Brilliant mobile Truma engineer

[Keep Right On]

Big shout out to:

Wayne

Hampshire Caravan (and Motorhome) Services

07305 701 137

www.hampshirecaravanservices.co.uk

He's based near Fareham. Called him Saturday to ask about warranty work on Truma heating and boiler on 3 month old Bailey - new combustion motor needed. Sent him pictures and ID label same afternoon and he emailed Truma straight away so they would have something on their desk Monday first thing.
He called them Monday, ordered the part, arrived yesterday, came over this afternoon and job complete and tested within 45 minutes.
My grief still with Truma as although they covered the part and labour, they won't cover the call out charge for one of their approved mobile engineers. It's only £50 but as local dealers won't do the work on a non purchased van, am I expected to drive from Southampton to Peterborough which would cost a lot more in fuel. Surely a warranty is a warranty. I didnt begrudge paying the call out to Wayne as he was bloody brilliant, great service. He's fully qualified on mo-hos and tuggers - heating, electrics etc

 

[Gromett]

To be honest I think that is fair. The choice is yours to buy a motorhome from a place that is not local. Why should Truma foot this extra expense? Your warranty is actually with the dealer not with Truma anyway.

I am probably not going to be popular on this one, but I am on Truma's side here. eddievanbitz help!!!

 

[Keep Right On]

To be honest I think that is fair. The choice is yours to buy a motorhome from a place that is not local. Why should Truma foot this extra expense? Your warranty is actually with the dealer not with Truma anyway.

I am probably not going to be popular on this one, but I am on Truma's side here. eddievanbitz help!!!

I believe my warranty is with Bailey but when I rang their local dealer, they said they were not taking new customers. Queried with Bailey and they said the warranty was theirs but ONLY the supplying dealer was obliged to take on warranty work. Shame they or the dealer don't make it clear when you hand over £77k!
I didnt buy locally because no-one had any in stock and I didnt want to wait a year.
Bailey said the supplying dealer would have to contact them, they would have to contact Truma, Truma authorise Bailey, Bailey authorise dealer, dealer orders part from Bailey, Bailey order from truma and back down the line.
I rang Truma and they said try a local repairer but again no compulsion for them to carry out work. They suggested I try a mobile approved engineer off their website, which is where Wayne comes in.
I don't begrudge paying the £50 after all I get my van back , conveniently and quickly too - it just seems wrong that a warranty should be a warranty and the call out is part of the labour cost as should be the fuel costs if I had to drive the moho to the dealer, local or otherwise

 

[VXman]

I know how you feel. I had issues with a Thetford Fridge on a brand new Burstner motorhome. The dealer we bought it from is a 200 mile round trip. It took a year and 5 trips to get Thetford to finally agree to fit a new fridge. Even Thetford approved dealers would not take it on.

Sadly it is fairly standard practice to have to take your van back to the purchasing dealer for any warranty work. In the Burstner network I have only found one dealer who takes on non customers and they are a welcome exception.

 

[Gromett]

Your warranty is with the person you bought it off. You don't return your fish fingers you bought from Tesco to Birds eye. You don't return your Samsung TV you bought off amazon to samsung.

It has always been the case that the company you contracted with for the supply of the item is the one responsible for all warranty / returns processes.

Truma's contract is with Bailey not you. I am honestly baffled as to why you think Truma should incur extra expense when their contractual obligation is to supply bailey with parts or replacements through their normal distribution channels for the warranty.

The fact they honoured a warranty replacement outside of this channel is good enough for me. They could have refused to deal with you completely as they have no contract with you. Although that may have been a PR problem.

Truma in my view went way beyond what was required of them and rightly so. But I am fully on their side in not wanting to incur additional expense over and above.

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[Gromett]

I know how you feel. I had issues with a Thetford Fridge on a brand new Burstner motorhome. The dealer we bought it from is a 200 mile round trip. It took a year and 5 trips to get Thetford to finally agree to fit a new fridge. Even Thetford approved dealers would not take it on.

Sadly it is fairly standard practice to have to take your van back to the purchasing dealer for any warranty work. In the Burstner network I have only found one dealer who takes on not customers and they are a welcome exception.

The problem is that warranty work is not well paid. So a dealer who does warranty work is told how much they can charge. This means unless a dealer has actually made a sale and profited from it they are generally unwilling to take on the work.
I totally understand this. If my regular workshop charge was £60 an hour why on earth would I take on warranty work at £35 an hour for a vehicle that I didn't sell and didn't have any benefit from?

Buyers should understand that you have to return to the place you bought from surely?

 

[Keep Right On]

Your warranty is with the person you bought it off. You don't return your fish fingers you bought from Tesco to Birds eye. You don't return your Samsung TV you bought off amazon to samsung.

It has always been the case that the company you contracted with for the supply of the item is the one responsible for all warranty / returns processes.

Truma's contract is with Bailey not you. I am honestly baffled as to why you think Truma should incur extra expense when their contractual obligation is to supply bailey with parts or replacements through their normal distribution channels for the warranty.

The fact they honoured a warranty replacement outside of this channel is good enough for me. They could have refused to deal with you completely as they have no contract with you. Although that may have been a PR problem.

Truma in my view went way beyond what was required of them and rightly so. But I am fully on their side in not wanting to incur additional expense over and above.

I didnt say Truma should pick up the tab, just that a customer should not have to pay part of the costs of a defective 3 month old item. The manual makes it clear that the warranty is with Bailey, not the reseller/retailer.
Recently I had a faulty xerox printer which was put right by xerox not the retailer. The retailer has a legal obligation to put something right but they will reclaim off the manufacturer themselves.
Truma did go the extra mile - their customer helpine was great but there's a principle here with Bailey

 

[Gromett]

I didnt say Truma should pick up the tab, just that a customer should not have to pay part of the costs of a defective 3 month old item. The manual makes it clear that the warranty is with Bailey, not the reseller/retailer.
Recently I had a faulty xerox printer which was put right by xerox not the retailer. The retailer has a legal obligation to put something right but they will reclaim off the manufacturer themselves.
Truma did go the extra mile - their customer helpine was great but there's a principle here with Bailey

So you think Bailey should pay? You chose to buy from a shop 200 miles away and Bailey should pick up the tab for this?

 

[Gromett]

I did say I wouldn't be popular on this one sorry.

 

[Keep Right On]

So you think Bailey should pay? You chose to buy from a shop 200 miles away and Bailey should pick up the tab for this?

Yes. I bought from the nearest shop that had stock. If I buy from Tesco in Peterborough, Tesco Southampton would refund me

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[Gromett]

Yes. I bought from the nearest shop that had stock. If I buy from Tesco in Peterborough, Tesco Southampton would refund me

ok. That was good response that gave me pause for thought, but not really a valid rebuttal once I gave it a couple of seconds thought.

I do not know the name of your dealer. But if your dealer had a dealership in Peterborough and Southampton then you could have returned it to either just like you could with your Tesco purchase.
But your dealer doesn't so your Tesco analogy breaks down sorry.

 

[TheBig1]

the letter of the law is that the contract for warranty work is the dealer that supplied the van. There is no financial connection between franchises around the UK

It is an annoyance right now, but I can honestly say that worse is to come. The negotiated hourly charge at trade price that dealers work to under warranty is not enough to keep the lights on. With inflation and other pressures, a lot of dealerships are going to be going bankrupt soon. Then finding anyone to take on warranty work is going to get much harder. A £50 call out fee will seem a very cheap option soon

 

[Gromett]

the letter of the law is that the contract for warranty work is the dealer that supplied the van. There is no financial connection between franchises around the UK

It is an annoyance right now, but I can honestly say that worse is to come. The negotiated hourly charge at trade price that dealers work to under warranty is not enough to keep the lights on. With inflation and other pressures, a lot of dealerships are going to be going bankrupt soon. Then finding anyone to take on warranty work is going to get much harder. A £50 call out fee will seem a very cheap option soon

Fully agree with you. That £50 call out is a bargain in my view.

 

[Keep Right On]

ok. That was good response that gave me pause for thought, but not really a valid rebuttal once I gave it a couple of seconds thought.

I do not know the name of your dealer. But if your dealer had a dealership in Peterborough and Southampton then you could have returned it to either just like you could with your Tesco purchase.
But your dealer doesn't so your Tesco analogy breaks down sorry.

Love a bit of banter BUT if my Heinz beans were defective, I could choose to return to a) Heinz, b)Tesco, Peterborough or c) Tesco, Southampton. Heinz make sure I have choice and can return to any retailer that is convenient to me and they ultimately pick up the tab.
Bailey should ensure there retailer network will carry out work AND be rewarded for it. Seems that is the real issue here - customer service from the manufacturers?
If I was to get a complaint in my business, I would deal with it and make sure the complainant would be singing my praises by the time it was sorted

 

[Keep Right On]

Fully agree with you. That £50 call out is a bargain in my view.

I'm still not disagreeing over that aspect - it was great service. However, if I spend £77k on something that has a fault that is fundamental to the operation (ie no heating or hot water) and enjoyment within 3 months of purchase, why should I pay anything to put it right? Same principle as if I was to spend £7

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[Gromett]

Love a bit of banter BUT if my Heinz beans were defective, I could choose to return to a) Heinz, b)Tesco, Peterborough or c) Tesco, Southampton. Heinz make sure I have choice and can return to any retailer that is convenient to me and they ultimately pick up the tab.
Bailey should ensure there retailer network will carry out work AND be rewarded for it. Seems that is the real issue here - customer service from the manufacturers?
If I was to get a complaint in my business, I would deal with it and make sure the complainant would be singing my praises by the time it was sorted

We are going to have to agree to disagree on this one
You choose to go to a retailer/dealer outside of the normal service area of the manufacturer. It was your choice. Why should Baileys incur extra expense because of your choice.

 

[TheBig1]

the tesco analogy does not work, bailey is sold by dealers more akin to the local independent corner shop. take your tin of beans that is faulty to any other random shop that may also sell the same beans and they will ask for your receipt. When you show them a receipt for joe blogs the grocer in another town and they will rapidly lose interest in helping you.

Motorhomes are not like cars that can go to any other, say fiat dealership under warranty. The warranty is not written the same at all. I know it's £77k but the warranty is with the franchised dealer that sold it. Most manufacturers will also refuse to sell you parts, and only deal through the trade. A very limited system I agree

 

[Coolcats]

The whole dealer network needs a shake up, it’s not a dealer network. I brought one of my transporters from a VW dealer in Liverpool as it was a good price. The warranty work was undertaken by a VW dealer in Essex no quibble at all.

You buy a TV washing machine from a local outlet and move house those goods will be repaired in the locality you moved to.

A dealer is a dealer is a dealer the argument of a dealer saying you did not buy from me is a poor one the whole lot needs sorting

 

[Coolcats]

Love a bit of banter BUT if my Heinz beans were defective, I could choose to return to a) Heinz, b)Tesco, Peterborough or c) Tesco, Southampton. Heinz make sure I have choice and can return to any retailer that is convenient to me and they ultimately pick up the tab.
Bailey should ensure there retailer network will carry out work AND be rewarded for it. Seems that is the real issue here - customer service from the manufacturers?
If I was to get a complaint in my business, I would deal with it and make sure the complainant would be singing my praises by the time it was sorted

Spot on, the MoHo dealer network is not a dealer network.

 

[Coolcats]

I believe my warranty is with Bailey but when I rang their local dealer, they said they were not taking new customers. Queried with Bailey and they said the warranty was theirs but ONLY the supplying dealer was obliged to take on warranty work. Shame they or the dealer don't make it clear when you hand over £77k!
I didnt buy locally because no-one had any in stock and I didnt want to wait a year.
Bailey said the supplying dealer would have to contact them, they would have to contact Truma, Truma authorise Bailey, Bailey authorise dealer, dealer orders part from Bailey, Bailey order from truma and back down the line.
I rang Truma and they said try a local repairer but again no compulsion for them to carry out work. They suggested I try a mobile approved engineer off their website, which is where Wayne comes in.
I don't begrudge paying the £50 after all I get my van back , conveniently and quickly too - it just seems wrong that a warranty should be a warranty and the call out is part of the labour cost as should be the fuel costs if I had to drive the moho to the dealer, local or otherwise

The minimum the dealer should do is pay for the mobile Truma engineer if they only want local customers they shouldn’t sell nationally and if the sell nationally they need to have access to local mobile engineers.

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[Howard B]

I know how you feel. I had issues with a Thetford Fridge on a brand new Burstner motorhome. The dealer we bought it from is a 200 mile round trip. It took a year and 5 trips to get Thetford to finally agree to fit a new fridge. Even Thetford approved dealers would not take it on.

Sadly it is fairly standard practice to have to take your van back to the purchasing dealer for any warranty work. In the Burstner network I have only found one dealer who takes on non customers and they are a welcome exception.

That was one reason we bought our current van from CamperUk, they are 2 miles up the road from us. We could gave save a few £ by sourcing elsewhere, but their support so far has been very good.

 

[Coastal Cruiser.]

the letter of the law is that the contract for warranty work is the dealer that supplied the van. There is no financial connection between franchises around the UK

It is an annoyance right now, but I can honestly say that worse is to come. The negotiated hourly charge at trade price that dealers work to under warranty is not enough to keep the lights on. With inflation and other pressures, a lot of dealerships are going to be going bankrupt soon. Then finding anyone to take on warranty work is going to get much harder. A £50 call out fee will seem a very cheap option soon

Mate of mine a fair few years ago took on the Dealership for a foreign excavator manufacturer, all was going well and he had machines flying out the door.
I purchased 2 off of him then after a year he had to shut down as the warranty rate was low plus they took so long to authorise the work he would do it to keep customers happy they would then reject the claim!!
Finished him off in the end

 

[Keep Right On]

the tesco analogy does not work, bailey is sold by dealers more akin to the local independent corner shop. take your tin of beans that is faulty to any other random shop that may also sell the same beans and they will ask for your receipt. When you show them a receipt for joe blogs the grocer in another town and they will rapidly lose interest in helping you.

Motorhomes are not like cars that can go to any other, say fiat dealership under warranty. The warranty is not written the same at all. I know it's £77k but the warranty is with the franchised dealer that sold it. Most manufacturers will also refuse to sell you parts, and only deal through the trade. A very limited system I agree

I take your point but as my original post was to praise the engineer and not to have a go at truma, it seems the point got waylaid. What is strange is that if I take the motor part of the motorhome - ie the Ford Transit or Fiat Ducato base, I can take it anywhere in the UK for servicing or warranty. However, the home part of the motorhome, I can't.

 

[mitzimad]

To be honest I think that is fair. The choice is yours to buy a motorhome from a place that is not local. Why should Truma foot this extra expense? Your warranty is actually with the dealer not with Truma anyway.

I am probably not going to be popular on this one, but I am on Truma's side here. eddievanbitz help!!!

motorhomes are not as widely available as cars travelling to purchase a specific make is really the norm

 

[VXman]

That was one reason we bought our current van from CamperUk, they are 2 miles up the road from us. We could gave save a few £ by sourcing elsewhere, but their support so far has been very good.

Yep - they are the ones to which I referred. They have taken me on to fix my damp issue under warranty when my local dealer dumped me after taking money for ingress checks each year. If camper UK are as good as they sound I will be happy to drive 100 miles there once a year for checks/work.

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[Spriddler]

Bailey should ensure there retailer network will carry out work

You're not alone. Frequently discussed on here.

Approved Dealers Not Respecting Warranty

What is it with Approved Dealers not accepting warranty work if they did not sell the MH to you? We have a 22 plate Burstner that we purchased from Choose Leisure near Canterbury last August. It only had 256 miles on it so preume it was a demonstrator? Choose Leisure are not a Burstner Approved...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[VXman]

I take your point but as my original post was to praise the engineer and not to have a go at truma, it seems the point got waylaid. What is strange is that if I take the motor part of the motorhome - ie the Ford Transit or Fiat Ducato base, I can take it anywhere in the UK for servicing or warranty. However, the home part of the motorhome, I can't.

I suppose it depends which bit. I would suggest that yes you should be able to return to a dealer of your particular make for general motorhome warranty (plumbing, electrics, damp etc,) but separately manufactured items are slightly different (Truma, Dometic, Thetford etc)

Thetford have a network of 'Thetford specialists' but sadly they tend to be also dealers so are not interested. Large, mutli-national manufacturers like this should have a system for fixing under warranty. After all it is their fault if something breaks (under warranty) and the customer should not be inconvenienced/out of pocket.

 

[Bessy765]

Same old story the suppling deals has to take a hit on warranty work whatever part may fail as it’s part of the agreement to be a authorised suppling dealer. We have been fortunate in the last 5 vans have all been bought new and as I always read the T & C’s always there is the bit that states that it is the customer own cost to return the van for any warranty work to the suppling dealer. I was lucky on one of the vans bought at the NEC but from an independent dealer up north that my local Marquis agreed to do any warranty work. Given the problems and poor quality of our Burstner I am now glad its out of warranty and I fix it myself.