Dealer leaves us in the lurch

Only just come back to this thread. I applaud Lowdhams for joining and coming on here to explain the situation.

More importantly, however, is that it shows the increasing power and influence that the MHF Forum has in the industry. It is a credit to Jim that his "baby" has matured into a force to be reckoned with.
 
SMC are now Knaus and Newark on Trent not far from Lowdhams, you will get better service there.
 
Lowdham’s are no longer a Knaus dealership. If it were my Motorhome I’d make every effort to get details of the claim against Knaus. If claim has been authorised then I would contact Knaus asking them for nearest members of their dealership network and then do your research to see who comes most highly recommended. My goal would be to get the very best job done regardless of travel. Yes you can argue Lowdham’s are responsible but I wouldn’t trust their enthusiasm to carry out a major repair on behalf of Knaus given they’ve now severed ties with them. As I see it you have a major investment in your Motorhome and unless repair carried out to highest level, it will potentially impact on future resale value. Really hope you get this sorted out successfully. The issue here surely is not who’s responsible legally etc, since Knaus have accepted the claim, but who in the UK can carry out the very best repair for you. Seriously, some dealerships are very skilled with loads of experience in this area whilst others would struggle to change a light bulb!! If you think SMC have the credentials then fantastic.
 
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Mike Rivers said:
Lowdham’s are no longer a Knaus dealership. If it were my Motorhome I’d make every effort to get details of the claim against Knaus. If claim has been authorised then I would contact Knaus asking them for nearest members of their dealership network and then do your research to see who comes most highly recommended. My goal would be to get the very best job done regardless of travel. Yes you can argue Lowdham’s are responsible but I wouldn’t trust their enthusiasm to carry out a major repair on behalf of Knaus given they’ve now severed ties with them. As I see it you have a major investment in your Motorhome and unless repair carried out to highest level, it will potentially impact on future resale value. Really hope you get this sorted out successfully.
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As I understand it Lowdhams have contacted 6 Knaus dealers. 2 have declined, 3 haven't replied and SMC have offered to help. Not a lot of choice there. But SMC seem to have a good reputation, so I'm going ahead when they contact me.

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WOW, I bet your relieved it is now moving forward.

It is an unfortunate fact of life, that for some reason or other Manufacturers drop their agents/dealers for what seems a drop of the hat. When this happens it does not help in any shape or form the end user, IE the customer who has a problem.

I wish you all the luck that your problems may soon be behind you, and only issues you have in the future are those of where to go next.

Flook
 
Lowdhams said:
Lowdhams hope that the statement below explains our current position with regards to Knaus

For over 18 years Lowdhams have supplied Knaus vehicles to our customers however we took a difficult decision around 3 years ago to relinquish the Knaus franchise for various commercial reasons. During the period since this decision we were still able to look after our customers for servicing and repairs however Knaus have now stated that we can no longer carry out any warranty work on vehicles we retailed once the vehicles are over 24 months old which mainly affects the extra moisture ingress warranty on the vehicles. This is a decision taken by the manufacturer and obtaining spare parts and having any warranty claims accepted has become increasingly difficult. A Knaus motorhome comes with a manufacturers backed warranty and is European wide so there should be no issue having necessary work being carried out at a suitable Knaus dealer. The Knaus website is showing 17 alternative locations in the UK with the closest being 14 miles from our location. When Knaus went into liquidation in 2008 Lowdhams were the only dealer left in the UK that covered all of our existing customers warranty claims at a huge cost to our company as there was no manufacturer to recover the costs. We took this action so our customers were not left out of pocket in a difficult period and did not have a motorhome which they could not get repaired. On this occasion the warranty is still fully intact with the manufacturer and any Knaus dealer should be able to honour the warranty for the vehicle. We are obviously sorry that any of our customers have been inconvenienced and Lowdhams will always honour our legal obligations however, the decision which means we can no longer do warranty work is out of our hands and taken by the manufacturer. I hope this clarifies the situation and I have been assured that all customers ongoing warranty claims will be honoured by Knaus however we are happy to help our customers where we can in the future.

Kind regard


Lowdhams
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Can you advise why you advised the vehicle owner in September that you had referred the warranty claim back to Knaus and were awaiting a response. Also advising that Knaus are usually slow to respond when the op asked for an update in October and November.Did you think they would just give up and go away? You also gave the same responses in January and when finally pushed you advised the op by e mail that you were no longer able to carry out warranty work on Knaus vehicles.
Can you explain any of the above?
 
A bit of good news at last, hope things move forward in a positive way from now on.

I purchased my previous Pilote A Class from SMC and found their workshop manager and his technicians to be excellent and go the 'extra mile' to ensure customers leave happy. I've no affiliation with SMC apart from being a satisfied customer and I'm a particularly picky bugger!!
 
Jim said:
I don't know this company, never had any dealings with them at all. Yes, there are a few horror stories about some aftersales online, but you can say the same for almost every company from Apple to your local Chinese restaurant.

However that Lowdhams are so successful in an industry that survives on repeat business means that they must get a lot more right than they get wrong. I'm sure the right approach to the MD,who will likely be blissfully unaware of your problems, will get the ball rolling toward a satisfactory conclusion, to what is essentially a simple problem to sort out, and should have been done months ago. Being polite at all times is good business sense. There is never a time to be rude in negotiations.
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While your advice on the subject has been spot on, don't assume all successful mh/caravan dealers are as professional. When I wrote to both of the directors of Catterick Caravans rejecting my crappy new Elddis, neither of them could even be bothered to respond. In the end it took 5 months and a solicitor to get a resolution.

Frankly I believe many dealers put profits before good customer relations as there are plenty of mugs out there. One mug actually was happy to buy my rejected van for just £4.5k less than a new van on the promise that the dealer (it had been sold on with none of the many structural issues fixed) could fix things within a couple of days. An Elddis engineer who examined the van thought there were structural supports missing in the side wall, and I later found the sagging roof would need a complete new roof. This mug was aware of the faults but still happy to have the van.
 
Hi there, very sorry to read what’s happened to you. Just a thought, not sure how you paid for your vehicle but if any amount was on finance no matter how small you should contact the finance company who should help you in this situation.
apologies if this has already been suggested.

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SMC finally contacted me about doing the work and knew nothing about the claim from Lowdhams or Knaus. I don't think anybody talks to each other in the motorhome trade. Said they'd make enquiries.

Heard nothing for a few days so phoned them the week after. They said the claim number with Knaus had expired and they'd need the van in order to do an assessment and start the process again.

Incredible stuff!
 
Makingtrax said:
SMC finally contacted me about doing the work and knew nothing about the claim from Lowdhams or Knaus. I don't think anybody talks to each other in the motorhome trade. Said they'd make enquiries.

Heard nothing for a few days so phoned them the week after. They said the claim number with Knaus had expired and they'd need the van in order to do an assessment and start the process again.

Incredible stuff!
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Good luck with it.

Frustrating doesn’t come near covering it. Hopefully all will be resolved soon and you can move on. (y)
 
That sounds a familiar story from the appliance trade, Manufacturers did not want to know really, and still don't today, despite reports they reckoned they never received which were confirmed as being sent.

I wish you all the best though, despite starting over remind them to remind Knaus to jog their collective memory about your issues.
 
Lowdhams said:
….the extra moisture ingress ………..
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aka 'leaking'. Doncha just lurve marketing speak!

The customer service staff at my leading alkaline battery manufacturer were instructed to refer to damage from leaking batteries as 'consequential electrolyte migration' and refer to complaints about batteries exploding as 'cell decrimping'.

(Credit to Lowdhams for replying all the same).
 
Spriddler said:
aka 'leaking'. Doncha just lurve marketing speak!

The customer service staff at my leading alkaline battery manufacturer were instructed to refer to damage from leaking batteries as 'consequential electrolyte migration' and refer to complaints about batteries exploding as 'cell decrimping'.

(Credit to Lowdhams for replying all the same).
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:LOL:
That stuff is everywhere now to produce a smokescreen over the reality. Like 'collateral damage', instead of killing people accidentally.

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Makingtrax said:
SMC finally contacted me about doing the work and knew nothing about the claim from Lowdhams or Knaus. I don't think anybody talks to each other in the motorhome trade. Said they'd make enquiries.

Heard nothing for a few days so phoned them the week after. They said the claim number with Knaus had expired and they'd need the van in order to do an assessment and start the process again.

Incredible stuff!
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Unfortunately it may take a few weeks to sort. They will have to review your van, submit a claim for the work to knaus, have the claim authorised and once accepted then order any parts. Ording the parts can take 6 weeks before they arrive if your lucky, then SMC need to book you in. I doubt they will give you a repair date if parts are required, until they have them to hand.
 
Jimbohorlicks said:
Unfortunately it may take a few weeks to sort. They will have to review your van, submit a claim for the work to knaus, have the claim authorised and once accepted then order any parts. Ording the parts can take 6 weeks before they arrive if your lucky, then SMC need to book you in. I doubt they will give you a repair date if parts are required, until they have them to hand.
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Think you've hit the nail on the head. The rear camera isn't working because it's probably got water in it. Apart from that, the van is still useable I guess.
 
I don't know this dealer but people on this thread keep assuming that Lowdenhams have 'lost' the dealership.

It is possible for a dealer to be deleted by a supplier but very unusual. It is more likely that Lowdenhams have decided to stock a different range due to sales/profit margins etc.

It is not like a main car dealer changing brands where the whole building needs to be re-branded. Most camping car dealers carry little range specific parts stock so changing brands is easy.

As far as the specific problem that you have, Jim and others are quite right. Send recorded delivery letter to the MD listing in a brief and succinct manner (bullet points work well), the problem that you have and what action you want the dealer to perform. Ask for a written response in 7 days.

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Paul and Val said:
I don't know this dealer but people on this thread keep assuming that Lowdenhams have 'lost' the dealership.

It is possible for a dealer to be deleted by a supplier but very unusual. It is more likely that Lowdenhams have decided to stock a different range due to sales/profit margins etc.

It is not like a main car dealer changing brands where the whole building needs to be re-branded. Most camping car dealers carry little range specific parts stock so changing brands is easy.

As far as the specific problem that you have, Jim and others are quite right. Send recorded delivery letter to the MD listing in a brief and succinct manner (bullet points work well), the problem that you have and what action you want the dealer to perform. Ask for a written response in 7 days.
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As you say you dont know. So you shouldn't cast doubt on the dealers word without any proof.
The OP has had SMC offer to resubmit the claim to the manufacturer as one of its current agents. So for now its all in hand.
 
jezport said:
As you say you dont know. So you shouldn't cast doubt on the dealers word without any proof.
The OP has had SMC offer to resubmit the claim to the manufacturer as one of its current agents. So for now its all in hand.
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Wow! Thank you for your lecture. I think you need to re-read my post. There is a chance that you might understand it the second time.

I was absolutely NOT doubting the dealers word in any way, rather I was just making the point that unless I have missed some information, that it is unlikely that the dealer had the franchise taken from them.
 
Paul and Val said:
Wow! Thank you for your lecture. I think you need to re-read my post. There is a chance that you might understand it the second time.

I was absolutely NOT doubting the dealers word in any way, rather I was just making the point that unless I have missed some information, that it is unlikely that the dealer had the franchise taken from them.
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See post #81
it explains the situation from the dealer
 
Clarkster said:
Hi there, very sorry to read what’s happened to you. Just a thought, not sure how you paid for your vehicle but if any amount was on finance no matter how small you should contact the finance company who should help you in this situation.
apologies if this has already been suggested.
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Took a solicitor to sort it in the end.
 
Update:

Finally got an appointment and took our M/H to SMC yesterday.

They were brilliant. Took me into the workshop, showed me the damp readings on the back wall at 60% just under the bike rack, had a meeting with body shop manager and chief technician. They suggested there was little damage if any to the back wall.

Their conclusion: The damp isn't likely to be coming from the factory fitted rear camera, more likely the Lowdhams fitted bike rack, a Knaus warranty fix of replacing the back wall would be overkill and disturb all the factory fitted seals at the rear of the van. The bike rack needs coming off, the wall drying out and then the rack refitted and sealed properly.

They offered to fix it but thought that Lowdhams should. So 6 months later we're almost back where we started, after endless phone calls, emails and a long trip to Newark and back.

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You know what the issue is now though and it does sound to be a reasonably straight forward fix. I trust smc sealed around the bike rack area where they thought the leak is as, a temporary measure to prevent ongoing damage.
Best of luck with lowdenhams, but if smc can repair it within the knaus warranty at no cost to you I would let them do it.
 
Makingtrax said:
Update:

Finally got an appointment and took our M/H to SMC yesterday.

They were brilliant. Took me into the workshop, showed me the damp readings on the back wall at 60% just under the bike rack, had a meeting with body shop manager and chief technician. They suggested there was little damage if any to the back wall.

Their conclusion: The damp isn't likely to be coming from the factory fitted rear camera, more likely the Lowdhams fitted bike rack, a Knaus warranty fix of replacing the back wall would be overkill and disturb all the factory fitted seals at the rear of the van. The bike rack needs coming off, the wall drying out and then the rack refitted and sealed properly.

They offered to fix it but thought that Lowdhams should. So 6 months later we're almost back where we started, after endless phone calls, emails and a long trip to Newark and back.
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If I were in your damp shoes I would ask SMC to carry out the repair work + a written report. Be clear that you will pay SMC because it is no longer a Knaus warranty issue.

Then, claim against Lowdhams to recover your outlay + other consequential expenses, as damages for breach of the contract of sale. Given the circumstances I doubt that you need to give Lowdhams another chance to remedy this breach.

Just my 2d worth.
 
Hettie's Crew said:
We had to threaten legal action in writing before Lowdhams Nottingham acted appropriately with us. They just kept fobbing us off, not ringing back, the managers on holiday, all sorts of delaying tactics.
When we bought it it had their three year gold warranty, until we put a claim in and discovered they’d never registered or paid for it.
We also found they were very happy to put claims in to Hymer so they could do warranty work, they replaced our locker door twice because of high moisture readings and wanted to do it a third time before I insisted they locate the cause of the high readings, which turned out to be a slight leak fixed with a bit of sealer.
Thankfully our warranty period is over and we never need to visit them again.
On a positive note, our buying experience was excellent, good price, very good part ex price.
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We also threatened legal action against Lowdhams. In the end my husband fixed our MH and sent Lowdhams a bill for £3,000. They paid it.
 
Makingtrax

I agree with SpeedyDux above.

Let the company who have diagnosed the problem fix it. Inform Lowdhams, in advance, that because of their failure to act you intend to have it fixed elsewhere and bill them for the work. Give them a definite time scale to respond, say three days or so, or you will proceed. It should strengthen your hand in a Small Claims Court, if it comes to that.

I would prefer to have SMC fix the problem if it was me. An incorrectly fitted after-market part cannot be held to be a warranty job for the vehicle manufacturer. It should, however, be a warranty job for the fitting company.

Still, take what you can, get it done, and put it behind you.

Good luck.

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