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Where we naive to trust our dealership.?


nbauray

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Hello to all. This is my first post as someone completely new to owning a Motorhome. My wife and I bought a 5 year old low mileage Swift. for £35000 from a major dealership, Being completely new to buying a van, we put our trust in a company who have, sadly turned out to be untrustworthy .A seat was damaged and the salesman assured us it was not a problem. He would have both seats re covered so as the one damaged would not look odd. My wife thought it rude to ask for this to be put in writing, so we took them at their word.. Shortly after this they denied this conversation had taken place, so we find ourselves 5 months into our warranty and

still have warranty issues that the company refuse to address unless I remove a less than favourable review I places on Trust Pilot. Where we naive in putting trust in this company, and are all dealerships as dishonest ?

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Hi Bryan, welcome to the forum and no doubt we'll be hearing lots more from you. No, I don't think you were being naive but don't think they were being dishonest either. A salesman will always tell you what you want to hear and then immediately forget what was said and to whom. You were right to ask for the offer to be in writing because often it wont be the same salesman or you'll end up speaking to someone from the workshop who will disagree with the salesman about a fix. Not sure righting a bad review was wise while still trying to resolve the problem so why not remove it for now, get the job done and then you can always put a review back on Trust Pilot but dont forget you will still have to deal with the dealer at least until the warranty expires.

Good luck and hope it all works out amicably for everyone.

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I suspect that you’ve just been too trusting. The old adage that ‘a verbal contract is as good as the paper it’s written on’ comes to mind. Generally, most people are dishonest if the stakes are high enough and/or it suits them and I’ve found this to be particularly true in commerce. It’s always possible of course that there was a misunderstanding, although from your posting it doesn’t sound like it. I wouldn’t beat yourself up over it though. We’ve all been caught out at some time, usually when out guard has been lowered. As I see it, by making your TrustPilot posting you’ve given yourself a negotiation edge. So tell them that if they reupholster as you had agreed with them then you’ll take down the posting – but not before. If they refuse then the choice is up to you. Personally, if you consider your review to be honest and accurate I’d leave the review in place, walk away and get the upholstering done myself on the assumption that their vehicle guarantee (have you checked what’s contractually covered?) will not be honoured except in extremis so will be pretty useless. You may of course decide to do otherwise.
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I would remove the comments from Trust Pilot and then suggest to the dealer that when it has completed all the work required, you will post a positive review. A positive one can show an appreciation of the dealer's willingness to listen to concerns and deal with them to your satisfaction. I think it unfair on the dealer, but understandable, to post a negative review so soon and expect the dealer to continue providing a service to you.

 

Not all dealers are dishonest, mine isn't - yours may be forgetful. If you want a long term relationship with the dealer based on trust, your wife was right. Better to trust than sow the seeds of distrust. However, if you doubt the dealer, get everything in writing although be aware it is easy to write in such a way that it is not worth the paper. Mid-way is to send a confirmatory email a few days later after a discussion to the dealer. This ensures you retain the necessary control.

 

Motorhoming is a great life but a steep learning curve over years. As you relax in your repaired motorhome you might want to take the opportunity to do more research through forums, web sites, magazines, and conversations with other motorhomers to better understand how the motorhome market works.

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Bryan

 

I echo the advice in Brock’s first paragraph.

 

Email the dealer and say that you agree to remove your Trust Pilot review if the dealer agrees to address the outstanding warranty issues.

 

Emphasise that you and your wife know that the dealer’s salesman stated that the damaged seat and another seat would be reupholstered, and that you are very unhappy that your (and your wife’s) word should be doubted.

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If it is a warranty issue, then what you have written on Trustpilot will make no differance to their legal obligations. Take it down to get the work done plus the seat, if they don't agree then leave it up and tell them you will see them in court.
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Thank you all for your replies.

One of the owners, ( all family members ) said clearly no work would be done unless my post was removed. This is both threatening and bullying and would not stand in any court, not just the small claims court one might turn too in this situation. I do believe I was too trusting and thought that a company claiming to be the largest family run Motorhome company would be honest . I was sadly wrong. I have not named the company here as that was not what it was about. I wanted an outsiders point of view from people who have been through the same purchasing process we had been through.So thank you all.

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There’s a saying

 

When you're up to your neck in alligators, it's hard to remember that your initial objective was to drain the swamp

 

Put emotion aside and don’t concern yourself with threatening, bullying, going to court and being naive. The objective is to get the warranty work and the seat reupholstery done - and if that takes removing your Trust Pilot review, just bite the bullet and do it.

 

Another saying is

 

Revenge is a dish best served cold

 

and once you’ve achieved your objective (warranty work done and seats fixed), if you are still aggrieved you can then place a suitably worded review on Trust Pilot.

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I think Derek's post above is the way to go. I sympathise with the OP having had a terrible experience with the dealer we bought our 8 year old van from in August. We have, purposely, not named the dealer on here nor posted any negative reviews on the various sites like Trustpilot whilst issues still exist and warranty is still active. However, the day WILL come!!

 

Our main issues was the way the van was prepared for delivery. It was obvious, once home,. that the elements that were immediately visible had had a cursory clean but the elements hidden had been ignored. The carpets had all been cleaned we were told and covered in that cling film like material to protect them. No, not cleaned but covered up to look like they had. The fold away table stored in the wardrobe had sticky cup stains on its surface. Once we could view the roof it was covered with green and black mould. The dealer's fitter had fitted a new TV aerial on the roof so they were aware of the mould. Lifting a floor panel that wasn't secured we found a nest of dead maggots!! However, the clincher was the toilet cassette was still full to the brim with a previous owner's/user's human waste!! There were many other examples and, also, the shower screen and awning light that were to be replaced (and noted, in writing, on the order form) had been 'forgotten'.

 

We reported this to the dealer within a couple of days of collecting the van and were completely ignored for a couple of weeks. It was only when we got a little heavy that we got a reaction and an offer to send their valeting team to or house to try again. We declined not wanting the valeting team anywhere near our van again preferring to clean it properly ourselves. In the end they did offer to supply new carpets and these were delivered in due course.

 

The dealer is a major supplier nationally. Motorhome owning friends that know the story and viewed our van were appalled and one couple who had arranged to view a van at another of the dealer's branches cancelled that arrangement and bought elsewhere. We spent a good month sorting out the problems and preparing the van ourselves and we're now happy with it. However, never, ever, again would we deal with the dealer in question and neither would our friends that know who it is.

 

FD

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Thank you for your post ''Fred'' There are some issues we have in the same vain as those you highlight in your post re your experience of buying a pre owned van. Black algae covering the roof and behind every raised aperture and window. Open seems on the roof and joins to cab being just two.. But I didn't want to go into that detail in my original post. It was as I said, just a question to others who have bought.

I am glad you are now pleased with your Motorhome and wish you many happy times in it.

P.S Love your Austin 7 Tourer. You are a lucky man in that sense. Best wishes.

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Yes, open roof seams, some immediately adjacent to the new TV aerial fitted by the dealer prior to delivery - how could they possibly have missed that? The answer, of course, is they didn't care one way or the other and that sums our whole experience with them up.

 

The Seven in the photo is my Ulster, not the Tourer and does a full season of speed events each year. Perhaps if I were to spend less on the Sevens, I could have bought a new van (or two, probably, over the years!!).

 

FD

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nbauray - 2019-12-03 4:59 PM

 

Hello to all. This is my first post as someone completely new to owning a Motorhome. My wife and I bought a 5 year old low mileage Swift. for £35000 from a major dealership, Being completely new to buying a van, we put our trust in a company who have, sadly turned out to be untrustworthy .A seat was damaged and the salesman assured us it was not a problem. He would have both seats re covered so as the one damaged would not look odd. My wife thought it rude to ask for this to be put in writing, so we took them at their word.. Shortly after this they denied this conversation had taken place, so we find ourselves 5 months into our warranty and

still have warranty issues that the company refuse to address unless I remove a less than favourable review I places on Trust Pilot. Where we naive in putting trust in this company, and are all dealerships as dishonest ?

The offer to re-cover the seat was made to you both? But you have other issues with the van that are not being attended to because you placed a negative review on Trust Pilot?

 

(I just wonder if Trust Pilot was your choice, or whether it sought your review unsolicited after your purchase. If Trust Pilot was not your choice, it was probably because the dealer had registered with Trust Pilot so that their customers would say nice things about them. It would be worth clarifying that)

 

Forget the warranty and contact Citizen's Advice for their guidance on where you stand.

 

Do you have any of this exchange of views between yourselves and the dealer in writing (even if only e-mails)?

 

I would suggest you first print off a copy of what you said on Trust Pilot, but also any other e-mails between the dealer and yourselves (for ease of reference), before you contact Citizens Advice.

 

I have no idea whether the comments you made on Trust Pilot might be defamatory, it will depend on how restrained you were. If they are, you would probably be wise to remove them, but let Citizens Advice guide you on that.

 

Be that as it may, your case against the dealer does not rest on any warranty, it rests on consumer legislation, which operates on the basis of reasonableness (i.e. on whether the dealer is being reasonable, and on whether you, in turn, are also being reasonable), and is not constrained by anything in a warranty - though you may have weakened your case against the dealer if your comments are considered defamatory.

 

If the dealer is being unreasonable, and you are being reasonable, the likely advice will be to sue the dealer for the cost of getting the defects remedied. But, again, let Citizens Advice be your guide on how to proceed.

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we've been motorhoming for over 25 years and are now on our 6th vehicle. Over the years we have been lucky and except in one instance have had excellent dealers, and built up a good relationship with the after sales staff.

In all cases there have been warranty and other issues, but we have always maintained that good relationship, and where we have talked to them about various problems, have always kept everything in writing by emails...it also gives me the opportunity to check back and see what has had to be done after each visit.

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Yes, everything in writing is by far the best. Regretfully, the branch of the major UK dealership that I refer to above and from where we bought in August does not publish email addresses for any of it's staff or departments and can only be contacted in person, by phone or, I suppose, by post!! They do have a 'Contact Form' that in our experience appears to go into some central pool never to be heard of again.

 

FD

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nbauray - 2019-12-03 10:25 PM

 

Thank you all for your replies.

One of the owners, ( all family members ) said clearly no work would be done unless my post was removed. This is both threatening and bullying and would not stand in any court, not just the small claims court one might turn too in this situation. I do believe I was too trusting and thought that a company claiming to be the largest family run Motorhome company would be honest . I was sadly wrong. I have not named the company here as that was not what it was about. I wanted an outsiders point of view from people who have been through the same purchasing process we had been through.So thank you all.

 

We are over a year into ownership of a new very expensive motorhome, bought from a large dealership in the midlands and still have issues with them. As to naivity, I expected a lot more, and also had a salesman tell me things that were later denied. I suspect that we are talking about the same agent, and I would not buy from them again under any circumstances. In our case, my feelings were, and are, that all goes well until you leave the dealership, then they don't really want to know as they have your money. Maybe you should have refused the van until the seat covers had been changed, but that is conjecture.

I sincerely hope you sort your issues and you can start to enjoy your motorhome as you should do, and leave the nastiness, and the dealer, far behind.

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If this dealership has several branches, I assume it has a head office? Have you contacted that, by 'phone if necessary, and spoken to directors/senior management about this branch? It is possible the branch manager is not adhering to company policy in order to boost the profitability of his branch.
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