Where’s nice and hot

Brize said:
I agree with Bill-H , this is the perfect time to test everything; it's going to warm up this coming week anyway, and the worst of the 'big freeze' is over.

You don't necessarily have to sleep in the van (at first anyway), but you can get the heating going, fill it with water and check the hot water works. Are the fresh/waste tanks inside or outside, and if the latter does it have tank blankets (heating)? Check all appliances - fridge, oven and microwave.
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Yep I’ll be doing all that on my drive, hooking up, testing everything. Heating, lighting, shower, taps, hot & cold water, windows, electric skylights, electric table, rise and fall bed, hot plate, hob, oven, microwave, central heating radiators, water pumps, hydraulic legs, tyre pressures, water, oil, brake fluid, brakes and vehicle lights, as soon as it hits +12c. I’ll put the heated under blanket on, get the electric heated body wraps, and head off once loaded for somewhere warm,
 
our poppy llll said:
Yep I’ll be doing all that on my drive, hooking up, testing everything. Heating, lighting, shower, taps, hot & cold water, windows, electric skylights, electric table, rise and fall bed, hot plate, hob, oven, microwave, central heating radiators, water pumps, hydraulic legs, tyre pressures, water, oil, brake fluid, brakes and vehicle lights, as soon as it hits +12c. I’ll put the heated under blanket on, get the electric heated body wraps, and head off once loaded for somewhere warm,
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You missed out testing the horn :p:p
 
our poppy llll said:
Yep I’ll be doing all that on my drive, hooking up, testing everything. Heating, lighting, shower, taps, hot & cold water, windows, electric skylights, electric table, rise and fall bed, hot plate, hob, oven, microwave, central heating radiators, water pumps, hydraulic legs, tyre pressures, water, oil, brake fluid, brakes and vehicle lights, as soon as it hits +12c. I’ll put the heated under blanket on, get the electric heated body wraps, and head off once loaded for somewhere warm,
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Can I suggest you do most of that before leaving Lowdhams, just in case !
 
Bill-H said:
You missed out testing the horn :p:p
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Pointless the pretty removes the fuse, she says I’m like a hot headed Italian in Rome and toot at everything and anything..
I thought she meant I was like a hot Italian stud. I told her, she’s still laughing!..
 
Well HELL is supposed to be roasting hot , but im finding its damn freezing in Hellish UK .......I should be in my Thai paradise at the moment if it wasnt for my new grandchild .....

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Well it’s still in Lowdhams! The list of repaired had one other item on it which I passed to the service manager:

“The Motorhome is less than 20 months old, can you go over it and inspect everything to make sure it’s all working, secure and unbroken! For a £100K unit that is classed as a “Top of the Range” “is signature, Grand Prix model” the amount of faults is unacceptable”.

They have done this and found 11 new faults that are repairable under its warranty. These are part done, the rest are being done next week!

On the original list.. the Control unit..
Even though the control unit was previously repaired and it again collapsed, and the one they ordered is in stock, they are awaiting authority to replace it by Swift! My bwain urts!…

So we are still here in England, cold grey skys full of snow threaten to burst its evil on us, when we should be winging our way to warmer climes!….. Arghhhhhhhh. Everything is ready to go, I’ve not even ironed the non iron sheets! Our winter quilts are puffed up fluffy, our heated wraps are all packed up neat, we have all the ironed clothing on hangers, the loo rolls, soap, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, walking boots, everything is stacked all nice and neat in the garage ready for loading, we would be 4 hours towards Dover passing Folkestone by now..😢.

Good job I didn’t take up a bet! I’d have lost my shirt!
 
So sorry to hear that, such a disappointment.

Pretty awful indictment of both Lowdhams and Swift!

It's made me feel so much better about my Autosleeper!
 
Read the title then went staright to reply.
The south west coast of Australia is nice and warm. Varying between 25c ish ish to 36c ish ish.
It feels very very comfy.
 
our poppy llll said:
Well it’s still in Lowdhams! The list of repaired had one other item on it which I passed to the service manager:

“The Motorhome is less than 20 months old, can you go over it and inspect everything to make sure it’s all working, secure and unbroken! For a £100K unit that is classed as a “Top of the Range” “is signature, Grand Prix model” the amount of faults is unacceptable”.

They have done this and found 11 new faults that are repairable under its warranty. These are part done, the rest are being done next week!

On the original list.. the Control unit..
Even though the control unit was previously repaired and it again collapsed, and the one they ordered is in stock, they are awaiting authority to replace it by Swift! My bwain urts!…

So we are still here in England, cold grey skys full of snow threaten to burst its evil on us, when we should be winging our way to warmer climes!….. Arghhhhhhhh. Everything is ready to go, I’ve not even ironed the non iron sheets! Our winter quilts are puffed up fluffy, our heated wraps are all packed up neat, we have all the ironed clothing on hangers, the loo rolls, soap, shampoo and conditioner, toothpaste, walking boots, everything is stacked all nice and neat in the garage ready for loading, we would be 4 hours towards Dover passing Folkestone by now..😢.

Good job I didn’t take up a bet! I’d have lost my shirt!
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I think by now a loan van should be made available. If fact they should pay you to snag it .
 
You must be seething! I lose patience with these sorts of delays and would be wearing a groove in the living room carpet long before today.

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I’ve to call on Tuesday but it might still not be ready!
It’s a pretty grim state of affairs.

It’s due its second habitation on April 4th and its first service same date. It WILL NOT BE GOING TO LOWDHAMS.
 
our poppy llll said:
Ok finally yes FINALLY.. just under 2 years old my moho will have its Control panel, its habitation door, its hab door fly screen and the sat nav that’s been useless since we bought it 4/4/2023 all replaced, whoooo hooooo. We then want to set off to a warmer climate.
It’s in Lowdhams 9/1/25 until 16/1/25. That’s Thursday till Thursday.
On Friday 17th I will wash it, where does all that green come from? on Saturday 18th I’ll load it and then Sunday 19th/Monday 20th off we go! Just don’t know where!
Mmm suggestions would be much welcomed.
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I hope there's no unexpected delays in the work! 😱
 
our poppy llll said:
I’ve to call on Tuesday but it might still not be ready!
It’s a pretty grim state of affairs.

It’s due its second habitation on April 4th and its first service same date. It WILL NOT BE GOING TO LOWDHAMS.
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It might still be there :eek:
 
bobnick said:
Read the title then went staright to reply.
The south west coast of Australia is nice and warm. Varying between 25c ish ish to 36c ish ish.
It feels very very comfy.
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EDIT, yesterday driving up it got to 45c, nice.
 
Arghhhhhh still not ready! I’m getting to the point of asking for compensation. What can be so hard about doing all the repairs within one or two 24 hour periods, it’s been booked in for 3 months. They told me they had all the parts in stock, including the control panel. Why didn’t they get authorisation from Swift 3 months ago.
They’ve had it 14 days, Jesus you could build a complete motorhome in that length of time.
I’m thinking I’m getting the run around.
We should be south of Chartres by now heading for Clermont Ferrand. The plan was to Stop at Baie De Somme aire Sunday night, Run through Rouen yesterday and get past Chartres heading to Montlucon stay over at Saint Eloy Les Mines then today pass Clermont Ferrand to try and get to Sete or similar, then this week head to southern Spain or Cross to Morocco. Searching for Sun..
It looks like we might have to abandon this trip and fly to Cape Verde or The Canaries for February, at this rate it may be April before we can use our Moho. Jesus what a shower Lowdhams are showing to be, and that dream of a Swift Kontiki, top of the range, signature Moho!.. well it’s become a nightmare.

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Wow, the incompetence of this company.
The control panel is £330.00 Labour £54.00 I said, fit the control panel I’ll pay, stop waiting for Swift to authorise the repair. I’ll pay you and wait for Swift, to authorise and you can refund me.. the Moho is under warranty, if Swift refuse I’ll sue either Lowdhams or Swift. Do the repair today so I can collect my Moho tomorrow.
They are looking into it..
Have you heard the like..
 
So the dork at Lowdhams tells me that their warranty department cannot pick up the phone and speak to Swift.

I just did it, I just called Swift 01788 228387, the help desk checked the claim date sent by Lowdhams then when it was passed on to Sergeant the control panel supplier, on their systems there is no issues shown. The help desk is looking into why there’s a delay, it normally only takes 48 hours. They will push for the response to be done immediately.

It seems if you don’t DIY nothing gets done.

My first service is booked for April through Fiat Etruria Sherwood’s, my second habitation at Spinney in Newcastle under Lyme. If I can persuade Spinney to do the warranty, I’ll never use Lowdhams again, if not, I’ll sell it or PX it. Either way collecting it is my last trip to Lowdhams unless they have not done the required repairs in which case it’ll be returned and I’ll sue them for costs once it’s back in my hands.
 
Make sure you document all of this - dates, problems, actions, delays, outcomes. Detail every call or meeting, who you spoke to, what you were told and what was agreed.

I always recommend that people take out the legal aid part of their insurance policy (which I have found invaluable in the past), and if you have this I suggest you contact them to get an idea of where you stand, even if you don't take any action with Lowdhams now. Sometimes a legally-framed shot across the bows can work wonders.

Either way, if you have further issues in the near future, a good log of your issues and timeline will help enormously. (y)
 
Well it seems my threat of paying for the repairs, and waiting for Swift to confirm warranty acceptance along with the demand for a fully itemised invoice in order to sue through small claims court for a full refund if Swift refused the repair as a warranty claim worked.
I have in business taken a lot of companies to court to get payments, holding goods in lien and swiftly taking it to high court to get bailiffs in, so having that experience, I have recorded all conversations, taken all the paperwork in its entirety and kept records of dates times and losses caused by failing products including keeping receipts for lost holidays or cancelled sailings etc.. (PS. It’s urban myth that you need the permission of those you record on the telephone if you intend to use it in court, all recorded conversations are admissible in court.)
So they are doing the repairs outstanding right now, and in a hour or so they will call me with a collection time!.
I think it will be in full working condition and I’ll be lucky to get £80k for it. But I’ll be selling it and moving on.
Not even 2 years and 10k miles 3 European trips 2 Scottish and North Yorkshire trips and one Cornwall trip. £21,000 loss. £96,600 plus £4,000 hydraulics and nothing but disappointment!
What a waste of cash.

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Well it’s all repaired, except the Sat Nav, Fiat are looking into this, they have my recordings, driving along A50 satnav saying take the next exit on a roundabout in Glasgow or it jumps to Ashbourne or Abbeville France or Bristol! Crazy machine.
Once this is repaired I’m going to bring it home wash it and polish it and set it up and offer it for sale. We will go back to hotels and driving around Europe, we may even fly some short distances, who knows. But I’m not going through this again.
 
Very sorry to hear this. You have had a dreadful time, but think twice before you give up motorhoming. Gives you lots of freedom and fun, you sleep in your own bed every night, and there is no packing and unpacking at each hotel !

Good luck!
 
So Fiat have not come back yet to Lowdhams, so it’s not repaired, a useless satnav. We have to be back by March 17th so we can have the year 2 Habitation and its first service done. So when we sell it we get the least loss. So this will be our last holiday in a motorhome.
Swift and Lowdhams have well and truly ruined our excitement of touring.
We can’t get in this Moho and confidently go on a 4-12 week holiday, believing everything will be working. It’s like what’s next.!!!.
So we are collecting it tomorrow, it’s a good job we know our way. Then whoo hooo off we go.. don’t know where, don’t know when, don’t even know if we’ll get there.
When we get back find a buyer and whooosh, it’s gone..
 
1737998565677.webp


We are here on the 6th of Feb , I’ll let you know if it’s nice enough for you to pop over 🤣🤣🤣

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Brize said:
Very sorry to hear this. You have had a dreadful time, but think twice before you give up motorhoming. Gives you lots of freedom and fun, you sleep in your own bed every night, and there is no packing and unpacking at each hotel !

Good luck!
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That was our dream, when I look back over 2 years, starting being so excited, we left the UK 1/5/24 sailed to Spain, went to a great campsite, had a tour around southern Spain then stayed in Madrid laughed and partied this was great, we got back to Santander Mid June 23, then everything started to drop to bits, twice again we went to Europe, once to Cornwall, once to Edinburgh once to Glasgow, twice to Whitby not once did we complete a holiday before things went wrong and we abandoned our trips. This next trip is its last, our decision is made, it’s going, we are too old to put up with years of RUINED holidays. For the money we have spent we could have had 10 x 5* x2 week vacations in beautiful surroundings. We will lose £20-25k when we sell it, do I care, not one bit.
 
our poppy llll said:
Ok finally yes FINALLY.. just under 2 years old my moho will have its Control panel, its habitation door, its hab door fly screen and the sat nav that’s been useless since we bought it 4/4/2023 all replaced, whoooo hooooo. We then want to set off to a warmer climate.
It’s in Lowdhams 9/1/25 until 16/1/25. That’s Thursday till Thursday.
On Friday 17th I will wash it, where does all that green come from? on Saturday 18th I’ll load it and then Sunday 19th/Monday 20th off we go! Just don’t know where!
Mmm suggestions would be much welcomed.
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What make of van is it with all those faults?
 
Guess where I am? Yep Lowdhams
Guess what time I arrived? Yep10 past 12
Guess why I'm still here? Yep it's not ready
Guess why I'll be here until 3.30...
No? well you see they decided to test the sat nav, on that test the unit failed and the engine went into limp mode. I told them there was a problem but they kept resetting it. Dear me...
Why they didn't call me at 10.00 when it happened I don't know..I could have saved £48.00 on train fares.. arghhhh.
So I may be on a train home at 3.30. Another 48.00.
Jesus only a real fool would buy from Lowdhams. Only a bigger one would buy a swift..
I've asked them how much they'll give me for it...
I'm waiting for the buying manager to tell me..
I may be stuck with it.. beachhead whooo hooo I might see you yet! Folks please boycott Lowdhams and Swift.. it may look great until something fails then your headaches begin...
 
our poppy llll said:
Arghhhhhh still not ready! I’m getting to the point of asking for compensation. What can be so hard about doing all the repairs within one or two 24 hour periods, it’s been booked in for 3 months. They told me they had all the parts in stock, including the control panel. Why didn’t they get authorisation from Swift 3 months ago.
They’ve had it 14 days, Jesus you could build a complete motorhome in that length of time.
I’m thinking I’m getting the run around.
We should be south of Chartres by now heading for Clermont Ferrand. The plan was to Stop at Baie De Somme aire Sunday night, Run through Rouen yesterday and get past Chartres heading to Montlucon stay over at Saint Eloy Les Mines then today pass Clermont Ferrand to try and get to Sete or similar, then this week head to southern Spain or Cross to Morocco. Searching for Sun..
It looks like we might have to abandon this trip and fly to Cape Verde or The Canaries for February, at this rate it may be April before we can use our Moho. Jesus what a shower Lowdhams are showing to be, and that dream of a Swift Kontiki, top of the range, signature Moho!.. well it’s become a nightmare.
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Wow - really sorry to hear you've been through the mill with this ....

On a positive and separate note we love our first night in France at Baie de Somme too...

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