Is this normal? Second attempt!

[wild rover]

Hi, we took our MH back to the place where we bought it, and it's still there! That was two and a half weeks ago!! They told me there was a problem with the fridge, and that they needed some new parts for it. So I have been quite patient with them. But they phoned me this morning to say that they've ordered yet another part, and it will take two days to arrive. It all seems very odd. Initially I was told that I would be getting a new fridge, but now that isn't mentioned any more. Does it normally take so long to have MHs attended to, or am I being fobbed off here?

 

Pam

[Brian Kirby]

Not unheard of, but you don't say what van, how old, what the problem was, what make the fridge is, or what the parts are - so it is difficult to be more specific.

Motorhome fridges are generally very reliable, and there are not that many parts to fail.  If the fridge is Thetford or Dometic, most bits should be off the shelf, so if the problem was quickly diagnosed, and the part ordered promptly, it should arrive quickly.  If the first offer was a new fridge, I'd guess that someone, somewhere, later decided that was excessive, and a replacement part would be as effective, and much cheaper.  I assume the other part is required because either the one they ordered is wrong, or they didn't realise they would need both.

Have you been in and spoken to anyone responsible, and asked them if they will explain exactly what is wrong, and why it is taking so long to fix?  At least that way someone realises you do want your van back..................soon!  :-)

[wild rover]

Brian Kirby - 2010-07-06 4:14 PM

Not unheard of, but you don't say what van, how old, what the problem was, what make the fridge is, or what the parts are - so it is difficult to be more specific.

Motorhome fridges are generally very reliable, and there are not that many parts to fail.  If the fridge is Thetford or Dometic, most bits should be off the shelf, so if the problem was quickly diagnosed, and the part ordered promptly, it should arrive quickly.  If the first offer was a new fridge, I'd guess that someone, somewhere, later decided that was excessive, and a replacement part would be as effective, and much cheaper.  I assume the other part is required because either the one they ordered is wrong, or they didn't realise they would need both.

Have you been in and spoken to anyone responsible, and asked them if they will explain exactly what is wrong, and why it is taking so long to fix?  At least that way someone realises you do want your van back..................soon!  :-)

Thanks for your reply! I'm sorry but I don't know what make the fridge is, but the MH is a Liberty LMC, and it is four years old. The part was ordered but when it arrived it was apparently faulty so they had to order it again. But this has been going on for more than two weeks now. Every day they seem to have a different excuse. We were hoping to go away next weekend, but we're beginning to think it won't be ready. There was also something wrong with the overcab bed, one of the gas struts holding it up was faulty. Our MH is still under warranty but we have been told we'll have to pay for the new part because they don't deal with LMC any longer! Pam

[flicka]

Hi Pam

I think someone is either stalling hoping you will open your purse or telling porkies.

You have a warranty & it is irrespective wether the dealer still trades with LMC or not.

The DEALER is responsible for liability, not the manufacturer.

If LMC have withdrawn his credit, then he should not sell LMC products offering a warranty. Same applies if the dealer has chosen not to trade with LMC.

Also, like the fridge, the gas-strut will not be LMC manufacture and will be available via alternative sources.

Be firm, but polite, insisting he rectifies the problems under the warranty & give him a completion date for doing so.

 

This assumes that the problems are not been subject to misuse / abuse.

[wild rover]

Thanks, Stalwart!

 

Pam

[Guest Tracker]

It is inexcusable that your van bought and paid for may not be ready for your holiday and I would be inclined to ask to speak to the dealer principle and politely make him/her aware of your concerns.

 

Surley it is not beyond their wit to create a temporary solution for you?

 

Will you be using sites with ehu? If so you will not need gas operation as you can use 12v on the road and mains on sites. If you are not using sites then you will either need gas and maybe they have a van in stock from which they can borrow some bits for you?

 

I would not threaten or get nasty but you could mention that a free advert for them on this forum will follow good service - and let them draw their own conclusions as to what poor service will result in and then you can justifiably name and shame!

[nowtelse2do]

Hi Pam,

To be honest, I don't know many dealers that give 4yr warranties, are you sure this is correct

Dave

[Mel B]

I assume it was bought second hand by Pam and therefore has a 'dealer' warranty, and not a manufacturer's warranty. Perhaps Pam could confirm?

[Brian Kirby]

wild rover - 2010-07-06 4:23 PM Thanks for your reply! I'm sorry but I don't know what make the fridge is, but the MH is a Liberty LMC, and it is four years old. The part was ordered but when it arrived it was apparently faulty so they had to order it again. But this has been going on for more than two weeks now. Every day they seem to have a different excuse. We were hoping to go away next weekend, but we're beginning to think it won't be ready. There was also something wrong with the overcab bed, one of the gas struts holding it up was faulty. Our MH is still under warranty but we have been told we'll have to pay for the new part because they don't deal with LMC any longer! Pam

I think the fridge will be Dometic. 

Did you not get a manual for the van?  At only 4 years old you should have.

Without knowing what the part was, or what fault it was supposed to fix, it is difficult to comment meaningfully, but I'm finding it a bit difficult to accept the faulty replacement part excuse.

You say your van is still under warranty.  Whose warranty?  I'd be a little surprised if it is the LMC warranty, other than for water ingress.  Many of the German vans carry a general guaranty of two years, as under German law, they seem to have to match the base vehicle warranty (generally two years in Europe) for the conversion.  Most seem to have a five/six years water ingress warranty, but that would not apply to the fridge.  Have you studied this warranty to see what is included, and what excluded?

However, in the case of the gas strut (and the fridge) warranty is irrelevant.  The dealer sold the vehicle, and the dealer has the liability, under British consumer law, for the defects in what he sold.  If you bought less than six months ago, the fault is presumed to have been present at the point of sale, so you don't have to disprove that it was caused by abuse.

He must repair the defect - within a reasonable time, replace the defective part, or if that cannot be done the whole vehicle, or compensate you for the presence of the defect if he can't fix it and you are prepared to accept what he offers, or take back the goods and return your money.  In short, repair, replace, or refund.

My suggestion would be to talk to the MD and ask him when your van will be ready for use, with all defects properly rectified.  If you don't like his reply, talk to your local Trading Standards (T/S) people.  Dometic, if it is their fridge, have a number of service agents around the country, so you could get one of them to come and sort the fridge.  I assume Thetford have similar.  The gas strut will be a standard, bought off the shelf, item that LMC use.  Sourcing one may require a bit of internet browsing, aided by any reference numbers you can find in the actual strut.  Fitting should be easy DIY, or another dealer can surely handle that.  Then, claim back all your costs from the dealer who sold you the van and, if he refuses, take him to the small claims court.  However, persuasion and negotiation with the top man will be the best start, and then, before resorting to any other measures, speaking to T/S is essential to make sure you do the lot in the right way, and the right order.

[wild rover]

nowtelse2do - 2010-07-06 6:15 PM

Hi Pam,

To be honest, I don't know many dealers that give 4yr warranties, are you sure this is correct

Dave

They gave us a 2 year warranty.

[wild rover]

Mel B - 2010-07-06 6:24 PM

 

I assume it was bought second hand by Pam and therefore has a 'dealer' warranty, and not a manufacturer's warranty. Perhaps Pam could confirm?

 

Yes it is a dealer warranty. But I am getting the impression that they are trying hard to get out of doing any work on the MH under this warranty.

[wild rover]

Brian Kirby - 2010-07-06 6:34 PM

wild rover - 2010-07-06 4:23 PM Thanks for your reply! I'm sorry but I don't know what make the fridge is, but the MH is a Liberty LMC, and it is four years old. The part was ordered but when it arrived it was apparently faulty so they had to order it again. But this has been going on for more than two weeks now. Every day they seem to have a different excuse. We were hoping to go away next weekend, but we're beginning to think it won't be ready. There was also something wrong with the overcab bed, one of the gas struts holding it up was faulty. Our MH is still under warranty but we have been told we'll have to pay for the new part because they don't deal with LMC any longer! Pam

I think the fridge will be Dometic. 

Did you not get a manual for the van?  At only 4 years old you should have.

Without knowing what the part was, or what fault it was supposed to fix, it is difficult to comment meaningfully, but I'm finding it a bit difficult to accept the faulty replacement part excuse.

You say your van is still under warranty.  Whose warranty?  I'd be a little surprised if it is the LMC warranty, other than for water ingress.  Many of the German vans carry a general guaranty of two years, as under German law, they seem to have to match the base vehicle warranty (generally two years in Europe) for the conversion.  Most seem to have a five/six years water ingress warranty, but that would not apply to the fridge.  Have you studied this warranty to see what is included, and what excluded?

However, in the case of the gas strut (and the fridge) warranty is irrelevant.  The dealer sold the vehicle, and the dealer has the liability, under British consumer law, for the defects in what he sold.  If you bought less than six months ago, the fault is presumed to have been present at the point of sale, so you don't have to disprove that it was caused by abuse.

He must repair the defect - within a reasonable time, replace the defective part, or if that cannot be done the whole vehicle, or compensate you for the presence of the defect if he can't fix it and you are prepared to accept what he offers, or take back the goods and return your money.  In short, repair, replace, or refund.

My suggestion would be to talk to the MD and ask him when your van will be ready for use, with all defects properly rectified.  Dometic, if it is their fridge, have a number of service agents around the country, so you could get one of them to come.Thank you for all this advice! You are right, the fridge is Dometic. I am going to phone the MH people tomorrow, and I will ask to talk to the Manager. Hopefully, it will all get sorted out. I'll let you all know what they say! Pam

[mike 202]

The advice that you have already been given is sound, however I would suggest that you get some professional advice as to where you stand and your options should "being Mr Nice Guy fail", most home insurance policies have legal support included as a matter of course.

 

This legal support is free ( well you pay for it in the policy) and it covers most things including advice on things like your motorhome problems.

 

Most people assume that the legal support only covers things to do with the house or its contents, I was also under that impression until a broker friend told me otherwise. I and my daughter (seperate policies and different insurers) have used these services, via the telephone, for legal advice on motorhome problems and work related situations.

 

Being armed with the correct knowledge of my legal and not guessed rights we were able to negotiate on a sound basis without the need to go to court.

 

So, look at your insurance and make the call, after all it does not commit you to taking a particular course of action, just lets you know where you stand.

 

good luck -- mike

 

 

[Brian Kirby]

wild rover - 2010-07-06 10:04 PM

Brian Kirby - 2010-07-06 6:34 PM

..............Thank you for all this advice! You are right, the fridge is Dometic. I am going to phone the MH people tomorrow, and I will ask to talk to the Manager. Hopefully, it will all get sorted out. I'll let you all know what they say! Pam

By now you probably have spoken to them, but my advice is to call in, not phone.  It is much more difficult to fob someone off face to face that over the phone.  I also suggested the MD, not the manager.  If this is a multi branch company I guess the highest you will get is the branch manager, but whatever, aim at the top! 

I should add that they have only been at it for two and a half weeks so far, which is not unreasonable if they are in the hands of others and encountering supply problems, so I would definitely concentrate on getting the top person to explain what is the problem, and why it is taking so long to get it resolved, and what he will do to expedite matters.  It may be annoying, but equally, it may not be their fault at all.

[wild rover]

Hello again. We still are without our MH! My partner phoned them on Tuesday and was told that the Dometic fridge part would be coming in soon. I called on Thursday and was told it still hadn't arrived because it was hard to get these parts. Apparently they have to go through two different agents! So it doesn't look very promising. It will be three weeks on Wednesday since we took our MH for a service!

[flicka]

Hi

If they keep putting you off, the warranty will have expired.

Keep pressurising them and confirm a deadline for the work to be completed or full refund - in writing.

[Brian Kirby]

I suggest you find out exactly what the problem with the fridge is, get the serial and model number for the fridge (see Dometic handbook for details, or download from Dometic website), and armed with that, Contact Dometic direct, here http://tinyurl.com/2wctynv. 

Alternatively, tell the dealer you are dissatisfied with their performance, you will take the van back and call a Dometic service engineer, and seek to recover all costs from them. 

However, I can't emphasise enough that merely phoning is unlikely to be the most productive approach.  You really do need to go in and speak to the top person face to face about the reasons for the delays, and to emphasise that you are not happy with their service to date. 

As you will see from the Dometic website, there is no real need for them to deal with Dometic at arms length, it seems, as dealers, they can deal direct.

[wild rover]

Thanks again for all this advice. I will phone the Dometic people tomorrow.

 

 

[peterjl]

Hi

 

I had a problem with my dometic fridge a s12v not working. I phoned engineer - he turned up a day later (luckily he was due to be not too far away anyway - he identified fault and fixed inside 1 hr,

 

Not sure what he would have charged as mine is in warranty but the dometic website has the engineers numbers - give him a ring and find out.

 

Also re the company that sold you the M/H - i would follow up any telephone conversation with MD with a letter summarising your conversation and outcome sent by registered post - then you have your evidence if needed.

 

Good luck.

 

Peter

[wild rover]

I phoned the manager to complain, and hey presto, they called me back today telling me that the MH fridge is now working! I can collect my MH today.

 

Thanks again, everyone for all your advice!

Pam