anyone hired a caravan from FestivalCaravans before?

[The Packing Queen]

Hi planning to rent a caravan from this company worndered if anyone else had used them?

[BuriedBones]

Be aware that you will have to collect the caravan at a designated (TBA) location at or near Glastonbury. The vans are of a decent enough quality for a few days at Glasto. But for the ones they have left, you are looking at GBP200+ per person.

You might be better off buying one (GBP500-600 on ebay / exchange and mart / autotrader etc) and then it's yours, forever.

[hennypenny]

Hiya

This is festival caravans here, we don't leave the vans near to glastonbury , we take them into glastonbury and meet you there. We use peoples campervan field tickets fo get the caravans on to the festival site , they're all in the East side this year , 2010.

Have a look at our site and that should tell you all you need to know.

Thanks

Hannah

[Sawdusty surfer]

or try Barry.he rents out really bargain caravans and delivers them to the festival. call him on 07794174670.

[BeerWomenFootballCurry]

which company do you mean?

There is festivalcaravans.co.uk and festivalcaravanhire.co.uk, and maybe more simular named

festivalcaravans.co.uk are the top boys, pre arranged access to all events to site caravans in designated areas

Just turn up and remember where where it is

[The Packing Queen]

which company do you mean?

There is festivalcaravans.co.uk and festivalcaravanhire.co.uk, and maybe more simular named

festivalcaravans.co.uk are the top boys, pre arranged access to all events to site caravans in designated areas

Just turn up and remember where where it is

[rischbrit]

I'm intrigued too..... I have looked at their webpage to see pictures of the vans but there are none!

[Rainslydoesit]

I would recommend that nobody rents any caravans from this company, rented a caravan for Glastonbury and none of the amenities worked! absolutely no help was given and they've done the off with our £100 deposits !!

Lots of people in the same boat as me. Hannah Liptrott or Josh Gooding not to be trusted at any rate. Their company has folded now but watch out for those names probably opening in a slightly different company name ripping others off again soon !!!

Hannah is a very clever woman, we've later found out she's an accountant, so not something you'd expect from supposedly clever woman !

[Cooter]

I saw loads of identical caravans up near the entrance to the cv fields that looked like they had been parked up prefest and rentable etc. And by loads I mean row upon row, probably a couple of hundred at least.

Who were these and how much? Anyone know?

[delmonico]

Hi all, I am going after Festival Caravans who have also stitched me up. Anybody else who has been "had" want to join forces?

[mikeb]

This doesn't look very good at all does it I hate seeing reports of what very much appears to be peeps allegedly getting ripped off :angry:

According to Companies House, Festival Caravans, Bolton, BL1 4NX (Reg No. 06898082) is currently in the process of being struck off the register and/or being dissolved. NOTE that the listed address seems like it may have been recently changed. Without paying for copies of any relevant official documents etc. it's difficult to establish all the gory details but I think this generally means the Company itself requesting "voluntary strike off and dissolution" or the Registrars doing so for failure to file accounts (or other documentation) as required, failure to respond to official communications sent to the Registered Office or if they have reason(s) to believe the Company isn't actively trading etc.

According to this official guidance document a Company cannot apply to be struck off and dissolved if they have been actively trading or carrying on business within the last 3 months or if there are debts or insolvency actions in progress/pending etc. Applying to be struck off is not an alternative to formal insolvency proceedings and it is possible for ANY interested party to formally object to a strike off proposal. It is also an offence to apply when the Company is ineligible for striking-off, as would very much appear to be the case here.

In addition, according to another site providing Company details HANNAH LIPTROTT had her appointment as Director of the Company and Company Secretary terminated on 14th July which apparently leaves THOMAS GOODING as the sole director. It would also appear that documentation has indeed been filed for "voluntary strike off and dissolution" on 22nd July and this proposal will be published by Companies House on or by 3rd August in the relevant Gazette. It's a bit difficult to understand quite how the Company (and presumably THOMAS GOODING in particular) can apply to dissolve the Company when it presumably HAS been trading within the last 3 months (there appears to be reasonable evidence of caravans being made available for hire at Glasto, Big Chill and possibly at other festivals as well for instance) and taking comments made here at face value, business has apparently been carried out in very recent months and returnable deposits are still outstanding so there are (technically at least) outstanding debts to be paid.

I would strongly suggest that anyone who has found themselves with a problem with this Company or thinks they have current business with them really ought to be seeking professional advice and/or discussing the problem with their local Trading Standards or Citizens Advice Bureau and so on as a matter of urgency to try to establish how they might be able to resolve any difficulties there may be. It certainly looks to me like a formal objection to the strike off and dissolution ought to be filed with Companies House if there is hard evidence of the Company actively trading within the last 3 months and/or having outstanding debts. Without intending to make any accusations whatsoever that cannot be substantiated or even imply any wrong-doing at all by anyone, I guess you would need to be able to show that any business that allegedly took place was in fact conducted with the Company and not with any particular individual who might have claimed to be acting on behalf of the Company. If, for instance, there is/was some form of scam or fraud going on then the individual(s) concerned may no longer be associated with the Company and therefore any action would presumably need to be taken up directly with any such individual(s) rather than the Company itself.

The bottom line: GET YOURSELVES SOME PROFESSIONAL ADVICE LIKE RIGHT NOW It's most certainly the best thing to do IMHO - before any other action(s) are potentially put in place, the Company officially disappears or is formally declared insolvent etc. Do not allow scumbags various to simply walk away potentially able do it all over again and screw some other poor b*ggers over. Make sure that any action that can possibly be taken to try to prevent this happening is taken.

The festivalcaravans.co.uk website has to all intents and purposes disappeared completely but has allegedly been 'offcially' stated as being "just broken and not indicative of a problem" (or words to that effect) according to some accounts made on another forum as opposed to all relevant information simply disappearing, be that intentionally or otherwise. I must say that it rather strangely seems to me to be very much more "broken" today than it was yesterday as well seeing as there is absolutely no information whatsoever there now ! However, before all historic data disappears completely, the following information WAS in fact shown on the site according to cached data on google. I have no idea exactly how long it will remain cached by google so the linkies quoted may subsequently cease to work but the text that used to appear on the site has been directly quoted below for reference in case it is of any help to anyone in trying to resolve any problem they may have with the Company:

Home Page (1 Jul 2010 10:26:12 GMT)

Want to go to a festival or other outdoor event but really don't want to camp , then you're in the right place.

Welcome to Festival Caravans. We rent out cheap and cheerful caravans for festivals. Each van sleeps 4, some 6 berths available, and we also have awnings available which give you more room. The caravans are all cheap and cheerful and have comfy beds and a chemical toilet. We do have a small selection of vans with showers and we're adding luxury vans one by one. You can keep everything dry and it means you're not carrying stuff to the campsites except for your belongings. We also sell festival survival kits, which contain everything you need for just £25.

Read what our customers thought on our festimonials page.

We are delighted to be working with the Moor Music festival this year, hailed as a 'mini Glastonbury for the North' by the cool camping festival guide. The NME described the festival as a 'pretty little shindig' which takes place on the 12th - 15th August 2010 in Skipton North Yorkshire. All our vans are available at the festival, and start at £450. Please go to www.moormusicfestival.co.uk.

Edited July 29, 2010 by mikeb

[Cooter]

Bloody good work mike, well done mate.

Though still wondering if the ones I saw were the ones questioned? Anyone?

[Sawdusty surfer]

great thread.

good work mb.

i think its time that the caravan hire folk gave some kind of reply.....isn't it?

[catwic]

I hired a caravan from Festival Caravans for Glatonbury and still have not yet received my deposit back, don't use them!

[hennypenny]

Festival Caravans

This is Hannah & Tosh from Festival Caravans Ltd.

This is our statement to put the record straight.

The facts are as follows:-

We rented 65 caravans out for the Glastonbury Festival ( not 200??? ). All our vans were cheap & cheerful second hand touring caravans as advertised on our website. They were the ones displayed on our website. Remember the description “ they are not palaces”. They were not of the standard or the price of the £7000 tents or £1500 camper vans available.

We delivered the 65 caravans to the site as promised in time for the festival. Each caravan was allocated to a customer and the customer’s name was clearly displayed on their caravan. Any food ordered from Tesco by the customers was in the vans as promised. All the caravans were occupied and used by( I assume ) the people who had paid for them.

I am not a criminal and there has been no fraud. More than half our customers are happy with our service and sent e mails thanking us for our efforts. Some people have even asked if they can leave their deposits to book again for next year. Several others have not been in touch and therefore we assume are happy. There is no scam. We did not rob anybody’s money. We actually made 123 trips to Glastonbury towing a caravan through those country lanes . Why would we bother if it was a scam.

However approx. 10 customers feel that their caravans were not to the standard they expected and have demanded refunds plus in some cases compensation for food that went off. These 10 people have sent hundreds of e mails, put several comments on twitter - have become very personal and made hundreds of telephone calls - some of which have been threatening ( Hannah Hannah Hannah - I am coming to get you ) . Two days later I was burgled at home for the first time ever and the Festival Caravans laptops were both stolen. I am hoping the 2 incidents are not linked but feel that maybe someone has had more than their money back ???

As a result of this I have ceased trading , have closed my website and all phone lines although we are continuing to supply caravans to those people who have booked them and paid for them. Several people have cancelled their bookings as a result of your efforts and they have been refunded in full. However anybody who used a caravan for the duration of the Glastonbury Festival is not entitled to a full refund.

I am a Chartered Accountant. I have done nothing illegal. I do know the requirements of the Companies Act and can assure everybody that I have not contravened this in any way.

Who are you MikeB – did you even rent a caravan from Festival Caravans or do you just spend your life on this site ( 3351 posts!!!!! ).

The problems we encountered at Glastonbury are as follows:-

We did not stipulate a “ booking in time “ for each customer as we felt that this would be impractical and therefore our customers arrived at any time within a 84 hour slot – some in the early hours of the morning. We could not be available for the full 84 hours to meet each customer.

Several customers took it upon themselves on arrival to “reallocate the caravans “ to suit themselves. We therefore do not now know who occupied which caravan.

Our website clearly stated that the deposit was only refundable if the caravan was left in a good and clean condition ( which included emptying the chemical toilet). Unfortunately at least 40 of the 65 vans were not returned in this condition. A further 7 vans were not recovered at all from Glastonbury as they were stolen from the festival site. The terms and conditions also stated that the caravans were to be returned with their contents, we are missing 12 duvets and covers, 18 pillows , 12 camping kettles, 23 plates , 12 bowls, 6 collapsible water containers.

The weather was exceptionally hot. The caravans were obviously not connected to mains electricity. Several people had obviously not used a caravan before and did not appreciate the restricted efficiency of some of the caravan’s appliances – especially the fridges.

When the police attended our site in connection with the 7 stolen caravans they found several illegal substances in the caravans and have asked us for a list of who was in which caravan. We could not supply this because of the “re allocation “ mentioned above.

If anybody feels that they are the 20 or so people entitled to a refund of their deposit can you please send your claim in writing to the Registered Office stating your name , address and the number of the caravan you occupied . We will reply to these letters within 28 days of their receipt.

[eFestivals]

hi Hannah,

It's good that you've now chosen to respond following your telephone call to me yesterday, which was then followed up with an email which came from someone else entirely but who claimed to be the person who had phoned me. I found that rather strange.

In the phone call, the thing of most importance to you was wanting to know who mikeb was. I found it strange that no mention of that was within the email.

The email requested that your name was removed from this thread. I found that rather strange, and I refused, because whatever the situation might be now you certainly had a role in Festival Caravans at the time of Glastonbury.

You tried to disassociate your firm of accountants from Festival Caravans, despite the fact that you personally are or were involved with both, and both trade from the same address (presumably the offices of the accountancy firm). I found that rather strange.

You stated in that email "None of the customers of Festival Caravans Limited have ever had any dealings with Liptrott and Woosey limited, or Hannah Liptrott or Thomas Gooding personally." Yet here you now, clearly admitting your involvement. I find this rather strange.

My opinion is that the email I received yesterday contained blatant untruths and disingenuous information, via which you were hoping to disappear into obscurity and escape your business responsibilities &/or liabilities.

I summarised the situation as I see it in my reply to you, and those words are given below in italics:-

All of the published information has been retrieved from stated public sources.

There is no incitement to any crime within it, in fact the very opposite.

Nothing of what is published is inaccurate within its stated context, as far as I can see. You've not said different.

There is nothing libellous within it, as far as I can see. You've not said different.

Given that the information is about a company that appears to have been trading on an unsound basis at best and a fraudulent one at worst, and this company has been operating in the festivals marketplace, along with the fact that there seems to have been determined attempts to remove all references on the internet to this company (despite it trading via the internet), then I see it as my public duty and in the public interest to continue to make these details available, so that any customers who have lost money are able to best as possible pursue any claim they might choose to make.

Whatever issues there might have been with some of your customers, that's of no concern to any 'good' customers who might be owed goods, services or refunds. Any of your customers have the right in law to try to make a claim for their loss (or perceived loss), and they have the right to pursue action against both the company itself and/or the individuals involved in running the company. Whether or not their claims are allowable in law is for the legal system to decide.

Edited August 5, 2010 by eFestivals

[Cooter]

So basically, they were overwhelmed renting their "festival caravans" and have severely fooked up! And are trying their upmost to vanish into the sunset.

I'm shocked they "actually made 123 trips to Glastonbury towing a caravan through those country lanes", and I'm assuming this was the same person/persons doing the same trip. Kind of looked like the writing was on the wall but they didn't see it!

[snowman]

Great stuff Admin, this is what this forum is for, freedom of information, our right to know wots going down.

These peeple well weird.

[Mixxy]

As a non drug taking... non thieving festival (i suspect like the majority of folk I met in E21 caravan field) goer who did not receive all services promised from Festival Caravans (including the fact they couldnt be bothered to connect my gas as it had the wrong fitting on it) who cleaned her caravan out including the loo and has still not received a deposit back I can only say stay well away from these people.

They are doing everything they can to weedle out of their responsibilities.

I am disgusted at the tone of the latest e-mail to supposedly set the record straight... it is insulting. I personally have made contact a couple of times via e-mail, simply to ask what the situation is and was told I would receive my deposit in 2 weeks... that was 1 month ago... since then I see the company is being dismantled and filing for voluntary insolvency stating no debts... no debts? Can I have my £100 back before you state no debts... and perhaps the other 65 people would like their £100 back too.

Oh and by the way... the fridge wasn't running under 'restricted efficiency' It didn't work at all... possibly due to the fact you stated all caravans would come with a battery for the lights etc... but of course they didn't...

Thanks to friendly people in the fields i got my gas connected and borrowed cutlery... so thanks to those guys

None of this spoilt my festival either I had a fab time, just dont want anyone else to have to go through this hassle.

I shall send my letter off... but I am not holding my breath...I also have a slight issue as I cannot remember the number of my van :/ it was on the key but this was never allocated in writing... oh well... i suppose that will be the next excuse not to pay up...

[damo.c]

Thanks very very much MikeB. You've cleared up a few points for me. I was one of the silly people who were taken in by Hannah & Tosh. Never again!!!

Thanks also to Admin for having the decency to make H&T face the criticism by keeping them on here.

They have no-one to blame but themselves. I think if they had tried to help out or even reply to texts/calls at Glasto there would not be as much ill feeling but they simply chose to shut themselves off and enjoy the fun of the festival at the expense of us. They were on site all week and it was only a short walk up the hill. It's their business so should be their responsibilty. An ex-business person myself, I know you can't stick to office hours and must be available at all times. They left one poor lady with two young children without lights, bedding, crockery, cutlery, water carriers, fridge. She happened to be possibly the last to arrive and literally had to take what was left. The caravan! I hope she had a good time no thanks to the two crooks.

[Mixxy]

Dear Festival Caravans...

Letters have been sent to you as you will no longer deal with e-mail... these letters have been sent recorded delivery... and either not responded to, or returned to sender with the refused box ticked.

Showing yet again your lack of integrity and lack of any intention to pay back honest festival goers to booked caravans with you in good faith.

Small claims court next I guess...

[Rainslydoesit]

Hi Mikeb

Loved your write up re Hannah & Tosh. Did they rip you off also?

Have you heard anything on www.festivalcaravanhire.co.uk It's called Hazydayscaravanhire.

It has the look and feel like Hannah's involvement.

Thanks

Rainslydoesit.

This doesn't look very good at all does it I hate seeing reports of what very much appears to be peeps allegedly getting ripped off :angry:

According to Companies House, Festival Caravans, Bolton, BL1 4NX (Reg No. 06898082) is currently in the process of being struck off the register and/or being dissolved. NOTE that the listed address seems like it may have been recently changed. Without paying for copies of any relevant official documents etc. it's difficult to establish all the gory details but I think this generally means the Company itself requesting "voluntary strike off and dissolution" or the Registrars doing so for failure to file accounts (or other documentation) as required, failure to respond to official communications sent to the Registered Office or if they have reason(s) to believe the Company isn't actively trading etc.

According to this official guidance document a Company cannot apply to be struck off and dissolved if they have been actively trading or carrying on business within the last 3 months or if there are debts or insolvency actions in progress/pending etc. Applying to be struck off is not an alternative to formal insolvency proceedings and it is possible for ANY interested party to formally object to a strike off proposal. It is also an offence to apply when the Company is ineligible for striking-off, as would very much appear to be the case here.

In addition, according to another site providing Company details HANNAH LIPTROTT had her appointment as Director of the Company and Company Secretary terminated on 14th July which apparently leaves THOMAS GOODING as the sole director. It would also appear that documentation has indeed been filed for "voluntary strike off and dissolution" on 22nd July and this proposal will be published by Companies House on or by 3rd August in the relevant Gazette. It's a bit difficult to understand quite how the Company (and presumably THOMAS GOODING in particular) can apply to dissolve the Company when it presumably HAS been trading within the last 3 months (there appears to be reasonable evidence of caravans being made available for hire at Glasto, Big Chill and possibly at other festivals as well for instance) and taking comments made here at face value, business has apparently been carried out in very recent months and returnable deposits are still outstanding so there are (technically at least) outstanding debts to be paid.

I would strongly suggest that anyone who has found themselves with a problem with this Company or thinks they have current business with them really ought to be seeking professional advice and/or discussing the problem with their local Trading Standards or Citizens Advice Bureau and so on as a matter of urgency to try to establish how they might be able to resolve any difficulties there may be. It certainly looks to me like a formal objection to the strike off and dissolution ought to be filed with Companies House if there is hard evidence of the Company actively trading within the last 3 months and/or having outstanding debts. Without intending to make any accusations whatsoever that cannot be substantiated or even imply any wrong-doing at all by anyone, I guess you would need to be able to show that any business that allegedly took place was in fact conducted with the Company and not with any particular individual who might have claimed to be acting on behalf of the Company. If, for instance, there is/was some form of scam or fraud going on then the individual(s) concerned may no longer be associated with the Company and therefore any action would presumably need to be taken up directly with any such individual(s) rather than the Company itself.

The bottom line: GET YOURSELVES SOME PROFESSIONAL ADVICE LIKE RIGHT NOW It's most certainly the best thing to do IMHO - before any other action(s) are potentially put in place, the Company officially disappears or is formally declared insolvent etc. Do not allow scumbags various to simply walk away potentially able do it all over again and screw some other poor b*ggers over. Make sure that any action that can possibly be taken to try to prevent this happening is taken.

The festivalcaravans.co.uk website has to all intents and purposes disappeared completely but has allegedly been 'offcially' stated as being "just broken and not indicative of a problem" (or words to that effect) according to some accounts made on another forum as opposed to all relevant information simply disappearing, be that intentionally or otherwise. I must say that it rather strangely seems to me to be very much more "broken" today than it was yesterday as well seeing as there is absolutely no information whatsoever there now ! However, before all historic data disappears completely, the following information WAS in fact shown on the site according to cached data on google. I have no idea exactly how long it will remain cached by google so the linkies quoted may subsequently cease to work but the text that used to appear on the site has been directly quoted below for reference in case it is of any help to anyone in trying to resolve any problem they may have with the Company:

Good luck to anyone who may be experiencing difficulties with this Company and I very much hope that you will be able to get them resolved satisfactorily without too much in the way of further hassle I also very much hope that there isn't going to be another whole bunch of similarly if not more-so disappointed peeps looking for blood following Big Chill in just over a weeks time

EDIT: Anyone experiencing any issues in contacting the Company or in getting a timely response from them might perhaps also like to have a wander over to the website of Accountants Liptrott and Woosey ... where they will find some quite remarkable similarities in terms of name, registered address and 0844 stylee phone number to those previously made publicly available for FestivalCaravans. Could just be all complete co-incidence of course so do be careful and all that but feel free to do your own research, make your own minds up and act accordingly

It would appear that Ms.Liptrott has gone all shy recently mind you and you'll be sorry to hear that her piccy is no longer on the 'mugshots' page of the above website. But don't forget that Mr.Google is always your friend and all that because there apparently was a piccy on the website until fairly recently. Needless to say I'm NOT going to be publishing it on here ! ... at least not at the mo anyway Mr.192.com is also your friend as well for confirming names/addresses etc:

Time to face the music Tosh & Hannah - and esp so Hannah after having intentionally registered on here a while back solely to promote your (now apparently defunct) business I therefore think that you owe those who currently appear to find themselves with difficulties a *VERY* good explanation closely followed by you fulfilling your contractual obligations to them. Regrettably, I wont personally be holding my breath waiting for either but please do feel free to prove me wrong by making some form of official statement in response to the alleged difficulties currently being experienced by several peeps after dealing with you personally and/or your Company, FestivalCaravans.

[Koster]

Hi guys,

I've heard rumours about the above company. I have to say, I would reccommend the service I got at Glasto from Willhire Caravans. They took over an established company this year, have festival vans up to category A.

I had a basic festival van in which the water pump didn't work, but within an hour a replacement part had been fitted and worked perfectly. I've booked again for next year and also for a christian festival i go to New Wine, where they have a substantial presence.

If in need of a van contact Tony Everett on 07831301885 or 0117 9869375.

Great service, made the festival even more enjoyable!

[hazydays]

Hi, I'm from Hazy Days Caravan Hire - and no, we don't have anything to do with Festival Caravan - we just grabbed the domain name because it has bloody good SEO effects for Glasto hire!

Firstly, we're a new business and we're based in Kent. The idea of creating the caravan hire co came from seeing Festival Caravan online amongst othrs but since seeing this thread we're being really careful about where we take it, particularly for our first proper Glasto where it seems Festival Caravan got the logistics completely wrong. We're limiting this year to 5 vans only and being perfectionist everything will be set up for people (after all we use the vans ourselves for holidays, so everything works). Secondly we're not going the cheap and cheerful route, Glastonbury is not going to be the mainstay of the business, instead the focus will be on renting out beautiful vintage caravans for holidays or festivals - website for that is in the offing and will have a very different look and feel. Deposits and hire prices on the caravans won't be as cheap as Festival Caravan, simply because we'll have put a huge amount of work into the vans and we've got to be realistic about our costs if we give a good service.

So, I just wanted to clear things up that we aren't Festival Caravan, we don't try and wing things, we do return deposits, we will be fully insured for Glasto, the vans will work and bedding will be present plus retro and you WILL be able to make a cup of tea. We are getting to the point soon where we'll be fully booked and that's fine by me - we don't want to be too ambitious too early.

I am having phone calls from people looking for Festival Caravan all the time and I'm pointing them to this thread - some have been repaid, others haven't - my advice to anyone is carry on trying because according to various people they are still paying deposits back and they are still renting caravans.

Hope that helps before anyone starts to send any horses heads through to the wrong person...me.

[orangelily]

or try Barry.he rents out really bargain caravans and delivers them to the festival. call him on 07794174670.