what would you expect to be in a decent handover to a newbie caravan owner from a reputable dealer ??
Just in the process of composing a letter of complaint to the head office of a dealer who had not only forgotten that I was picking a van up, but then left me to it essentially ie next to no hand over not even how to hitch safely , ( to the point of moving van and leaving with no steadies down so when I showed my wife our new serviced and cleaned !!! van I caused it to tip on the axle and drop onto its end , not a great start )
------------- 2022
North and West wales grand tour (in T5)
Matlock (in T5)
New forest and IOW (in T5)
New Forest
La tranche sur mer
jevea (Valencia)
2023
Cotswolds
Tenby
(added a Compass Rallye to crew)
Royan
La tranche Sur Mer
2024
royan
La tranche
I've only picked two vans up from dealers to date.
In both cases they demonstrated how to use all on board appliances. How to safely couple up to an electricity supply and safely disconnect. How to install, use and remove a gas bottle.
They demonstrated coupling the caravan to the car manually and (because we'd had a mover fitted) also using the mover, including correct use of the mover.
Always had everything I wanted demonstrated. Didn't need everything because we had a van before each time. It takes an hour at least and they book the time in for our collection so they can demonstrate properly. We were not rushed in any way.
They fitted number plate, swapped tow ball over on car, fitted a new battery, sorted out the dodgy tow bar wiring on the car. Everything was sorted proeperly.
Having said that, this is a very busy time of year for collections and they may have been let down by staff sickness or such like.
We picked our 1st caravan up in November, the hand over took over two hours.
On arrival the caravan was set up, and we were taken to check that everything was working i.e radio, fridge, lights cooker, water etc.
The sales guy then shut everything down and went through setup with us, he then shut it down again, and left us to set up and play with everything for about 20 minutes.
On his return we told him the things we were not sure of, and he went through them again.
when we were happy he then explained the motor mover, and stood with hubby as he moved it out ready for hitch up.
Hubby then went and got the car, and the guy then showed me how to guide him in for hitching. Then we were shown hoe to hitch up, check lights, how to set up towing mirrors etc.
then it was on our way, they still help if we have questions, and have phoned them whilst on site on our 1st outing and the talked us through our problem (our fault).
Bought the in Jan left the van with them for repair and PDI at their timetable , and give them space since they were at the NEC they phoned and asked us could we do the hand over b4 the 22nd went to the see them on the Monday before and they suggested the Thursday, at 13:30
I turned up the van is fixed but not cleaned ( and not on their handover board ) so I offered to come back at 16:00 give them time to get it clean., salesman gave me 15-20 handover then I expected rest when I got back at 16:00
Turned up at allotted time van semi clean, but all window seals still moldy all windows green under seals , cupboard still dirty .
Expected rest of hand over sales guy disappears for about 30 mins when the rest of staff start looking at watches as they wanting close up , so I have no choice but get them to show me the hook up ( didn't know how the BPW hitch worked ) and tow to storage in rush hour , when I've only ever towed a trailer tent in past
SUCH FUN !
so time of year , or rushing them is no excuse
------------- 2022
North and West wales grand tour (in T5)
Matlock (in T5)
New forest and IOW (in T5)
New Forest
La tranche sur mer
jevea (Valencia)
2023
Cotswolds
Tenby
(added a Compass Rallye to crew)
Royan
La tranche Sur Mer
2024
royan
La tranche
The difficult customers are the ones who get the attention because they are the ones making the noise. Anybody who is too 'nice' goes to the back of the customer service queue. If I had bought a caravan in Jan. I would have expected it to be delivered in Jan.
I assume the way one buys a caravan from a large main dealer is the same as one buys a car, that is £200 deposit by credit card at point of sale to show 'good faith' & the balance by debit card at handover yes? So if caravan is not ready then dealer does not get his money.
The important thing is to put some urgency into it. All dates & requirement to be written on sales invoice then you know. If you say to dealer, "ok, when you like" then it will be when he likes, not when you like.
Good luck to the op, but the time to be firm & uncompromising is before paying, not afterwards. If he gets a 50quid voucher out of it to spend in the accessory shop I suppose that might be a result?
yep should have been the squeekey wheel, and I agree with Billys comments don't pay till van ready , I just belived it was. On the Monday it was out of the workshop and 'just needed the valet'
(The leaving it there till nearly easter was my choice as well as convienet for dealer, as I was being a cheapskate and then didn't then have to pay storage until I needed it, normally am much more buy delivery ASAP after quality and checking and everything in writing)
I am writing to the Head office for this dealer as they make a very big thing over their handover procedures , not really interested in anything as compensation as I have the van I wanted at a price I'm happy with, just I belive some people may have been unsafe given the handover I was,
I could have driven off mirror blind, and gas running into the M4 at rushhour , straight to a site plugging in and everything being on at the same time ( fridge/ water and heating left on, all started up on master)
and I still don't know how the alarm works ( there will be questions somewhere else on the forum as soon as it goes off on a site LOL)
------------- 2022
North and West wales grand tour (in T5)
Matlock (in T5)
New forest and IOW (in T5)
New Forest
La tranche sur mer
jevea (Valencia)
2023
Cotswolds
Tenby
(added a Compass Rallye to crew)
Royan
La tranche Sur Mer
2024
royan
La tranche
The problem is I suppose, that caravan dealers have a moral duty to ensure a customer leaves their premises reasonably safely but no legal one really beyond delivering a road legal caravan with interior appliances that are safe.
It sounds like the usual story of too many customers to too few staff
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Topic: handover
