Not a happy Swift owner

[jag.19v]

Bought a new Swift Challenger 570 from a well known East Nottingham dealership in June last year. Goodbye £15,000, and goodbye customer service. Faulty cooker, shorting out, smells like it's melting! Dealer says sorry mate, we'll LOOK at it sometime in June, even though I store it in their compound!! If they had told me their after sales service was non-existent I wouldn't have bought from them! Why do Swift allow dealers to sell caravans when they can't fulfill their warranty obligations? Aaaah the penny's dropped.................they've already got my money.

NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

There is evidently a Swift Forum. Possibly making your 'complaint' on there would be helpful. At least then they could advise your best course of action.

 

[jag.19v]

Thanks SL,

It's not just Swift, I've bought Bailey and Elldis from the same dealer and it's always the same story. We're too busy!!!!!!!! Well open a warrenty workshop then!

I just think a lot of manufacturers and dealers don't care when they've taken your dosh. I'll get it fixed elsewhere but the dealers should be held to account.

 

[Guest]

No problem, however this Forum does not like it when you shout and scream about a manufacturer, as they get worried about the affect to them.

Sounds like most of your 'gripes' are against the dealer and there is recourse open to you, as can be found on other threads on similar topics.

Again, I suggest start a dialogue with the dealer, in writing, and keep copies of everything. Get an answer from him as to what, and when they will act for you. Also copy the manufacturer as although they have no obligation, there is every chance they will act to pressure the dealer to move more swiftly (nice pun). As mentioned evidently there is a dedictaed Forum to that manufacturer, and apparently they are very helpful, so i suggest use it. If you also check threads on here you will find an e mail address for support service with the manufacturer, and again they have been very helpful to others.

I wish you well but although there is no harm in blowing off steam here, in your real dealings you need to be calm and correct.

 

[Guest]

No problem, however this Forum does not like it when you shout and scream about a manufacturer, as they get worried about the affect to them.

Sounds like most of your 'gripes' are against the dealer and there is recourse open to you, as can be found on other threads on similar topics.

Again, I suggest start a dialogue with the dealer, in writing, and keep copies of everything. Get an answer from him as to what, and when they will act for you. Also copy the manufacturer as although they have no obligation, there is every chance they will act to pressure the dealer to move more swiftly (nice pun). As mentioned evidently there is a dedictaed Forum to that manufacturer, and apparently they are very helpful, so i suggest use it. If you also check threads on here you will find an e mail address for support service with the manufacturer, and again they have been very helpful to others.

I wish you well but although there is no harm in blowing off steam here, in your real dealings you need to be calm and correct.

typo eror, should be 'effect'

 

[Chrisbee]

If you had problems getting the dealer to sort the first two vans because they were too busy it begs the question "why did you buy your third van from them?"

 

[jag.19v]

I've actually bought six 'vans from them over the years. Good trade ins, good salesmen, good prices. They just fall down on after sales service if there is a problem

 

[Damian]

Two things to say on this one.

Firstly, may I refer you to the Forum Etiquette, particularly item 4 which states "You may not transmit complaints about named companies or caravan parks. Such individual issues should be taken up with the company direct."

Posting complaints on this forum does you absolutely no good whatsoever, your only course of action is through the dealer, no one on any forum can help you, but if you use the Swift Forum, more notice may be taken as it is run by Swift.

Secondly, I have to echo the last poster, if you have had several bad experiences with one particular dealer, why on earth go back?

Totally illogical.

 

[Rusty1]

Hi andy, Phone up trading Standards

Rusty

 

[jag.19v]

Perhaps I've not made my point properly. I'm not slagging the dealers or manufacturers just for the sake of it. The point I wanted to make is that new vans are poured into the market seemingly without the network to cope with ongoing customer issues once they are out there.

 

[Moonstone1]

I don't believe Andy has broken forum etiquette - he hasn't named the dealer, just a location. Nothing wrong in that.

I do agree to try the Swift Forum, it's been good so far. http://www.swift-talk.co.uk

 

[Parksy]

The point about forum etiquette is that when a caravan owner is understandably angry or frustrated because of undue delays it's natural to want to hit out or to 'warn' other forum members.

As moderators we have to steer members away from the 'naming and shaming' because when that happens we have no choice other than to remove the post. Haymarket's policy on this is absolutely clear and is strictly applied.

If we stick to generalities it's possible to air a grievance, receive good advice and solve the problem, a removed post solves nothing.

Andy had the good sense not to actually name the dealer in this instance which is why the post could remain but experience has shown that sometimes others then decide to add names and comments with the unfortunate result that the topic is removed.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi parksy

in response to your last post although a longstanding member of the forum fully aware of the forum rules I have allways found it strange how it is perfectly ok to recommend a dealer or particular make of van or piece of equipment when all is well and things go right, but when something is very wrong with a piece of kit or dealer service it is a big no no to post about it and dont you dare blame anybody, sometimes one does wonder whos side haymarket are on the ones who pay for the advertising or ones who buy the magazine and contribute to the forum. maybe there is a clue in its ownership.

colin

 

[Parksy]

Hi Colin

If a forum member recommends a dealer, caravan , piece of equipment theres no problem with writing about it, good service providers deserve recommendation.

If there is a problem with a caravan or piece of equipment, again there is no problem in seeking help or advice on this forum.

The problems arise when a disappointed or angry caravan buyer feels let down by a dealer or another service provider, a caravan park for example. They might post the facts as they see them but what happens then if the dealer or service provider disputes those facts?

We have no way at all of checking who is 'right' and who is 'wrong'.

If these facts that we'd allowed to be posted on this forum by an angry caravanner are incorrect or as has happened in the past an ex employee or competitor with an axe to grind or an ulterior motive tries to damage the reputation of a business it could be severely damaged and livelihoods put at risk.

The anger and frustration of caravan owners who receive poor service is entirely understandable, we provide a platform for general grievances to be aired but to be on the safe side naming of companies or individuals is not allowed. This does not prevent the aggrieved caravan owner from receiving and acting on advice received here.

Advertising has nothing to do with this, some of the largest advertisers in the magazine are caravan manufacturers and this forum shows many complaints about Swift, Bailey, Lunar, Coachman caravans etc so the argument about advertisers doesn't stand scrutiny.

Another thing that moderators must bear in mind is that as a large publishing and internet company Haymarket could become a target for litigation if defamatory unproven comments appeared on the websites or forums.

To avoid this possibility instructions are given to moderators regarding the adherence to forum etiquette, this is much simpler and far less expensive than trying to defend against court action.

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

hi parksy

thanks for your swift reply "no pun intented" like I said as a long standing member of the forum I do know the rules and the reasons for having them eloquently stated by your last post, some manufacturers and dealers and there employees do use the forum, their contributions are most welcome and in a lot of cases very helpful solving problems that are posted about.

that is not an issue a negative post about something is however,

if say a poster askes about a particular site as a recomendation and you have stayed there and it was wonderful you can say so and add photos "if you know how" thats fine no problem but if you stayed there and it was awful you can't add a photo of the unkept rubbish filled margins or the field full of dog dumps or the ramshakled toilet block that is advertised as modern. this would be seen as a negative attack on the particular site and deleted.

you see what I am getting at??.

colin

 

[readcaravans]

Andy,

the real answer here is to buy elsewhere and if everyone else did the same, the manufacturers would soon realise who the good dealers are from the bad ones because they wouldn`t be selling their products. plus if the dealer started to loose sales because of their aftersales, again you would expect something to change.

if your not willing to do this, then its really difficult to have too much sympathy when you keep buying from this same dealer.

 

[ValA.]

I'd agree with Reads - we get first-class service from our local dealers (even though when we first went to them our van was under warranty from the company we bought from and the fim we took it to were not actually Swift dealers at the time). Because the problem made the caravan unsafe to tow for any distance Swift advised us to take it to our nearest caravan workshop and said they would sort things out from there. Between Swift, Alko and the dealer, the problem was promptly sorted, and we've taken all our business back to that dealer since.

I'm sure there are many more great dealers out there. Take your business to someone who cares about the service they provide once you've bought the van, rather than those who just give you the best deal 'on the day'. After all it's the use of your caravan which gives you pleasure, and you can only use it fully if everything works properly.

The problem is that on forums like this the many happy customers don't often post about their experiences, where those who are unhappy often do.

 

[Etch]

Hi all, i have had 7 caravans from the said dealer and have had no problems at all with there aftersales, in fact quite the opposite, anytime i have had a problem it has been resolved quickly and professionaly even to the point where they have visited me on site to rectify a problem. I personally feel that some people expect too much from a dealer in respect of faults etc,dealers are busy due to more people buying caravans because of the economic climate so patience is needed, however areasonable time should be expected for the fault to be fixed but we all have a different view on what is an acceptable amount of time.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

As I see it there are some posts that aren't relevant because Andy hasn't named any dealer unless I'm missing some hidden agenda.

He also said that he'd bought from this company before and was questioned why did he do so again. Maybe he didn't have any warranty problems with the other vans so how would he be expected to know that they fall down in this department? If having had no warranty problems it would be added incentive to buy from them again.

Under forum rules there is also statement saying ...

'Practicalcaravan.com takes no responsibility for the accuracy of information transmitted in this forum. The opinions expressed in the forum are not those of Practicalcaravan.com or Haymarket Publishing Limited'....

.... which I'm sure is there for a legal purpose and not to fill up the forum rules page.

A lot of ooo-ahhh about nowt :O)

 

[jag.19v]

Sean:

I'm pleased you've had good service from "said" dealer, maybe it's a different one. In twenty years I've had 2 warranty issues and had trouble both times.

Lord B:

Correct! I haven't named the dealer. I just feel after sales service, in a lot of cases, could (should) be improved.

My 'van is my pride and joy and the possibility of it catching fire worries me. As it is stored 100 yards from the service reception, and as a regular customer having bought 6 vans from them in the past, I just feel it wouldn't be too much trouble to "take a look" now, and not in three months time. I won't use the van until it's fixed because it's not safe. I believe the legal phrase is "not of merchantable quality"

 

[Parksy]

Colin - Yorkshire wrote:

'if say a poster askes about a particular site as a recomendation and you have stayed there and it was wonderful you can say so and add photos "if you know how" thats fine no problem but if you stayed there and it was awful you can't add a photo of the unkept rubbish filled margins or the field full of dog dumps or the ramshakled toilet block that is advertised as modern. this would be seen as a negative attack on the particular site and deleted.'

That's a good point Colin.

If that were indeed the case with misleading advertising and pictures to give proof then there wouldn't be any problem with writing a negative review of such a site.

With proof of misleading advertising, pictures etc such a review would be seen as fair and truthful comment and the facts could not be disputed.

The Caravan Sitefinder

allows reviews of holiday parks, sites etc and not every review is a positive one.

We have mentions on this forum about sites with poor facilities, inadequate dog walks, poor access etc but if in the moderators opinion a comment is unfair e.g. 'All sites owned by Joe Soap are rubbish' the comment would have to be removed because the statement would be an opinion and not based on fact.

 

[JGX]

This is of great interest to me, as it tallies with my own experience of trying to get warranty work done recently. The nearest approved dealer to me couldn't look at the problem on my van for 3 months when I enquired and the saga with my current dealer is detailed in another thread on here. I have been told by various people that this is 'the norm' - is this the case in other readers experience?

I have a reputation as a consumer rights campaigner and broadcaster (and am not bound by the - quite understandable - constraints that Haymarket are under) so would be interested in taking this a bit further.

Would I be allowed to place an email address on here that people could contact me on with aftersales/warranty woes?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TimM]

I can really appreciate Andy's frustration. We had a similar experience when we bought our Abbey in 2006. Sales department and shop at our dealership absolutely first class but after sales appallingly bad. When I asked to speak to the service manager to complain I was informed he was too busy. A lot of the simple warranty problems I ended up fixing myself in the end. After sales so often is the weak link in the caravan industry

With the value of caravans often being more than the car that is towing it, perhaps the caravan industry should take a leaf out of the car industry and start using something similar to JD Power to measure customer feedback accurately on both their products and the performance of their dealers and then act accordingly. To have to wait 2 months for warranty work is completely unacceptable and although the contract is with the dealer, it's not in the manufacturers interest to accept this level of service. I would certainly hope that Swift can help you and would agree with other posters that their response on their own forum is often very helpful.

If no dice with the manufacturer, then the sale of goods act is quite powerful. I'm no legal expert but if your caravan has broken and can't be repaired for this length of time, then it is arguably not fit for purpose. Citizen's advice can probably help you with that one.

As our dealer closed about a year ago, I have now switched to Golden Castle at Staverton, who so far have provided excellent aftercare on a caravan that they did not sell in the first place.

 

[Huw_374475043]

In general terms if British built (there are some exceptions) caravans were designed correctly (structurally), built correctly and with care and attention to the detail, used decent quality fitments that met minimum standards for the consumer then we would not be having this conversation. There would be far fewer warranty issues and the available workshops would have the time to complete in good time the work presented to them. To me it's not rocket science. I am also not impressed with the level of protectionism afforded to the bad dealers and manufacturers by various areas of the caravan industry. As someone who has had a British built van for 1 year and only been able to use it for 2 weeks compared to previous continental built vans (for 22 years) which were used on a very regular basis with no that is no warranty issues whatsoever. In my on case with my British built(shoddy) van I am flabbergasted at the build quality and what is seen as acceptable by the manufacturer and just as flabbergasted at the way in which dealer fitments have been attached in a completely unprofessional way.

 

[Parksy]

JGX, Please feel free to post a contact email onto the forum or alternatively I'd be happy to put those who want to contact you in touch via emails if you prefer.

Anything which helps caravan buyers to obtain good service which should be normal procedure when such high value purchases are involved can only be a good thing.

This forum does have members who have an interest and are conversant with consumer law and forum members who have had less than satisfactory service have been given the benefit of the knowledge of these helpful gentlemen on several occasions.