Buying our first caravan and for the bit of extra cash thought we might as well go mad and get a new one. In January, we were at a dealer who offered a good deal on the van we wanted, February build for March delivery. Great, put down deposit , dealer said he would let me know the CRIS number when it was allocated.. February came and went, into March and no news, so called the dealer. Told me they would call me back. They didn't, so called again. Still no call back. Wife sent e-mail, I called them later that day. Told me "oh yes, we received an e-mail from you , can we call you back ? " This time they did and said Lunar had moved the build date back a few weeks, not a big problem and arranged a provisional pick up date for 24 th. March. Called them again today, to get the CRIS number. I heard them rummage around a bit and then gave me the number.
The thing that has really got to us is that the dealer has made no effort to keep me up to date with the schedule or even just send an e-mail to let me know they haven't forgotten about us. Now, what worries me is, if they are like this now, before they have got our money, what are they going to be like when it's time for a service or if I have a problem ? Is this the normal attitude in the caravan dealership world, Getting very concerned !
there not all that bad our local dealer kept us informed all the way through and come delivery day i had to go away in the lorry and he delivered it to our house and went over evrything with the wife and that was lunar the best van ive had yet and because he went over and above what he had to means i will buy my next one from him
------------- laugh and the world laughs with you fart and you stand alone
At least they have given you the CRIS number if it's a swift caravan you can check on progress with the factory direct. We did this with our last van when our dealer told us production was well behind schedule ( new model& layout) & would be 6 weeks late .We had already been waiting over 5 months.
It turns out the dealer lied to us , i suspect someone wanted the same van as us but didn't want to wait for it . We rang the factory and was told the van was in the final inspection area & due for delivery on time . When we confronted the Chorley based dealer they were very embarrassed & stated we had no right to contact the factory ?! Needless to say the van all of a sudden turned up on time . Some dealers will try & pull stunts , the same dealer tried knocking 600 quid off our agreed part exchange ! It's worth paying a bit extra for the van if it's a dealership with a good reputation & back up but this one wasn't !
I think as business has become more cost and target driven it hasn't improved customer care, though it has improved price!
However, I think they have always been pretty idiosyncratic and it depends a lot on the dealership and indeed the individuals within it you happen to deal with. On our last two purchases we had honest sales reps, decent despatch people and perfectly reasonable after sales service.
Variable is the word to best describe the handover briefing, with a new van fine, with an old one clueless.
What has been uniformly poor is the prepping of the van. Cleaned it? Barely! Throughly checked it for bits in cupboards, faults on blinds, odd bits missing, really the whole QA thing, in a word shoddy. What the inflated delivery charge goes on is hard to fathom and I can't say we've ever met a dealership that had this cracked. I suspect they pay those staff too little.
But as somebody said in an earlier thread it's a bit like the news, good news doesn't sell and if you read Message Boards you would think it not worth buying a new van when in fact the vast majority of transactions go well.
We found Yorkshire Coast Caravans excellent to deal with
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
We have found Highbridge Caravans very good to deal with. We have an allocated contact point and he keeps us updated with progress. (Our new van is due to be built at the end of March)
It pays to make your presence known, but we don't have to chase hard to be kept informed....and easy folk to deal with.
I can only speak from my experience with our local dealer,they were very helpfull through the buying process but when we had any problems,like the awning they supplied being too big,the fridge did not work,battery box was hard to open and only locked one side,all the tyres were under inflated,then thier attitude changed and the funny thing is,we paid a pre-delivery charge aswell that should have picked out the faults.
ROB you say you tracked the progress of a Swift caravan with the factory direct - did you do this on line or did you have to contact them via telephone?
We have a very good dealer in our area, never lets us down on anything and cannot do enough if any problems occur or we need some new accessories. M&M Leisure, Mildenhall, Suffolk.
No problems with our local dealer , in fact
I am on first name terms with all the staff including the owner and went to school with the workshop manager . All ways keep you up to speed when you order a new van and once you have collected you always get a follow up call to see if everything is OK .
In fact there probably one of the best Bailey / Lunar dealerships in Scotland .
Neil at Camping Turiscampo ,Espiche ,on the Algarve
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Are all dealers the same as mine?
