Approved Workshop Servicing on Club Site(s)

markNEScotland
markNEScotland Forum Participant Posts: 22
edited March 2015 in UK Campsites & Touring #1

We have had our caravans serviced at our nearest Approved Workshop for over 15 years. Living in central Aberdeenshire, these aren’t prolific, and our ‘local’ dealer has now decreed that they will now only service vans purchased from them originally. This
is becoming more common, and is understandable if sales of new/used vans are on the up, and the workshop has limited facilities for servicing. Having purchased our second van from them, our last two were purchased in England, largely because our required interior
layout was not available locally. Sadly customer loyalty is also a thing of the past.

Faced with no service facility within reasonable distance, no mobile offerings north of Glasgow, I recalled talking to an owner last year on the Oxon Hall BoB site who booked his service each year to coincide with their holiday- a great idea.

As we are booked in June for 2 weeks at the CC Norfolk Broads site, I contacted one of the highly-rated Approved Mobile workshops in the Norfolk area, only to be told by them that the CC won’t allow annual servicing on the club sites; only emergency repairs!

I find this amazing, considering the CC helped in forming the Approved Workshop Scheme in 1986, and continues in partnership- ‘you want to be sure that your vehicle has been serviced by trained and experienced professionals’.

In my experience a service will take between 1 and 2 hours, and involve the workshop parking their van alongside for this amount of time. If this ruling is across all CC sites, then it rules out a considerable opportunity for workshops to maintain levels
of work, and expand their business; as well as saving members considerable time and cost in delivering and collecting their vans in areas where mobile facilities are not available; surely a win-win situation?

Perhaps a CC representative would like to make comment as to whether this is unilateral or exceptions are made, before we review our current booking?

Mark, Aberdeenshire