Warranty Servicing for a Rotec/Geist

[Leicaman]

Since the demise of Brownhills I understand from TEC Germany that Brownhills can no longer offer servicing of their vehicles. Can any member recommend an authorised TEC or GEIST service dealership in the UK.

[caggsie]

Sorry to be a thicko, is this due to Geist/Tec? As all the bumph from Brownhills since takeover have said they will honour, warranties/deposits etc.

 

regards

 

Karen

[peteS]

Do Camperuk near Lincoln not sell Geist, I am sure they do as we nearly bought one a couple of years ago.

 

As to their capability of servicing etc I am unsure, but maybe worth a ring.

 

They adverise in MMM on a regular basis.

 

Pete

[Itexuk]

You can find your nearest service centre here.

http://www.geistforlife.com/service.php

 

[Derek Uzzell]

Leicaman:

 

Suggest you get in touch with the UK Geist and TEC agents about this. Their contact details are given in MMM's Manufacturers and Importers Directory beginning on page 314 of the latest July 2008 issue.

 

 

Karen:

 

Repairs under a motorhome manufacturer's warranties and any obligatory checks to maintain those warranties (eg. mandatory regular habitation servicing and/or damp testing) will invariably need to be performed by an authorised agent of the motorhome manufacturer. 'New Brownhills' is no longer an authorised agent for certain marques including Eura Mobil, TEC, Hobby and Lunar (see page 183 of MMM July 2008). Presumably this means that New Brownhills will be unable to perform any future warranty-work/servicing on these makes of motorcaravan unless some sort of arrangement has been agreed with the particular motorhome manufacturers involved (and I think that's unlikely to have happened).

 

While it's to be expected that spokespersons for New Brownhills will offer strong positive reassurance to their existing motorhome buyers, it's naïve to believe that a major organisational shake-up of the Brownhills type will have absolutely no negative impact on customers and it's worth noting that a small number of serious instances of this have already been reported on internet forums.

[Leicaman]

This is absolutely correct. The TEC German aftersales department have confirmed that Brownhills are no longer authorised to undertake warranty servicing, hence they have advised me to have my service done by an LMC or Geist dealership. Unfortunately, living in Kent it would seem that I will have to travel to Lincoln for my servicing. Anyone believing that Tom Booth's quote to honour all warranties and agreements should know that 3 of my registered letters to them have had no reply whatever.

 

I have also contacted the Caravan Club legal department, Trading Standards and the National Caravan Council - who all suggest they have a further letter giving intent to go to court!

 

Whilst Germany have been extremely helpful, it must be very difficult for them as well as TechLeisure the TEC importers. Anyone considering buying a new TEC at present should be extremely cautious about warranty/repair servicing.

 

There is a lot to be said for small friendly family companies that offer a caring service to their customers, - something that regretably Brownhills don't seem to understand.

[Itexuk]

Following companies servic Geist according to their site.

 

East Coast Leisure (UK) Ltd.

27 Yardley Business Park, Luckyn Lane, Basildon, Essex, SS14 3GL

 

Phone 01268 276276, Fax 01268 276278, Email ecl2@btconnect.com, Web http://www.east-coast-leisure.co.uk

 

 

GT Services

21 Wick Close, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 1AZ

 

Phone 01235 520 240

 

 

Southern Caravans

Brimfast Lane, Sidlesham, Nr Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 7PZ

 

Phone 01243 641400, Web http://www.southerncaravans.com

 

 

STJ Motors

Unit 5 Octimum, Sheerwater, Woking, Surrey, GU21 5SA

 

Phone 01483 722793, Fax 01483 77474

 

 

 

[Leicaman]

Thanks for the info, but having phoned most of these companies already, they say that they are not authorised to do full warranty servicing, which is quite confusing and worrying.

 

I have heard that BBC Watchdog are are looking into the situation does anyone have any detail or involvement?

[Dave Newell]

Leicaman I'm a bit confused about what you need. Any workshop that is a member of the NCC AWS (Approved Workshop Scheme) can carry out your servicing requirements and this should be acceptable for maintaining warranty purposes. Any warranty repairs however will almost certainly have to be done by an authorised agent for the brand of vehicle in question. what exactly do you mean by the phrase "warranty servicing" please?

 

D.

[Leicaman]

According to the Aftersales department of TEC Germany, any Warranty repairs, annual servicing should only be carried out by an LMC/Geist or TEC authorised dealership. As it would appear that there are now no other TEC dealerships apart from Tech Leisure (the remaining TEC importer). Brownhills look as if they have lost the franchise for TEC as well as many other Motorhomes in their "new company setup". (even though for all intensive purposes it would seem to be the same company under the administrator company Kroll).

 

I understand that any new customers considering purchasing a new TEC motorhome should ensure that an insurance backed warranty agreement is in place - "let buyer beware!"

[Guest JudgeMental]

 

The EuraMobil dealer I use in Belgium is also a TEC agent. They are less then 1.5 hrs from Calais and less then 30 minutes from Brugge....So when we need to visit them we combine it with a visit :-D we are in London and prefer this arrangement then visiting the UK agents *-)

 

http://lambrechtmotorhomes.be/

[davenewellhome]

I can accept that warranty repairs need to be done by a TEC agent but habitation and base vehicle servicing should not need to be, in theory any NCC AWS member workshop should be acceptable for habitation servicinig and any VAT registered garage can do the base vehicle servicing (subject to them having the necessary facilities and headroom).

 

D.

[Derek Uzzell]

Dave:

 

I'm a tad wary of your advice that "any NCC AWS member workshop should be acceptable for habitation servicing". This may well be the case for motorhomes built by UK manufacturers, but I'm less confident that it will apply to those made abroad.

 

The mandatory requirements governing conversion and watertightness warranties seem to vary radically from maker to maker. My Hobby's conversion and watertightness warranties are respectively 2-year and 5-year. There is (apparently) no stated obligation for habitation servicing to be carried out during the 2-year conversion-warranty period, but an annual damp-test is needed to maintain the watertightness warranty. The warranty documentation makes it clear that this damp-test MUST be performed by an authorised Hobby agent and a voucher system prevents the watertightness warranty being 'reinstated' if a test is not carried out at the prescribed time. Failure to return an annual voucher to the Hobby factory nullifies the remainder of the watertightness warranty.

 

When I discussed this procedure with a Brownhills representative last year I was startled to learn that, for Hobby's conversion warranty to maintain validity into Year Two, the damp-test must have been performed at the end of Year One. This seemed bizarre as it was hard to understand how checking for water ingress might be relevant to, say, a bed-mattress falling apart (as happened with my motorhome!) Nevertheless that was what Brownhills's Big Book of Warranty Conditions stated for Hobby - a Hobby owner needed to provide proof that the Year One damp-test had been carried out by a Hobby agent, otherwise Brownhills could not deal with conversion-related faults during Year Two of the conversion warranty.

 

(Before the Brownhills Knockers jump in, I shall emphasise that I've no reason to think this was a lie. The Brownhills chap assured me this was what Hobby stipulated for the motorhomes it provided Brownhills for marketing in the UK and, if the correct paperwork wasn't provided to the Hobby factory when Brownhills carried out warranty-related repairs, then Hobby wouldn't refund the repair costs. He added that he had no idea whether or not the same warranty 'rules' applied to Hobby motorhomes marketed outside the UK (mine was purchased in Germany), but these were the conditions placed on Brownhills by Hobby.)

 

 

General:

 

I note with some amusement Leicaman's comment that many of the UK dealerships specified on Geist's website said they weren't authorised to carry out mandatory servicing. My motorhome came with a neat little booklet that specified Hobby dealerships throughout Europe and there was a listing on the Hobby website showing which of these were motorhome agencies. While touring in France and wanting some coloured mastic to re-seal the shower-compartment's joints I visited several of the French 'Hobby motorhome agency' addresses. Some of these sold Hobby caravans but not Hobby motorhomes, while the rest didn't sell the Hobby make at all, never had and had no plans to do so. Unsurprisingly, I didn't get the sealant I was after.