For many people, the collapse of Tango Caravans was devastating both financially and emotionally. People such as Sylwia Logan and her family, who paid full price for their van and are now stuck paying back a loan for a caravan they’re unlikely to receive. The stories about people left in the lurch when Tango Caravans went bust have been heartbreaking.
But Sylwia – who we spoke to in this special interview that you can watch here – isn’t one to take things laying down. She has been justifiably public about the situation, even acting as one of the administrators on the Facebook group Tango Caravan Owners and Victims.
In August, Tango Caravans officially went into liquidation, having taken thousands of dollars from customers in caravan deposits and even full payments. So where did all the money go?
Sylwia, like all members of Tango Caravan Owners and Victims, would love an answer to this question. Unfortunately, it remains unclear at this point how the money – which appears to be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars – was spent.
In August, Pitcher Partners was appointed as the liquidator of Tango Caravans. Everyone who had paid former Tango proprietor, Sarah Horter, a deposit or the full amount for their caravan is currently awaiting a report, which is still a couple months away, from the liquidator detailing what went on behind the scenes of the business.
According to Pitcher Partners, Tango Caravans had over 85 creditors at the time of liquidation, and hopes of refunds appear to be low. One of Sylwia’s biggest fears, shared by others who have been financially and emotionally devastated by the Tango situation, is that there will be no accountability.
For Sylwia, who has adopted Australia has her home country, it simply does not make sense.
“How can our money be so badly mismanaged and how can we all have our lives affected this way, only for the person responsible to face no consequences?”
It’s a good question.
Sylwia has taken the matter to the ACCC, Consumer Affair Victoria, the media and even the police. At every turn, she’s been told that the matter simply needs to ‘run its course’, with the police telling her that it appeared to be a civil, rather than criminal, matter.
Sylwia and her family were asked to pay an initial deposit of $15,000. In January 2024, she was told that their van would be ready by March 2024. In May, Tango asked Sylwia to pay the outstanding balance on the van – about $70,000 – promising that the van was only a couple weeks away.
TANGO CARAVANS COLLAPSES
But by June and especially July, it began to dawn on her and her husband that something was truly wrong. After months of being fed excuses as to why the van was not ready, she demanded a meeting with proprietor Sarah Horter, was denied that meeting, and within weeks it was clear that Tango had gone belly-up.
But Sylwia is far from the only Tango customer in this situation, and that’s where the Tango Caravan Owners and Victims group has proven so beneficial. It has become, in part, a support group for customers who have had their financial lives ruined by this situation.
For now, there appears to be not much more for these Tango customers to do. As they await the report from Pitcher Partners, which will detail what happened to cause the collapse of the company, they can only support each other as best they can.
Asked what she had learned from her awful experience – a lesson to apply next time – Sylwia readily admitted that she should not have paid the outstanding balance on her caravan without seeing it with her own two eyes. However, as she said, she was outright lied to. Other customers, according to reports, had also paid for their van in full after being lied to.
Some Tango customers have lost everything. Some found themselves in short-term accommodation when they realised the van they were counting on would not eventuate. The mental health of others has been impacted.
In human terms, the scale of the tragedy is simply immense. We don’t yet know all the details of what happened but will report back when we do. According to public reports, however, we do know that Tango Caravans had significant debts, including with suppliers and the manufacturers that built Tango’s vans. It seems unlikely that customers will receive all of their money back, if any at all, but Sylwia is not without hope, nor is she without fighting spirit.
At GoRV, we sincerely wish her and all Tango customers who through no fault of their own find themselves in the same position, all the best.
