Reducing Service and Repair Times.
Afternoon All.
I'm currently part way through a 8 month wait for a repair, looking through the posts my sad situation is far from uncommon. I've not named names here but if your want to ask.....
Now this sort of service is clearly unacceptable and I'd like to make a suggestion that should over a few years improve the situation for all members.
Publish a league table of wait times, let members submit them so real numbers are used.
This should gently encourage dealers and manufactures to improve standards and importantly not cost a lot to implement.
It's true the industry would not like being held to account but this after all is supposed to be a members club and we should look out for our interests.
Regards aamcle
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It's a good idea but you forget one thing, aamcle, - advertising revenue to the club.
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I have no axe to grind luckily but it can't see that it would hurt.
You would like that independent clubs such as CAMC & C&CC whose members own various makes of such vehicles of all ages could lobby on behalf of their members. It was also be interesting to read reports of such in the magazine. What we actually get are glowing reports and reviews of new 'vans that may have been road tested for a week or two. I'd like to see follow ups to these reviews after months or years of use. That won't happen as i presume they are loaned the 'vans for the piece to be written so no proper wear and tear. Then there is the damp issue............
We have an older motorhome which serves us well, sometimes we wonder about changing it but frankly if we're to lay out loads of money I don't want to buy heartbreak!
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Whilst I agree that it appears that it needs something to give many manufacturers, dealers and repairers a good kick up the backside I'm not sure just how practical a league table would be. Repair jobs come in all different sizes and Company A might do a smallish job very quickly but a bit bigger job takes them months to complete. How would they be scored in that sort of situation? Opinions can also be a bit skewed sometimes so everything would have to be fact based. There is also the likelihood that a repairer has to wait quite a time for parts from the manufacturer but then say that they cannot actually fit the part for X weeks after they get it. Who then is to blame for the total delay?
Unfortunately it isn't as easy as we might like to think it is. What really wants doing is the manufacturers getting their act together and produce fault free caravans in the first place. Workshops would then only be filled with caravans for servicing or those with accidental damage.
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I have been on a couple of sites where "live in tests"were carried out on c/vans and motor caravans,the caravans arrived the previose day on low loaders,and were put on some coned off pitches
,the following day the persons from the publication who were doing the reviews arrived,,looked to be "busy" doing the reviews for a few hours?
then left,the low loader arrived the following day to take the c/vans away 
a m/caravan on test did arr and stay for a night,before being returned to where it came from
I also know that when,some caravans and motor caravans that are on long term, "testing" are used by all staff in the publication for their own "holidays" and with as noted by site staff with cc & ccc "free passes"
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My stress levels would be off the scale aamcle, and I feel for your predicament. No idea what the repair is, or where you bought the van from or where you are having it repaired. But as a start, don't pussyfoot around, name and shame on here, other forums etc... giving make and model, dealer details, be honest and let other folks know just how bad some makes and dealers really are.
Neither of the Clubs will be that interested in helping, they are hand in glove with manufacturers and dealers, this Club even has an AS Site based on dealer owned premises!
You need to be honest though, design fault or damage, is it something preventing you using van, or just awaiting a repair slot?
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I am afraid customer service is not a priority in the industry and long waits for parts and work are the norm. I agree a survey with the results published would be a good idea, but bearing in mind all the firms seem as bad as each other it might not help you choose.
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Good idea.
However, I think if you consider that the Caravan Club, commissioned a Leisure Vechicle, satifaction survey with much fanfare. Then told everyone how 40000 people responded, they then delayed and delayed the publication of the results for months. And finally published in such away to make it meaningless for any member to draw any meaningful conclusions.
So I believe that chances of any sort of critical report, into those who take our money of us is about the same as me becoming the next Pope.
I think that if you are going out today to buy a Leisure vechicle today, the chances are, what you buy will be OKish, but it's like playing Russian roulette, spin the chamber enough times you are going to get the bullet, or in our cases the Leisure Vechicle lemon.
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To say that there is a long wait for repairs in the caravan industry does raise the question of to what it is being compared. As the OP pointed out, it is fairly consistent throughout the industry.
Perhaps the comparison is with the motor vehicle repair industry? However, that is a far bigger market with many players and all of them busy. Caravan repair is a much smaller market and requires quite different skills.
Motor vehicles are made in the tens of thousands and replacement parts are sitting on shelves throughout the world. Caravan parts where panels are concerned are made to order by the original supplier (which may be different from the builder of the caravan). They will have production of new panels planned well in advance, perhaps over a year at a time, with delivery deadlines to meet. In the time it takes to rejig to make a single replacement panel they could be producing, probably, ten new panels. So getting a factory to make a panel for a repair is not easy.
There will probably be a few extras made in each production run (for various reasons) but being big, bulky and fragile they are very costly to store - and with no guaranteed sale at the end. Once the extras have been used it is wait for a production slot.
To give a reasonable comparison one should perhaps consider the timescale for the repair of a small volume hand built motor car for which parts are no longer available - say a 1935 Bentley - to assess how well the caravan repair industry performs.
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I can only give my own experience with the repair to our floor. The dealer told us that they would call when they received all the parts. This they duly did in mid January. Took the van in and workshop manager told me they had booked 3 days workshop time and we should get the van back in 2 weeks. I ask them to service the van whilst they had it, so in theory 15 days. We didn't get the van back until the end of March with no explanation. I think a lot of the problem is lack of workshop space and qualified staff.
I found out recently when dealers say they are waiting for parts very often you can go to the manufacturer and buy the parts off the shelf.
i don't believe the club would be to keen on us publishing too much critism of the manufacturers, they would likely shut down the thread. A better option would be to go on the company's Facebook page and enter comments.
for the OP why don't you go on the Money Saving Expert website and try using the 'Resolver' tool. I used this for something different during the week and within 12 hours problem solve
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