I Won't name Bad Campervan Conversion Companies

Watch here or read below

I told of a poor mans buying disaster and a series of other issues from bad converters from which I had several comments asking why I didn’t name the specific companies i was referring too.

It’s a good question and today i want to explain why I’ve chosen not to name and shame.

I Won't name Bad Campervan Conversion Companies.

There are several good reasons why not and give you some perfect examples why.

This was also in a previous video I did, where one guy bought a van and he said “It could have killed us”

It was bad, really bad and he was even talking about fake gas certificates. The were drop out vents that were quite unbelievable, like not really a vent at all.

Truly awful, dangerous and I’m sure we can all agree, we want ALL that to stop

I really do understand the desire for a “black list” or a list to avoid and it would be a quick and easy solution. That would not only help you, but also some of the good converters, who suffer from these companies, including one i will come onto.

Someone asked me to make a “list” of the bad ones to avoid.

But there are so many pitfalls with that. The list wouldn’t be exhaustive for a start.

I’m one person and maintaining a list would just not be possible. Plus what if a company improves? I will explain.

One reason is the risk of legal issues.

Making negative comments about specific companies, could open the door to potential legal action. No matter how right I am. Part of the problem is people can see one part of a video and take it out of context. Trust me, its happened. A rather strange phone call in which I was baffled and had to tell the company over and over, “watch the fully and then we will speak again”

Oh and as it turned out, they were rather pleased with what I had said when they did actually watch it.

This is a hobby for me, occupying my mind and I’m trying to help people, I certainly dont want to be involved in legal battles.

I dont want the toxicity of it.

I’m trying to help people, like I do with several other aspects of my life. Did you know I’m a premier league winner? No im no good at football, Just an award for some voluntary work i do.

But the point is my intention is to help.

I’m not looking to start arguments and negativity, I want people to see what the potential problems could be, know what to check and look out for .

This year there is going to be lots more informative videos with some new projects, hopefully including a major one that I haven’t announced yet, Announcement hopefully soon. I’m waiting a call, to start a chain of events.

These videos will be very beneficial to many. Subscribe if you haven’t yet. It will be worth it, honestly it will.

I often talk about good converters, who build vans properly, yet even those converters could be given a bad name, wrongly in certain scenarios.

An example would be, an example i have actually seen, is someone bought a great van from an NCC manufacturer and within a day of collecting it, they had fitted aftermarket alloys and a solar panel. The tyres were not correctly rated and the solar panel instal did not match the quality of the rest of the van. The pictures online attracted lots of comments.

In that situation, a converter could wrongly be accused of a poor van, but it wasn’t the original converters bad work, even though it looked like it, due to being a brand new van.

So you can see thats another reason why not to name.

Like I’ve said, I know some conversion companies watch my videos, but what happens if a poor conversion company watches my videos?

Well hopefully they might learn something. Or perhaps if they are telling lies and misleading customers, then they may think again.

I know for a fact, that i have helped converters.

I said previously there are lots of trades involved in building a campervan, electrics, plumbing and ventilation, carpentry to name a few. There can be new changes by accreditation bodies that others aren’t aware of and may just appear when they buy a new component, like a pop top, the canvas may have an air vent in it that wasn’t there previously.

Changes made to NCC regulations and as not everyone follows the NCC regulations, they may not be aware of certain aspects, like drop out vents.

I saw quite a long post in a group last year, which showed a picture of a vent in the passenger step., with “nothing attached”

Many people jumped to the conclusion that this was for the diesel heater and the pipe had fallen off.

Several comments, including from converters. Now diesel heaters are often found on the drivers side  and yes you may find a vent for this, BUT this vent was the passenger side and there were very few people who knew that it was a drop out vent, as required by the NCC.

That’s in addition to the others that maybe around cooking appliances or in gas lockers.

I was speaking to a converter about this and they weren’t aware.

Now, a basic, budget-friendly conversion isn't inherently "bad" if the buyer knew what they were getting and paid a fair price. My concern in the previous video was about people paying top-spec prices for budget builds, due to being misled.

Some campers could be advertised as “no expense spared” or “top of the range” etc,

YET when it comes to the components, it could say things like pop top with bed, diesel heater, crash tested bed ??? But no detailed description.

List the components. The Make, the Model.

If it’s top of the range, great, but what is it? Name it or are they trying to hide the fact it isn’t. I’ve seen comments calling this out recently which is brilliant. Let’s try and stop the false advertising.

One of the big reasons for not naming campervan conversion companies who produce bad conversions is they could change.

They may stop using rubber hoses where they shouldn’t be, cheap diesel heaters, under rated tyres, un rated wheels or even selling vans with cheap copies of good wheels.

The bed systems may be improved, changed for properly crash tested beds that have passed, in chassis, not just a metal bench.

They may change the Pop top brand to a tested one and therefore now be good.

They may become NCC Approved and manufacturer approved.

Companies have to start somewhere. There are minimum standards for these accreditations and they cant be achieved immediately. I’m probably being too nice, as some of the worst culprits aren’t the new small companies, some have been trading longer and are bigger, BUT they could change and if people know what to be looking for, then that can only help them change.

There has already been an element of change. There seems to be less under rated tyres being used. Better bed systems are being utilised and it seems some buyers are asking more questions. That’s how one converter was made aware of my Channel, a prospective customer told him.

Another aspect is products.I have a MiRider electric assisted bike and I love it. https://mirider.co.uk  It’s amazing to ride and I know it’s been built properly and is safe.

There are many other options out there which don’t carry the same levels of safety and testing,  but I won’t name them companies either.

Today some companies might be using battery cells that aren’t up to the high standards of the ones MiRider use. They might not be built to the same high levels as MiRider. But maybe in a few years time they could have improved

I often receive emails from companies asking me to promote their products, and I won’t touch most of them, but I won’t name them.

That new start up that produces a product and makes a big error, could maybe one day rectify that error and go on to become a decent company.

In recent months, a campervan converter went bust. Entered administration.

Now this isn’t nice for anyone. Jobs are lost, families lose income, it’s a horrible situation.

This company was one of the “good guys”, they had been around for a long period of time, did the job right, were previously NCC approved, Volkswagen Qualified and other accreditations.

And i understand it was due to these high research, development and testing costs of new models that led to their demise.

They didn’t need to do all that, but they wanted to do the job properly.

Like one converter told me, they spend the big money on ensuring safety, because they want to sleep at night.

There I go on a tangent again. But, i floated the idea of making a video about the situation, as i felt it didn’t feel right that a company investing to do the job properly, like many others do, should no longer be around.

I had no response, so out of respect, I didn’t make the video, and nor will i name them now.

RESPECT for them and RESPECT the fact these converters doing it bad, MAY start doing it right. Perhaps they wont, but the more people who know what to be looking for, the less that will be buying the poorer campers.

Please respect my decision not to name them.

Ultimately, my goal is to create a more informed marketplace where buyers can confidently navigate their options. By focusing on education and empowering you with the right questions to ask, I believe I can achieve a more lasting and widespread positive impact than by simply naming a few companies. Who one day may turn good.

Whats the saying, “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

So, while I appreciate the desire for a blacklist, I truly believe that equipping you with the knowledge to make informed decisions is the most effective way to avoid those campervan buying mistakes. Keep asking questions, keep doing your research, and get ready for lots more information coming to you soon that will help you make the right decisions for you.

Take care