Security Systems

[Guest John Griffiths]

Anyone had any experience of Thiefbeater Standard and Platinium Protection System as now fitted I believe as an extra to the Autocruise Starburst/Pioneer Renoir? The basic one costs £299 & the Platinium £899?

[Guest Mel B]

Whatever system you get check the small print and make sure that any repairs you need carrying out under warranty can be done anywhere without a problem. We bought a Toad alarm and when it had a fault last year (after 2 and a half years of use) the caravan door and hatch sensors needed replacing due to going a bit silly due to wear and weather getting at them. We ended up having to pay to get them fixed even though our original purchase included free parts and labour for life. Why? Well unfortunately the chap who installed it was taken seriously ill and had to stop trading. Although the parts were covered under a lifetime warranty the labour part was only covered if we went back to the original installer. Hence a large bill. We had another problem with the alarm last week when it lost all power completely, anticipating another large bill I rang Toad who put me in touch with the local installers, after talking to them on the phone at their premises about 5 miles away, they put me in touch with their Toad technician who was based some 30 miles away. Fortunately before taking it to him, he advised me to have a good scout about for some in-line fuses (which we didn't know it had!) and after a couple of hours I finally tracked the two main fuses down - the chap who had installed them had really done a good job of hiding them as they only became apparent when it got dark and I saw the torch light glinting off them!!! This of course was after I'd nearly totally dismantled the dash etc to find them. When I check the first fuse it was fine, but as soon as I touched the second one it just fell out of it's holder ... all that had happend is that it had worked loose, no doubt if we'd taken it in to be sorted it'd have cost a packet. The fuse is now back in it's holder with a little bit of tape to keep it there (which can be removed quickly if necessary) but it will be replaced with another holder when I get a minute. So if you have a total alarm failure, no power to it at all, have a good rummage about after dark with a torch, you never know it might just save you a lot of money.