Steve H Posted January 3, 2019 Share Posted January 3, 2019 We have the Fendt version of this motorhome which is a rebadged Hobby, and I have to say that the service we receive in this country from dealers/importers is appalling, and though the vehicles themselves are great I would never recommend anybody to buy one in the UK because of it. Frankly they just do not deserve the business. I simply do not know what we have to do to make Hobby wake up to what is really going on regarding the treatment of their customers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 4, 2019 Share Posted January 4, 2019 Anne S - 2019-01-03 6:05 PM ...In hindsight we should have gone directly to the importer, Hobby caravans... Have you confirmed with the importer (Hobby GBI) that spare parts can be directly ordered and delivered through them rather than through a UK Hobby dealership? Their website suggests that this should be possible http://www.hobby-caravans.co.uk/ but this was certainly not the case in the past when Brownhills was the sole Hobby UK dealership. The Hobby GBI website includes a “Locate your nearest dealer” feature, but dealerships in Wales are shown as mostly being in the south part of the country (with one seemingly at Wrexham). Hobby GBI has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/HobbyGBI/ that might be used to publicise that failure of the circular rooflight fitted to certain Hobby motorhomes seems to be quite common, and how difficult (and expensive) it is nowadays to obtain a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne S Posted January 7, 2019 Share Posted January 7, 2019 We spoke to Hobby Caravans at the Western Motorhome show. They are the importers. They did have a look to see if there was anything they could do to speed things up. The delay was Hobby in Germany. I'm rather looking forward to lodging a complaint about the dealer we ordered from once everything's finished, it can't be good for Hobby's reputation, I'd think twice about getting another Hobby, particularly as we had the recall about the overcab rooflight and ours was coming loose. Also our shower tray broke because it wasn't supported underneath. We fixed that ourselves after taking advice. We didn't have any of these problems with either of our Hymer A classes. I notice the current Hobby Van has a Heki rooflight in the shower! They're nice looking motorhomes but there are corners cut in manufacture, Fancy holding the outer cover of a rooflight on with glue! Particularly as they don't seem very good at using the correct ones, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 Anne S - 2019-01-07 8:14 PM ..I'm rather looking forward to lodging a complaint about the dealer we ordered from once everything's finished, it can't be good for Hobby's reputation... Best of luck https://forums.outandaboutlive.co.uk/forums/Motorhomes/Motorhome-Matters/Hobby-van-problems/28750/ In 2004, when I was going to replace my Herald motorhome and a Ford Transit-based Hobby was at the top of my shopping-list, I visited a UK ‘grey importer’ of Hobby motorcaravans and asked if he thought that, as Hobby was now building on the Ford chassis not just on Fiats, this would increase sales. He laughed and said “Hobby buyers don’t care about things like that - they just like the pretty paintwork.” I’ve always thought that Hobby tended to be uninterested in UK buyers’ views and complaints, and an ex-Hobby UK dealer told me that the company was difficult to deal with, particularly when it came to financing motorhome sales. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myfanwy Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Dear All Hobby sufferers... 1) An update on my home repair (see previous photos of my square lid with blown circular centre)... The new lid is weatherproof with no wind noise at speed. The new (outer) lid is attached to the original inner, circular lid at eight places with machine screws which required holes to be drilled through the inner lid. Sadly, at one location, a split has developed in the inner lid which is made from quite hard, brittle plastic. I intend to replace this with a polycarbonate lid after which I will have a highly satisfactory solution to this appalling saga. 2) I have notified the DVSA of the situation and await their detailed response. Hobby in both Ambergate and DE 24787 Fockbek/Rendsburg do not accept any liability, whereas I believe this to be analogous to the roof window replacement saga of 2017 If anyone wants details of my replacement I’m happy to provide the detailed drawing and where to get it from. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 The 2016-commencing recall that affected the panoramic roof window of certain Hobby leisure vehicles is listed in the DVSA database. There are a few other window-related records, including these 2008 and 2014 entries applying to the panes of plastic double-glazed windows separating. https://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=B2CB613DE8C3E73C802574670036B451&freeText=Blank&tx= https://www.dft.gov.uk/vosa/apps/recalls/searches/expand.asp?uniqueID=FDBF6EEBDB4FB63E80257CD300364995&freeText=Blank&tx= As Hobby (UK and Germany) are not accepting any liability, it will be interesting to learn how the DVSA responds to your notification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Johns Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 In relation to the bathroom skylight on the Hobby Motor Home. I purchased our Hobby 650 ESC in October 2013 from ES Hartley Ellesmere Port. Three years later on a trip to France the outer skin of the roof light decided to fly off. ES Hartley supplied a new unit under warranty. Unfortunately late 2018 i noticed it was starting to break up again and of cause now out of its warranty period. I can not fault ES Hartley for trying to secure a replacement roof under warranty from Hobby but the Manufacturer declined as now it was out of warranty, I was offered a discount price from ES Hartley but as this still came to over £500 i was reluctant to pay this as there was no guaranty it would last more than a couple of years, I have no complaints about ES Hartley other than to tell me they have not had any other problems of this type but i do believe it is a safety issue and should be a factory recall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goran Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Hi, any news relate to this issue? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Uzzell Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 Welcome to the Out&AboutLive forums, George. What sort of news were you looking for, please? This discussion started in May 2018, ran on to March 2019 and nothing has been posted about the issue since. (Idle curiosity, but are you posting from Finland?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goran Posted March 3, 2021 Share Posted March 3, 2021 Yes, i'm posting from Finland. This because you have in U.K more active forum's related to motorhomes. The new's i'm looking for, is that have you got any information about this roof light, are there someone that has started to manufacture this Para Press 60cm replacement part? Br, Göran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myfanwy Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Greetings. Nearly there for some UK trips. To continue my roof light saga... The replacement with my square design has been very successful but I need to replace the inner, clear circular piece with a new polycarbonate piece; the original didn’t like having additional holes and cracked badly. Note... the diameter for the polycarbonate replacement is 619mm. This ensures the correct fit to the insect mesh. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Myfanwy Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Addendum... The inner, round polycarbonate (Macrolon) lid that fixes to the three over-centre clips is actually 610mm diameter (strangely for s Continental part that’s 2 feet). This ensures that the insect screen fits snugly with any trimming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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