Service Costs - massive difference between dealers. Take a l...

[DanPaula]

We have a 2007 Bailey 470/4 caravan and have had 2 quotes for the service one from were we bought it Barrons Caravans at £199.99 and the other from Bardsea Leisure in Cumbria at £129.95 + wash at £11.75. Both of these are authorised for Bailey and both will do the same service. We are obviously going for the cheaper one (I know this is not always best in some situations but can't see any reason not to use the cheaper on this occasion). At Bardsea Leisure they are going to do a same day service and we are going to also stay on their caravan site for 2 nights at a mere cost of £28.00 for fully serviced hardstanding pitch with awning. So for the total cost of £169.70 I have a serviced caravan and washed plus a 2 night break. I hope everything goes as well as expected.

Just thought I would share my experiences and hopefully save some people some money out there.

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Dan

Bardsea are in line with what I paid Chipping Sodbury for the annual service on my series 5 Pageant Vendee. Looks like Barrons are a bit over the top!

Cheers

Alan

 

[DeliDave]

sounds a good deal but where do you go for warranty work.Have always stuck with the selling dealer so far coasts have been similar to Barrons and have paid just for ease of warranty problems.

 

[DanPaula]

We thought we would do that also and go to Barrons where we bought the caravan but you don't have to. As long as it is one of the ones named in your handbook this is ok. Spoke to Bailey and they advised you can take it anywhere named in your handbook. We have a problem with our status TV aerial (not that its much use anyway) they are going to fix this under the warranty. Hope this helps.

 

[Rodger Dodger]

We thought we would do that also and go to Barrons where we bought the caravan but you don't have to. As long as it is one of the ones named in your handbook this is ok. Spoke to Bailey and they advised you can take it anywhere named in your handbook. We have a problem with our status TV aerial (not that its much use anyway) they are going to fix this under the warranty. Hope this helps.

Hi Dan,

I too had a Bailey with a problem with the Status aerial. I re-made all the connections in the sockets for the aerial plugs, as well as the input cables and connections to the amp. Every one was remade, I came across poor connections where the braided wire was touching the solid copper core, which made it useless. These done Status worked very well. Hope this helps may save some time for you.

 

[DanPaula]

Hi Dan,

I too had a Bailey with a problem with the Status aerial. I re-made all the connections in the sockets for the aerial plugs, as well as the input cables and connections to the amp. Every one was remade, I came across poor connections where the braided wire was touching the solid copper core, which made it useless. These done Status worked very well. Hope this helps may save some time for you.

Thanks for that Rodger. The red light has gone out on the amp on mine. Checked fuses etc but no life at all. When I get amp sorted I'll certainly check all connections as you said as it might improve signal.

 

[Fourtrack]

Dan

You will like Terry the owner and Bardsea are great to deal with and the site is lovely. You will enjoy it. We bought our Bailey Pageant there a few years ago and it was a far better deal I have to say than Barrons. Don't know where you are but it was just as convenient for me to go to Ulverston. This is the beauty of dealing with the people that own the place rather than a big chain.

 

[Morganic]

I have read the above comments with interest. I have a T@B (funky I know) and there are only two dealers advised by Tabbert who can carry out the T@B servicing-the nearest is 90 miles away!!!

I have chosen to book it into a local NCC approved dealer with fixed annual serving cost of

 

[WilliamTups]

On the south cosat my local & Supplying Bailey dealer wanted

 

[Rogerdraper]

If your caravan was not so new you could use a local man Adrian Tyldesley he has just serviced my Bailey &99.00 inc vat and parts all work done at my home first class service he did some work never done by local Bailey Dealer . He is based in Euxton nr Chorley www.caravanrepair.com Two of my frineds have used him in the last month very pleased

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Dan,

Caravan dealers are not owned by the caravan manufacturer, and thus they are not regulated by the manufacture, hence the variation in prices and availability.

If it is only service work and not warranty repairs, then you can have the work carried out by any caravan dealer, not just those that sell your make of caravan. The work must be carried according to the manufactures schedule. You should ask for and receive a detailed copy of the work carried out, and the make of parts used to complete the work. You should retain this as evidence of the service work carried out. Your service record book should be stamped with the service company stamp.

Sometimes there is a difficulty in getting your caravan serviced by a non-supplying dealer. They have their own customers and may feel it more important to prioritise there own customers above others.

When warranty work is required, you should have this done by your supplier. They are legally responsible for the caravan and its condition when it is sold.

The manufactures guarantee (not the same as warranty) may allow you to use other dealers to have this work carried out. See the terms and conditions supplied with your contract of sale.

 

[Allyson]

Hi John L

Dont't forget whoever use decide to use, they must be NCC approved otherwise it will effect your warranty.

Allyson

 

[David_374301039]

This is where we all get conned. My local Bailey dealer will only service vans that they have sold. If I had it serviced by a cheaper but NCC workshop, I am sure they would find a reason not to do the warrenty work!!! If you have a Ford car you can take it to any Ford dealer for service or warrenty work. Bailey or any other manufactuer should supply warrenty parts to any NCC workshop, so that we can shop arround for a better deal.

David (from Kent)

 

[WilliamTups]

As mention in my earlier note, I found teh copy of the e-mail i had back from Bailey concerning servicing back in January this year:-

Dear Bill

Thank you for your email regarding the annual service of your Bailey Caravan.

Bailey has a network of approved retailers and service centres across the UK. We are happy for you to have servicing work carried out at any of these centres or any NCC approved workshop, however, any warranty work required will need to be carried out by a Bailey Agent.

Bailey Approved retailers, however, are under no obligation by Bailey to carry out work of another centre if they do not wish to as they are Independent companies and Bailey has no control over their business ethics.

With regards to service charges, retailers and service centre charges may differ for servicing depending on what is included in the service they carry out.

Please ask them to explain what is included in the price.

I trust this of assistance

Kind Regards

Kelly Watts

Bailey Helpline

 

[Dustydog]

Hi Bill

I guess I am very lucky with Chipping Sodbury Caravans as I said a few days ago on this thread.

Whilst Bailey say you can use a NCC approved workshop does that apply to the annual water ingress check which is crucial to our Bailey 6 year guarantee on the body integrity??

Cheers

Alan

 

[DanPaula]

We have the same email response from Bailey advising they have not control over the costs etc. I am just pretty glad we have discovered Bardsea Leisure.

 

[WilliamTups]

I recently had some work & a service done to my car, and in the quest for a saving I called three local Volvo dealers (none of whom are from the same group). All three dealers came back with the same price for the work & service, when I questioned the reason for this price; all three came back with the same answer

"The prices are set by Volvo and not by them"

Fair play, all were prepared to do the work, despite only buying the car from one of them, and so my question is:

Why is the caravan industry not like this? and therefore aren't companies such as Bailey missing the bigger picture about Customer Care & Satisfaction? if they only had better control on their agents etc

 

[ProfJohnL]

Hello Allyson,

Warranty is a slightly more complex issue than you allude to in your posting.

A warranty is a statement that confirms that goods conform to a particular standard. If it subsequently is proven that the goods do not comply with that standard, then the seller has made a false statement, and is therefore liable in law to repair, replace or refund the goods as appropriate. This is fundamentally what your statutory rights are under the Sale of Goods legislation.

There is no requirement in the warrantee that the goods must be serviced by a particular group of people (such as NCC approved dealers), and if there were, it would almost certainly be deemed as an unfair contractual clause, and therefore unenforceable.

What is expected is that servicing will be carried out, when and where necessary, and that parts and workmanship will be to an acceptable standard. It is up to the owner to decide how this will be achieved, and that may well be by using an NCC approved workshop.

The use of none NCC approved workshops therefore does not affect your 'warranty'.

The Warranty rests exclusively with the seller. This must not be confused with the Manufactures Guarantee that is an entirely different and separate matter.

Your contract to purchase a caravan is between you and the seller. In most cases the seller will not be the manufacture, so the manufacture is not legally obliged to you.

However, most manufactures recognise the fact that caravans are not easily transportable, and that by their very nature they may be used in places well away from their sellers location, so to help they have introduced a Manufactures Guarantee. As they are not legally obliged to provide this, it is therefore technically a gift to you from the manufacturer.

As it is a gift, the manufacture can impose a variety of stipulations on how the gift can be used. This may include things like: only use the manufactures dealers, the guarantee is non-transferable.

Under these circumstances the manufactures guarantee may become void if the clauses of the guarantee are not followed.

The picture can become even more clouded when you are offered an extended guarantee. These are simply an insurance policy, a fact that you should be clearly told when you are offered one. - and in my opinion not worth the cost of purchasing them.

 

[Hazel_374324904]

Have just dropped our 9 month old caravan off at Discovery Caravans (Mendip) nr Weston Supermare only to be told that a twin axle service costs

 

[ProfJohnL]

Have just dropped our 9 month old caravan off at Discovery Caravans (Mendip) nr Weston Supermare only to be told that a twin axle service costs