertaken by Kirklees Council financial investigation team, who are working closely with the Regional Assets Recovery Team.

 

Graham Hebblethwaite Chief Officer West Yorkshire Trading Standards Service said “This is one of the largest single seizures of counterfeit items that we have dealt with in recent years. It again makes the point that counterfeiters don’t just copy the obvious products such as DVDs and designer hand bags. Although these products were not safety critical it goes to show that the motor industry is just as vulnerable to counterfeiting.”

 

Councillor Neil Taggart, Chair of West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee, which oversees the work of Trading Standards, said: ”West Yorkshire Trading Standards service has a strong commitment to ensuring that those individuals who make money from breaking the law and cheating consumers will be punished. Counterfeit goods cost the UK economy dearly and it is not something that any of us should tolerate.

 

Consumers wishing to report the suspected sales of counterfeit goods should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506”

 

 

 

To make a consumer complaint contact Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 or click here and use the online form.

 

West Yorkshire Trading Standards

Edited May 9, 2013 by fastcamper
Spelling error

[Justthestart]

I've been having some fun with this mob too. I bought a pretty expensive newly converted camper from them in July 2012. It was based on a reasonably new van with a full service history from a very large lease company and although somebody else viewed it and collected it for me I was quite happy with it when I got to see it in the flesh. It was advertised with a 12 month warranty, their usual full inspection and an MOT that was new on the day of collection. The fact that it managed to pass with a headlamp and a tail lamp out should have sounded a warning I suppose.

 

Within a couple weeks I found that the air con was not working (not fully tested on collection) and the suspect was a seized compressor - which is clearly covered by the warranty. I contacted the warranty company who informed me that LLV had not yet sent them their part of the agreement which they needed to activate the policy.

 

Numerous phone calls and ignored e-mails passed until I finally received a reply which promised to send the required documents needed to activate the warranty. In the meantime my garage found that it was a wiring fault rather than the compressor which isn't readily covered by said warranty so after all the fuss with LLV and the missing docs I didn't make a claim after all. Cost me £450 to find the fault though.

 

On the first outing the van broke down a couple of miles from home when the gear selector cables failed. £350 bill. It ran Ok for the last couple of months of the summer.

 

Earlier this year I brought it out of hibernation to find that the alternator had failed (£150) and cooked the battery (£100). The air con condenser had a leak (£95) and the A/C dryer needed replacing (£45).

 

The first run out went not too bad but on the second trip a couple of dash lights came on and that cost me an hour's labour for a DPF regen (£100). While it was in the garage I took the opportunity to have a service and MOT completed a couple of months early. Despite only covering 2000 miles since it's last MOT it failed on a bottom balljoint and track rod end which resulted in a £579 bill this time. It was going well on it's very next outing when the clutch slave cylinder went 100 miles from home and the thing now sits in the garage looking at the sharp end of another £600+ bill.

 

The slave cylinder is clearly covered by the warranty so yesterday I phoned the company. You can guess the next bit can't you...................yep LLV had not sent then the necessary paperwork and now that 90 days has passed since the purchase the warrant could no longer be made valid.

 

I can accept that vehicles go wrong, it had a full history that I was happy with and still am but these guys are shysters who have deliberately chosen not to activate the warranty to avoid paying for repair costs. They do not answer e-mails or respond to phone calls and are clearly bent.

 

I'll have my day..........this is just the start.

Edited May 21, 2013 by Justthestart
Spelling

[candoula]

My heart goes out to you!

 

There are so many of us that have suffered it remains a mystery to me how they continue to operate.

 

I wonder if it is worth getting in touch with one of the investigative TV programms and showing them this thread?

 

Please do leave very frank reviews on Yell and any other sites that you can find to warn others before they fall into their web of deceit.

 

Have you reported your history of events to trading standards. They may not be able to do anything to help you at this stage but the more people who report these crooks the sooner they may be made to suffer themselves.

 

I think we should all write to the Companies that supply them with vehicles to alert them to the fact that they are dealing with frauds and charlatans. It need only be a brief letter but again, the more their evil ways are exposed the closer they should be to retribution.

[candoula]

Thank you very much indeed for posting this item.

 

I am sure it bought some small comfort to all of us who have suffered with Leeds Leisure Vehicles and their subsidiary group of crooks. What a pity the sentence was suspended.....if only he could have shared a cell with one of his past customers!

[Justthestart]

Thanks, I'll let you know how things go I won't let this drop and I am determined to make things as difficult as I can for them. Trading Standards are on my list as are every single supplier and manufacturer that they deal with.

[candoula]

Good for you!

 

United we stand!

[Camper2010]

Bradford company director is told to pay back cash for counterfeit car accessories

 

6:00am Wednesday 12th June 2013 in NewsBy Kathie Griffiths, T&A Reporter

 

A Bradford company director convicted of selling counterfeit car accessories has been ordered to pay back £741,136.50 under the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA).

 

Shahidur Chowdhury, 39, has six months to pay it back or faces four years in prison.

 

Judge John Potter made the POCA order yesterday ruling the proceeds would be seized from the sale of six of Chowdhury’s properties, including houses and a warehouse on a business park in Essex Street, Bowling – all of which were purchased from criminal benefits. Father-of-six Chowdhury was also ordered to pay £40,000 prosecution costs The order comes after Chowdhury, of Lindisfarne Road, Shipley, pleaded guilty in 2011 to 12 charges under the Trademark Act of selling counterfeit car accessories and possessing them with a view to selling. He had also asked for 14 further offences to be taken into consideration.

 

At that time he was sentenced to four months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

 

The fake items, which made up about 50 per cent of the goods stocked in the warehouse, included Vauxhall air fresheners, Land Rover boot and wash bags, and car mats. They were found by West Yorkshire Trading Standards officers in the Essex Street warehouse.

Since 2011 trading standards officers have delved deeper – working with financial investigators from Kirklees Council and with the Regional Assets Recovery Team, the court heard.

 

It was revealed over a two-day hearing last week that Chowdhury had used his business account to pay £25,000 in school fees and that he and his wife, now divorced, had claimed a joint income of £15,000 a year in order to get child tax benefits.

 

Judge Potter said Chowdhury was “an intelligent man” who was “shrewd in business, maximising where possible his personal benefits”.

 

But he added his evidence had lacked credibility.

[Camper2010]

Chowdhury AKA James Moores (see above post)

[Camper2010]

Chowdhury AKA James Moores (see above post)

 

The VAT number they use is false, I have reported them to VAT man.

They took VAT from me, I guess this will go to feed other criminal activities.

Hope the stay in prison is extended further, ****!

[Camper2010]

Yes, Candoula.

[roger davis]

hi, yes i bought a toyota granvia camper from these "persons" who call themselves camper converters. my van broke down after 24hrs.( starter motor) cost me £ 303. three days later the wheel studs sheared off as i was about to go on the m62 motorway because of the wrong size wheels , not a clever move. phoned & sent letter & text to LLS but they did not even get back to me ( that shows there guilt as far as im concerned) trading standards are well and truley now involved. i was dealing with a man called " fergy " does the name ring any bells with any of you? this shower of **** should be closed down ASAP. also forgot to add it cost me another £150 for steel wheels to fit

Edited October 24, 2013 by ploddertom
Edited language out

[Conniff]

There is a duty on the buyer to also check the condition of the vehicle.

[heliosuk]

i was dealing with a man called " fergy " does the name ring any bells with any of you?

 

Yes it does and his brother Massey.

[Conniff]

Yes it does and his brother Massey.

 

That will get you a blast from someone who has no sense of humour

[roger davis]

i did check the vehicle , but not being a trained mechanic or expert wheels are wheels, this vehicle should not got through an m.o.t., also the advert for the van said newly referbished alloys , so you would think who took the wheels off & on ( supposedly knew what they were doing ) should have noticed this . im sorry but leeds leisure are not putting this one on me. trading standards feel the same im affraid.

[Conniff]

No one has said let Leeds Travel pass the buck, but you haven't said what action you are taking except a report the TS ?

[roger davis]

i have been told by t.s that they will be dealing with this now, because i live in north yorks & purchased the vehicle in west yorks, all the details & statements must go back to west yorks t.s. so at the moment i have to wait.