kelly58 Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 I wrote to Explorer Group to enquire if they would supply me with an exrta drawer to fit myself under the existing cutlery drawer in my new Compass Suntor 115 purchased from Brownhills. There reply was I could order a new drawer through Brownhills , but it would have to be fitted by Brownhills as if I did it myself it would invalidate the warranty in that area. I used to work for Fairline Boats and made and fitted cabinets to the Fairline 56 costing in excess of £1.7 million pounds without any problems but I am told I am not capable of fitting a small drawer to a Motorhome costing just over £28 thousand pounds which consists of only 6 screws that do not fit into the outer fabric only the inner sides if the cabinet. Theres no way I am going to the expence and inconvenience of letting Brownhills do the work its not worth the bother . To me its B******t. keep smiling Kelly ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 If it is something that you can do yourself easily, why not just contact the manufacturer and say you need to replace the exsisting drawer due to accidental damage (ie. not a warrenty claim), could they supply direct to you so you can slot it in yourself? Many people make changes to their motorhomes, we have moved the on/off switch for the hot water tank to the side of the bed from underneath where you couldn't get to it unless you raised the whole bed or crawled in via the outside locker. Total lunacy in the positioning of the thing! Surely as long as your changes do not affect the structural integrity of the unit it should be fine? Tina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Kelly Try Magnum @ Grimsby (01472 353520) they have some Elldis Caravan spares on the shelf (not sure about Cutlery drawer) and I think Compass are part of the same group? They may be able to help. Flicka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Newell Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 You do have to bear in mind that Swift have no idea of your competence level in this. Perhaps if you contact them again and point out your qualifications/experience they might just take a different view. Perhaps agreeing to an inspection by a dealership to verify the work had been done to a satisfactory standard might help. D. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 21, 2007 Share Posted January 21, 2007 Life gets a lot easier for us "professionals" once the warranty has expired and the "newness" has worn off! Motorhomes are much more fun after you have personalised them. C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Clive, you're shape shifting! Will you peel the new face off shortly, to reveal your true, lizard like, appearance?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Kelly58: It is normal policy for major motorhome manufacturers (not just Explorer Group) to insist that spare parts be ordered via their appointed dealerships - in fact there is probably a statement in your motorhome's handbook saying exactly that. It would also be normal for Explorer Group to insist that any work impacting on any part of the motorhome they warrant be carried out by a dealer, and to warn that failing to comply with that stricture risked invalidation of the warranty. (It almost certainly states this in your vehicle's warranty terms.) As the (minor) modification you are planning clearly affects your motorhome's habitation area (which is warranted by Explorer Group), then, if you want to ensure absolutely that the warranty be in no way compromised, an Explorer Group dealer will need to fit your drawer. I've just swapped the manual entrance-step on my Hobby for an electric one, involving drilling large holes through the floor and altering the 12V electrical system. If, as a result of my actions, the floor falls apart or an electrical fire occurs, there's no way I would expect repairs to be covered under warranty. No doubt Brownhills (the sole UK authorised Hobby agent) could have carried out this task for me and, if they had and related problems ensued, I would have expected the Hobby warranty to cover rectification. The choice was simple - do the work myself, know it was done properly, save money, but compromise the motorhome's warranty, or get a Hobby agent to do it, to an unpredictable standard, pay for the work, but leave the warranty unaffected. Seems to me you are in a similar position - DIY and warranty potentially invalidated, or EG agent fits the drawer and warranty remains unblemished. I can't imagine Explorer Group refusing to supply Brownhills with a drawer-unit unless they know Brownhills are going to install it - that would be a very peculiar scenario. Nor can I envisage why Brownhills themselves should object to obtaining the drawer for you. (Have you actually asked them to and, if so, what was the response?) As the content of the EG's reply to your letter seems uncontroversial, perhaps you are being a tad over-sensitive about perceived implications or the tone of what is really a stock answer. Frankly, having heard dealers moaning bitterly about the idiosyncrasies of motorhome manufacturers' computerised ordering systems - "We just keep sending the wrong parts back, hoping, someday, that the right parts will turn up" - even if there were the option to order 'furniture parts' direct, I'd think twice before doing it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 22, 2007 Share Posted January 22, 2007 Lets get this in perspective a bit - if you were going to drill large holes through the shell of the motorhome then maybe not doing the work yourself would be wise, however, screwing drawer runners in and putting a drawer front on is not going to cause major structural alterations, it's no worse than putting up some coat hooks, smoke detector etc, I think they are just taking the proverbial and stating the usual response, I doubt if they've even thought about your request properly as they'd see how daft it was - if you 'damage' your van then it's up to you to live with it, not them, so it's your choice, you'd really have to do something really daft to cause any problems, like putting your drill down whilst it's still revolving and drilling holes through the floor!!!! As with everything we do to our motorhomes, if you don't feel confident to do work, then don't. We waited until our motorhome was out of it's warranty before I drilled some lovely holes through the rear and fitted a bike rack - I'd have done it sooner but my husband was chicken! :D Since then I've also totally replaced 2 of the roof vents (opaque for clear) and drilled a big hole in the roof to put one of those pole mounted aerials on, all the work was done carefully and I made sure it was properly sealed so no water could get in, I also check the seals periodically to ensure they are okay - no problems with them at all. Now if I can do this just with CSE woodwork then you shouldn't have a problem at all!!!!! :-> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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