John & Liz
Free Member
- Aug 25, 2014
- 33
- 65
- Funster No
- 33,035
- MH
- Benimar Mileo 201
- Exp
- Since Sept 2012
We bought our first brand new motorhome a Benimar, in April of this year and are very pleased with it despite one or two niggly little faults.
During the hand over the sales guy mentioned that he had booked our first habitation check 12 months ahead. As the dealer is over 70 miles away from us I asked if it is possible to have the check carried out at a local approved dealer, the answer was yes just as long as they are VAT registered.
I asked why, is there a charge, oh yes he replied £225.00 WHAT I exclaimed, for a habitation check that you insist I carry out, what on earth are they doing for this exorbitant fee.
Well they do a full inspection he said, of what I replied, you are asking me to pay £225 to check that the motorhome that you sold me has not developed a fault in the first 12 months, which if it was down to my negligence would not be covered by the guarantee anyway and if it was not down to my negligence / misuse then it is down to the manufacturer, so why should I have to pay you £225 each year to check that Benimar have sealed the joints correctly.
I don’t believe this even included a gas check but if it did it is still a ridiculous charge, I can get a Gas Safe engineer to travel to visit my house, carry out a gas soundness test, check all gas appliances and issue me with a Landlords Gas safety certificate all for the princely sum of £55 and he comes to me whereas I have to take my motorhome to Marquis.
Where does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 stand on this, why should I have to pay £225 to validate the guarantee, if I don’t have the habitation check done then they won’t cover the guarantee, and that’s another thing, if I have to pay then it is not a guarantee it is a warranty which is an indemnity like an insurance policy which is paid for, a guarantee is a legally binding contract, the brochure says it is guaranteed so where does the payment come into it if it is guaranteed.
The consumer rights act says the goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose so if a leak develops then it is down to the manufacturer to correct it, why must I bring it to his attention by paying him £225 every year, oh I know so he can catch the fault before it becomes a major problem and then cost him a lot of money.
I fully appreciate that I have to pay for the Fiat cab part to be serviced but that has moving parts, oils filters etc which require servicing, not got a problem with that, but Fiat haven’t said that I have to have the cab checked to make sure the windscreen is fitted properly or a door hasn’t dropped, no, they have total confidence in their product unlike the motorhome manufacturers who insist we pay them to check over their workmanship. We are already doing a quality control inspection on our expensive purchase once we take delivery, I bet not one of you reading this rant can honestly say that when you picked up your brand new motorhome it had no faults, no, you had to take it back and point out all the little niggly things that were not picked up on the alleged pre delivery inspection, “just bring it back in not a problem we will correct it” bring it back in at our expense though, but just in case there is something else they missed they now want us to pay £225 to double check they won’t get hit with a big repair bill.
The rip off doesn’t stop there, did you know that if you own a Swift or Autosleeper and you decide to take a long winter break in Spain or say Portugal that you may fall foul of the suppliers T&C’s which limit use to 90 consecutive days use, they argue that vans are meant to be used as mobile holiday homes, not as permanent residences which would put unreasonable strain on some components, SO WHY NOT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THOSE COMPONENTS. No better to sit back take the customers money and keep stinging them whenever they can.
Also how about this, if you buy a new Auto-Trail and meekly pay your habitation check each year and after 6 years a fault develops then you have to pay 20% towards the cost of that repair, it gets better, after 10 years you will have to pay 60% of the cost and assuming you have been really good and paid your habitation check each year for 10 years that is £2,250.00 you will have put into the hands of the dealer and if there is a bill for £1000.00 you will have to pay an extra £600.00 towards it, heads they win tails the meek motorhome owners lose.
I’m all for starting a campaign to harass our dealers and get rid of this rip off fee, if they want to check the van hasn’t developed a fault then let them pay for it, or design their vans better and design the fault out so that they won’t need annual monitoring to ensure they are not falling apart.
Can you help me out here, am I the only one that feels this way, what do others think, is the charge justified, some may say that you have just spent £40 - £50,000 on a motorhome what’s another £225 to keep it under warranty, I agree, but still feel the check is not value for money and we have no option than to accept their terms or lose the warranty.
Rant over, and just to clarify the cost of the habitation check given to me by Marquis Golden Cross may differ to that quoted by other dealers.
During the hand over the sales guy mentioned that he had booked our first habitation check 12 months ahead. As the dealer is over 70 miles away from us I asked if it is possible to have the check carried out at a local approved dealer, the answer was yes just as long as they are VAT registered.
I asked why, is there a charge, oh yes he replied £225.00 WHAT I exclaimed, for a habitation check that you insist I carry out, what on earth are they doing for this exorbitant fee.
Well they do a full inspection he said, of what I replied, you are asking me to pay £225 to check that the motorhome that you sold me has not developed a fault in the first 12 months, which if it was down to my negligence would not be covered by the guarantee anyway and if it was not down to my negligence / misuse then it is down to the manufacturer, so why should I have to pay you £225 each year to check that Benimar have sealed the joints correctly.
I don’t believe this even included a gas check but if it did it is still a ridiculous charge, I can get a Gas Safe engineer to travel to visit my house, carry out a gas soundness test, check all gas appliances and issue me with a Landlords Gas safety certificate all for the princely sum of £55 and he comes to me whereas I have to take my motorhome to Marquis.
Where does the Consumer Rights Act 2015 stand on this, why should I have to pay £225 to validate the guarantee, if I don’t have the habitation check done then they won’t cover the guarantee, and that’s another thing, if I have to pay then it is not a guarantee it is a warranty which is an indemnity like an insurance policy which is paid for, a guarantee is a legally binding contract, the brochure says it is guaranteed so where does the payment come into it if it is guaranteed.
The consumer rights act says the goods must be of satisfactory quality and fit for purpose so if a leak develops then it is down to the manufacturer to correct it, why must I bring it to his attention by paying him £225 every year, oh I know so he can catch the fault before it becomes a major problem and then cost him a lot of money.
I fully appreciate that I have to pay for the Fiat cab part to be serviced but that has moving parts, oils filters etc which require servicing, not got a problem with that, but Fiat haven’t said that I have to have the cab checked to make sure the windscreen is fitted properly or a door hasn’t dropped, no, they have total confidence in their product unlike the motorhome manufacturers who insist we pay them to check over their workmanship. We are already doing a quality control inspection on our expensive purchase once we take delivery, I bet not one of you reading this rant can honestly say that when you picked up your brand new motorhome it had no faults, no, you had to take it back and point out all the little niggly things that were not picked up on the alleged pre delivery inspection, “just bring it back in not a problem we will correct it” bring it back in at our expense though, but just in case there is something else they missed they now want us to pay £225 to double check they won’t get hit with a big repair bill.
The rip off doesn’t stop there, did you know that if you own a Swift or Autosleeper and you decide to take a long winter break in Spain or say Portugal that you may fall foul of the suppliers T&C’s which limit use to 90 consecutive days use, they argue that vans are meant to be used as mobile holiday homes, not as permanent residences which would put unreasonable strain on some components, SO WHY NOT IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF THOSE COMPONENTS. No better to sit back take the customers money and keep stinging them whenever they can.
Also how about this, if you buy a new Auto-Trail and meekly pay your habitation check each year and after 6 years a fault develops then you have to pay 20% towards the cost of that repair, it gets better, after 10 years you will have to pay 60% of the cost and assuming you have been really good and paid your habitation check each year for 10 years that is £2,250.00 you will have put into the hands of the dealer and if there is a bill for £1000.00 you will have to pay an extra £600.00 towards it, heads they win tails the meek motorhome owners lose.
I’m all for starting a campaign to harass our dealers and get rid of this rip off fee, if they want to check the van hasn’t developed a fault then let them pay for it, or design their vans better and design the fault out so that they won’t need annual monitoring to ensure they are not falling apart.
Can you help me out here, am I the only one that feels this way, what do others think, is the charge justified, some may say that you have just spent £40 - £50,000 on a motorhome what’s another £225 to keep it under warranty, I agree, but still feel the check is not value for money and we have no option than to accept their terms or lose the warranty.
Rant over, and just to clarify the cost of the habitation check given to me by Marquis Golden Cross may differ to that quoted by other dealers.