Open letter to the caravan industry
This is a open letter to the industry,
it may come as bit of a shock to you manufacturers and dealers, but without us, the”CUSTOMER”
you don’t have a job.
Alll we need is for you to build what you promise, check your pretty books sometime, it doesn’t mention that it will get damp, so I don’t want it to get damp.
And then onto your specialist dealers, who checks these? .????, surely not you, because 70 % of all the dealers don’t give a monkeys about us, the customer, once we have driven off site.
Now come on treat us with respect, ask us what we want then deliver what you promise us.
and most important remember, all of you who design, make and sale us a caravan, are also just “CUSTOMERS” of someone else.
Please give us “your valued customer” the same service as you would expect
Comments
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Agree and I am going to post on all their fb pages, but us the customer all need to club together and do this.
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i, too, agree with your sentiments...there are far too many dreadful tales of bad build and service for this to be just a small problem.
apart from the obvious, poor build (lack of care/attention and poor or non existent PDIs) its the poor overall design that grates.
cheap, flimsy solutions, with 'bound to break' poor materials....but worse, is the fact that most van designs cannot have been used in anger at prototyping...
cupboards that cant open due to another drawer in the way, lights that dont actually illuminate where the customer needs them, non swivelling washroom taps than prevent you washing your face, kitchens without drawers that cause you to be rummaging at the back of a dark cupboard for something, cheap narrow bore waste pipes that (invariably) run upwards so cant drain, drain taps that repeatedly fall of the end of said waste pipe, seat bases that dont stay up when used for storage (bruised heads and fingers), gas lockers that cant accommodate decent sized bottles (or if they do, they can be sited there as the door is too small), external locker doors way too small, built from cheap material with cheap locks, are not flush fit and dont have decent double sealing and compression lock (result....the inevitible)..., lack of mudflaps spraying road wet/dirt onto exposed softwood floors...
and so it goes on...
obviously, some companies do a better job than others but what ive described above are pretty much everyday design/build issues in a modern van.... most of which could (and should) be eliminated
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Sorry but I don't think they are in the slightest interested in the end customer, there is, after all, a queue of users only too keen to buy new vans at the moment.
What they will react to is that we don't get too emotionally attached to our vans and forgive the often awful quality dished out but we get proactive and enthusiastically embrace the powers we have in the 2015 Consumers Rights Act.
No, it does not hit them directly but our retailer, however, the message will very quickly get back to the builders and bring the justified hurt building too many substandard products deserve.
If you purchased post October 2015 then use the tools you have to get what you paid for, it will help us all.
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There’s the rub. . . .Supply & demand, there is more demand than supply. Once the demand becomes less than supply you will have them listening. The answer is in the hands of customers. Good luck with that👍🏻
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Nothing is going to change until every purchaser. Who is fobbed of by the dealer with “ will we try and put in a warranty claim for you sir”. Is answered with I don’t care what you I bought this caravan off you it is your legal duty to sort it out do it now with out delay. Will there be any change. Until Dealers and Manufacturers realise it is going to more them more to produce sub standard caravans than well built quality controlled ones will anything happen.
As a PDI is generally charged for may be people should ask for money back when it hasn’t been performed adequately it’s taking money under false pretences. And above all a Warranty, is in addition to, not a replacement for your statutory rights.
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This has been going on for years and gradually gets worse.
As long as we keep buying them, nothing will change. Reject shoddy vans, walk away from deals, take sellers to court - all that will help but until it happens in vast numbers we won’t see any changes for the better.
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Glad our c/van does not have the problems on your list,and our dealer does do PDIs and advises on Handover,how there check list compares with the fictional tick check sheet that comes with the van
Although it has taken quite a few c/vans and dealers to get where we are
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It's not luck, its knowing now, what past experiences we have learnt from, and one of the most important is a local dealer who may not give at times the best prices ,but are priceless when you can just pop in when they are just a couple of miles away,,or they will come to us if any niggles crop up, but so far with latest c/van not needed,apart from one recall that was sorted hen in for last service
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Sure. I bought an Eriba ten years ago from the then dealer at Lechlade Glos.
The dealer knew his stuff and the caravan has only had two problems in ten years - a micro switch on a tap died and a light bulb needed changing. But the caravan is leak free and built like a tank around a steel cage frame. It has no frills -and I think it's all the frills and gadgetry on big modern mobile bungalows which cause a lot of the problems which people experience. The Eriba will see me out and will still sell then.
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No problem its our second Bailey and our dealer is three miles away at Hatfield,they are also Coachman dealers as they say they are the two makes with the least problem "friday"vans
They at one time dabbled with the "dark side"but not for long
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It really wasn’t a trick question if you have had good service then it should be highlighted.
The true scandal is not the manufacturers or the dealers, but the supine position of this club not having the guts to name the brands which are most likely to give problem despite having the data.
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what data are you referring to?
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It seems that practical caravan magazine can publish a satisfaction survey without litigation. Why can’t the Caravan club limited t/a Caravan and Motorhome club?
The threat of litigation is a straw man. I refer once again to the case of Arkell vs Pressdram as a useful precedent.
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OK thanks
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Hi everyone
thanks for your reply’s
I do understand your comments about the dealers, however remember if you buy a new car EVERYdealer of that car can sort a warranty claim, we don’t have to travel 200 miles to go to the dealer we can get it done locally.
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That legal obligation has not been put on other manufacturers, just cars, though some have voluntarily offered it. Shame, but that is the case and one best realised before purchasing away from home.
Hope you get sorted and now as said with the Consumer Rights Act 2015 we have now very much more power to sort things that ever before for those willing to use it.
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it’s a caravan not a car. If I buy a Panasonic TV from John Lewis I don’t expect to be able to take it to Currys to get it repaired.
Let me be brutal about this. You have a choice, you can campaign to have a caravan have the same rules as a car applied. A campaign you will have in my opinion 0% chance of getting anywhere. Or you can get good advice, even this club has a legal advice line, and get your caravan sorted out, within the existing law. You won’t have the time our energy to do both.
They will ignore your letter. 2 reasons. Firstly they don’t care. Secondly they have read that letter a 1000 times before and know eventually you will give up. It is much better imho, to speak softly and carry a big stick.
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i bought my second hand lunar delta RI from a dealer in north Yorkshire 6 months ago and just had it serviced at Campbell's in Preston. during the service they found damp in the floor in various places and have put in a warranty claim with Lunar, and I was never asked about the history or where the van was bought from so its the dealers that make the choice weather they want your business or not and just like car dealers once you take ownership of your purchase their attitude is completely different aftersales. sorry we have your money, so what.
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Being new to caravaning 5 years ago, we purchased a Swift Challenger Sport in what we thought would be the best layout for our needs. The layout has indeed given us what we wanted and still does moving forward.
However the experience has not been without numerous problems that have now been sorted out, but needed a lot of effort and phone calls to the dealer and Swift, both blaming each other for the delays and difficulty in fixing problems which were in the main water ingress plus cracked panels.
We would now like to change the van to give a few more luxuries such as a better heating system rather than the blown air we presently have.
However the problems we experienced seem quite tame in comparison to the number of tales fellow caravaners have told us about during chats on site. These have discouraged us from purchasing a new van and sticking with what we hope is a van that has its problems ironed out, but I am not filled with confidence on that score.
There was I believe a post on this forum a few years ago in a similar thread regarding the quality of vans, from someone who lived near the entrance to the Swift factory, and the gist was that there was a fairly steady stream of vans being returned to the factory presumably for some form of repair.
The problems are inherent in the design of the structure of the vans and materials used and while strides have been taken to use material that is less absorbent, the designs do not allow for robust build quality.
I suspect I am not the only one who is reluctant to purchase another new van until the manufacturers improve their products.
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" 70 % of all the dealers don’t give a monkeys about us, the customer, once we have driven off site."
Where did that data come from? Interesting to know who collated this data, how they did it and ultimately how accurate it could be. If true it may be better shouting and praising the 30% who do actually care. That may have more impact on those shamed by their 'absence'.
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Anyone who seriously believes that the manufacturers or the dealers are the slightest bit interested in the customer is obviously living on a different planet. I have been caravanning for some 35 years and have owned thirteen vans all but two have been new. I used to have a really good, really helpful dealer in the the 70's but he was sensible and sold out. The nearest dealer to me is typical. Only interested in the 'P' word.- PROFIT.
When I bought my last van they tried their usual stunt - we may have found damp! £1k less on trade in value. Actually not so and still under warranty anyway. They tried to tell me about how things worked- I knew more about things than he did. I asked for several items to be put on the van like 'feet' and a new gas hose. I asked for them I said I would pay for the fitting of them, but they could not be bothered.
Needless to say they asked me to do a survey on 'customer care' and most upset when I simply spoke the truth.
What a difference from the way I was treated when I bought my Honda CR-V towcar. They have been fantastic.
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Similar to yourself DJ, 'vanning 35 yrs, 2 pre owned, 5 new UK 'vans, then fell into a very good dealer in yr 2000 selling imported German caravans, so good a product and dealer our next 7 'vans would be from him, it was at this time he allowed me to know that the UK manufacturers expect for a sum dealers to PDI new caravans and put right any niggly problems, this does not on many occasions happen. The PDI is done by the end user, as I have found with my recent purchase ( the first time in 35 yrs ) of over 30,000 pounds worth of Hymer from a dealer 200 miles away, five problems found on the first weekend. Luckily Hymer allow us to take to any NCC registered repair shop and I will not be traveling 200 miles.
NB : For people to accept " Oh bring it back Mr Joe Soap and we'll put it right for you, when we can get it in " ! is just not good enough.
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I've just read the above and previous comments,my caravan leaked last year away with Grand kids phoned the dealer took it back job done under warranty,3years into 6year warranty.spent this year worrying if it leaked again.October this year bought caravan.coming up to retirement.took mine back another leak found and on handover. Dealer briliant.newVansNow Are Not Fit For Purpose. Its Not Fair Or Right That People Who Work Hard should have the hassle and worry.checking for leaks on their vans after every downpour.
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Not all dealers are rubbish. We have purchased our last three caravans from the same dealer and evidence would suggest that their pre-delivery inspection is thorough. Furthermore, last autum, they discovered during servicing that the axle of our Bailey Unicorn series three was broken and arranged for it to be repaired free of charge by Bailey without any prompting from us, in fact it went straight to Bailey's factory from the dealers. While it was away, I told the manager that I did not want to keep our caravan because the pathetic payload was evidently inadequate for our needs. He then found us an `as new' one year old Coachman VIP, had it replated and gave us an excellent deal to exchange.
I have to say that I question the wisdom of those who are prepared to take a chance of an untested dealer 200 + miles away just because they offer a saving of a few hundred pounds. Better to build a relationship with a local dealer, all other things being equal.
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