dassis Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Why is it that no matter which dealer you buy from once you have parted with your hard earned cash they don't want to know you, I am now on my fifth motorhome and as usual when you go for any warranty or repair work they just want to make life difficult if you do get the repairs done you get your van back covered in crap.dassis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lennyhb Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Never had that problem but I wouldn't buy from a British dealer. (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 To be honest, after five I'm surprised you're asking! When you buy a 'van, they make money. When you return with problems, they have to spend some of that money. They therfeore tend to limit what they do to the absolute minimum, so as to reduce their costs. After all, you're not going to become a regular customer, from whose repeat trade they hope to gain even more, are you? Even after five vans? It seems the average motorhomer only buys a few vans, possibly only one. So, statistically, they have little to lose and more to gain by being less than generous. The best advice is to choose the dealer very carefully, some are reputedly much better than others. This may be difficult, but at least it is easier than choosing one's parents very carefully! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest peter Posted January 13, 2015 Share Posted January 13, 2015 Or join the owners club for your particular make. It's surprising how dealers don't want to be getting a bad name amongst a large group of owners of vans that they have a franchise for and have sold new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dassis Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Yes but you would think that if they have sold you a new van then all or most of the problems are going to be warranty claims so they should be getting paid by the manufacturer or is this not the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Many motorhome buyers are promiscuous. They get into bed with anyone who is willing to deal at the lowest price. Hence dealers develop a business model focused on sale not retention of customers. Such an approach is common in a range of price led markets. There are, however, dealers that seek to build a relationship with customers and if they succeed, they are rewarded with future sales. Such dealers need to be found although Dealer Awards can often point us in the right direction. Strong brand names can help in retention of customers. Warranty claims tend to be affected by the attitude of the manufacturer. I know my dealer wanted to undertake warranty work on my van but the manufacturer wanted a cheaper option. In the end the dealer won the argument. I choose my dealer in the expectation of a long term relationship. I bought my first three from one dealer until it moved, my second two from one dealer who ceased to trade after it became part of Brownhills' failed empire, and my current one from a new dealer who I am getting to know better. Some dealers are just rubbish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikejkay Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Brock - 2015-01-14 11:30 AM Some dealers are just rubbish. How about a survey of dealers based on a star system e.g. 5 stars for excellent and 0 stars for rubbish. That might put the cat amongst the pigeons. It's not always a case of going for the cheapest. A lot of brands, particularly continental ones, do not have many dealers and even when you have decided what you want they can't or won't supply it. Also, some models aren't imported into the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 dassis - 2015-01-14 10:21 AM Yes but you would think that if they have sold you a new van then all or most of the problems are going to be warranty claims so they should be getting paid by the manufacturer or is this not the case. To which quite a few will claim that they don't get paid the going rate for labour, only what the manufacturer will agree to pay. Usually, AFAIK, that takes no account of the time taken to inspect and diagnose, to order, and to deal with the customer and his demands: only of the hours required to rectify which, depending on the nature of the fault, may be disallowed in part. So, from what I have heard from dealers here and there, the answer is that the manufacturer reimburses some, but not all, of their costs. This is the main reason why, IMO, identifying the dealer who will "go the extra mile" is so important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliB Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 There good dealers and bad dealers. A few years ago I had some warranty work done by Richard Baldwin Motorhomes. There was no quibble or argument. I didn't even buy the vehicle from them. The supplying dealer was incompetent, unable to fix a problem without causing another. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 dassis - 2015-01-13 6:34 PM Why is it that no matter which dealer you buy from once you have parted with your hard earned cash they don't want to know you, I am now on my fifth motorhome and as usual when you go for any warranty or repair work they just want to make life difficult if you do get the repairs done you get your van back covered in crap.dassis ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you are looking for good dealer locations it might help if you mention the area that you are based in. In this area there is Todds and Spinney that I can recommend. In Norfolk I can recommend Simpsons of Great Yarmouth. All three are top dogs as far as after sales customer care is concerned. IH campers used to have excellent after sales service but no longer sell direct, they have now appointed dealers in various parts of the country so time will tell as to whether customers will be looked after. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 One major dealer in Shropshire is currently advertising a van with the mileage stated as being "reasonable mileage" ........ :-S Perhaps it's reasonable to assume going there is not the best idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinno69 Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hi Can only go on experience, i have found Oaktree motorhomes very good and they give you a 3 year RAC warranty on all there used vans. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keithl Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 vinno69 - 2015-01-14 5:04 PM and they give you a 3 year RAC warranty on all there used vans. :-) But EXACTLY what does it cover? Some are not worth the paper they are written on as we found out when we bought our MH. Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 The Approved Workshop Scheme is with a look. My dealer gets 77% whilst another within travelling distance who services the same make gets 84%. The range within reasonable distance from me is 98% to 62%. Mobile workshops seem to get good scores. Most AWS do caravans and that might skew the scores. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dassis Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 I am now in the same position and in the middle of changing dealers as I have found one who is happy to accept my warranty, only thing is I don't know how good the new one is or will be, but there again as my son says I'd hate to sell you anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dassis Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 Hi living in the northeast of England you can get quite a few models except bailey unless you go to teeside ( only at gun point ) or up to Scotland newcastle where I live only sell bailey caravans. I must agree with you with regards to spinneys as we bought a van from them at one of the shows and it was the best one yet, never needed to go back for work mind you just as well considering the miles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Keithl - 2015-01-14 5:11 PM vinno69 - 2015-01-14 5:04 PM and they give you a 3 year RAC warranty on all there used vans. :-) But EXACTLY what does it cover? Some are not worth the paper they are written on as we found out when we bought our MH. Keith. Couldn't agree more, they aren't worth the paper they are printed on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Den Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 We have all had faults with MH's and it is the way the dealer responds that makes light of the fault. We have had very bad service from 1 and 1 that didn't really care. We found the present Dealer to be so good that we purchased another new MH chosen from the manufactures that they deal with. I really didn't want the hassle that some motorhomers complain about. The one we use and have purchased the last 3 MH's from and one on order for delivery in March is. HAYES Leisure. Birmingham. 10/10. Sales and service is second to none. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 David Fuller at Gunthorpe were very fair with us when we had several issues with our A/T Cheyenne and Simpsons at Great Yarmouth were truly brilliant with the many and various issues that plagued our A/S Warwick for nigh on 6 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robertandjean Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Think OPs original statement that all dealers are poor is a generalisation too far.We, for example, have always found Brownhills excellent to deal with from sale through to warrenty work and servicing. Suspect many customers blame dealers for things which are not there fault, New parts take time to get hold of and warrenty claims must be approved by manufacturer. But have to say always found service team at Brownhills do their best to sort things out as quickly as possible. So do get annoyed when come across other customers who are blaming the service reception team for things that are clearly not their fault. With a little more understanding and patience on the customers part things could be sorted out much better we suspect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rolandrat Posted January 14, 2015 Share Posted January 14, 2015 Tracker - 2015-01-14 7:41 PM David Fuller at Gunthorpe were very fair with us when we had several issues with our A/T Cheyenne and Simpsons at Great Yarmouth were truly brilliant with the many and various issues that plagued our A/S Warwick for nigh on 6 months. I'll second that, Simpsons of Great Yarmouth are very good dealers and Paul I/C the body shop is sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Archiesgrandad Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 We bought our first van from Marquess and in retrospect they were very good. We bought another from Southdown near Portsmouth and they were very good. The people we bought our current van from were rubbish, the customer service was dreadful, and when we asked them to sort out some warranty issues we were advised that those parts of the van were not covered by their warranty. Our trading standards people say we have a strong case in law, but I'm old, and preparing to sell up and move abroad, and I simply don't have the energy to take them on, so they have got away with it. The really sad part of this is that they are highly respected in the trade, and whilst we were trying to sort it out with them, they wrote to tell us that they had received a prestigious national award for customer service and would we like to send them a testimony. I did not feel able to do so. It is unlikely that we will ever buy another van, and if we do for any reason, I would favour a private sale because the price would be lower and the expectations less and I would feel that I was in charge of the process, not some smarmy salesman. I do not envy anyone who would have the task of trying to sell me anything. Of course, I would consult with CG on such affairs, and I am sure she would support me in every way, but if the curtains and cush ions were a really nice colour, well, you know how it is. AGD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sydney1 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Had good experiences with Southdowns and Premier both on the south coast. The latter picked up some minor warranty issues I wasn't even aware of. When we buy another, I won't be going anywhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith T Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Have had excellent service from Chelston, previously from Rapido Wokingham and also West Country Motorhomes. Only one bad one, and he /they no longer in business. I do keep a record though and confirm everything I need done by e-mail, and I think that does help as this enables you to refer back if any further problems do occur. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrab1888 Posted January 15, 2015 Share Posted January 15, 2015 Archiesgrandad - 2015-01-15 12:23 AM We bought our first van from Marquess and in retrospect they were very good. We bought another from Southdown near Portsmouth and they were very good. The people we bought our current van from were rubbish, the customer service was dreadful, and when we asked them to sort out some warranty issues we were advised that those parts of the van were not covered by their warranty. Our trading standards people say we have a strong case in law, but I'm old, and preparing to sell up and move abroad, and I simply don't have the energy to take them on, so they have got away with it. The really sad part of this is that they are highly respected in the trade, and whilst we were trying to sort it out with them, they wrote to tell us that they had received a prestigious national award for customer service and would we like to send them a testimony. I did not feel able to do so. It is unlikely that we will ever buy another van, and if we do for any reason, I would favour a private sale because the price would be lower and the expectations less and I would feel that I was in charge of the process, not some smarmy salesman. I do not envy anyone who would have the task of trying to sell me anything. Of course, I would consult with CG on such affairs, and I am sure she would support me in every way, but if the curtains and cush ions were a really nice colour, well, you know how it is. AGD Name and shame them >:-( people power get some small degree of satisfaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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