FAO -Geoffrey - Fleetwood Heritage

[Clive-Cardiff]

How have you found your Heritage now and is it as good as you hoped?

We collected ours last week and have a few issues with it. Which model did you get?

Does anyone else have the new 640?

 

[Brum1]

Hi Clive

We have a 2007 640CB. What problems hav you got?

 

[spj]

Hi Clive,

I have a 2007 Heritage 640es(d) the van has been fairly good but Fleetwoods customer service is nothing short of disgusting, I have had problems with the Alde heating 3 times in the first 8 months, Fleetwood blamed Alde but the fault was caused by Fleetwoods wiring which was trapped at build. I have just come back from a wet weekend away and cleaned out the caravan and found rain water coming in around both exterior locker housings and also from around a fridge vent. Richard Allen from Fleetwood is coming to see my caravan tomorrow as I have asked a number of times to have the caravan exchanged but he does not believe the fault to be Fleetwoods, this will be clearer to him tomorrow when he finally sees it. I will post tomorrow to let you know the outcome but from past experience with this man I will be surprised if he even turns up, this has been ongoing for about a year now and the caravan is only 1 year 2 weeks old. Time will tell.

spj

 

[Clive-Cardiff]

We've found a few minor issues with the van just over the couple of days we have used it. The one I was posting to query other users was about filling the onboard tank.

The first time I filled it we had water coming out of the overflow, so I was querying about whether there should be a cut of for the pump.

I've heard from Fleetwood today that there is no cut out, It seems you have to stand alongside the level guage to turn the pump of when the tank shows full.

I can't believe that it would cost a lot more to link up the tank sensor already fitted to control the pump!

 

[Brum1]

FAO SPJ

What is the latest?

 

[spj]

Hi Brum,

Mr Allen from Fleetwood did turn up, he and his collegue had a good look around the caravan and witnessed the water leaks and smell of antifreeze, all the faults were logged and he told me he would phone me this week with a decision of what they are going to do. Mr Allen was very polite and proffesional as he always is but with past experience of him I know he can not be trusted. Maybe Fleetwood will do the right thing and replace the van, that is the impression Mr Allen gave but I will believe it when I see it.

In my honest opinion, I think the caravan was rushed in build, I ordered it at The Lawns show in September 2006, I was given a delivery date of late December 2006, but the van arrived in early November 2006 - about 6 weeks early. Mr Allen tells me that 110 Heritages were ordered at the NEC show this year, maybe they will speed up production again to supply these orders, if so then shows are not the place to order new vans, quieter times may give a better built van.

Mr Allen now has two days left to contact me as promised with a resolution to the problems I have had, lets see if he does.

spj.

 

[oldievanner]

FAO rpj

Did you get an answer or further news from Mr Allen?

Peter

 

[oldievanner]

FAO rpj

Did you get an answer or further news from Mr Allen?

Peter

Sorry should have been spj-two fingered typist!!!

 

[geofthecyclist]

Boring answer - I'm afraid.

There seemed to be so much doom and gloom about caravans and quality controls plus forecasts of high fuel prices and excess green lobby causing the end of caravanning that I thought I would leave it for a year and see how it pans out.

And then the parent company of Lunar went bust............

I cant say I fancied spenfing

 

[spj]

Hi Peter,

As expected Mr Allen did not ring back as arranged, I waited (again) and phoned him on Tuesday, he told me that Fleetwood will swap the caravan and that he will put this in writing. He has found a 2007 Heritage in a dealer which he wishes to swap for mine, he says it is 3 months old but wants to check it over before committing himself which is fair enough although he could have called to let me know there would be a delay in his reply but as usual he just did not bother and left me to call him.

It surprises me that a 3 month old caravan of last years model exists as I would guess the new years models will go into production in late July to August, We veiwed the 2008 model at the beginning of September. The van he has found is more likely to be over 6 months old which is not a problem if it is still new and not had people wandering through it for the last 6 months on a dealers forecourt.

I get the impression that Fleetwood are trying to solve this as cheaply as possible and that they think I am just after a new model caravan but I first complained about the problems in December 2006 when the van was a month old, and again in February, it should have been dealt with then when an identicle caravan was the only option. It has now taken a year to get a verbal aggreement over the phone from a man who has consistenly not done as he has said he will.

All the details and communication is documented and I will believe the new caravan when I see it, but I can still see this going to court.

spj

 

[Brum1]

SPJ

What's the latest?????????????????????????????

 

[spj]

Hi Brum,

The latest is as it was on 15th December when I last posted, when I phoned Mr Allen on the 11th December he told me he would confirm in writing that Fleetwood would exchange the caravan as he agreed it was substandard after viewing it himself on December 3rd, as expected he has not yet bothered (he never does reply when he says he will) and I have heard nothing nealy a month on, but this seems normall for Fleetwood.

The Fleetwood Heritage is a lovely caravan and I would not swap it for any other british caravan but I could not recommend anyone buys one as Fleetwood ruin the ownership experience by ignoring customers and washing their hands of faults clearly caused by their poor quality control.

My honest opinion of this caravan is that it was rushed in build, I ordered it early September 2006 and was told it would not be built until late December, but it was delivered to the dealer in early November, it seems things were rushed to supply the numbers ordered.

spj.

 

[dougdotcom]

I have a heritage 640cb and after your comments if anything gose wrong and i think its Fleetwoods fault im going to hook it to me truck and park in there yard across goods inwards doors. I have tried to call them once before only to get stuck at the recptionist who i beleve just put the phone down looked out the window for a while then came back and said no sorry not a fleetwood problem. But as the van is the best ive ever owned I hope it never gives me a problem. Good luck with your mission on the replacment.

 

[spj]

Hi all,

Finally got a reply from Richard Allen at Fleetwood yesterday but only after emailing him to see what was going on, it has now been 6 weeks since we spoke and I realised he was not going to bother contacting me without some prompting.

He says he has a 2007 Heritage to exchange mine with, but he has also said it has Rosemary upholstery as in mine, unfortunately mine actually has New Contessa upholstery not Rosemary, he did look at the van himself and make a note of the soft furnishings so hopefully this is just a slip up and the vans furnishings are correct.

He says delivery should be some time next month after it has had a full factory inspection, I just hope this inspection is not done with a white stick like my present vans was.

I will still believe it when I see it.

spj.

 

[Carl-GreyhoundsrUs]

We've found a few minor issues with the van just over the couple of days we have used it. The one I was posting to query other users was about filling the onboard tank.

The first time I filled it we had water coming out of the overflow, so I was querying about whether there should be a cut of for the pump.

I've heard from Fleetwood today that there is no cut out, It seems you have to stand alongside the level guage to turn the pump of when the tank shows full.

I can't believe that it would cost a lot more to link up the tank sensor already fitted to control the pump!

Clive,

I had exactly the same issue with the overflowing onboard tank the first time I took out my 2008 Heritage 640CB at the end of 2007, only the water was coming out all over the place, as the pump was forcing water in faster than the overflow could get it out. In the couple of months I have had it, I have had a number of other teething problems, the worst of which was a pipe which was not fixed properly behind the shower cubicle which I obviously did not notice was leaking until the back wall changed colour from the amount of water it had absorbed. Fortunately I bought it from a very good dealer who puts things right with no problem whatsoever. I just hope I have no further problems as I do actually love the van.

 

[spj]

Hi all,

over a month on and I have still heard nothing from Fleetwood Caravans, the replacement caravan must have been in a right old state for a months worth of work to be needed to rectify it, but this does seem consistant with Fleetwoods build quality.

I have spoken to another unhappy Fleetwood customer today who also has a 2007 Fleetwood, his has 44 faults on it to date and as with mine, Fleetwood are proving useless

If I were to beleive Richard Allen then I should be taking delivery before the weekend, but I have heard nothing yet and time is running out.......

spj.

 

[Dustydog]

This really is p--s poor performance from a supposed leading caravan manufacturer.

Not a cheap rig either!

If this was a car . so new with so many faults, 44, then I am sure a Court would seriously consider giving you your money back.

Good luck and please keep us all posted on progress.

Do you have ally window frames?

Cheers

Alan

 

[spj]

This really is p--s poor performance from a supposed leading caravan manufacturer.

Not a cheap rig either!

If this was a car . so new with so many faults, 44, then I am sure a Court would seriously consider giving you your money back.

Good luck and please keep us all posted on progress.

Do you have ally window frames?

Cheers

Alan

Hi Alan,

sorry, no ally frames, mine are the Seitz type windows.

spj