Why should we trust caravan service engineers?

[Colinn]

The question arises yet again after another bad experience with main dealer servicing.

I have always held a certain sceptism of some professional worksmanship, mainly because I have regretfully found to my cost that jobs have obviously not been done properly.

Not so long ago, a caravan engineer even managed to finish my service by re-connecting the battery with reverse polarity. How can any idiot to that??

But so many issues - particularly warranties - require you to employ professional services, so you pay up and hope for the best.

AFter my latest caravan service by a main agent engineer, he advised me there was a slight trace of damp at the front nearside, and my front nearside window seal needed replacement/reinstallation next time.

I inspected said seal and no way could it be the cause. However, on cleaning the van today, I spotted that the nearside roof seal was clearly suspect and almost certainly the cause of the problem. So I have resealed it, until I can replace the entire strip soon.

My gripe is, why should I have to identify the problem - and sort it - after I have paid a lot of money for a professional service? If I can spot an obvious problem, why didn't the engineer??

This, by the way, was the same engineer who deflated my tyres from the correct 62 psi to 40 psi. "Your van must have been rocking all over the place," said he!

Point is, if the pros can't get simple things right, it makes you wonder what else they get wrong. Are we crazy to part with our money for this sort of treatment?

 

[James_374408700]

Hi Colin ,

I couldn't agree more, perhaps if we were allowed to name and shame the individuals/dealers then things would change!

 

[Parksy]

'If we were allowed to name and shame the individuals / dealers then things would change'

I'm sure that they would but unfortunately this forum has absolutely no means of checking the accuracy of stories of shoddy service.

We all know of dealers who have in our opinion fallen short of best practice when offering goods or services but the key words are 'in our opinion.'

The best that this forum can offer is advice from fellow members on how to pursue claims against dealers who provide shoddy service but as a forum we're not allowed to go into the specifics

of naming names for reasons already given.

I often see replies which bemoan the fact that we can't name bad dealers 'for fear of upsetting the advertisers' but I know of no mainstream caravan forum on the internet where specific cases and grievances against named companies are allowed to be aired.

In Colinn's situation I would point out the incompetence of the caravan engineer to the management of the dealership concerned and demand answers from them. I'd also vote with my tow hitch and never use the offending dealership again.

 

[Colinn]

'If we were allowed to name and shame the individuals / dealers then things would change'

I'm sure that they would but unfortunately this forum has absolutely no means of checking the accuracy of stories of shoddy service.

We all know of dealers who have in our opinion fallen short of best practice when offering goods or services but the key words are 'in our opinion.'

The best that this forum can offer is advice from fellow members on how to pursue claims against dealers who provide shoddy service but as a forum we're not allowed to go into the specifics

of naming names for reasons already given.

I often see replies which bemoan the fact that we can't name bad dealers 'for fear of upsetting the advertisers' but I know of no mainstream caravan forum on the internet where specific cases and grievances against named companies are allowed to be aired.

In Colinn's situation I would point out the incompetence of the caravan engineer to the management of the dealership concerned and demand answers from them. I'd also vote with my tow hitch and never use the offending dealership again.

I agree with you, Mr Mod. I don't think this Forum is the place to name and shame, and you will see I have not tried to do so. I agree that the correct procedure is for individuals to take up such matters directly. I hope people will view my posting as a general observation, with which they may agree, disagree, discuss or relate to...

 

[Rick1]

'If we were allowed to name and shame the individuals / dealers then things would change'

I'm sure that they would but unfortunately this forum has absolutely no means of checking the accuracy of stories of shoddy service.

We all know of dealers who have in our opinion fallen short of best practice when offering goods or services but the key words are 'in our opinion.'

The best that this forum can offer is advice from fellow members on how to pursue claims against dealers who provide shoddy service but as a forum we're not allowed to go into the specifics

of naming names for reasons already given.

I often see replies which bemoan the fact that we can't name bad dealers 'for fear of upsetting the advertisers' but I know of no mainstream caravan forum on the internet where specific cases and grievances against named companies are allowed to be aired.

In Colinn's situation I would point out the incompetence of the caravan engineer to the management of the dealership concerned and demand answers from them. I'd also vote with my tow hitch and never use the offending dealership again.

while I agree that we can`t name and shame dealers/service engineers, there is nothing to say that a topic forum could not be opened recomending them, ie I had my van seviced at ****** excellent service and price. or is there?

 

[Damian]

If the dealer workshop is a member of the Approved Workshop Scheme, and you get less than satisfactory service, report them to the NCC.

That is what they are there for, to maintain and improve on service issues and unless they have a complaint to follow up, they cannot do anything to improve a bad situation.

If they are not in the scheme, then that is much more difficult to resolve, apart from walking away from them fo rever, and they lose your valuable business.

 

[RogerL]

The Approved Caravan Workshop (ACW) Scheme is a marketing scheme - it doesn't have any minimum standards of work.

Until the caravan industry takes standards and regulation seriously we'll continue to be badly served.

The new gas approval scheme to replace Corgi once again excludes privately owned touring caravans - why - should we get the same porotection as householders?

 

[Damian]

Quote "The Approved Caravan Workshop (ACW) Scheme is a marketing scheme - it doesn't have any minimum standards of work."

Perhaps you would like to justify that comment with fact?

 

[MikeJE]

Hello COLINN,

I, too, am experiencing the faulty N.S. window seal diagnosis from a dealer workshop or, according to a second opinion by a mobile service engineer, a sealing strip leak. Will go for a third opinion next week.

Will keep you all posted.

 

[RogerL]

Try complaining about the standard of work carried out by an ACW - they have requirements to have procedures in place, like ISO9000, but nothing which defines minimum standards of work.

There are legal restrictions placed on electricians or gas fitters who carry out any work on my house - there are no such restrictions placed on those who service or repair privately-owned touring caravans.

After an ACW carried out a warranty repair to our caravan's gas cooker they failed to tighen a gas union AND failed to carry out a pressure test which would have identified it easily - in use, gas leaked into the interior of the caravan. Neither the ACW nor their "overseeing" body Jones Vening would acknowledge that this fell below minimum standards, and indeed pointed out to me that no minimum standards exist.

Fortunately the ACW went bust and Jones Vening no longer oversee the ACW scheme.

When ACWs are permitted to perform low-standard work that's BELOW the standard of an ordinary layman, there's something fundamentally wrong.

 

[Lutz]

I think it's rather presumptuous to call them engineers in the first place. To me they are mechanics, electricians, repairmen or at best, technicians, but not engineers.

 

[Chrisbee]

Hi Lutz, how do you define 'engineer' ?

 

[RogerL]

They would be qualified as Chartered Engineers for a start - in other words a professional qualification equivalent to an academic honours degree - not an NVQ Level 1 equivalent to CSE/GCSE pass level.

 

[baggy2508]

Hi.

Just an observation but do Lutz and RogerL not believe that these engineers do infact complete a recognised apprenticeship, and as such are entitled to call themselves engineers.

Regards John B (retired Plumber)

 

[Lutz]

I agree with RogerL. A successfully completed apprenticeship makes one a master of one's trade, but not an engineer. Anything else would reduce the term 'engineer' to a job description rather than academic title given to graduates of a university or equivalent college of technology. There has been too much inflation of titles over the past years, with people being called managers although they have no managerial responsibilities.

 

[RogerL]

John - completion of a recognised apprenticeship entitles the use of the trade title, eg plumber, electrician, fitter, turner etc but NOT engineer.

Sadly, the caravan industry doesn't even have recognised apprenticeship qualifications - despite the fact that it wouldn't be difficult to bring together the relevant parts of mains electrical, low voltage electrical, gas, plumbing, heating etc industries.

 

[Dustydog]

I always thought an "engineer" was a person who was qualified to drive a steam locomotive.

My cousins run their own businesses.

One is an Electrical Engineer, the other a Mechanical Engineer.

My son is a Corgi registered Gas engineer.

OMG I'm really lost now, am I a forum engineer? LOL.

To the main point. Find yourself a really good trustworthy caravan dealer with fully equipped workshops and get to know the blokes who do the work. Not that difficult.

If Mr Mods agree why we can't we start naming the ones who do deliver the goods? That may well help people like Colinn avoid his current problem.

Cheers

Dustydog ( A dog Engineer)

 

[Lutz]

In the company where I worked, the term 'engineer' was used only for engineers who graduated from university or college of technology. Anyone doing the work of an enginneer but not graduated was a 'senior technical assistant'. This didn't necessarily have any effect on their salary, but there was a clear differentiation of title. For a time, we even had a chief engineer who wasn't a graduated engineer and could therefore only call himself engineering director, not chief engineer.

 

[Parksy]

Further to DD's point about naming caravan workshops who provide good service, that's fine and poses no problem as far as the forum rules are concerned. Nobody ever faced the threat of legal action for praising a service provider.

Often a member will submit a post which indicates that they are happy with a service provided and another post will appear which states that the opposite applies in their case. Again, that's fine so long as in the case of complaints specific issues and actual complaints are not aired on the forum.

 

[Dustydog]

Thanks Parksy,

Do you think "Technical" or wherever is the best place to start a new thread on the good dealers / workshops?

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[RogerL]

Parksy - for clarity, how should the forum handle a situation where one member "names and praises" but another member has good evidence to disagree - since the policy prevents "naming and shaming" the posts may become unfairly one sided.

It's important for any forum to be even-handed.

 

[caravanoracle]

getting back to the original question on the thread "Why should we trust caravan service engineers?".......why should we trust ANY service engineer/technician? because unless you can do the job yourself you NEED these people to do a job for you. as in all other trades you will get good and bad. the trick is to use tradesmen which have a good reputation and are reccomended. in this respect you dont need any forum for this, just ask fellow caravanners.

 

[Dustydog]

in this respect you dont need any forum for this, just ask fellow caravanners.

Caravan Oracle,

Isn't that exactly what we do on this forum?

Ok I see lots of fellow caravanners on sites but most live elsewhere. What did you have in mind??

Cheers

Dustydog

 

[Colinn]

Quite frankly, I don't care whether you call them engineers, technicians or twits. That all rather misses the point, which is that these are the people employed by the main dealers, to whom we are obliged to submit our caravans for service, and we simply have to keep our fingers crossed that we get our vans back in a better state than they were in before. In my experience, that has not always been the case.

It is not always that easy to rely on word of mouth for good operators (how does that description suit?) - my nearest main dealer, for example is 40 miles away!

 

[VicWildish]

I consider that I was very badly ripped off a couple of years ago by a so called "Approved Workshop". Once my caravan came out of warranty I decided to use a mobile bloke.

He is a one man band who has to be good to survive. So far he has proven utterly reliable and his work has been first class. Next month he will be carrying out a full annual service on my 'van. His cost?