On browsing through the forums the biggest problems people seem to have is with caravan dealers who are willing to take your money(and caravans are not cheap)but are not prepared to give any after care service if needed,and as ive been reading can also be down right rude!some people work and save hard to be able to purchase the caravan they want and when uve paid out all that money its dishearting and stressful when things go wrong.As a believer in consumer rights i think the customer should not have to put up with this,after all its "US" the public customer who keep these dealers in business.Therefore i suggest some people power! maybe u cant mention names on these sites but most of you seem to know what dealer is been complained about so maybe try to inform as many people as possible about the bad dealers and what area there in, especially if your in some sort of club that meets up and try to use a dealer that youve heard has provided a good service to someone else it might mean you have to travel to a different area but it might save you alot of heartache and stress in the long run and we would see then how long our bad dealers would last? just a thought....
bad dealers
- Thread starter karen_374303280
- Start date
I would like to nominate Sunnyhaven Caravans of Gorseinon Swansea as a dealer who can be recommended for good friendly service and the personal relationship. Ian Fern and his staff are first class in making sure you are satisfied and not sold something you did not want whether it is a few bits and pieces from the shop or a new caravan. I have no connection with this firm except having bought two vans from them and very satisfied with the service.
Fair play to you colin i hope more people follow your lead!and make life easier in buying a caravan.
Hello Karen,
I support your concept. It is in fact feedback, and that is one of the most powerful tools a business can have to benchmark their own performance.
Be under no delusion, the aim of all business is profit. Without profit a business will fold.
That is not always bad news, because a business that can maximise its profits over a long time, means it is continuing to attract customers, and to do that it must be offering a better service than its competitors.
So the best method to maximise profit is to be satisfy your customers, not only with a good product (well as good as any caravan manufacturer can make) and then support the customer after the sale.
Sadly some dealers do not seem to realise that customers are becoming more knowledgeable about their rights, and these dealers will eventually loose out, to the dealers that acknowledge the customer is king.
BS EN ISO 9001:2000. is an internationally recognised standards that encourage organisations to find out about what their customers think, and to actively aim to continually improve, so perhaps we should be saying to dealers prove you are customer focused by becoming accredited it.
For legal reasons, we should avoid publicising the names of failing companies, but I do not know of one who would object to free good publicity. So praise your dealer if they deserve it and tell us about it on this forum.
Let us find out who are the good, and by default the others must be the bad and ugly.
I support your concept. It is in fact feedback, and that is one of the most powerful tools a business can have to benchmark their own performance.
Be under no delusion, the aim of all business is profit. Without profit a business will fold.
That is not always bad news, because a business that can maximise its profits over a long time, means it is continuing to attract customers, and to do that it must be offering a better service than its competitors.
So the best method to maximise profit is to be satisfy your customers, not only with a good product (well as good as any caravan manufacturer can make) and then support the customer after the sale.
Sadly some dealers do not seem to realise that customers are becoming more knowledgeable about their rights, and these dealers will eventually loose out, to the dealers that acknowledge the customer is king.
BS EN ISO 9001:2000. is an internationally recognised standards that encourage organisations to find out about what their customers think, and to actively aim to continually improve, so perhaps we should be saying to dealers prove you are customer focused by becoming accredited it.
For legal reasons, we should avoid publicising the names of failing companies, but I do not know of one who would object to free good publicity. So praise your dealer if they deserve it and tell us about it on this forum.
Let us find out who are the good, and by default the others must be the bad and ugly.
How about practical caravan running a "Dealer / Manufacturer Review" section on their website where buyers can rate Dealers and Manufacturers on a scoring system based on a few set questions, this would allow buyers can look at dealers around the country and see what people think of the service etc
You never know, it might also make certain dealers and manufacturers buck up of their ideas when they see publicly how they are being reviewed, and perhaps maybe the caravan industry listen.........(just an idea)
You never know, it might also make certain dealers and manufacturers buck up of their ideas when they see publicly how they are being reviewed, and perhaps maybe the caravan industry listen.........(just an idea)
William any idea which will benefit the consumer regarding service etc. no matter what line of business, would be a step in the right direction. Perhaps the PC magazine may take this idea up for both the internet site and the magazine.
Hi Karen.
I know exactly what you are meaning when you go on about Bad Dealers.
I live in Scotland, it's just in the last year that I have got in to Caravanning.
I decided to buy a new caravan, So I ordered a new Hobby caravan from a dealer in Scotland, What a nightmare that was, To cut a long story short he could not deliver the caravan that I wanted, after about three months of excuses and getting told a pack of lies, I eventually had to cancel the order, This dealer is refusing to give me my deposit of
I know exactly what you are meaning when you go on about Bad Dealers.
I live in Scotland, it's just in the last year that I have got in to Caravanning.
I decided to buy a new caravan, So I ordered a new Hobby caravan from a dealer in Scotland, What a nightmare that was, To cut a long story short he could not deliver the caravan that I wanted, after about three months of excuses and getting told a pack of lies, I eventually had to cancel the order, This dealer is refusing to give me my deposit of
The website go as far as the "What Car" website (which I haved repeatedly for advice on new cars since my wife had 6 new cars last year!!!), where there are on-line reviews for different makes and models, PC already do this in the mag why not do it on line as well? I would pay an extra (say 25p per month) on the mag to cover the extra cost.
Unless their is a "What Caravan" website already out there, if so please let me know...
having a section for bad dealers would not be a bad thing you just need to watch the legal side of things ensuring that they don't try to sew you for telling the truth. I live in near Edinburgh and need to travel to either wishaw or thornton nr kirkcaldy because of the treatment i have had from my local dealer( who i cannot name sadly or they will sue me for defimation of character as i have been warned by them).i have been into caravaning for too many years to remember and know all about the hobby but they treated me so badly, they accused me in front of customers of not operating a jockey wheel correctly when the neumatic tyre blew out, and then someone else i know had a fault with something and they refused to replace something under warranty, so i cannot go near them every again which is really annoying. But i have seen other dealers which are really good like a dealer in carrick and they have a big shop and lots of parking, i will be vising then next week when i am on holiday down that way.
Agreed there are too many people with the "I'll see you in court" attitude, and unfortunately at present I am one of them, especially when my new caravan has 80% damp due to a manufacturing defect and a repair is the only option given, despite two independent reports saying that the van is fit for scrap - but that's another story
What we need is some group like PC to run the site fairly and not allow it to become a free for all at dealers or manufacturers, People need to raise the good and the bad points out and that's what would make it fair.
For example by only answering questions a graded system (e.g:1 being Very Good and 5 being Very Poor) on issues like:
Understanding & Matching of Your Needs
Choice of Caravans / Range on Display
Keeping you informed
Handover / Collection
Contact after the Sale / After sales Care
Servicing
Ability to deal and resolve Problems
And not having a comments section where people could slate or praise, the database could become a point of reference and the dealer could be given an overall rating based on the results supplied.
The information provided may even be useful to PC with the Dealer of the Year Awards, and given time to grow the database would have ample comments to allow people to see what dealers around the UK are really like and then make a more informed choice on where to spend their money either with dealers that don't perform and dealers that do care.
Personally I would use a site like this to see if a dealer was averaging 85% or more overall, in each of the above questions before parting with my hard earned cash.
What we need is some group like PC to run the site fairly and not allow it to become a free for all at dealers or manufacturers, People need to raise the good and the bad points out and that's what would make it fair.
For example by only answering questions a graded system (e.g:1 being Very Good and 5 being Very Poor) on issues like:
Understanding & Matching of Your Needs
Choice of Caravans / Range on Display
Keeping you informed
Handover / Collection
Contact after the Sale / After sales Care
Servicing
Ability to deal and resolve Problems
And not having a comments section where people could slate or praise, the database could become a point of reference and the dealer could be given an overall rating based on the results supplied.
The information provided may even be useful to PC with the Dealer of the Year Awards, and given time to grow the database would have ample comments to allow people to see what dealers around the UK are really like and then make a more informed choice on where to spend their money either with dealers that don't perform and dealers that do care.
Personally I would use a site like this to see if a dealer was averaging 85% or more overall, in each of the above questions before parting with my hard earned cash.
Hello William,
I agree in principal, but what does worry me is the consistency and accuracy of the information that would be posted. Who would or could check it.
It would be all too easy for someone with a vendetta against a particular dealer to swamp the site and affect the bias of the results. The site owners would almost certainly be challenged about the content.
The systems would need to be 'moderated' to ensure the consistency and therefore the accuracy of the site.
Then of course the forum owner would be reluctant to allow negatives to be published because it might affect their advertising revenue.
I agree in principal, but what does worry me is the consistency and accuracy of the information that would be posted. Who would or could check it.
It would be all too easy for someone with a vendetta against a particular dealer to swamp the site and affect the bias of the results. The site owners would almost certainly be challenged about the content.
The systems would need to be 'moderated' to ensure the consistency and therefore the accuracy of the site.
Then of course the forum owner would be reluctant to allow negatives to be published because it might affect their advertising revenue.
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