Exclusive records published by The Impartial Reporter and The National – including text messages, videos, emails, letters, and court judgments – reveal how a Scottish couple, hoping to secure their dream caravan from a Fermanagh car dealer, instead lost their life savings in a transaction that quickly spiralled into a nightmare. The shocking details shed light on the ordeal that left the couple financially devastated.
And despite an order from the High Court in Belfast on October 11 ordering over £23,000 to be repaid to them this has still not been done, some five months since they first parted with the money. Trading Standards Northern Ireland has also ordered a refund of the money.
Sophie Davidson and Michael Law from Aberdeen spotted a 2021 Hobby caravan on Done Deal being sold by Braeside Car Sales in Lisnaskea and formerly of Mackan.
After satisfying themselves that this was a legitimate business, they contacted Braeside and were introduced to the Director, Adrian Carron.
“We said we would definitely be interested and there was more communication, and [he] said well to secure the van would need £1000 deposit [and we] would need to bank transfer it,” explained Sophie.
“[We] did the bank transfer then he went a bit quiet. Then a week or so later we were discussing arrangements for getting over to Scotland and he would take it on ferry and we would pick it up at Cairnryan. He would go on the ferry at Larne and we would pick it up at Cairnryan.
“He documented the date, the time then said would need the balance paid in full before he would take it over on the ferry.
“No problem that had to be bank transferred. So did that and then yeah that’s when it all started.”
Before agreeing to buy the caravan, Sophie and Michael were sent a video of the outside of a caravan that was supposedly what they were getting. They have shared the video with this newspaper.
Sophie claims there was then a period of silence and “excuses” about the caravan. She has also shared an exchange of text messages but was “getting nowhere”.
“He just kept coming up with excuses. He wasn’t returning calls, he was always with a customer, always on a test drive, never replying to messages."
A video from Carron of his business in Lisnaskea was also sent in an attempt to reassure Sophie and Michael.
After back and forth, it finally got to the point where Michael would wait no longer for the caravan to be brought over on the ferry to Scotland.
“My partner had had enough. He finished work, I booked a ferry and drove throughout the night, turned up at his door at 9 o’clock in the morning.”
Michael wanted the caravan to bring home with him but was told to come back at 3.30pm and Carron allegedly spent less than 10 minutes with him.
Sophie said Michael told him he was taking the caravan, but he had noticed some discrepancies from the caravan Carron had shown in the videos.
“It was only when he took it home to Scotland, the next day I was looking at it. This is not the caravan he sold us in the video, this is a completely different caravan and it’s really obvious in the videos.”
The Impartial Reporter has seen the videos Carron sent Sophie and Michael of the caravan.
In these, it appeared to be well-kept and lightly used. The mattress even had a plastic cover on it as if it was new.
However, the several videos that Michael and Sophie took clearly document damage to the caravan, both inside and out.
For example, the microwave is different, a TV bracket is not there, the mattress which is where the one wrapped in plastic was shows signs of have being used.
The shower head is different. Door handles on cupboards are broken and missing screws.
A cupboard full of glassware was only half full.
Dints and scrapes are seen on the inside and out while a partition for the sleeping area is broken as are some of the window blinds. Hubcaps are different.
What is most telling is the outside front of the caravan.
The Hobby logo in the caravan Carron sent a video of and the one Sophie and Michael got was different.
And on the caravan the couple brought to Scotland there is an old sign for another caravan dealer.
“It’s so obvious it’s a completely dud, wrecked caravan he gave us,” claimed Sophie.
Sophie continued that when they tried to contact Carron about returning the caravan and getting a refund he “ghosted them” after saying there would not be a refund.
So they were left with little choice but to bring the caravan back to Braeside in Lisnaskea where they left it with a Braeside employee as Carron was not on site.
Sophie said they had been misled and mis-sold the caravan and they wanted their life savings back.
But Braeside would not comply and despite the couple contacting Trading Standards Northern Ireland and instructing a solicitor in Belfast on their behalf, the money is still outstanding.
In emails between Carron and Trading Standards seen by this paper, Carron was told that a full refund was due immediately.
He did respond once to Trading Standards, who sent several emails, and said he would be happy to refund the money once they had sold the caravan and this was relayed to Michael and Sophie.
He outlined reasons for some of the issues including claiming that Michael asked him to “do something with the microwave oven surround to tidy it up”.
Carron said he was happy to do this and added that Michael then left with the caravan after numerous inspections.
This order was sent on September 19 and gave him until September 26 or the matter would be referred to senior management to consider offences under the Consumer Protection for Unfair Trading, which is a criminal offence.
A writ was also issued on behalf of Michael in the High Court in Belfast on August 29 against Braeside Car Sales which gave the business 14 days to respond to.
This was not done and on Friday, October 11 a judgement was made ordering Braeside Car Sales to repay Michael £23,972.21.
A letter to Braeside from Sophie and Michael’s solicitor on October 18 informing Carron of the judgement was also sent.
It stated: “Unless we receive payment in full within 7 days of the date hereof, we have firm instructions to proceed with enforcement through the Enforcement of Judgements Office and proceedings in this regard will be served upon you in due course.
“We await payment by return.”
To date, there is no sign of the money and Sophie does not what else they can do.
“Because they are not complying with the court we’ve got no way. I don’t know what we can do.
“I kept saying to Trading Standards I just don’t want anybody else to go through what we have been going through since June," said Sophie who also warned people to be wary of sending money by bank transfer as they lack the same customer protections as credit cards and other types of payments.
Sophie continued: “I want to find out who else he has done it to. I want people to say he has done it to us. I don’t want it to happen to anybody else.
“If we can help somebody and prevent that from happening, we have done good. I don’t want anybody else to go through that.”
As of November 5, 2024, a compulsory strike-off notice was issued on Companies House for Braeside Car Sales Limited and their accounts are overdue.
A compulsory strike-off is a process used by Companies House to forcibly remove a limited company from the Companies Register and end its existence as a legal trading entity.
