Has powertouch service gone down the pan ?

[Parksy]

I have recently been disappointed with powrtouch. My mover is still under warranty but we have been waiting 6 weeks for a repair and have chased them with no reply. I also have a problem with the turning circle not being what it used to be but they are not interested. I used to recommend them to friends but not any more ! I wish I had gone with another make.

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Simon,
Your report is highly uncharacteristic of what we normally hear about Powertouch. I suspect we do not have the whole story, so its very difficult to be objective and draw a conclusion about the situation.

The forums etiquette is that we don't post specific complaints until all the proper challens have be exhausted. Have you followed the companies complaints procedure?

I suggest you phone them, politely explain the difficulties you have had with their service and then ask to speak to a manager. Keep a record of your conversation and to whom you spoke, and then write to the managing director with a full report, dates and names.

 

[SimonB]

I phoned them again last week and have had no reply. I have previously left posts with good reports about Powrtouch so I think it is also fair to let people know when things are not so good.

 

[Dustydog]

I phoned them again last week and have had no reply. I have previously left posts with good reports about Powrtouch so I think it is also fair to let people know when things are not so good.

Most unlike Powrtouch

Do you get ananswerphone machine?

Do you have the name of the person you speak to?

I'd follow the Prof's advice and use the.published complaints procedure.

 

[Parksy]

I phoned them again last week and have had no reply. I have previously left posts with good reports about Powrtouch so I think it is also fair to let people know when things are not so good.

It's unusual to hear bad reports about Powertouch and although you may be disappointed and frustrated I think it's 'only fair' to stick to the rules of this forum which you agreed to as a condition of membership, particularly Rule 4 which clearly states:
You may not transmit complaints about named companies or caravan parks. Such individual issues should be taken up with the company direct.
When you telephoned and had no reply does this mean that no one answered the telephone or did you speak to an answering machine? Try writing to them outlining your complaints or ask to speak to a manager as suggested earlier and keep a record of what was said.

 

[mealsonwheels]

The service we have had from them this week, from our initial telephone call reporting a fault with our mover to the engineer phoning us within hours to arrange a time to come a fix a new roller unit, makes us believe their usual first class service has not "gone down the pan".

 

[SimonB]

Duplicate Post

 

[SimonB]

Each time I phoned I have spoken to someone. Thismorning i phoned them again and was told the parts had not been sent out yet ( over 6 weeks now ) the man said he would look into it and phone me back , guess what still waiting now 3 hours later .

I think it is only fair to let people know what they are getting , as I have said I always used .tp recommend them and have arranged for friends to be fitted. when Simon used to work there he used to be very good.

 

[Surfer]

Powertouch are now owned by Truma so we will probably be seeing a lot more of this type of complaint cropping up on this and other forums.

 

[seth1]

Well the poor lads wasteing his time voiceing his prediciment here.6 weeks wait is not seen to be enough,even if the mover catchs fire,wouldnt be powrtouchs fault would it?It would apear the magazine advitising plays a big part in the lack of free speach.

 

[woodsieboy]

I recently phoned Powertouch and asked if I could order replacement brushes for my movers motors,the lady I spoke to offered to send them to me FOC until I said iI expected to pay for them and asked for 8. They arrived in the post the next day,I think that is typical of their service,and on the other occasion that we had a problem,a gentleman came to our house where we keep the caravan,and sorted a small problem that was of my making,and did not charge.

 

[Parksy]

Well the poor lads wasteing his time voiceing his prediciment here.6 weeks wait is not seen to be enough,even if the mover catchs fire,wouldnt be powrtouchs fault would it?It would apear the magazine advitising plays a big part in the lack of free speach.

The 'advertising and lack of free speech' jibe is wearing a bit thin now Seth, I've explained at great length at various times and in various topics why the no name and shame rule exists on all properly run forums so if you can't or won't accept it -tough, but if you think that free speech actually exists anywhere, not only on internet forums, you are deluded.
The only reason that I've allowed the comments about a named company in this thread is that those concerned couldn't claim that they have been defamed or that their trading position has been affected because on balance the supportive comments endorsing the company have outweighed the allegations of poor service.
Any further breaches of rule 4 will be deleted without further notice, as will any further allegations about lack of free speech because of advertising revenue.

 

[SimonB]

I am glad to hear that others are still getting good service, it gives me hope that they may sort out my problems but they did promise a phone call tonight with an appointment but it never came so it will be down to me to chase them again in the morning !

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Well the poor lads wasteing his time voiceing his prediciment here.6 weeks wait is not seen to be enough,even if the mover catchs fire,wouldnt be powrtouchs fault would it?It would apear the magazine advitising plays a big part in the lack of free speach.

The 'advertising and lack of free speech' jibe is wearing a bit thin now Seth, I've explained at great length at various times and in various topics why the no name and shame rule exists on all properly run forums so if you can't or won't accept it -tough, but if you think that free speech actually exists anywhere, not only on internet forums, you are deluded.
The only reason that I've allowed the comments about a named company in this thread is that those concerned couldn't claim that they have been defamed or that their trading position has been affected because on balance the supportive comments endorsing the company have outweighed the allegations of poor service.
Any further breaches of rule 4 will be deleted without further notice, as will any further allegations about lack of free speech because of advertising revenue.

we all know or should do about rule 4 as well as all the other rules and forum ettiquet. strange then that most of the threads of most forums are about complaints either justified or imaginary, the companies therein are often named as a basis of the complaint,
damp in a new van for instance but this does not detract from the nature of the complaint, or the discussions on the forum when bringing up such topics, however bringing in the the forum operator into such threads is out of order. and you know it is Seth!!!.
it has no bearing on the original complaint or how the complaint is dealt with, at any level.
regarding Powertouch while I have not had any dealings with them my self I know of other who have and their after sales service is second to none, the fact the they are now owned by Truma should not make any difference to the company ethos in fact just the opposite, my mover is a very old Truma SE bought second hand and diy fitted, but it came without instructions and all of it's parts,

a phone call and e-mail to Truma about the problem saw them send me a full instuction manual, wiring diagham and parts list plus a list of companies that would service, repair or supply replacement parts. not bad for a mover that must be 10 years old.

I think the OP has just been unlucky not getting the right person or dept or has not followed the company complaints procedure correctly something must be wrong somewhere,
colin

 

[Martin24]

When I phoned last Friday the tech people were out to lunch. They phoned back promptly. Still waiting for local fitter to ring me though.

 

[Dustydog]

There's something very odd here Simon. My own experience last year was superb. Within one hour of phoning Powrtouch one their approved independent engineers telephoned me and we made a date for the new parts to be fitted, new motors in fact. He offered the very next day but it was me who delayed it by 48 hours!
May I ask where abouts you live?
Did you purchase the Powrtouch brand new in your name?
I do know they keep a register of all units sold and to whom.
I do not know if the 5 year warranty is transferable??
Your experience is certainly at great varience to the rest of us. There must be a logical explanation.

 

[Martin24]

Sorted and coming Tuesday, the fitter had been given the wrong number!!!!!

 

[mealsonwheels]

There! It had to be something like that, it was so out of character for them.

 

[Lindsay1]

On a recent trip to France our mover decided not to work which added more stress to our trip as our fery was delayed and we didnt get to our site until 1am in the morning ! However on contacting my father the next day he kindly got a technical expert from Powertouch to call us in France who talked us through the possible faults and even offered to get an engineer out to us in France which I thought was great service . We decided to wait until we got home and I made a call to Powertouch and within 12hrs we were conatcted by an engineer who came out and replaced our handset and control box. Cannot fault the service... Brilliant !

 

[SimonB]

I have finally had a call from a fitter out of the area and he is coming on Monday . Its funny I was given the wrong number excuse as well. On the phone this fitter sounded very helpful so we may get it fixed at last.

I have phoned powrtouch 3 times in the last 2 days and asked to speak to the manager and not had a call back yet !

Oh and in reply yes I did buy it new from them. This is actually the third mover I have purchased from them so I would say I am a good customer and they should know my number by now !

I will let you know when I get the good news that it has been fixed.

 

[gravon42]

There's something very odd here Simon. My own experience last year was superb. Within one hour of phoning Powrtouch one their approved independent engineers telephoned me and we made a date for the new parts to be fitted, new motors in fact. He offered the very next day but it was me who delayed it by 48 hours!
May I ask where abouts you live?
Did you purchase the Powrtouch brand new in your name?
I do know they keep a register of all units sold and to whom.
I do not know if the 5 year warranty is transferable??
Your experience is certainly at great varience to the rest of us. There must be a logical explanation.

Yes, it is. I have the three years remaining off a used unit

 

[JonnyG]

rule4..

1. 
   You may not transmit complaints about named companies or caravan parks. Such individual issues should be taken up with the company direct.

Interesting and very unclear. is it to be applied to just caravans ans caravan equipement too and the caravan parks bit is clear or by named companies what does that mean? ie my" fordus xyx is a crap towcar and fordus dont really care its on it 8 turbo and is always
in the garage as its unrealible"
i would truely like to know how rule 4 works afterall if it applies to all companies then it has been broken countless times by one and all...

 

[seth1]

Ok fine point taken,but how about simon.Ive had enough bad dealings in the past with companys and why do they get protection on a forum?Im quite sure if the said companys had sold items without being paid they wouldnt be to chuffed either.My last comment will be that the users of this forum are Haymarkets biggest customer.

 

[Parksy]

In the case of caravan manufacturers rule 4 of forum etiquette is somewhat relaxed, this is primarily a forum which deals with caravans and faults on all makes and models of caravan are often highlighted, sometimes a manufacturer can benefit from ther early identification of generic faults which come to light because of internet forums acting as a consumer focus group.
Caravan parks, caravan dealers, service engineers or workshops, component manufacturers and suppliers of various parts are a different matter however.
As I mentioned earlier, the reasoning behind rule 4 has been explained at length several times in in several threads over time but I'll go over it once again.

If we take Simon's complaint as an example:

I have recently been disappointed with powrtouch. My mover is still under warranty but we have been waiting 6 weeks for a repair and have chased them with no reply. I also have a problem with the turning circle not being what it used to be but they are not interested. I used to recommend them to friends but not any more ! I wish I had gone with another make.

Let's examine the known facts from the statement quoted above -

There's no doubt that Simon has 'recently been disappointed' because he is describing how he feels to us.

He then goes on to say that he's 'been waiting 6 weeks for a repair and have chased them with no reply'. I'm sure that Simon is a very nice chap who doesn't make things up but how can we be sure? I've never met him, have you? How can we be absolutely certain that he doesn't work for a rival firm ( or caravan park, dealership, awning supplier etc in other cases)?

If he is exaggerating Haymarket Consumer Media would have published a statement that could be said to have denigrated the company concerned.

Simon then finishes by alleging that the company are 'not interested' in a further problem with the product that he tells us about.
Can he actually prove beyond doubt that his allegation about lack of interest is factually correct? If he can't then his allegation is conjectural, or not based on provable fact.

I'm not accusing Simon of telling lies or of exaggerating, I have no reason to doubt his word but I have no method available to me which would prove that what he wrote was factually correct. This wouldn't be a problem if he hadn't mentioned the name of the company concerned but as soon as he names them (against the rules of the forum) and the forum publishes the name then there is a potential for court action.

Haymarket Consumer Services have no wish to spend over £100 per hour to engage lawyers to defend any possible court action so they have introduced a rule preventing the naming of companies in connection with disputes or complaints, which every single forum member has agreed to abide by when they joined the forum.
The forum is not protecting the companies concerned it is protecting itself from allegations of defamation and libel and from the expense of preparing to defend itself in court in extreme cases.
There have been instances where caravan dealerships, caravan park owners and suppliers of goods have threatened legal action against the owners of this forum (and other caravan related internet forums) which is why forum moderators are instructed to look carefully at forum comments which outline complaints or disputes.
Where there has been a serious breach of forum etiquette or a breach of the terms and conditions for the use of this forum moderators are under instructions to take action which would prevent any possibility of defamation or libel.

 

[JonnyG]

thank you parsky for that explination and indeed i suppose its only right that the company protects itself from any form of litigation.
but whilst it explains why we should be careful what we say with regards to caravan and caravan equipement, rubbishing a make of car telling how unreliable it is or how poor after sales service is,appears not to be treated with the same regards? surely the rule applies to one and all?but maybe i am missing something.