Delivery Failure of Caravan Manufacturers
Last year my wife and I decided to sell our Motorhome and purchase our first Caravan. We attended the NEC in Oct 2016 with this in mind. Having had a good look round we decided on a Swift Major 4SB as the style of van we liked. We located a special edition option from Wandahome South Cave ltd called an Ace Diplomat and made the purchase. We were told the delivery date would be Feb 2017 which was fine as we were in no rush and winter was coming.
Having now waited 4 months to take delivery of our new van and having had the delivery date confirmed in December 2016. We were shocked to hear from Wandahome in Jan 2017 that Swift had cancelled the build and moved it to March 2017 without so much as a by your leave!! I wasn't sure about the truth of this as having placed the order with Wandahome South Cave I had read that they often over subscribe on orders and cannot necessarily deliver. So I decided to write to Swift themselves to find the truth. They wrote back and confirmed that they had cancelled the scheduled build date and they had reallocated it to March 2017. They confirmed that they would deliver the new van at this time.
There was no apology or explanation from Swift. In fact the tone of the letter suggested they don't really care about my custom. I was sorely tempted to tell Swift what they could do with their new caravan. However, as my wife pointed out if we went to a different manufacturer we would have to start the whole process again. I find it incredible that Swift are so nonchalant about this and that Wandahome who know it happens failed to warn us of the possibility. £19000 may be small potatoes to them but its a lot of money to me.
Not impressed!!
M Wright
Comments
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Hi Martin
Sorry to hear of your plight and if it were me, I would agree with you totally and tell Swift what they can do with their order and get your money/deposit back.
There are plenty of other manufacturers/dealers out there who would be delighted to relieve you of your hard earned money and as a buyer, you are in control. Until customers in the UK stop buying from manufacturers like Swift, they will dictate purchases on their terms (and by the way, they're not very good at after-sales, imho) trying to 'create' a false economy of supply and demand.
Just the threat of cancellation may do the trick, but if not, enjoy your next couple of weekends looking at other makes!
Good luck
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Have you put this on the swift talk site . They seem to respond to post on there quickly .
also if I wasn't happy I would cancel and look at other van swift prices are the same as others some times more.m
we changed to a swift last year and I am very happy . But we were at the NEC this week and in my opinion the coachman ( quality van i think) was the same weight an size and price . This was my conqueror against the pastiche VIP .
also the design and look of the Bailey unicorn is gorgeous although I would not buy one . But they both meet the price length and weight all the same in some cases slightly cheaper than swift .
Just cancel if you are not happy .
it is so frustrating . Good luck I hope it goes well for you .
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I would hang on in there, it's not long to go. We ordered a Swift caravan a few years ago that was delayed on production. We were pretty annoyed at the time but when we got the van we were pleased we waited, just make sure you check it over really well. Hopefully happy holidays ahead!
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jonray57 Thanks for your comments. The wife has the final say as this is her retirement money we are spending. We looked hard for our first caravan having made a previous mistake with the purchase of our first Motorhome in 2015. Although there are many caravan companies and they all seem to do similar vans this was the only one she liked. We spent months looking and as soon as she walked into it at the show it was that wow moment.
I agree that Swift have a poor reputation when it comes to dealing with their customers. They are all about sales and selling. Not about talking to the people they sell to. If it was up to me we would have cancelled but the threat of that didn't bother them. Last year their sales figures increased by 48% on the year before. It tells you something when you see figures like that. My belief is the terrorism in places like Tunisia and Egypt have led many folks to look for holidays at home.
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Sorry to hear of your issues.
Do make sure, in your future moment of great relief, when it is finally sat on the dealers forecourt (PDI'd hopefully & all checked ready for collection), that you remove those rose tinted glasses and check and double check for obvious issues, bits missing or problems. Dealers & manufacturers tend to want to get round to sorting issues much much quicker if you simply refuse to take your delivery on the day till they sort it out.
Enjoy 2017 !
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Hi I think it is not just the manufacturers you need to worry about some dealers are not that brilliant either
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Sad to say things have not changed , our October order with an expected delivery date of Feb we find is now expected in July.
There has been NO communication from the dealer the order was placed with since the day of the order being taken . The only communication was following me requesting an update after the expected delivery month had passed.
It would appear that good customer service is now but a distant dream within the caravan industry. Well guess what, following poor customer service follows loss of customer loyality. - Its not hard to pick up the phone.
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Don't forget that this has not been a normal year and many businesses have been shut.
Seeing the dealer has missed the expected supply date, you can probably cancel without penalty. Check your contract of sale.
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