Campbell's Caravans service department
We have a 2014 Lunar Cosmos that we bought new from Campbells.
In mid September 2016 we decided to part exchange it for a Coachman Pastiche from Stewart Longtons. However, on arriving to do the changeover our Lunar was found to have damp in the front top corner so we had to bring it home again. Stewart Longtons said they would hold the Pastiche for us until the Lunar was repaired under warranty.
We arranged to take it to Campbells immediately for them to assess the damp and it was explained to us that warranty repairs are an 8 week process as they have to submit the claim to the manufacturer and wait for the manufacturer to approve it and send the parts needed to carry out the repair. So, we brought the caravan home again and waited for the call from Campbells to say that the parts had arrived and the repair could be carried out.
On 8th November 2016 I chased Campbells to ask if we would have to wait much longer and was told that the parts had arrived and a letter had been posted to me that day. I asked what date they wanted me to take it in and was told that FEBRUARY 2017 was the earliest they could fit us in; a whole 5 months after reporting the problem.
When I remonstrated with her she didn't see what the problem was. She said it wasn't an urgent repair and I could still use the van. She finally agreed to allow me to take it to one of their other dealerships who could offer me a date in December for the repair.
Although we didn't buy our previous caravan from Campbells we did have it serviced there and we always had to book in months ahead, even in the "slow"months.
It leads me to the conclusion that Campbells' service department is overstretched and cannot cope with the volume of work. It is a real pity because I was pleased with the service we received when we bought the caravan but I wouldn't buy from them again for no other reason than the service department lets them down.
Comments
-
We arranged to take it to Campbells immediately for them to assess the damp and it was explained to us that warranty repairs are an 8 week process as they have to submit the claim to the manufacturer and wait for the manufacturer
to approve it and send the parts needed to carry out the repair.ive just googled Campbells and the Lunar factory as I thought they were close to each other. It's a 7 minute walk from one to the other.... 8 week process indeed. They should be ashamed.
0 -
I think I would question why Stewart Longtons didn't just take your van in and get it fixed under the Lunar warranty!
0 -
I've commented many times in the past regarding Campbell's and the fact that, having been disgusted by their customer service sales and after sales department, I'd never grace their doors again and haven't done.
I don't think it's anything to do with being 'overstretched' I just think they're totally inefficient.
0 -
I am begining to think that all dealers/service centres are the same. The standard of service by most is disgusting and the warranty of most is more trouble than it is worth. I'm sure if the car industry treated it's customers in the same way something
would be done. It's about time the office of fair trade started taking action. Every year the CC does glamorous surveys and publishes its findings but it seems nothing ever really changes. 8 weeks for warranty work is surely unacceptable especially with
the slack attitude taken by most dealers/manufacturers.1 -
I have just used them for a small warranty repair. Yes, there was a time taken to get the authorisation from Lunar and the part supplied. When I took it in I was told that they did a 7 day turn round, so pick up same day next week. However I tracked the
van and there was movement during the day that I took it in. It was then parked-up for 5 days. They phoned for me to come and collect and when I explained that I was busy and would come in on the day agreed they were a little off hand!0 -
Reported my Lunar floor was reported to our dealer in August, the parts are in but haven't yet received a date for work to be done, it needs 3 days in the workshop. Think the problem, like a lot of dealers, is their facilities and workforce are just too
small for the amount of vans requiring work.0 -
Or could it be that servicing work earns more money than warranty work?
0 -
Reported my Lunar floor was reported to our dealer in August, the parts are in but haven't yet received a date for work to be done, it needs 3 days in the workshop. Think the problem, like a lot of dealers, is their facilities and workforce are just too
small for the amount of vans requiring work.I think the problem comes down to us having lost several dealers in the recession and despite things having picked up they have not been replaced or the remaining ones expanded. This means there is simply not the capacity in many areas for all the work available
and we are stuck with rubbish service. As an example we had three dealers here at one time and we now have only one and they have not expanded at all. They will only take work from their own customers as a result.0 -
One wonders how the hourly rate for warranty work is arrived at. It should, theoretically, be the same as the rate charged for any normal work. If a national hourly rate was established, index-linked if necessary, this would perhaps stop dealers from treating
warranty work as a 'second class citizen'. It is true that it would cost manufacturers more but perhaps that would encourage a better build quality in the first place.0 -
One wonders how the hourly rate for warranty work is arrived at. It should, theoretically, be the same as the rate charged for any normal work. If a national hourly rate was established, index-linked if necessary, this would perhaps stop dealers from treating
warranty work as a 'second class citizen'. It is true that it would cost manufacturers more but perhaps that would encourage a better build quality in the first place.I don’t think it’s the hourly rate that’s the problem as much as the time allocated by the manufacture to the dealer to carry out the work.
The dealer doesn’t just book the hours expended on the work to the manufacturer, there is a set time allowance for the work.
0 -
Don’t get me started on Campbells!
I bought my current caravan from new from them. The before sales service was fine, but as soon as the money was paid everything completely changed and like Jill I have vowed never to grace them with my custom again.
1 -
notwithstanding the warranty issue, even a paid for repair is hampered by the 'bring it in, oh you need a part, thats xxxx days/weeks, bring it back then, oh we are fuil, come a month later' cycle which drive us all nuts, especially when large distances are involved.
for years now, i have been using our local motor garage, started as a one man band, now a slick operation with new premises and MOT bays etc...
i leave my car on the due date, they start the job, if parts are needed they use 'APD parts specialists' also based locally and parts are there in the afternoon if ordered before lunch, if not, the next day.
i collect the car on completion.
even singleton ebay traders can have your order in the post on the day you placed it, and the speed of the larger companies now is quite remarkable...
why is it, the only industry that seems to have 'x weeks' lead time on parts, which then never marries up with workshop availability is our own...?
there is something totally out of sync with the rest of businesses we all deal with daily.
so, what do we do about it.....we all buy the same van next time round
the level of brand loyalty is quite remarkable considering how poorly we customers are treated....
0 -
The recomended dometic engineer who came out to our van to rectify our fridge,under warranty, was telling us that the time the manufacturers give for warranty work does not include removing and reinstalling of the said faulty equipment, but that is whats agreed in the contracts,but it keeps buisiness ticking over
0 -
notwithstanding the warranty issue, even a paid for repair is hampered by the 'bring it in, oh you need a part, thats xxxx days/weeks, bring it back then, oh we are fuil, come a month later' cycle which drive us all nuts, especially when large distances
are involved.for years now, i have been using our local motor garage, started as a one man band, now a slick operation with new premises and MOT bays etc...
i leave my car on the due date, they start the job, if parts are needed they use 'APD parts specialists' also based locally and parts are there in the afternoon if ordered before lunch, if not, the next day.
i collect the car on completion.
even singleton ebay traders can have your order in the post on the day you placed it, and the speed of the larger companies now is quite remarkable...
why is it, the only industry that seems to have 'x weeks' lead time on parts, which then never marries up with workshop availability is our own...?
there is something totally out of sync with the rest of businesses we all deal with daily.
so, what do we do about it.....we all buy the same van next time round
the level of brand loyalty is quite remarkable considering how poorly we customers are treated....
I'm not sure that brand loyalty has much to do with it. I have owned a number of different brands over the years and dealt with several different dealers. All the vans had some small quality issues and the dealers all took an age to obtain parts. What choice
do we have if we want a local dealer but to continue to buy the available brands. I know aomeone will now come on and say we should buy European brands but for me they are not the spec that I want and the nearest dealer is a long way away meaning that there
is a high cost in both time and fuel to take the van there for repair. It is high time the industry as a whole got off there backsides and improved their supply chain in line with every other industry.0 -
Brand loyalty has not featured in our purchases as we have had six caravans and
six different makes. With the Avondale it could not be replaced with another but the others could. Basically we just buy one with the layout that suits us at the time and the one with that layout that we like best within
our budget and weight limit.0 -
Why should they change. People keep going back to the same crap Dealers because they are round the corner and handy to fix all the faults / problems. All makes seem to have problems to some degree, it's just the nature of hand built units with limited production runs.
Long lead time for parts is because nobody carries any stock and the factories work on the 'Just in Time' principal with parts arriving as they are needed. This saves storage and less chance of things getting damaged or going missing and they dont have to pay for products they are going to have to pay to store, but then the part you need has to be added into the system and of course production comes first. After all they have had your money so whats the rush
0 -
We too, go to the dealer 'round the corner' for convenience However, to date, in 12 years, we have no complaints with work they've done for us. Granted, they expect the van in for a week for a service but that doesn't bother us. Occasionally they have rung
up to say ready earlier but arent fazed if we don't collect immediately. (Lowdhams by the way,) we've had a relatively good experience but know of others using the same dealer haven't. Perhaps it's the luck of the draw0 -
Why should they change. People keep going back to the same crap Dealers because they are round the corner and handy to fix all the faults / problems. All makes seem to have problems to some degree, it's just the nature of hand built units with limited production
runs.Long lead time for parts is because nobody carries any stock and the factories work on the 'Just in Time' principal with parts arriving as they are needed. This saves storage and less chance of things getting damaged or going missing and they dont have to
pay for products they are going to have to pay to store, but then the part you need has to be added into the system and of course production comes first. After all they have had your money so whats the rushJust in time systems for parts should actually reduce the lead time as they rely on flexible production by manufacturer and supplier.
0 -
Surely a just in time system relies upon a manufacturer giving a supplier an accurate forecast of demand many weeks months in advance. This is simple if for instance a caravan manufacturer knows stating in 3 months time it is going to produce a 100 units
of a specific type per week for 26 weeks then it can organise to have 100 doors delivered per week for those 26 weeks or 20 per day or what ever.However as an individual victim sorry I mean customer of the caravan industry need a new door that becomes an unpredictable demand and doesnt fit with a JIT system. This is of course not helped by the fact that the dealers / repairers don't seem to have
any sense of urgency And as long as they all stick together then you really have no choice but to wait.Btw the way I can only speak for my experience with Hymer and. Lowdhams the longest I have ever waited for a specific part is about 3 Weeks delivered from Germany.
0 -
If caravan Manufacturers produced quality products built to a proper standard, there would no need for their poor customers to have all this warranty work done by the dealers. This is where organisations like the CC and the C&CC could take the lead and take the manufacturers to task about the poor build quality so that their members would benefit from better products.
Cheers ........K
0 -
Been a couple of complimentary posts here about Lowdams. Our experience has been quite different and was the reason we didn't buy another Hymer, we are hugely impressed with the vans but wont be buying until there is another distributer
For the avoidance of doubt my praise of Lowdhams is limited to the Nottingham branch parts department I have never bought a van off them or used them for routine servicing.
0 -
It sounds as though there is more of a problem with suppliers of parts, maybe production runs are very limited on certain parts, there are so many different components in vans. Some must be easier to produce quickly than others.
Edit sorry I've now re-read the original post, the parts had arrived so the capacity to do the repairs can't be met. Very frustrating!
0 -
It sounds as though there is more of a problem with suppliers of parts, maybe production runs are very limited on certain parts, there are so many different components in vans. Some must be easier to produce quickly than others.
Edit sorry I've now re-read the original post, the parts had arrived so the capacity to do the repairs can't be met. Very frustrating!
youre right, Brue.....fitting in a 'quick fix' (or not) into a dealers timetable can be a nightmare.
however, with all work/time related services, it only needs a bit of clever mgt to understand that, while you might not be able to please all the customers all the time, you can at least make the effort.
Witness the 5 or 10 items or less tills at supermarkets...
its obviously poor service to have those with just a loaf of bread queing behind half a dozen full trollies.....
if a large job has resulted in a customer completion date (say) a week ahead, fitting in a couple of one hour 'fixes' wont impact that customer but will do wonders for the couple that got 'fitted in'.
a bit of savvy mgt/scheduling can go a long long way to making someones day
0 -
It's also amazing the number of supermarket customers who are not numerate.
0 -
I think I would question why Stewart Longtons didn't just take your van in and get it fixed under the Lunar warranty!
Write your comments here...Because as my daughter found out the hard way, the warranty is not all it seems. Longdons know this and would not want to pay out for a van they could not turn around ASAP. They know warranty claims can take months to resolve.
Swift took from april to august to supply parts under warranty, as a jesture of goodwill, but refused to pay for the labour as the van was late for a service. The fact that the problem was known to them and they did not send out a warning letter or recall
for faulty parts.Non of our family will purchase another Swift, thats 3 customers they have lost.
0 -
I think I would question why Stewart Longtons didn't just take your van in and get it fixed under the Lunar warranty!
Write your comments here...Because as my daughter found out the hard way, the warranty is not all it seems. Longdons know this and would not want to pay out for a van they could not turn around ASAP. They know warranty claims can take months to resolve.
Swift took from april to august to supply parts under warranty, as a jesture of goodwill, but refused to pay for the labour as the van was late for a service. The fact that the problem was known to them and they did not send out a warning letter or recall
for faulty parts.Non of our family will purchase another Swift, thats 3 customers they have lost.
If the caravan was faulty then you still have a claim against the dealer under the Sale of Goods Act or Consumer Protection regulations depending on the date of purchase. The late service was irrelevant and the dealer and Swift know it but seem to have fooled
your daughter. Might still be worth pointing out the provisions of the relevant act and threatening a small claims summons though.0 -
If caravan Manufacturers produced quality products built to a proper standard, there would no need for their poor customers to have all this warranty work done by the dealers. This is where organisations like the CC and the C&CC could take the lead and
take the manufacturers to task about the poor build quality so that their members would benefit from better products.Cheers ........K
Pigs will fly before that.
0 -
If caravan Manufacturers produced quality products built to a proper standard, there would no need for their poor customers to have all this warranty work done by the dealers. This is where organisations like the CC and the C&CC could take the lead and
take the manufacturers to task about the poor build quality so that their members would benefit from better products.Cheers ........K
Pigs will fly before that.
Many a true word spoken in jest
0
