Anyone been in contact with Swift Customer Care (or lack of i...

[Mark_374232857]

Our caravan is currently at the Swift factory in Hull having repair work due to (60-80%) damp in the bathroom or now that Swift have it back (10-20% damp). This after having its first service last October. The dealer we bought from in hte North west were not vey helpful and we sent them a letter in january with seven days to reply (still not heard anything). Swift would not replace the caravan and are doing the bare minimum to help us, they agreed to pay storage costs as caravan would be in for between 4-6 weeks, we informed them that we have to book a minium of a month storage and that we have to give them 2 weeks notice of cancellation. We asked if they wanted us to put it in writing and they said don't worry we have agreed to pay for it. They contacted us on friday to say caravan would be delivered back to the dealer this week and that they would now only pay for the storage costs whilst the caravan was at the factory and they will not pay the notice period because thety fixed the caravan quicker thany the quoted us. We have tried on numerouse occasions to speak to a Manager and they won't put us through saying she is busy or not available. Every time we ring they are nice to us until we give our name and then their attitude changes to us. All we want is a caravan fit for the purpose, you would think that we done something against them not spent £14,000 of our hard earned money. Love to hear from anyone else experiencing any problems but hope there are not too many of you.

 

[ThePlotter]

I can only speak as I find in that I had an Abbey (same group)which needed new roof as wooden cross-member has knot which had given way causing dip in roof I found both dealer and Swift very good and van completed early(including a couple of bits I asked them to do extra)I can only repeat previous advice if bought on finance arranged by the dealer(critical)then the finance company is jointly and severaly liable for the problem under the Consumer Crecit Act 1973 equally if you paid at least

 

[RichardS1]

We have owned a couple of Swift group vans over the years both of which we had problems with but fortunatly nothing as serious as Mark and Plotter. The dealer we use has always been first class at sorting out any issues, which is why we go back without shopping around when it comes to change the van.

 

[colin(bridgend)]

Mark under the Sale of Goods Act you have no contract with Swift, your contract is with the dealer, he in turn has a contract with Swift. You should be making the claim for compensation to the dealer and also any change of van would have to be agreed between yourself and the dealer. The dealer would then claim for any expence incurred from Swift. The fact that Swift have offered you any form of compensation is to their credit. I am not sticking up for Swift but I think you should redirect your claim to the dealer qouting that the van is not of merchantable quality and is therefore contravening the Sale of Goods Act.

 

[Themass31]

You have my sympathy, we bought a new swift 18MTHS ago and to be frank its a complete bag of spanners there quality control is rubbish.

craig

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Mark,

Colin is in essence correct, in that your contract and claim for faulty workmanship is against the seller, not the manufacture.

However as you have allowed the van to be returned to the manufacturer, that may have weakend your case.

You must seek professional legal advice if you wish to take this matter further.

 

[BeemerMal]

Mark....The Swift Group are a nightmare to deal with. Our latest new caravan came from this Group and I found dealing with them to get a confirmed delivery date was a nightmare. I don't think they understand what 'customer service' is.

We ordered our caravan in September 2004 for expected February delivery. They decided to change the build schedule for our chosen model, to March delivery, then April, we finally took delivery in May 2005, over 8 months after ordering it.

Both my Dealer and I contacted them on many occasions and we just got the brush off.

Although our van has not given us the problems you have I agree with others that their PDI is poor, most probably non existant. We had a number of faults that just should not be present in a new brand new caravan.

However, I cannot fault my dealer in Clacton 0n Sea who promptly rectified the faults without question.

All I can say is they were far from Swift, very poor to deal with and generally nobody there seems interested in their customers at all. They clearly do everything just to suit themselves only without any consideration for the customer.

Our next van will NOT be one of theirs, purely as a point of principle!

I hope you issues are soon resolved. Mal

 

[Juliec1]

We bought a second hand Ace Jubilee Diplomat in March 2006. Because we live in France we have to register the caravan separately. Had to buy a Homologation Pack from Swift for

 

[AnnM1]

We had a Swift caravan from new. Before the end of the first year it had so many problems it was back at the dealership more times than it was on our driveway! You name it (leaks in bathroom, cupboard hinges breaking, skylight sealed to van roof, paper (on the walls in the bathroom) at various places pealed off (not due to us using the shower as we used the site facilities!), faulty door lock which had to be replaced several times, and worst the 3 main front windows 'blew' so we could not see out. The dealership took so long to get parts, etc, and we became known on first name terms we had so many grievances. Never again would I consider the purchase of a Swift product of any kind.

 

[david_374241686]

i must say this is a bit worrying, we have just bought a sterling swift group van and at the moment everything seems to be ok but we havent been away yet! its a shame because swift were a well respected name years ago with agreat name for build quality but then again they were not as big as they are now.Maybe they are now just too big and there customer care clearly is not up to scratch.

 

[Jo-AnneFairway5402010]

hi, colin is correct your contract is with the dealer not the manufactor. reading all these comments doesnt make swift look great does it. i was thinking of changing our van to a swift or abbey ( same company).

i dont know now?.

jo-anne

 

[trucker]

We are on our second consecutive swift group van, both Abbeys, we have found them to be good quality. My last van a 2004 Aventura had a few little problems nothing much, but just before we part ex it we found the front panel had some hairline cracks in it. The dealedr arranged for swift to come to the dealership to repair on site which they duly did on the day arranged, and it was a very good job.

Our current van an abbey vogue 495 is as good quality, again a few little problems being sorted out. Different dealer but again very compitant.

The only thing I would say about the swift product is spare parts are a nightmare.

We need a new cupard door on the vogue and it has taken 10 weeks to come to the dealers, I asked why so long. The reply was that swift order enough of any part to satisfy each production run, so if you have a problem you have to wait until they next order that part for a future production run.

Prahaps that also explains why some vans get delivered with bits missing!! pritty poor way of ordering.

Anyway door now at the dealers and being fitted after Easter

Im well pleased with my swift group van (so Far)

Kevin H