Brownhills.

[Wingpete]

Not a disatisfied customer, but a potential viwer of various 'vans.

Has Brownhills got a website problem. All links to their site are down.

[Robinhood]

The website has been 'limping' since at least yesterday (I was trying to get a contact number from it), and 'died' sometime today.

 

Having said that, there is topical debate going on elsewhere about the state of the company, with the new CEO being flagged as having left shortly after his recent arrival, (certainly one of the first pages to be unavailable yesterday was the recently placed news of his arrival!), and rumours of various imminent site closures and franchise losses.

 

The various Brownhills 'knockers' are having a ball, I think I would wait before rising to any of the rumours. It was BAU yesterday over the phone.

 

The coincidental site unavailability does make you think, however. *-)

[Miami]

There are rumours about that they have big problems. Nothing as yet substantiated!

Perhaps we should watch the news.

[Mel B]

Nope, the site still aint working. For all you 'eager beavers' wishing Brownhills the worst, don't get too excited, I suspect it's one of two things:

 

1) the server has gone down

2) there's a virus in the server and it was playing havoc so they've voluntarily taken it off line to sort it out

 

I hope it's a simple as the above, otherwise for those who are Brownhills customers, and staff, it could be a very horrible situation to be in, I got to know a few of the staff who are really nice people and the thought that things might be going belly up for them is horrible. Despite the problems I've had with some of their other staff over the years, I certainly don't wish anything nasty to happen to the company.

 

Anyone remember the problem with the Warners/MMM website/forum a while back??? If it happened again would you all be saying that Warners/MMM were having problems??? I think not.

 

Don't scaremonger please, lets just wait and see.

[JayKay]

The Hymer.com site is down as well so is probably a server problem.

John D

 

[Guest Syd]

Without any asking or prompting of any kind from me Brownhills knocked £137.00 off the price of my new aircon unit, I thought that was very generous of them.

 

I for one hope there is nothing wrong with the company but then Every business that I have contact with has not had a good trading year

[Mel B]

Sorry to disappoint some, but the Brownhills website is now working again! :-S

[fud3]

I have to say, that I bought a Hymer CC544 from Brownhills last year and had it serviced from them this week. Customer service is virtually non existient. Are any other Hymer or for that matter Niesmann & Bischoff or T.E.C. owners having the same problems.

 

My problems really started in January of this year when I took the vehicle back to have the blinds adjusted. Apparently the Heki rooflight blind had signs of a water leak and would be replaced free of charge. Hymer UK were to write to me when it arrived, I found out in late June / July that they had the blind and had it since early February, still no one has given me a reason why the letter never arrived.

 

Getting parts is virtually inpossible, the parts department wonder around as though on another planet, i went to pick up a barrel for lock for the gas cupboard. I had also orderd a new door for the boiler as this had been damaged. When I arrived they parts could not find the barrel despite the fact that they had rung me to tell me the barrel was now in stock (this was due to them spelling my name wrong) and secondly that the door had not been delivered, again I new this as the order for the door had gone in at a separate time.

 

I booked the vehicle in for service about four week before it went in, a week later I rang to inform service that one of the legs on the Fiamma awning was broken could it be added for repair on the service. After Hymer had the vehicle all day they rang to tell me one of the legs was broken. Now I am waiting to see if and when I am going to get a new leg for the awning. I will ring them as I am not going to wait for Hymer to contact me.

 

What I am concerned with though is that I got a financial package which made owning my vehicle easier for me but it ties me into Brownhills, if they are in financial problems I need to know sooner rather than later.

[michele]

Who gave you the bad or non exsistant service Brownhills or Hymer .

Sorry I,m a little lost.

And where did you read that Brownhills had financial problems?

[Thai Bry]

Fud3 (Ian)

Sorry to hear about your probs with Hymer UK/Brownhills.

What is it about the so called"Tie in" to Brownhills/Hymer that worries you.? Is it to do with the warranty side of things - like the 5 year water Ingress guarantee??

Fortunately, for us, we have no such ties with our brand new van.For your peace of mind there are other "authorised" Hymer garages that you can go to to have the work done & still be within the warranty requirements set out by Hymer. 

Hope this puts your mind at rest. Contact me if you require anything further.

Thai

[bognormike]

so where are these authorised hymer dealers in the Uk? they are all Brownhills / Hymer UK ??? 8-)

[Thai Bry]

Bognor Mike

I actually said "authorised Hymer Garages" where you can get work carried out and it will not affect the Hymer warranties.

Sorry if I've confused you/anyone.

Thai

[bognormike]

But there aren't any; Brownhills put adverts in MMM saying they are the only people who can do it in GB. They've got it stitched up. Where are these places? there are plenty of companies that sell Hymers, imported from europe, both used & new, and will service them, but are they "authorised"?

[Thai Bry]

bognormike - 2007-09-14 7:59 PM But there aren't any; Brownhills put adverts in MMM saying they are the only people who can do it in GB. They've got it stitched up. Where are these places? there are plenty of companies that sell Hymers, imported from europe, both used & new, and will service them, but are they "authorised"?

Bognormike

try this site:-

http://www.friendlyhippo.co.uk/hymerdirect/

The original Hymer importers was a company called "Maddisons", they then became Hymer UK then Brownhills.We've been customers for a number of years now.

These guys can service Hymers and it will be recognised by Hymer.After all, these guys were trained by Hymer when they were at Maddisons.

I was on the forecourt of Hymer UK when a guy pulled in with a van bought from Edgehill motors, all this person wanted was to see if they could help with a quick repair. The salesperson at Hymer said :- "If you bought it from Edgehill, then go back to them for support".Great support from Hymer UK don't you think???!!

What about all the other people who have bought imported Hymers - and there are plenty on this forum - how do you think they get on.

There are many others across the UK who are & will be recognised.Please bear in mind that there is "NO" such thing as a grey import these days.

I quite agree with you about Brownhills adverts in MMM, but at one stage they only ever sold UK speced right hand drive vehicles. Strange that they are now selling LHD vehicles as well!!

I do not at any stage want to be seen as lambasting any company, but please be assured that there are other companies out there that can service to a recognised standard Hymers. Look in MMM and pick the phone up & ask.

We've got a brand new B Starline 700, delivered in April this year, & I know where I'm going for my habitation and ingress checks, and all up to Hymer apporoved standards.

Thai

PS:- Nice part of the world where you live,(according to your user name) I went to a public school in a little village called Slindon.!!

[fud3]

Thanks Thai Bry, no it is not the water test, it is purely the poor service which I have received from a supposed main dealer or infact the only Hymer main dealer in the country, that is anoying. I am tied in with a financial package, of changing my van every 2 years, and that causes me some concern due to the poor service I have received so far.

 

They appear to be able to have an attitude of take it or leave it attitude, which in today's society seems to becoming all to prevalent. If i had the same attitude I would go out of business very quickly.

 

A lot of the problem I feel is that with a car manufacturer, if you like a certain spec vehicle but do not like a particular garage you have a lot bigger network of dealers to deal with Hymer UK you get them and if our service is no good tough!

 

I have had a quick look at the web site of hymer direct and I will be speaking with them to talk about future support from them

[Don Madge]

bognormike - 2007-09-14 7:59 PM

 

But there aren't any; Brownhills put adverts in MMM saying they are the only people who can do it in GB. They've got it stitched up. Where are these places? there are plenty of companies that sell Hymers, imported from europe, both used & new, and will service them, but are they "authorised"?

 

Mike,

 

Hymer Caravan dealers are "authorized" to carry out habitation checks on motorhomes. So Brownhills have not got it stitched up as you have stated.

 

Please don't believe everything Brownhills say in MMM. 8-) 8-)

 

Don

[Kate1881]

Try Hymer UK Preston Lancs, My friend went there instead of Brownhills and got excellant service.

[Mel B]

Judging by the article I've just read in the latest MMM mag about the atrocious condition of the second hand Hymer van that was bought from Brownhills and the excellent service the owner received from Hymer UK at Preston to rectify all the faults, I think I'd stay well clear of Brownhills at Newark and go to Hymer Uk direct!!!! :-D

[twooks]

Hymer UK Preston IS Brownhills isn't it?

the place that used to be Madisons - [their customer care broke lots of records as well, in fact it improved considerably when Brownhills moved in] near Kirkham???

 

there used to be a few garages round there who would service Hymers for you - they used to do it for Madisons

 

B-)

[Guest Le Thou]

We have just bought from Brownhill Newcastle and cannot recommend the highly enough, they were excellent and the prevous van came from Brownhills Cannock and again 1st class service.

[Derek Uzzell]

Hymer(UK) and Brownhills North West share the same site, telephone number, etc. (see page 223 of MMM 11/2007).

 

As I understand it, Hymer(UK) is actually the 'administrative' company that officially imports new Hymer vehicles to the UK. These vehicles are then retailed in the UK through the current six Brownhills dealerships.

 

I was once told by an ex-Brownhills sales manager that Hymer(UK) charges Brownhills dealerships a 'handling fee' (I recall that £1000 was quoted) for overseeing the importation process and this charge was included (invisibly) in Hymer retail prices.

 

I suppose, if we were going to split hairs, that the MMM article is misleading and that the trouble-beset Hymer it refers to was really bought from Brownhills(Cannock) and sorted out by Brownhills(Preston).

[HymerVan]

There seems to be a fad for "bashing" Brownhills. My experience of them is based on buying a Hymer Van 522 (at Earls Court in November 2005) and I am very satisfied with the product and the service I received both in relation to the sale process and the after sales service. Particular mention goes to salesman Paul Parkinson and to Kate Wilkinson and her team who were very helpful and efficient in dealing with a few relatively minor warranty issues. Suffice to say that I choose to take the van back to Preson rather that to Newcastle even though it adds around 200 miles to my round journey.

There is a company Hymer UK Limited which appears to be dormant and may have been incorporated just to protect the name. So far as I can see "Hymer UK" is a trading name of Brownhills so those who say that Hymer UK are Brownhills are probably correct. Hopefully the exact nature of Brownhills corporate structure can remain academic from the standpoint of a customer.

I sincerely hope there are not problems at Brownhills because as has been said before in other posts there are some very nice genuine committed and efficient people at least at Preston. Within any organisation there will be others no doubt but that has not been my personal experience.

[Wills Wagon]

To all the anti Brownhills forum members. They are in fine fettle and Tom Booth the new CEO now has a "Talk to Tom" page on the main Brownhills web site. So instead of moaning talk to him direct. Perhaps you can keep us informed of progress?

[watsoa]

We imported a new Hymer from Germany over 5 years ago and initially took it to Brownhills at Newark for annual habitation sevices - because we did not buy from Brownhills we were made to feel like second (or even third) class citizens by the reception staff. We have been using the Brownhills (North East) centre at Birtley since it opened a couple of years ago and their attitude is completely different - we always receive a warm welcome and feel as though our custom is appreciated.

Alan W