How would you expect to receive a brand new caravan
Wondering to what standard members expect to receive their brand new caravan in ? For example should it be as it left the factory with variòus covers, chippings and roughly cleaned or the other end of the scale with all covers off, carpets laid etc.
Also to what extent and what sort of time scale should the dealer expend on handing over the new caravan.
What do you expect and get.
Comments
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My handover 2 years ago on a new caravan lasted 2 hours, everything was explained and then it was Q&A time which took the most time. I did not expect to absorb every bit of information given but it gave me a good insight when later referring to the manual.
As for its presentation, all plastic covers were off, everything 'looked' clean and carpets were laid, water was plumbed ready, gas bottle was ready and electic hooked up. Only later and for months afterwards did we keep finding a bit of sawdust, bits of polystyrene, the odd screw etc in the cupboards and under the front seats.
It's what I expected really having dealt with dealers before, it was adequate but not to a high standard. Saying that, I wanted to get away as quick as possible to enjoy it as our own and its serving us well.
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Thinking back to ours a couple of weeks ago we were there for a total of 3 hours. That did include time to transfer our personal effects from the old caravan.
I have to say the caravan was very well prepared.
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We ordered our new van coming up to 3 years ago. The dealer did not have the models in and so checked there was the model we wanted at the factory (Swift), we ordered it and it arrived a week later. We saw it the day it arrived and inside the seat backs,
beds were all shrink warpped, and the floor carpet in a tight roll. By the time of the handover it was immaculate inside and out and we were given the PDI checklist and a tick list of the things to be covered during the handover.
It took over two and a half hours and even though we were expreienced caravaners by then and I had downloaded the handbook I expected (and got) everything explained to myself and Mrrs C. Every device/area/thing/locker/fold down bunk/shower/heater... in it
was demonstrated and tested. If there was one minor thing wrong I would not have handed over the exceedinly large amount that was owning.Think of it as when you collect new car, actually it cost more than our little second car.0 -
Our handover was a couple of hours and because we were fairly experienced owners we only needed instruction on new items/technology. When we tried out all the various bits and pieces the omnivent didn't work, so the dealer changed it out. The van was clean
inside and out but like David we did find dust and sawdust for sometime after0 -
Our handover of our brand new caravan lasted about 15 minutes. There was then another three hours whilst they corrected obvious faults, put the motor mover isolation switch where we had specified it to be at the time of order, fitted the ATC unit that they
had forgotten to do and fit the radio that they had also forgotten to fit. Oh, and the guy doing the hand-over couldn't have cared less. Needless to say that is the first and last time I will buy from that particular dealer.0 -
Our handover was purely based on the 'working' with the time slot of 30 mins allowed before he then moved onto next handover.
The van was clean however when we arrived home and looked thro it found a list of 22 defects.
Dealer did rectify all tho after 3 month wait for parts.
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Picked our new van up in January and hand over took about 1 & a half hours.Even though we've had other vans there were a lot of things new to us.All gas,electric and water were fully explained and demonstrated and van was clean inside and out.
Mike
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From the above there sadly appears to be a wide variety of hand over expereince. I, for one, wouldn't part with my money or accept the van until I would be completly satisfied. I would also expect the hand over to take as long as it takes. You're paying
perhaps thousands, or more likely tens of thousands and you shoud get a lot of time for that.0 -
Like John above, our 'handover' took around 15 minutes. The next three hours or so was wasted whilst we waited for them to rectify defects that were so blindingly obvious but had clearly been left, including one wheelarch hanging off. Had we not been keen
to have the van we would have walked away and gone back home. We're wiser now.We swore never to step into their premises again and that's Campbell's of Lostock Hall, Preston.
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The handover of our current van (some 7 years ago) took about 30 minutes. Everything was clean, but they did leave the plastic on the floor, which was a bit of a pain to get off. No defects as such, but the plastic and the assumtion that we knew how to do things wouldn't encourage me to go back to the same dealer again.
We're using a local dealer for our next caravan (hopefully next month). We've used them for servicing for a number of years and have been pleased with them. Fingers crossed for our handover.
David
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Like John above, our 'handover' took around 15 minutes. The next three hours or so was wasted whilst we waited for them to rectify defects that were so blindingly obvious but had clearly been left, including one wheelarch hanging off. Had we not been keen to have the van we would have walked away and gone back home. We're wiser now.
We swore never to step into their premises again and that's Campbell's of Lostock Hall, Preston.
Ahh, Campbell’s. We bought our first, (and as yet only) caravan from Campbell’s, we arrived at the agreed time and our caravan was pointed out to us from the office, it was torrential rain at the time and we were given the keys and asked to wait in the caravan, we got in the caravan and started to have a good look round and checked all the finishes, cupboards, drawers etc. After about an hour I had to go back to the office to make sure we hadn’t been forgotten! Twenty minutes or so later someone came and started to go through all the systems, to be fair he spent about an hour with us demonstrating everything and answering all our questions, and the caravan was in an acceptable condition.
That part of the handover was okay, the problems started when some of the accessories we ordered were missing and the mover didn’t work but that’s a whole different story. The after sales service from Campbell’s was abysmal!
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Can't remember how long in time our handover was, but I do remember the guy was insistant that we had to be happy that we understood everything that was explained to us and that he went all around the van inside and out. Nothing was too much trouble for
him. One of the best handovers we have had.0 -
Can't remember how long in time our handover was, but I do remember the guy was insistant that we had to be happy that we understood everything that was explained to us and that he went all around the van inside and out. Nothing was too much trouble for
him. One of the best handovers we have had.Yes, very similar for us. I think the handover took about 3 hours. Everything was explained. Nothing was too much trouble.
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The bad one has been named and shamed. Pity those who had the excellent experiences did not name the dealer so theres may benefit from their good service.
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My last caravan handover took three Weeks! is that a record? Let me explain. First inspection of caravan revealed several parts missing( grill plate, microwave plate etc. damage to n/s front seat base dirty roof dirt under bed bases, i wont go on but having been in the motor trade for a lot of years, i refused to accept delivery. Dealer suggested i wait while they sorted, i suggested they get their act together and ring me in a weeks time when it was sorted and left!! Got phone call all sorted can i come and collect/ yes if sure all sorted? no prizes for guessing, anyhow three weeks later eventually sorted? and collected only to find more problems on first trip away!back to dealer/ sorted? went on for 4 months before i contacted finance company who instructed dealer to supply me with a new replacement!! Moral of the story dont accept something that is obviously substandard and ensure you thoughrely check before accepting
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The bad one has been named and shamed. Pity those who had the excellent experiences did not name the dealer so theres may benefit from their good service.
Tyneside Leisure (part of Catterick carvans) in Washington for me
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We were at tbe dealers over an hour while they moved the battery and number plate and moved them over plus about a half hour going over the caravan. It was generally clean except for the front window ledge which they had missed and was covered in bits from
fitying the blinds.The only fault was one TV aerial plug did not work but that was not plugged in at the aerial and was remedied in a coup,e of minutes.
We have had five new and one second hand caravan and all were clean and apart from one having a faulty fridge we have had no serious problems.
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Like John above, our 'handover' took around 15 minutes. The next three hours or so was wasted whilst we waited for them to rectify defects that were so blindingly obvious but had clearly been left, including one wheelarch hanging off. Had we not been keen
to have the van we would have walked away and gone back home. We're wiser now.We swore never to step into their premises again and that's Campbell's of Lostock Hall, Preston.
Ahh, Campbell’s. We bought our first, (and as yet only) caravan from Campbell’s, we arrived at the agreed time and our caravan was pointed out to us from the office, it was torrential rain at the time and we were given the keys and asked to wait in the caravan,
we got in the caravan and started to have a good look round and checked all the finishes, cupboards, drawers etc. After about an hour I had to go back to the office to make sure we hadn’t been forgotten! Twenty minutes or so later someone came and started
to go through all the systems, to be fair he spent about an hour with us demonstrating everything and answering all our questions, and the caravan was in an acceptable condition.That part of the handover was okay, the problems started when some of the accessories we ordered were missing and the mover didn’t work but that’s a whole different story. The after sales service from Campbell’s was abysmal!
we bought our first caravan from their Clifton (when it was Campbells) the handover took about an hour but I run my finger along a ledge and it was filthy. We were told to go and have a coffee and they would give it another valeting. Half an hour later and
I went back into the van, ran my finger along the heater grill and it was full of fluff.We really wanted the van, and later found a few other faults which they attempted it fix but I swore never to go back to them.
Roll on a few vans later and we wanted the new Delta TS, freshly announced early 2015. Whilst I had a good offer from down south we managed to better the offer at Lostock Hall.
The handover took 2 hours. everything was demonstrated working, water, gas, electrics. However the chap demonstrating didn't even know the gas change-over was an automatic one. There was swarf in the cupboard and battery locker where they had fitted the
solar panel/controller. The front chest of drawers wasn't screwed down and I was told this was in case we wanted to fit a centre cushion???Some of the included extras were missing. There should be a customer handover checklist.
Needless to say, I haven't been back, apart from a single Lunar warranty part that is being sorted next month. 1st service is being down by in independent agent.
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We had a call from our dealer to say our van had just been delivered ,and would we like a look before it went for PDI,we looked and asked for the carpets to be left in their wrapping as we tend not to use all of them,
On day of change over (Last Thursday)van was spotless,and it took hour and half for handover and did not want to check trade in,we then went to cc site for two nights ,to "learn" new systems, before we forgot what dealer had said,no problems found
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Like John above, our 'handover' took around 15 minutes. The next three hours or so was wasted whilst we waited for them to rectify defects that were so blindingly obvious but had clearly been left, including one wheelarch hanging off. Had we not been keen
to have the van we would have walked away and gone back home. We're wiser now.We swore never to step into their premises again and that's Campbell's of Lostock Hall, Preston.
Ahh, Campbell’s. We bought our first, (and as yet only) caravan from Campbell’s, we arrived at the agreed time and our caravan was pointed out to us from the office, it was torrential rain at the time and we were given the keys and asked to wait in the caravan,
we got in the caravan and started to have a good look round and checked all the finishes, cupboards, drawers etc. After about an hour I had to go back to the office to make sure we hadn’t been forgotten! Twenty minutes or so later someone came and started
to go through all the systems, to be fair he spent about an hour with us demonstrating everything and answering all our questions, and the caravan was in an acceptable condition.That part of the handover was okay, the problems started when some of the accessories we ordered were missing and the mover didn’t work but that’s a whole different story. The after sales service from Campbell’s was abysmal!
we bought our first caravan from their Clifton (when it was Campbells) the handover took about an hour but I run my finger along a ledge and it was filthy. We were told to go and have a coffee and they would give it another valeting. Half an hour later and
I went back into the van, ran my finger along the heater grill and it was full of fluff.We really wanted the van, and later found a few other faults which they attempted it fix but I swore never to go back to them.
Roll on a few vans later and we wanted the new Delta TS, freshly announced early 2015. Whilst I had a good offer from down south we managed to better the offer at Lostock Hall.
The handover took 2 hours. everything was demonstrated working, water, gas, electrics. However the chap demonstrating didn't even know the gas change-over was an automatic one. There was swarf in the cupboard and battery locker where they had fitted the
solar panel/controller. The front chest of drawers wasn't screwed down and I was told this was in case we wanted to fit a centre cushion???Some of the included extras were missing. There should be a customer handover checklist.
Needless to say, I haven't been back, apart from a single Lunar warranty part that is being sorted next month. 1st service is being down by in independent agent.
can I see a trend developing
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.... The front chest of drawers wasn't screwed down and I was told this was in case we wanted to fit a centre cushion???
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Our Luna Delta ..... but somewhat older ..... has drawers at the front that aren't screwed down either. They're not meant to be though.
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I guess every expirience is individual... But telling when the same nsme come up more than once... We are shopping for a new van and went to Michael Jordan the other week, and were ignored for the two hours we were there. Honestly, we thought we were invisible!!
Not even a good morning from the salesmen that were wandering about which is just rude!! it didn't bode well for the level of customer service you could expect if ther was a problem with your new vanWe are now down to two models and both are available from the much smaller dealer (Lee Davey) that is 5 minutes down the road from us and where we bought our current van. The handover for that one took about 45 minutes and
we were well looked after, the dealer knew we had booked into a nearby site for the night (couldn't wait to test it!!) and made sure we had his contact details just in case we got stuck with something as he would have come and helped us out with it on his
way home, which I couldn't fault... so am hopeful that if this level of customer service exists when buying second hand then it will be the same when buying new... Give me a few months and I'll let you know!!0 -
we took delivery of a new xplore 435 just over two weeks ago from Kenmore caravans of mirfield west yorks the handover was thorough everything explained even though we were quite familiar with controls etc having part exchanged another xplore .there was
.a minor problem which was dealt with immediately this is our 6th van from Kenmore as we are highly satisfied with the friendly way they carry out their business,treating you more like a friend than a customer .0 -
We're on our 4th caravan all from Lowdhams. Cannot fault them. This current one was picked up 18 months ago and handover is scheduled for about an hour and a half. It's connected to all services during that time - electricity, water, gas and waste - and
you get a live demo of how to use everything.The only plastic left on was covering the fridge door and, although they take the plastic off the floor, they cover it with a plastic runner during the handover so you don't get dirty feet marks on it. I would certainly recommend them.
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Can't remember how long in time our handover was, but I do remember the guy was insistant that we had to be happy that we understood everything that was explained to us and that he went all around the van inside and out. Nothing was too much trouble for
him. One of the best handovers we have had.Write your comments here...Webbs Caravans formally Salisbury Caravans
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Our caravan has had its first service today but needless to say I didn't take it back to the dealer near Hull because of the shambles of the initial handover. I've absolutely no faith in their ability to do jobs correctly. This has been borne out yet again
today when the mobile approved service engineer pointed out a potential risk caused through shoddy workmanship. When the dealer fitted the motormover they had to drill through the battery box to get the cables to the control box under the front seat. The
battery box is supposed to be sealed from the habitation area so that potentially explosive hydrogen gas from the battery, when being charged, cannot get to where there is the possibility of naked flames on the cooker for example. To ensure this, any cables
taken through the battery box should, I'm told, go through individual grommet seals. In my case there was just one totally unsealed hole open into the habitation area Which would allow the gas to pass through. Because of the bodge up all that could be done
apart from having a new battery box fitted was to seal the hole with a mass of silicone. Apparently, there is an NCC standard ( number 305 ? ) for passing cables through the box.0 -
Can't remember how long in time our handover was, but I do remember the guy was insistant that we had to be happy that we understood everything that was explained to us and that he went all around the van inside and out. Nothing was too much trouble for
him. One of the best handovers we have had.Write your comments here... Which dealer was that?
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