michele Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 I would like to take my faulty Battery which I have saved back to Brownhills. friends are going tomorrow and they have offered to take back our old faulty Battery I would like them to give me a new one . Trouble is what do you say our vehicle is only two years old and we have had to purchase a new leisure battery . I have it hopefully right that it should of lasted alot longer than that . How do yo politely ask for a new battery without getting the run around hopefully in time for it to be sent back with friends on the return journey . I am still waiting for our occassional table two years later I have not got the energy to argue about it just a new battery would do very nicely . Anyone know a name I can speak with please who hopefully wont have shares in the company and will do the honest thing ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trooper Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Hi Michele. It might be worth looking carefully at the battery as there is often a warrenty date on them, just a thought, cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Hi Michelle The new CEO at Brownhills is Tom Booth Here is the address of Brownhills web-site with a "Talk to Tom" link Hope it helps. http://www.brownhills.co.uk/feedback/talktotom.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowmarsh Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 If you bought your vehicle from new from Brownhills then they are solely responsible for warranty on your vehicle for the first 12 months after that period the 2nd and 3rd year warranty will be controlled by an "external" company. In our case with the Autotrail I think the company is NB&G who take care of any warranty issues and not Brownhills. This is of course subject to the relevant habitation and vehicle services having been carried out by qualified dealers on or around the due dates. I would personally be very surprised if Brownhills replaced the battery FOC on the aforementioned basis and even so this I feel would be classed as a consumable and as the previous post mentioned you need to check the dates on the battery. I would imagine that a battery of two years age and over is nearing the end of it's usage. The leisure battery doesn't receive the same care and attention as the one underneath your bonnet and until it starts to go wrong is largely forgotten. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Fair enough except batterys stand around in a factory long before they are put into your m/home. Even if i did check the date it may say three years I have only owned it for two . If i am not entitled to get one then so be it i would of though that they had a longer life than that the problem with mine is it is faulty it holds its charge and gives a reading of 13.4 good until you ask it to do something . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 we had a similar problem a few years ago - Brownhills refused to get involved and told us to go see Swift as manufacturer so we called in at Marquis at Preston - they sorted it for us no bother - and we used them for everything we had done after that until we moved away B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowmarsh Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Batteries as with most things are stored prior to being used but with batteries they are dry stored ie they don't contain any acid so the plates are not activated, this is normally done when the battery is being commisioned for use. Age is not usually a consideration of condition as most batteries will need to be checked and charged on a regular basis, plus minus temperatures will affect their performance drastically. I personally wouldn,t go down the route of asking the dealer, if you shop around you will pick up a 120 Amh battery for around £100, that's just my preference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 I already have bough it I paid over the hundred mark I cant recall now a few weeks ago . Its just that people have mentioned that it must be under the warranty bit i keep the m/home fully serviced and all up to date. Oh well if I cant I cant thats that. thanks everyone for the help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geof Angi Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Michelle Most batteries are sealed for life now so you can not check the levels in the cells, but how long is life?. I would say two to three years is a fair life as a leisure battery works very hard being discharged and recharged during the season where as a starter battery never really gets used to its full extent and still only lasts 2-3 years and of course the cold affects them as well, you did have all that white fluffy stuff about when it give up the ghoast, but it is still worth a try to see if you can get a replacement Geof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowmarsh Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 If your battery is only a few weeks old then it would need to go back to the place you bought it from and they should test it. If it's faulty then they are legally obliged to offer you a replacement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Must point out the new battery went to the snow region . We bought it because the old one was playing up . Thank god we found out about it before we took off maybe I have caused confusion with the other thread Egg Stink Autotrail that is my friends M/Home again he intends also to ask whilst up in Newark tomorrow his is only two years old also and has packed up terribly never smelt such a smell in my life . Dont seem that you get alot on these batterys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twooks Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 so best of luck 'chele ['course if you'd any sense you would've gone somewhere else in the first place >:-) >:-) >:-) >:-) ] ;-) B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Well apparently with this Talk to Tom stuff I hope that they will get better and really start to listen to their customers . Lets put it this way I am still awaiting my occassional round small table two years later and I have given up now things can only get better but you live and learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geof Angi Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 Michelle Had a look at a couple of autotrails at Newark Brownhills today and they had some round occasional tables in them, why not just go and help yourself, and tell them that you are doing so as it has taken them so long to get you the one you are owed Geof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 I would but being married to a copper is a bit of a barr :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Kirby Posted January 2, 2008 Share Posted January 2, 2008 MicheleI think you're on a bit of a hiding to nothing, since you can't really prove the battery hasn't been abused over the past two years, and nor can you really prove whether it has been in continual use for that time. I do think it's bad luck, though. However, instead of pushing them for a replacement, why not ask them how long a leisure battery in a Bessacarr should last, given reasonable use? If their answer is more than two years, tell them yours is now dead and ask what they can do? You may not get a free replacement, but you might get a decent discount. Since you've already bought your replacement, and I very much doubt if they'll reimburse you with cash, maybe your friends could benefit in some way over the replacement of theirs (assuming it wasn't ruined by a failed charger unit which should result in both charger and battery both being replaced) or possibly you might "win" a discount on some other goody you want/need? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 2, 2008 Author Share Posted January 2, 2008 Brian how would my friends know if it was a failed charger unit . had no problems witha anything only the battery . How would anyone know ? have not had the Jan MMM as yet to read the article that Clive mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest machra Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 I've recently used the Talk to Tom feature on the website. I had a return phone call within 10 mins. New parts were chased up and the van is now booked in to have remedial work carried out later this month. Brownhills appear to come under a lot of criticism but I can say that we have had reasonable service. A lot better than my last van dealers – Marquis. Just ask them you have nothing to loose. Same goes for your table. I find I have to pester them to get any action, but put this down to the volume of throughput they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michele Posted January 7, 2008 Author Share Posted January 7, 2008 Maybe I will try this for our occassional table and just count the battery as down to us .May as well give it a try if you dont try you wont know . Cheers for that . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Biggest problem with batteries is that if they are left in a discharged state for any period of time they will quickly become knackered. Likewise if they are regularly discharged until the voltage drops so low such that you notice it (Diesel heater stops for example) they will become quickly knackered. An argumentative dealer could well challenge you to prove that the battery has NOT been subjected to either of these abuses. If on the other hand the dealer thinks that good service will encourage you to purchase your next MH from them then they will not haggle. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Michelle If Brownhills don't come up with the table Try Magmum Motorhomes at Grimsby (see Classifieds to the left) I got one of their swan neck legs + fixings forjust below £60 & had a look through their stock of table tops to find an almost identical match. SO I got 2 different sizes The Table tops were £2.50 & £3.50 (Yes that is right ) To give you an idea of the style- it is very similar to the Swift Bolero table. Ours is the small Bessacarr, so they should be able to get a close match to yours M/H also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikemoss Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 Just a reply on the good dealer/bad dealer theme. When we bought our second-hand Bessie from a small family-owned dealer in Somerset (Jones Motorhomes) both the habitation and cab batteries seemed OK but they popped in brand new ones for us 'just in case.' They also replaced the clutch, which was slipping very slightly, and generally made sure everything was working perfectly for us. We had a couple of very minor niggles after that, both of which were sorted promptly, effectively and with a friendly smile. Although they only stock a small range I'd definitely recommend anybody to buy from them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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