Market Direct Campers (MDC)

[urkel011]

Hi new to this site looks like there is a lot of good info.
Im just wondering if anyone has had any dramas with Market Direct Campers.
My experience with them has been very ordinary just want to know what other peoples experiences are like and weather they have had much after sales service??
Thanks

[grafy82]

Hi mate and welcome to the forum.
I don't own a MDC myself but my mate has just bought a second hand one and he's pretty happy with it (though he hasn't owned it long). I think in making the decision to buy a cheaper/chinese camper trailer, you need to go into it realising that some things will be compromised in the quality and or usability department. If you're happy to do a few things to it to bring it up to a standard you're happy with, then go for it as getting out there in whatever you choose is the most important thing. Good luck with the after sales service I guess.

Cheers

Wes

[HEM19X]

Welcome to "The Show"

I can feel an other "Voldermort" situation brewing, but then again, MDC are now part of the Forum... Hopefully they can take on any issues & move forward.

Regards

Hem

[D4D]

Welcome to myswag urkel011. Tell us a bit more about yourself and your camper? Where are you from? Are you sure you don't like under a bridge?

[knoath]

We were looking at second hand trailers for 1K less than what we spent on the new MDC unit. We bought a Trooper Extreme V3 just before Xmas and only used it for a 5 night stay in the Buckland Valley (near Bright) so far.
No issues, towed better than I expected.
Set up and pack up were simple and easy for the Missus and I.
Had no time to season it, but copped a torrential downpour for an hour on Boxing Day and no leaks in the Chinese canvas.
One gripe is the size of the nut head on the water tank plug... too big for my biggest (12") shifter
Apart from that, very hapy with the trailer for the price.

[Ben.Archer]

We were looking at second hand trailers for 1K less than what we spent on the new MDC unit. We bought a Trooper Extreme V3 just before Xmas and only used it for a 5 night stay in the Buckland Valley (near Bright) so far.
No issues, towed better than I expected.
Set up and pack up were simple and easy for the Missus and I.
Had no time to season it, but copped a torrential downpour for an hour on Boxing Day and no leaks in the Chinese canvas.
One gripe is the size of the nut head on the water tank plug... too big for my biggest (12") shifter
Apart from that, very hapy with the trailer for the price.

Knoath

You might want to get a spanner and open that plug.  When I did on my MDC the entire bottom of the tank was full of plastic swarf from where they had drilled all the holes into the tank and not bothered to clean out the tank.  I got as much as I could out but obviously left a little in there which managed to make its way into the pump and well that didn't end well.....  Thankfully plumping all replaced under warranty.  So might be worth checking to ensure you don't have the sames issues.....

[knoath]

Ben.Archer, no drames, I have emptied the tank and it was as clean as a whistle! Pleasantly surprised....

[Symon]

My experience with them has been very ordinary just want to know what other peoples experiences are like and weather they have had much after sales service??

Welcome to the forum, can you please detail what your experience was for the benefit of others, rather than making generalised statements?

[Snow]

Welcome to "The Show"

I can feel an other "Voldermort" situation brewing, but then again, MDC are now part of the Forum... Hopefully they can take on any issues & move forward.

Regards

Hem

The Ministry of Moderation has this thread on its radar. Tormentors at the ready. 

[MarkGU]

seen a couple of the MDC campers at Brooms Head over the xmas hols..............they are defiantly sharp looking camper trailers i have to admit.

credit to the makers of these who seem to put a fair bit of detail into them.

[urkel011]

I wont go into detail as its still something I am trying to mediate between MDC and myself not having much luck but I guess this is the after sales service we have grown to expect from a lot of companies these days.

I purchased a camper from a show MDC were at and I have a few issues with my camper not to mention out of pocket expenses which could of been avoided with a bit of honesty from the store manager but I believe they have sorted this issue.

Anyway in short my camper wasn't ready when it was supposed to be and it was dealer delivered (one of the bonuses of buying a MDC) to my town eventually2 months later. when I set it up no instructions as to where all the poles go and a handful of faults. ( hey lets be honest when your spending $25000 do you expect faults especially when you tell them no rush lets just get the camper right). a few faults which I could remedy my self would be tek screws falling out 5 in total to which the response was we fit 8G tek screws if you fit some 10g should fix the problem. my question is why should it be my responsibility to fit 10g tek screws? another minor problem was the drawer slides, for some reason they were ground down on the return springs for the latches to lock the drawer in, my guess is they were 2 tight to slide in the slides as its brand new maybe not set up properly to start with. to MDC benefit they have offered to send more slides but my main question is why grind them down? when I install the new ones will they fit? Another problem I have is being able to actually close my camper, I paid the extra money for a innerspring mattress which seems to be of a good quality but I remember when I first opened it it sprung up with a huge amount of force. I said to my dad who was helping me wow them struts must be powerful but now looking at it I can only assume it was how tight the camper was locked down and pressure from mattress but this is just a guess. when I fannally tried approx. 10 times to shut camper I rung market direct and asked if there were any secrets in opening and closeing and they said you need to push mattress up tight and pull strap tight to stop it falling down so again I attempted this with still no luck I do have some good ideas on how to fix the mattress falling down though that I will modify once my problems are sorted with MDC. one of the comments made by the salesperson to me was we don't sell them campers with a 150mm mattress anymore as they are to tight to close. (this is 2 days after receiving my camper and possibly 4 days after leaving MDC why all of a sudden did you decide to change it to 100mm mattress. they have offered to reimburse me for the mattress which I think is a kind gesture but I don't live near a city so freight to get another mattress to me would be expensive and again I would be out of pocket which I have also explained to there warranty department. they have given me a few options which is great and from that side I accept they are trying as small as the gestures are. where I live I am having real trouble to get people to want to fix the camper so I suggested they ship it back to MDC and fix the problems and ship it back to me at there expense bearing in mind the camper was dealer delivered to my location. there response was that no they wouldn't do it unless I bought it back myself or paid for it to be shipped back. another out of pocket expense that im supposedly responsible for (on top of the expenses I am already out of pocket for this camper)  all this and the camper was brand new and never been used should this be warranty or manufacturers defect.

Which brings me to my biggest issue and one that does make me angry. All the above I can fix generally by myself with not to much problem(although I shouldn't have to being a brand new camper) but the canvas, I paid the extra for the Aussie Dynaproofed canvas seems like a great product this canvas and the work seems top quality on the canvas but the installation of the canvas is very substandard. the canvas runs on rope slides and is then drilled with a tek screw through the canvas to hold the canvas from moving, this is fine IF the canvas is set up properly in the first place. I have 2 really tight corners and they are about 2 inches from the actual camper corner so when camper is set up and canvas is tight the corner of the canvas and corner of camper are 2 inches away from each other which in turn puts unwanted pressure on the canvas where it is not reinforced. easily fixed by removing tek screw sliding canvas further along in the rope guides to match corner up and redrilling tek screw but we all know what happens to canvas when it is already has a hole it promotes bigger holes so really the hole should be professionally fixed? to add to the problem when I was trying to shut the camper the numerous times another tek screw had fallen out and managed to sit up right on the steps and when I closed camper the tek screw pierced the canvas on the door. only a small hole size of the tek screw but again an area which has some tension on it and will promote tearing. all these tek screws falling out and with having to reset the canvas there will be a few holes where tek screw are in to hold canvas in rope guides I am concerned.

There is a lot of other stuff which I have issues with but above is the main ones and I feel if I pay $25000 for a camper it should be of reasonable quality when I receive it brand new.

I will also add that communication was below ordinary and when they say they will get back to you ring them a few more times as it seems if your patient and wait they wont get back to you or your emails. Be very careful what you talk about and always get them to write everything down and read what they write down as a lot of what I was told face to face and verbally over phone was not the truth and what they had written down was not what was discussed(well it was discussed but not how it was written down by salesperson).

On a good note the suspension set up looks unreal and I am very happy with that and if they could take the extra pride in what sits on the suspension im sure it would be a real candidate for Australian camper of the year as prices are reasonable and some of the items used on the campers are top quality. I am a mechanical tradesperson and I do have some type of knowledge with this work so I am not some random person who has no idea what im doing and I have been part of the camper scene for 10 years with my first camper being built by myself  and only being sold when I purchased a MDC camper which sorry to say it hasn't been a good experience. I purchased this camper in august and the camper is still brand new and still hasn't been used due to waiting for delivery firstly and now warranty(if that's what you want to call it for a brand new camper)

I just say to you potential buyers I wouldn't recommend MDC to anyone not just because of there campers but more there aftersales service but if you were in the market spend that little bit extra and look at a MODCON camper as the finished product is awesome and very lovely people who haven't gotten to big for themselves and forgot where they started. I wish I spent the extra and got a Modcon because my out of pocket expenses I would now have afforded  a Modcon.

[Bird]

[D4D]

Thanks for the clarification urkel011, I hope you can get the remaining issues fixed to your satisfaction.

[knoath]

urkel011, what state are you in? (other than frustrated...)
I bought mine from the Somerton store in Melbourne, they were good to deal with, mine was delivered before Xmas as asked.
Haven't an issue with quality and everything works as it should... did I just get lucky here?

As with most forums like this one, I suppose they are used to vent some frustration or bad experiences... if happy with a product or service it seems no need to make a fuss.

Hope you get looked after from here on in mate, at $25,000 you should have the best quality, best service too.

[woolgoolgaoffroad]

Which brings me to my biggest issue and one that does make me angry. All the above I can fix generally by myself with not to much problem(although I shouldn't have to being a brand new camper) but the canvas, I paid the extra for the Aussie Dynaproofed canvas seems like a great product this canvas and the work seems top quality on the canvas but the installation of the canvas is very substandard. the canvas runs on rope slides and is then drilled with a tek screw through the canvas to hold the canvas from moving, this is fine IF the canvas is set up properly in the first place. I have 2 really tight corners and they are about 2 inches from the actual camper corner so when camper is set up and canvas is tight the corner of the canvas and corner of camper are 2 inches away from each other which in turn puts unwanted pressure on the canvas where it is not reinforced. easily fixed by removing tek screw sliding canvas further along in the rope guides to match corner up and redrilling tek screw but we all know what happens to canvas when it is already has a hole it promotes bigger holes so really the hole should be professionally fixed? to add to the problem when I was trying to shut the camper the numerous times another tek screw had fallen out and managed to sit up right on the steps and when I closed camper the tek screw pierced the canvas on the door. only a small hole size of the tek screw but again an area which has some tension on it and will promote tearing. all these tek screws falling out and with having to reset the canvas there will be a few holes where tek screw are in to hold canvas in rope guides I am concerned.

Do you mean like this ??
Unfortunately this is on mine too. I was going to get some leather corners made up somehow so the canvas wont tear.

[Kangaron]

Some rubber corner pieces from Clark Rubber will do it.
Pretty poor form that.

[woolgoolgaoffroad]

thanks for that.....will check them tomorrow

[urkel011]

woolgoolgaoffroad
yeah mate like that looks like it might be an acceptable practice its a pitty that apparently this is ok by Australian standards as im Australian I don't think it should be but who am I to speak just a bloke who spent $25000 on a camper which the one I viewed didn't look like that yet its acceptable for mine to look like that along with yours.

I would really like to see the camper they use for the camper of the year awards and see if mine is comparable to that and if it is then I would accept it but I reckon what they are showing to the judges is a better product with due care taken when assembled.

Anyway like I said there is some good quality gear on it its just a pity about after sales service and some manufacturing defects
cheers

[heath74]

Hey Urkle, sounds like a bad experience. Any pics of what you are talking about?

[urkel011]

Hey Urkle, sounds like a bad experience. Any pics of what you are talking about?

Yeah I do Heath74 i have sent them to MDC and they have them but i will post the pics when i get onto my desktop computer

[Market Direct Campers]

I purchased a camper from a show MDC were at and I have a few issues with my camper not to mention out of pocket expenses which could of been avoided with a bit of honesty from the store manager but I believe they have sorted this issue.

Which brings me to my biggest issue and one that does make me angry. All the above I can fix generally by myself with not to much problem(although I shouldn't have to being a brand new camper) but the canvas, I paid the extra for the Aussie Dynaproofed canvas seems like a great product this canvas and the work seems top quality on the canvas but the installation of the canvas is very substandard.

On a good note the suspension set up looks unreal and I am very happy with that and if they could take the extra pride in what sits on the suspension im sure it would be a real candidate for Australian camper of the year as prices are reasonable and some of the items used on the campers are top quality. I am a mechanical tradesperson and I do have some type of knowledge with this work so I am not some random person who has no idea what im doing and I have been part of the camper scene for 10 years with my first camper being built by myself  and only being sold when I purchased a MDC camper which sorry to say it hasn't been a good experience. I purchased this camper in august and the camper is still brand new and still hasn't been used due to waiting for delivery firstly and now warranty(if that's what you want to call it for a brand new camper)

Hi Steve, we are here to help and I believe our warranty team has been in contact on several occasions.

We are having problems finding a suitable tradesman in Karratha  (1550km from our Perth Showroom) to do the repairs.

The minor repairs have been authorised in full.

If there are any myswaggers on this forum that have had work done on their CT in Karratha, can you post their details please.

Hopefully together we can work this out for Steve, and get him on the tracks with his new purchase

Happy Camping;)
MDC Insider

[Market Direct Campers]

Knoath

You might want to get a spanner and open that plug.  When I did on my MDC the entire bottom of the tank was full of plastic swarf from where they had drilled all the holes into the tank and not bothered to clean out the tank.  I got as much as I could out but obviously left a little in there which managed to make its way into the pump and well that didn't end well.....  Thankfully plumping all replaced under warranty.  So might be worth checking to ensure you don't have the sames issues.....

Hi Ben.Archer, Since your issue was rectified under our warranty program, it is now standard practice that all water tanks are thoroughly cleaned out with water before mounting to the CT. Thankyou for bringing this to our attention in the 1st instance.

Happy Camping;)
MDC Insider

[Market Direct Campers]

Do you mean like this ??
Unfortunately this is on mine too. I was going to get some leather corners made up somehow so the canvas wont tear.

Hi Kev, Once done please post some pictures. We are very interested in improving our product.
I have also passed this issue onto our engineers to see what solutions they can come up with.

This is the 1st time, this has been brought to our attention. I am not aware of any failures in this location in the last 2 years.

Happy Camping
MDC Insider

[Silvo]

Happy Camping
MDC Insider

you still don't have a name? that's a shame

[KingBilly]

Why does he/she need a name?  So somebody can make it personal?

We are all anonomious on here unles we chose not to be.  It's a personal choice and nobody should be presured otherwise.

KB