Tracker service
Has anyone had their TRACKER system serviced, I received an 'e' mail offering a service to replace the system and backup battery. When I enquired about the cost I was quoted £240 which seems steep! Below is the text of the 'e'mail.
The TRACKER system in your caravan is due a service. Your system is powered by your caravan's battery and also has a backup battery which enables us to track it in the event that your caravan is stolen and the caravan battery is disconnected. All batteries degrade over time and will eventually reach the end of their service life. Thatcham recommend that the backup battery is replaced every 3-5 years.
We strongly recommend that the backup battery in your system is replaced. Please contact us to arrange the service, for which there will be a reasonable charge, otherwise TRACKER may not be able to provide the Stolen Vehicle Recovery service for your caravan. If you have already contacted us to arrange your TRACKER service, please ignore this email.
Comments
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It sounds like a rip off/scam to me.
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Its a scam! The back-up battery in the Stinger Alarm has a recommendation to change every three years you can buy from Sargant I`ve seen a figure of around £40 quoted and that's expensive. Only requires removal of cover and change battery.
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The Stinger alarm is not a tracker and the OP is specifically talking about the battery in the tracker. I’m not sure if the OP means the Sargent Tracker or one of the other commercially available trackers.
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Yeah it does mate, they both do, on the coms unit (that's the tracker) its a group of five bateries which also takes a charge off the van battery to keep em fully charged, and the stinger has three pretty well the same set up, I can go on line and check the van battery also the stinger to make sure it hasn't triggered, and if I had left the main command switch in the on position I can see what the solar panel is putting into the van battery all from my lounge, its a good system if it works well..
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I thought it had a rechargeable battery also but looking on the Tracker website I must have been looking at their retrieve which does not according to their blurb but that might not be the full story either. I know some caravan manufacturers were using the retrieve
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Mine is the Swift command system, its all built and installed by Sargent electrical had a small problem with mine when I picked the van up which I didn't even know about, chap from sergeants told me on the phone theres a small problem with your coms unit it needed one with a stronger sim card cos where I store the signal is week, they offered to send one to me to install myself or take it back to the dealer,I did it myself, easy peasy...
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I had a similar problem with the Sargent Tracker built into my 2018 Challenger from new. It worked fine for almost 2 years then started to have problems communicating. I was originally sent a like-for-like replacement by Sargent which had the same problem. They then sent me a unit with an separate aerial which improves the cell phone reception. I was told that the Sargent Tracker uses the 2G network to communicate and reception is becoming less reliable as the network providers phase out the 2G system. The Sargent Tracker obviously needs to be updated to use newer cell phone technology or more and more users are going to experience this issue.
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I've said it before, but I'm glad Sargent don't make car alarms. The alarm of my 2013 caravan went back for a repair shortly after we bought it about 3 yrs ago. The repair it apparently had was do with the sounder I repaired again the other week. I've had 15yr old cars with fully working factory alarms.
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You’re absolutely correct about that if you’re referring to the Sargent Tracker system. However, they are entirely separate units which each have their own battery. Furthermore, if the OP was referring to another make of tracker (e.g. Tracker Retrieve) then that operates entirely independently of any fitted alarm.
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I have a tracker system fitted as standard to my Bailey Unicorn Cadiz, it is now coming up to 5years old , will the battery have to be replaced?
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We too have a 5 year old Bailey Unicorn 3 (Barcelona) and we have received the following email from Tracker:
“As you will be aware, the Tracker Retrieve system in your vehicle has a 5 year guaranteed battery life. This is to remind you that your system has reached a point when the battery may not have enough power for us to track it in the event that your vehicle is stolen.
In order to continue the peace of mind you have enjoyed, we recommend you arrange a replacement of your Tracker system, for which there will be a reasonable charge.
If you choose not to replace your current Tracker system, we may not be able to provide the Stolen Vehicle Recovery service in the future or renew the subscription further when it comes to the end of its cover period; leaving your vehicle unprotected.
Please call us on 0808 509 0909 or email us at customerservice@tracker.co.uk to discuss your Tracker system replacement options.
Kind Regards,
Tracker Team”
Ive just telephoned them and they have given me a quote of £249 for 1 year then £99 per annum, or £449 to cover 5 years, which seems very excessive. This is supposedly a special offer as we are an existing customer, and if we were a new customer it would be £800 for the 5 year option!
We have made the decision to not bother but phone our caravan insurance provider to inform them we will no longer have the “Tracker” service on our van, and see how much it bumps up our insurance. May consider getting an alarm instead (Bailey has chosen to go the Tracker route rather than alarm system).
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I called Tracker back yesterday for clarification and whether I could get then battery changed myself, but they said that the whole unit will be coming out of it’s 5 year warranty, therefore it had to be replaced for them to be able to provide the service.
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I too have a Bailey Unicorn Cadiz and have received a letter from Tracker informing me that my subscription is due for renewal. I telephoned them and they told me that the unit has to be replaced and the cost would be for 12 months £248 for 3 years £389 and for 5 years £449. I have an alarm system fitted to the caravan i am now considering whether it is worth having the tracker renewed
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I've had my new motorhome for nearly a month and I never been able to commumicate with the Sargent Command unit via Bluetooth. After several weeks exchanging emails with swift I've contacted Sargent who have said the battery is low (7v) and I need to have the whole unit changed under warranty because the dealer would be unlikely to change the battery.
I'm not impressed.
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When we bought our used caravan a few years back, I sent the alarm unit back to Sargent as it wasn't working properly. They apparently repaired it, but it was hard to tell that it was much better. A few years down the line I replaced a sounder inside that should chirp when it's armed & disarmed .... it seemed to work for a while but is now hit & miss as to whether it'll chirp (I suspect electrickery that talks to the sounder rather than the sounder itself) Then, when off EHU a different sounder started to chirp every few minutes .... Sargent suggested it was a failing rechargeable battery in the alarm ... they want £40odd, I replaced it with a some what cheaper battery that was suggested here by EasyT.
Their customer service is great, they repaired a PSU for me a few years ago on another caravan & I had it back within days. but their alarms could be much better.
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I recently purchased a Bailey Unicorn4 Vigo built in late 2020 from Viscount Leisure and was told by them to just update the factory fitted tracker subscription online for a small fee as a new owner.
When I called Tracker to do so, a rather curt receptionist took my VIN number and bluntly told me that the tracker battery would by now be depleted and a complete new tracker system should be fitted for £299 before I needed to take out a subscription. They would not let me subscribe until I paid for a new tracker unit. Their own website states a five year battery life and my caravan is not yet three years old !
I complained to Viscount who were great and said I should not be expected to pay for this having just bought the caravan and that they would cover the cost of a replacement tracker unit and arrange fitting. I emailed Bailey who closed ranks on the matter and simply agreed with policy of their agent "Tracker" with some blurb about not disclosing the secret location of the unit inside the caravan to anyone but an approved fitter.
I am thoroughly impressed with my local caravan dealership for being gentlemanly about it and will be a long term customer of theirs. I am also very unimpressed with the approach taken by both the Tracker company and Bailey.
If it wasn't for the simple fact that my insurance cover expects a tracker after declaring one and it is integrated with the fitted alarm system I would just buy a rival aftermarket product elsewhere on principle, I feel they are profiteering by fitting a new tracker instead of replacing the units battery, or at least letting new owners subscribe until such time as the batteries become an issue.
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