Moment caravan park boss issues 'veiled threat' to couple who suffered 'huge' loss after buying £125,000 holiday home on the site
This is the moment a caravan park sales manager issued what they believed to be a veiled threat to a couple who had suffered a 'huge' loss after purchasing a £125,000 deluxe static from a site.
Asha and Jason Ross believed they had found an opportunity for a steady income when they bought a six-figure caravan from Prestige Country Parks.
Social media posts made by Malton Grange Country Park, owned by Prestige, claimed buyers could make anywhere up to a £1,000-a-week.
It also suggested the value of the holiday home would only rise, much like a property, despite advise from the National Caravan Council saying caravans are a 'depreciating asset'.
However when Jason and Asha chatted with the firm's sales manager, Patrick O'Donovan, he also told them they would make good money from letting the caravan.
But within six weeks the couple only secured two bookings, worth in total £180. So they decided to sell the lodge back to the company but as a 'huge' loss.
Feeling 'ashamed', and even now to embarrass to reveal the extent of their financial loss, the couple sought legal advice.
Following this, Jason was phoned by Mr O'Donovan, who hurled abuse towards him, as well as issuing what the couple believed to be a veiled threat.
However matters soon went awry as they secured only two bookings in six weeks, and after deciding to sell at a significantly lower price sought legal advice
During the phone call, recorded by Jason, the sales manager said: 'Its Prestige Country Parks have you got nothing better to do?
'F*****g hell you need a day off mate. You need to get a job or something... You sold it back to us but it's us ripping you off? Pathetic.'
The former caravan owner calmly responded, telling Mr O'Donovan it was down to lawyers 'to address' before adding: 'So, nothing more to say.'
And in what was seemingly a veiled threat, the sales manager added: 'We know where you are don't we.'
Jason said he felt it was a warning to advise him and his wife 'to back off', telling the BBC: 'I don't know them, I don't know what lengths they are willing to go to ensure they safeguard their business.
His wife, Asha added: 'I was very aware they knew where we lived, you start thinking who are we actually dealing with here and how dangerous they are.'
The couple say they later discovered the previous lodge owner, Paul Gordon, had not passed away as Mr O'Donovan had led them to believed.
According to the BBC, he had purchased the same caravan for £140,000 in May 2021, but after just over a year he sold it to Prestige for £70,000.
A MailOnline graphic detailing the hidden costs of owning a static home (pictured)
The caravan site firm since told the BBC they do not condone staff behaving in a threatening or unprofessional manner and have since launched a probe.
It also added the offer given to the Rosses' was due to the couple wanting to rid off the caravan quickly as well as the firm being overstocked.
It maintained rental income was not assured, adding six weeks was not a great deal of time to secure booking or to make money.
Elsewhere, in Allerthorpe and Country Park near York, Mark and Sandra Thompson were pushed out by increasing site fees, which were upped from £3,995 to £7,000 in a three year period.
They eventually sold their lodge back to the firm after concluding the arguments were not worth the stress.
But they were offered just £23,000 by a salesman for the caravan, despite having bought the lodge for £66,000 in 2019.
And it was only shortly after they spotted their former property back on the market for a £110,000 sum.
Mrs Thompson said: 'We were devastated because we'd taken a mortgage out for this holiday home, so we still have to pay the mortgage off.'
The caravan firm said the hike in site fee was a reflection of 'growing cost operations' as well as 'the significantly enhanced offering'.
Kim Graham paid £57,000 for a mobile home (pictured) from Seal Bay Resort in Hampshire two years ago, but says she was offered just £15,000 for it this year
It denied to the BBC any inference of deception, adding that final decisions on listings are determined by upgrades, location and not the original value of the lodges.
It also asserted the ultimate decision if a caravan stays on a site 'is a business and operational matter'.
It comes after over 1,000 'ripped off' caravan owners begun legal action after claiming they have been unfairly put out of pocket to the tune of tens of thousands of pounds by greedy holiday park owners.
Members of the Holiday Park Action Group (HPAG) are seeking compensation for what they say are unfair increases in annual pitch fees and misleading claims about the value of static caravans at the time of purchase.
They have accused holiday parks of selling the homes at a 'significantly marked-up price' ensuring owners had substantial losses if they ever decided to sell up.
Founder Carole Keeble told the BBC existing regulations were failing to protect consumers from 'unfair commercial practices' on an 'industrial scale'.
The anticipated rulings in the High Court will rely on a small snapshot of test cases which could pave the way for the rest of the near 1,200 people to bring legal action to get compensation.
Hugh Preston KC, the group's lawyer, said: 'It's essentially an unregulated sector, there's no statutory regulations that tell parks what to do or how to behave… and there are a wide range of issues that consumers feel they're just not getting fair value from.'
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