Remove All Personal Items
I have a problem with my local Bailey Dealership in that whenever I submit my caravan for service they insist that all, that is everything right down to knives and forks, is removed before it goes in.
I am currently going through a warranty claim for water ingress and the work has been authorised by Bailey. The dealership know where the water is coming in and have all the parts ready to carryout the necessary repairs. When I book the caravan in I am told it must be emptied of all personal belongings. Why I ask? The caravan did not have to be emptied when I took it in for an assessment to establish where the water was getting in so why now?
I would be more than happy to remove all belongings in the areas likely to be worked in but to have to remove every mortal thing from the van seems OTT and rather ridiculous. The company claim this is for my protection and that of their staff. It is now proved that Covid 19 is an airborne bacteria and not contracted from hard surfaces. It all seems a nonsense to me and I basically wondered if fellow caravan users had encountered a similar stipulation with other dealerships or repairers. I was advised that this practice of insisting a caravan was emptied was now an industry standard? They say the practice will continue after Covid restrictions are, if ever, lifted.
If a plumber can come into my home and carryout a service to my central heating system then surely a repairer can enter my caravan, which has not been used for two months, and carryout a repair or service.
I would welcome any information that anybody has on this subject. If it is to be the way forward then I for one do not support the practice and feel that if others feel the same there is strength in numbers.
Moved from Story Section as more of a Discussion Topic
Comments
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Lostyorkshireman. This story would probably draw more comments in the main forum.
We were always requested to remove everything from our caravan for a service. I suspect it's easier for the workforce than working round other people's stuff etc., and not everyone is clean and tidy. We used a big dealership with a large workforce, mostly unknown to us. We have a different situation with our motorhome, we use a local garage, we know who works there and we do what is needed if asked, we rarely empty everything out.
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I suspect, as much as anything, it’s a measure to protect staff from false accusations and to protect owners from potential loss or damage to personal items.🤷🏻♂️
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Logistics can make it difficult to remove all items. I need to have a check each year to preserve my warranty. It has to be done at a Knaus approved dealer, the nearest of which is 160 miles distant. I always do such a trip with a minimum overnight stay or more usually combine it with a longer trip. I therefore need to take a fair bit of stuff in the MH. In the 4 or 5 years I’ve been doing this they’ve never insisted on me removing items, and I’ve never asked them if I should.
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Probably to protect staff from allegations of theft and / or damage and nothing to do with Covid.
Use it as an opportunity to have a clear out of unwanted items that most of us accumulate over the years,
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We have always been asked to remove as much as possible but actually we would do it anyway. I can't be sure they will take good care, or perhaps as good care as we would. Where will they store any removed items? Around the caravan or outside on the floor?
So we completely take out everything inside, and give it a all over clean inside when we get it back, it's once a year job that we don't like doing but just our personal preference.
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Usually a dealer requires access to all areas, especially to test for damp. Also checks might throw up a problem that might require looking in unexpected places so I can understand why they ask for the van to be emptied. As far as I can remember I have always emptied all caravans and motorhomes I have owned. I am fortunate that I keep my van in my back garden and the stuff in the van is just decanted into the conservatory. Have you considered using a Mobile Service engineer who may not have such requirements?
David
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Our service engineer has always asked that the van be emptied and we're happy to oblige as I then know that nothing will get soiled, lost or damaged. OH even takes all of the sofa cushions out as well. It's a bit of a pain but we have peace of mind and the stuff just sits in the conservatory for a few days.
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Our Knaus dealer is also 150 miles away and prior to the last couple of years, we have been doing the same as Seaside Bill and staying in the locality for a few days whilst the van is serviced. However, with Covid, they have collected and returned the van and I have stripped absolutely everything out of it each time. Bit of a pain having boxes of kit in the hall and the garage even more of a 'tip', but tolerable considering it's only once a year.
The Service Manager did comment on how appreciative they had been at being able to work on a van devoid of 'clutter'.
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Since we have used our local dealer and a mobile service man ,both have advised that they just need access to the floor area ,of the van so I just put all the things normally carried on the floor when travelling, in the car,
Water, waste steps ramps chairs
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For a service, we have always been asked to fully empty the van, both caravans and MH. It’s actually quite a useful exercise, as it provides an inventory of what’s in there and items that aren’t needed can be left out when reloaded. When they have just been in for smallish repairs, only the relevant area needs to be emptied.
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Our dealer also requests that the van be empty when brought for service, not only so they can access areas to be damp tested, but also so staff cannot be accused of breaking or stealing anything.
We have always had our annual service in February/March, so the van would be empty of most things anyway as we do not go away November-Early March, but last year they were closed for several months and could not fit us in until late July. This meant we had to load up for our June/July trip, and then unload and reload again, which was not good!
An annual service is a condition of our insurance, so we have decided just to return to our usual March appointment now.
We do leave a few things in, and always have, and they have not commented, but we know it is at our own risk. We leave plates, mugs, cutlery, pots etc.......they are not in the way.
After getting a muddy carpet one year, we started removing them, and take the opportunity to give them a shampoo, and we remove the gas bottles, and anything else in the front locker as you never know what the public looking at other vans might get up to!
We also do not leave in the step, EHU cable, or water uptake, the workshop use their own, and we put old sheets over the mattress and the seat cushions.
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Actually we empty our caravan from choice! I wouldn’t want to risk anything getting ‘lost’ or damaged from the chaps doing the service. Like you KjellNN we also cover the soft furnishings and remove the carpets, and remove the EHU cable, and steps etc. They make a real mess of the floor, with dirty shoes etc so we put down our own dust sheets too!
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We've never been asked to remove everything from the Caravan when it's gone in for a service or other work. Mind you we tend not to carry much stuff until caravan these days....
We only keep a couple of things on the floor/ underneath beds.... the corner steady winding handle, the motor mover remote and the winder and 3 roof poles for the Thule windout awning. I always have to remember to put the EHU lead in the caravan for service... it normally travels in the car.
We do keep kitchen stuff in the caravan - cutlery, glasses, plates dishes, cooking utensils etc, but never been asked to remove them....
David
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It strikes me as absolutely bonkers to insist on everything being removed. My van is full of stuff and it would take me literally hours to empty it all and then put it all back again afterwards. My van permanently houses literally everything I need when I go away. Everything I have at home (barring, obviously, larger appliances like washing machine, dryer etc) I also have in the van - sometimes in smaller form like the vacuum cleaner for example. Apart from food, my current reading material, and the clothes I travel in on day one, I do not have to take anything else with me because it is all already in the van. I would accept freeing up space around specific areas where necessary, but the notion of removing every item is not something I could even begin to contemplate. Nor do I believe it is necessary as some have claimed above. I have certainly never been asked to do this either by mobile engineers or dealers - both of which I have used.
By the way, I don't see why it should be any different for mobile engineers. They are doing the same job.
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I usually remove some items or relocate them from areas that will, or may be accessed during the service. That seems reasonable, but I tend to agree that removing absolutely everything would be an onerous task and not one conducent with my view of good customer service.
I also generally only keep small "fiddly to move" items on board anyway, although there are some large items, such as the awning, a box of electrical cables and tools, and the water barrel that I often store on board, but I always take off as they could get in the way.
As for everything we normally use when away, some is kept in the van and moved to the car for travel and some is kept in dedicated boxes at home and loaded into the car for the trip. Obviously, F & B and clothes also gets packed into the car each trip. Even then, I am close to my upper (uprated) payload limit.
One last point, and I may be misunderstanding you, but are you are sure you are travelling within all your weight limits?
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My point was that all the things I travel with are kept in the van; the only things I have to add when I go away are: food, myself and the clothes I stand in, and my current reading matter. I realise I am perhaps slightly unusual in this regard, but that is how I work and it suits me very well. It makes preparation to go away much easier.
All clothing, and even some non-perishable food stuffs are kept in the van. On return from a trip I take out anything that has to be washed, but, unless I am going away again very soon, this always gets returned to the van within a few days.
None of this makes any difference to the weight when I travel so I am not sure why you asked. Possibly my wording "My van is full of stuff ..." is what made you wonder? But I carry nothing above what I would always carry and my point was only that I don't take anything out.
On the general point of weight, my van's Maximum User Payload is 973 kgs; I travel alone. I am well within this.
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Prior to the mobile engineer arriving we set our van up so the aquaroll is filled up and put in place along with the waste and steps and of course hooked up to the mains the only thing we remove is the awning and last June he still managed to find the unused spare wheel under the bed and inform us it needed changing due to its age
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