service. How long does it take

[will2]

Hello

On Monday we took our caravan to the dealers for a service.After talking to the dealer about the service I asked what time the caravan would be ready.His reply was "About Thursday".

Does it normally take this long??.

Thanks Will

 

[LMH]

Hi Will

Yes, it takes that long around this area!

Lisa

 

[LMH]

Will - I forgot to add, I hope your van is not parked as tight as they parked ours when we went to collect it. God, what a nightmare to get it out of their yard. (Cram 'em in).

Lisa

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

You have to be joking about the timescale for a service, surely.

We used to take ours in at 8am and it was ready about 1pm.

We now have a mobile engineer come to our home and service it. He also does any repairs thats needed under warranty.

 

[will2]

Thanks for the reply Lisa.

The place I took our caravan is a small outlet from the main dealer.There doesnt look enough room to get stuck in. They tend to use car park at the side.

Thanks Will

 

[Wendy-Norfolk]

When we have taken our caravans to be serviced, same dealer, it has always taken a week.

I suppose it takes longer if there are specific parts needed from manufacturers. In our case, and because I am paranoid, I like every squeak to be checked out!! :O)

 

[Mikey1]

I think a week is a bit long.

A service takes approx 3-4 hrs to carry out.

If you van is in for a week they do the service when they have a spare space in the workshop or spread the time over the week.

The service is fixed time so they wont spend more hrs on it than they have too trust me.

 

[coljac]

I get mine serviced at north staffs caravans .

I ring to arrange a date and take it in for 9am .

They ring me when it is ready,usualy about 3pm .

the 2 times they have serviced my van they have found things that needed replacing under warantee and have advised me when the parts are in and in both cases they have asked me to take the van in and have done the work while i waited .

i cant fault them for service Col

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Like you coljac, we made an appointment and each time they told us to get there as early as we could. It was always on a Friday because we travelled 52 miles and made a weekend out of it, staying somewhere around Shrewsbury. We then went off for the morning until they rang our mobile to say it was ready, usually around 1pm. We then hooked up and went off to the site we were booked in at for the weekend.

 

[allen1]

Hi will,

there is an article about caravan servicing on the caravan channel website which is very interesting in video,the service time I think is about four hours if done properly.

www.caravanchannel.co.uk have a look.

 

[will2]

Thanks for the replies everyone.

Well its Thursday afternoon and still not heard when the caravan will be ready.

The service was arranged after our last trip which was April/May.It was dropped off at the dealers at 9:00 Monday morning.

Thanks Will

 

[Robert_374242026]

We had our van done last week and i watchted what it entailed , a thorough job was done for

 

[will2]

Hello everyone thanks for the replies,

Just picked up caravan service done. cost

 

[LMH]

Hi Will

Glad you got your van back, good to hear they are sorting out the damp under warranty.

On reading the some of the other posts, I think it sounds like, the bigger the dealer, the longer the time it takes. Sounds like my dealer takes bookings en mass. Yes, it might take a few hours to carry out the actual service, but if they have a significant amount of services to carry out that week, then it will take longer.

I won't be using the dealer again. Apart from the fact it was very expensive, the way they crammed the caravans into the pick up area was a disgrace. I certainly had to have my wits about me when I towed (reversed and forward,turn, reversed and forward, turn) it out.

Lisa

 

[ProfJohnL]

It does seem very strange that a dealer wants to hold onto a caravan for several days to carry out should be a routine service, especially as it only normally takes a couple of hours to do the actual work.

The dealer is making a rod for their own back, because they have to find space to store the caravan, and the longer it's on their premises the greater the chance of it being damaged.

A number of respondents have said that manoeuvring the caravan in the dealers yard is difficult because of the cramped conditions, so the dealer would be doing themselves a service to turn round the caravan ASAP and keep their yard less crowded.

I strongly recommend that if you are faced with a dealer requesting to keep your caravan for several days, ask them:

Why is it going to take so long?

Is the caravan going to be covered on their insurance policy for ALL loss or damage whilst in their care?

If they say it will be that long because they are busy, then ask them to tell you exactly when your caravan will be serviced and arrange to bring it to them at that time.

Also if the dealer's site is too cramped for your liking, then insist that the dealer takes charge of your caravan to park and retrieve it with their vehicle. That way if any collision or damage to your or any one else's caravan it is the dealers total responsibility and not yours.

 

[Surfer]

When they service your caravan they do not service the gas appliances, they only test them. They do not service any electrical items, they only test them. Basically a service is servicing the chassis etc, checking for damp and making sure that doors and windows open and close and for this privilage you can pay up to

 

[LMH]

John L and Ian

Some good points there. As I say, I'll be using a caravan servicer next year, not the dealer.

The vans were not only crammed in tight next to each other, there were also RV's opposite so to get the swing was so hard, it was an absolute nightmare. At one stage, I had about four inches to spare on one side.

I did notice one of the service people watching from a distance.

Every person who was collecting their van whilst we were there were all complaining about how difficult it was to get their vans out because they were crammed in so tightly.

One bloke said he had asked one of the service persons to move his van for him but the chap refused. It wouldn't have been hard at all to damage your own van and the ones either side of it. Disgusting.

Lisa

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

For the umpteenth time of me posting this on here, you DO NOT have to take your caravan to the dealer who supplied it, for servicing OR warranty work.

As long as the mobile service engineer has the accreditation he can do both at your home with the exception of big jobs like replacing panels. Obviously it is best to have the warranty work done at the same time as the servicing because the manufacturers will only compensate the engineer for the time it takes him to do the work, not travelling to your home.

My last service was done, with warranty work, by a mobile service engineer and the next one will be too.

http://www.mobilecaravanengineers.co.uk/

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

For the record it cost me for the service at home, including the one shot nuts and vat,

 

[ProfJohnL]

Oh Lordy!

You are right regarding service work, any suitably qualified operator can undertake service work, but with warranty work you have to be careful, If the warranty work required is to rectify faults present at the time of delivery, or the result of design, manufacturing or material defects then the matter comes under the sale of goods act, which is specifically a contractual issue between the owner and the seller.

Other work that is covered by manufactures guarantee and not subject to the sale of goods warranty, may be undertaken by a workshop other than the supplier, with the consent of the owner of the guarantee - i.e the manufacturer.

You cannot and must not assume that guarantee work can be undertaken by workshops not linked to the specific manufacturer.

It is always worth while checking with the manufacturer before making what might be an expensive mistake.

 

[Lord Braykewynde]

Like all trades there are rogues but a honest engineer will advise you as he goes along if there are any problems. The one I use is NCC accredited and also CORGI registered. He did his training for his qualifications and worked for a Bailey dealers near Hereford before going it alone. It was this dealer who actually put us in touch with him. He has done satisfactory repairs and replacements with no cost to myself under warranty so I can only speak as I find. The downside is he is very popular and gets booked quickly so I have to make an appointment a long time in advance.