Can an authorised Fiat repair dealership pick and choose their customers?

[Ivory55]

they should be able to fund it out of profits if they are earning that well.



Regardless of the product any wait is to long for me.

You’re only here once, spend the profit and enjoy not on more workshops.

 

[maison]

When it comes to issues with the habitation area there are “Authorised Workshops” about.

We have had most of our warranty work carried out by one such for about thirty years. They don’t sell m/hs or Caravans, just repair and service them. As an Authorised Workshop their work is warranted by the manufacturer and is of a good standard. Everything from a leaking window seal to a complete exterior wall replacement and anything in between.

 

[joka250]

I know that one of the most respected and biggest motorhome dealers in the country book their workshops 6 to 9 months in advance leaving only very limited space for genuine emergency work which warranty and recall stuff usually isn't.

I don't know which dealership you refer to and it's academic really but I believe I'm correct in saying that Brownhills in Newark a full blown Fiat Professional dealership operate their workshop on a 12 hours a day 7 days a week basis with 25 bays. This is not a recommendation for them but I would question the ability to produce another 25 or so technicians suitable for the work required. I suspect they would take on more work if they could get the staff. It's worth noting that their lead time is not the shortest.

 

[BILL 875]

I have run a business and you try to expand it in this country you find 40% muppets, 40% are too big, (you can see i am being polite here)20% v good, its just finding them i suppose, new people also have to be trained not a 5 minute job either, on warranty work i had a recall at a Fiat Pro garage on the exhaust pipe 4 hrs it took price on the job sheet £329.00 good or bad i dont know.
Bill

 

[Minxy]

When it comes to issues with the habitation area there are “Authorised Workshops” about.

We have had most of our warranty work carried out by one such for about thirty years. They don’t sell m/hs or Caravans, just repair and service them. As an Authorised Workshop their work is warranted by the manufacturer and is of a good standard. Everything from a leaking window seal to a complete exterior wall replacement and anything in between.

The issue is that these 'authorised workshops' are only authorised to carry out warranty work and hab checks a small minority of MH manufacturers' products ... if they could encourage more manufacturers to support the AWS scheme it would benefit us all.

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[maison]

The issue is that these 'authorised workshops' are only authorised to carry out warranty work and hab checks a small minority of MH manufacturers' products ... if they could encourage more manufacturers to support the AWS scheme it would benefit us all.

Yes, agreed.

The more that join the scheme the more pressure it will bring to bear on dealerships.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

they should be able to fund it out of profits if they are earning that well.

They probably could. I can't think of any reason why they would want to though.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

If I take a car to a dealer in my experience, whether or not I bought from them they can fit me in, in a reasonable time, usually not more than one or two weeks. . So to answer your question since the motorhome costs more than twice as much as a car I expect the same level of service at least. So the dealers need to set out their capacities etc to provide a decent service, or they will not be here when times get tougher and people can walk away.

The comparison doesn't stand up.

Millions of new cars v a handful of new motorhomes.

No motorhome manufacturer or dealer anywhere is going to have service capacity comparable to a car main dealer. It's ridiculous to suggest they should.

They have their capacities set to take care of the business that matters to them, not have endless empty space on the off chance that someone who bought their vehicle elsewhere will walk in and demand that their trivial warranty issue is sorted out on the spot.

Your last sentence makes no sense. If there is a downturn workshop capacity will be scaled back to reflect sales figures. They still won't care about dropping everything to look after someone who didn't buy their vehicle from them.

 

[tonyidle]

A sideways look at this subject, and one that IMO demonstrates remarkable flexibility by the dealers: I have owned four motorhomes during the last 20 years. Non new but each newer than the last. Three from dealerships and one private. The three were each from different dealers. In each case any work within the warranty period has been carried out by myself, without prior agreement, and each time the dealer has paid for the materials used. No arguments, no fuss, and without seeing the faulty item (or even a photograph of it). Most expensive item was £130 for a combustion fan for a Truma, cheapest probably an engine radiator around £80. I'm aware these aren't large amounts of money and the dealers saved substantially on workshop time but I've been impressed that they took my word for the fact that the fault existed.

 

[motorhomer]

The comparison doesn't stand up.

Millions of new cars v a handful of new motorhomes.

No motorhome manufacturer or dealer anywhere is going to have service capacity comparable to a car main dealer. It's ridiculous to suggest they should.

They have their capacities set to take care of the business that matters to them, not have endless empty space on the off chance that someone who bought their vehicle elsewhere will walk in and demand that their trivial warranty issue is sorted out on the spot.

Your last sentence makes no sense. If there is a downturn workshop capacity will be scaled back to reflect sales figures. They still won't care about dropping everything to look after someone who didn't buy their vehicle from them.

I disagree. And I strongly object to the language used in this post. If you accuse people of being "ridiculous" and "making no sense" I suggest you don't post at all. Yes there are millions of car sales compared to motorhomes but there are also many, many, times more car dealers than there are for motorhomes .We are talking here about dealers not manufacturers. So the comparison I made is perfectly valid. My final point is if dealers do not gear up appropriately for the client base, then those people for whom they do not provide an adequate service will simply go elsewhere and the dealers may regret it when times are not so good. If you are spending 50/60K you deserve decent service.
I have bought 6 new motorhomes from 5 dealers over the years and so do have some experience (I wonder whether Nicknic has ?). I have been very happy with most dealer experiences, the one exception was a company whose service I regarded as inadequate and now I now simply do not consider for new purchases, so their loss - which was my point.

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[Deleted member 29692]

was a company whose service I regarded as inadequate and now I now simply do not consider for new purchases, so their loss

I'm sure they're devastated

 

[Minxy]

I'm sure they're devastated

They may be if others are doing the same thing ... lost sales etc.

 

[Camdoon]

How many dealers are prepared to do warranty work for vans they have not sold? It is the industry norm not to and suggests there is little, if any, profit in doing the work. I am sure dealers reflect on the impact turning customers away has on their business. One of the tips given on here - buy a van locally in case of warranty work.
The worst level of dealership service I have ever had was with a premium German car manufacturer with 3 different dealers within a 20 mile range all of whom were useless.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

They may be if others are doing the same thing ... lost sales etc.

That's the point though, they won't be.

Sales and servicing are separate operations.

All people care about when buying a new van is the price. Nobody anywhere ever has asked the dealer if they will guarantee access to the workshop within 2 weeks and made that a deal breaker.

Do you really, seriously, believe that anyone would pay more for their van if a dealer promised that?

If after sales were that important to anyone then, based on the stories we've all heard, Brownhills would have been out of business years ago.

Dealers operate workshops to support their sales, no other reason. Servicing etc is an added bonus and warranty work is a pain in the arse. If sales fall the workshop side is the first thing that gets scaled back because it's the least profitable part of the business.

If it came to it they could scrap their workshop side altogether, just keep enough capacity to PDI new vans, not offer servicing at all and refer all warranty work back to the manufacturer. If that meant they could beat the competition by 5%-10% on the price of a new van they'd still get the sales, which at the end of the day is all that matters.

The dealer I bought my van from already does that to an extent although I've never used them for anything as I had other issues with them. Their "workshop" is big enough for one van. They do PDIs and whatever hab services they can fit in, nothing else. If you want them to do it you wait until they have space, end of story. Trying to talk to them about warranty work is completely pointless. They have their loyal customers who go back to them all the time and that's all they want. It works for them and they're always full up. If they weren't busy it's one shed and one man who does other stuff anyway so it wouldn't matter one little bit. If they had no servicing at all and only did PDIs it still wouldn't matter to them.

Unless you're one of the major players like Highbridge or Brownhills massive workshops just aren't viable.

If someone tries to charge enough to make their workshop at least break even on it's own then you get people on here starting threads entitled "Rip Off Dealer" or something equally stupid and it's well documented that they lose money on warranty work as the manufacturer rates aren't enough. Bearing in mind that they're there to make money, not provide a public service, is it any wonder that providing workshop services to people that bought their van elsewhere is pretty low down on their list of priorities?

 

[Ivory55]

True joe public is a fickle bunch. They will without fail break ranks at the slight hint of getting something cheaper.

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[Deleted member 29692]

All this is getting away from the question in the thread title anyway.

Can an authorised Fiat repair dealership pick and choose their customers?

Yes, of course they can. No private business anywhere is under any obligation to work for anyone if it doesn't want to.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

True joe public is a fickle bunch. They will without fail break ranks at the slight hint of getting something cheaper.

Especially in these parts

 

[Minxy]

They may be if others are doing the same thing ... lost sales etc.

That's the point though, they won't be.

Sales and servicing are separate operations.

But its still part of the business's bottom line profit ...

If after sales were that important to anyone then, based on the stories we've all heard, Brownhills would have been out of business years ago.

I suggest you look at Brownhills history as you've just shot yourself in the foot using them as an example!

 

[Deleted member 29692]

But its still part of the business's bottom line profit ...

Not necessarily.

If the workshop doesn't make money, and if they do a lot of warranty work they won't be, and has to be subsided by the sales side then reducing capacity, or scrapping it altogether, would have a positive effect on the bottom line.

I suggest you look at Brownhills history as you've just shot yourself in the foot using them as an example!

Perhaps you've heard different stories to me then

Where did the saying "disappear faster than a Brownhills service agent" come from anyway?

 

[Minxy]

Perhaps you've heard different stories to me then

I suggest you do the research ... Brownhills now isn't the same company it was due to problems in the past ... 'foot in mouth' is the phrase I'm thinking of ....

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[Deleted member 29692]

I suggest you do the research ... Brownhills now isn't the same company it was due to problems in the past ... 'foot in mouth' is the phrase I'm thinking of ....

Maybe it's not now but by that statement you acknowledge that it was and given the problems that you acknowledge it had in the past if anyone really cared about aftersales when buying a new van it wouldn't have survived

Whose foot in whose mouth?

 

[Minxy]

Maybe it's not now but by that statement you acknowledge that it was and given the problems that you acknowledge it had in the past if anyone really cared about aftersales when buying a new van it wouldn't have survived

Whose foot in whose mouth?

Do the research ... they nearly didn't survive and only did so after a LOT of changes, buy-outs etc ... they had one of the worse (if not THE worse) reputations for after sales I've every come across and I don't have any doubt at all that this put a LOT of people off using them and added to their financial difficulties.

You are saying it doesn't make a difference to MH dealers ... the Brownhills history IMV proves this to be wrong.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I think all the people on here who think profit is a dirty word and that all business exist only to provide a public service should put their money where their mouths are and open a motorhome service and warranty workshop.

You can all get together and finance it. You'll need to find premises, employ suitably trained and skilled staff and obtain all necessary approvals and registration to be able to take on warranty work.

Based on this and other similar threads your business model should be that you will guarantee to take on any job that anyone wants, no matter how impossible, you will guarantee do it exactly when they demand it, in exactly the timeframe they demand, no matter how impossible, you will guarantee to only charge them what they think they should pay now matter what it costs you to do the job and you will guarantee to do warranty work immediately without waiting for manufacturers authorisation and you will happily take whatever financial hit that entails.

The rest of us can have a sweepstake on how long it lasts

I await the announcement of your opening with baited breath..................

 

[Deleted member 29692]

I think all the people on here who think profit is a dirty word and that all business exist only to provide a public service should put their money where their mouths are and open a motorhome service and warranty workshop.

You can all get together and finance it. You'll need to find premises, employ suitably trained and skilled staff and obtain all necessary approvals and registration to be able to take on warranty work.

Based on this and other similar threads your business model should be that you will guarantee to take on any job that anyone wants, no matter how impossible, you will guarantee do it exactly when they demand it, in exactly the timeframe they demand, no matter how impossible, you will guarantee to only charge them what they think they should pay now matter what it costs you to do the job and you will guarantee to do warranty work immediately without waiting for manufacturers authorisation and you will happily take whatever financial hit that entails.

The rest of us can have a sweepstake on how long it lasts

I await the announcement of your opening with baited breath..................

I forgot one other important thing.

You will also guarantee that you will have workshops no more than 17 minutes drive from anyone who owns a motorhome

 

[Minxy]

I forgot one other important thing.

You will also guarantee that you will have workshops no more than 17 minutes drive from anyone who owns a motorhome

... so long as I can pick and choose which funsters I allow to use my facilities ... some I wouldn't want anywhere near my premises!

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[Camdoon]

All this is getting away from the question in the thread title anyway.

Can an authorised Fiat repair dealership pick and choose their customers?

Yes, of course they can. No private business anywhere is under any obligation to work for anyone if it doesn't want to.

Not strictly true. There is the case in N Ireland of the bakery refusing to create a. cake supporting gay marriage and it is being dragged through the courts.
The way many turn away business is by overinflating prices ( i don’t have time to do this but if I do I will have a week in Tenerife out of it) which warranty work on fixed rates doesn’t allow you to do.

 

[Deleted member 29692]

... so long as I can pick and choose which funsters I allow to use my facilities ... some I wouldn't want anywhere near my premises!

Nope sorry. Based on the title and theme of this thread you have to accept anyone

 

[nicholsong]

I always buy 'out of warranty' vehicles when all the base vehicle issues have been sorted at the cost of someone else's blood pressure. I'm then able to take it to my local garage who has looked after my family's cars for 30 years or any number of non-specialist motorhome dealers/garages. For hab service I use a mobile engineer. He comes to ME. If I'm going to be out I hide the keys for him or leave them with a neighbour. So simple.

I am similar.

I bought secondhand so warranty does not come into my decision. For mechanical work I go to a well-recommended commercial vehicle workshop down the road. They are only a workshop so no sales side. They have been great -usually get booked in within the week and work is good, without looking for extra work, and price is much cheaper than UK.

Any decent commercial workshop should be capable of working on a Ducato/Boxer/Trafic and also Mercedes and Ford - that just about covers the van market.

With my BMW cars, even the company one's, I went to a lock-up two-man garage whose owner had been BMW-trained and was authorised by BMW. Half the price of a Dealer.

Most hab repairs have been so minor I did them myself. As for going to a N+B Dealer, there is not one in the whole of Poland. Anything major I would probably have to go to N+B or Niesmann Caravans at Polch - it would be a bit expensive, but considering our Arto is 15 years old and in my 9 years ownership it has not needed anything the cost spread over 9 years would be bearable.

Geoff

 

[Minxy]

Nope sorry. Based on the title and theme of this thread you have to accept anyone

In that case I'll have to shelve my plans to open a super-duper all-singing and dancing workshop facility .... oh well ...

 

[Deleted member 29692]

Not strictly true. There is the case in N Ireland of the bakery refusing to create a. cake supporting gay marriage and it is being dragged through the courts.
The way many turn away business is by overinflating prices ( i don’t have time to do this but if I do I will have a week in Tenerife out of it) which warranty work on fixed rates doesn’t allow you to do.

The bakery in NI were a bit silly in how they turned the work away. They didn't have to do it but they can't break other laws in turning it down.

As you say they could have priced it away or they could have said yes but we're busy, we can do it in 8 months.

I do both regularly if I decide I don't want to work for someone and have done for years in a variety of industries.

One of the first questions when a new potential customer appears is "is this clown likely to be more trouble than they're worth?" If the answer is "yes" then one way or another I'm not working for them, if the answer is "possibly" then they're paying a premium.

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