A bit of market research. (1 Viewer)

[dave newell]

Hi folks, this is just to ask for your help. We're considering doing some installation work at next years shows (we only do the Warners shows) and thought we'd ask what items people would want to have fitted at shows. There are a couple of items we will not fit at shows because of logisitical reasons, these are rear view cameras and cruise control, otherwise we're open to suggestions. So please help us to help you by telling us what you might like to have fitted while attending a show.

Cheers, D.

 

[Snowbird]

I think battery to battery relays for charging engine battery from solar pannels are a must. Have recently fitted one and should have done it years ago.

 

[icantremember]

I think battery to battery relays for charging engine battery from solar pannels are a must. Have recently fitted one and should have done it years ago.

I agree with that....have been considering fitting one myself

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[Forestboy]

I think battery to battery relays for charging engine battery from solar pannels are a must. Have recently fitted one and should have done it years ago.

Me too :thumb:

 

[movan]

Me too. But to be honest Dave for the likes of me, just having someone friendly to ask to do any small job also is important ... 'No job too small ... just ask' sort of thing. It's amazing for newbies or dumbos like me, what crops up at meets and shows.

 

[Peter JohnsCross MH]

You have got to do a lot of fitting to make it worth while, cost of stand, staffing.

At least we were selling from the stand which covered the costs and used to be a profit but lately we are wondering if it is really worth all the effort that goes into shows.

No doubt be ok if you did a few sat dish installations, something with some meat in it!

Peter

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[Snowbird]

As most of us know to our peril if you leave the CD player on, and most are stupidly connected to the engine battery,you finish up not being able to start.
If you have solar panels fitted once the leisure battery is charged any left over charging goes to the engine battery instead of just being dumped. A lot less expensive than rewiring radios and as a bonus your engine battery is always topped up. A double whammy:thumb:

 

[darklord]

What can you fit, that would earn you something, that people would want fitted by someone else...well youve just discounted two of the main things, so if you can't do those, i would,nt bother.
As Peter said , the shows are touching on the uneconomical these days.
Just as a for instance, i have tuned cars myself, am a fairly competant mechanic. When i was at Lincoln, the day we bought our current MH, WOW tunign were there. I walked over to them, assured myself that it was a remap not a plug int, then paid for them to do the job, on site, within the hour.

because of your reputation ON HERE, if i saw you at a show, I would probably approach you for a cruise control for the Ducato, if the price was right...i would want it done there and then.....a customer that "walks away" or "thinks about it" is probably a lost opportunity.
I cant think of anything else, that i would need fitted at a show? Sorry.

 

[dave newell]

Thanks for the replies so far. To answer a couple of points:
I already do "little fixes" at shows, especially if its for a good looking damsel in distress.
We already have a stand at the Warners shows, we're simply looking at what we can do to improve profitability.
Cruise control is a right royal pita to fit at shows, I've done it before. You get to the motorhome you're going to fit to only to discover a full safari room set up (I need to road test the vehicle to calibrate the cc and ensure it works properly). Then there's the problem of using roads you don't know for the road test, add in that some venues are surrounded by country roads with low speed limits, I need to be able to run it up to at least 60mph for a proper road test. As for camera systems, well routing the cable along the chassis on a vehicle parked in a wet field is not my idea of a fun weekend away. Not entirely sure what the battery to battery relay is?

D.

In edit: "can I just pick your brain about........" type questions will only be considered if they are submitted in writing, preferably on a £5 note. :-D

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[Jaws]

Battery to battery

One of those nice little gadgets that, when the leisure battery reaches full charge, switches over to trickle charge the van battery..

How about television antenna amplifiers
WiFi external antenna
Reverse polarity detectors ( )
Tyre pressure detectors
Extra 12v sockets
Higher delivery water pumps


Proly more stuff but the half dozen vody's are kicking in nicely

 

[Loujess]

Me too. But to be honest Dave for the likes of me, just having someone friendly to ask to do any small job also is important ... 'No job too small ... just ask' sort of thing. It's amazing for newbies or dumbos like me, what crops up at meets and shows.

I must agree with you Joy. We are not at all techie like some of these here and just to ask someone who actually understands what you are talking about is great. However, that's not what gives them an income I suppose. :Sad: and they all have mouths to fill. Look forward to seeing you at Whitby by the way.

Ivy

 

[maxsdad]

how about an ariel good enough to make the radio work on the move on a ducato based autotrail you would make a fortune

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[Jaws]

Have you got ANY aerial on that van ? Most I have seen have had the original one removed by the converters, leaving just a lead that goes nowhere !!

Seem to have fitted dozens of radio aerials on Autotrails ( but doubt it is more than 4 or 5 really ! )

 

[maxsdad]

thanks for your reply jaws the suppling dealer assures me that i have an ariel in the n/s wing mirror they are going to fit an alternative when it does in for hab service in march dont listen to the radio that much when driving but would like it to work since we paid for it

 

[jezport]

We see a lot of solar panels and quite a few sat domes being fitted at shows. As you have a good reputation it may be worth you sending a mail shot / email out to your database offering your installation and repair service at the shows, that way you could possibly book work in ahead.

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[eddie]

We have always had a strict policy about installation work at shows. It simply cannot be done as well in a field as a workshop. If the weather is bad it can be disasterous.

Dave, is one of the good guys in my opinion regarding customer service and quality of work, and I guarantee that in his workshop there will be an area or room that carpets and soft furnishings can be moved when necessary, he will have the tools to do a job properly, if he encounters a problem he has the where withall to deal with it, properly and professionally. These things are much harder working from a van.

We recently checked with the HSE about mobile installation and it seems that all is not as clear as some think, and I would suspect that there could be some big changes coming regarding mobile installation at shows.

Dave you will also have to discuss mobile installation at shows with your insurers! I wonder how many of the current mobile guys have done that? Having insurance to fit at customers houses is not the same as a pulbic place or exhibition.

I do know what I am talking about. I started Van Bitz offering a mobile installation service, really in the late Eighties and were one of the first that did. I have done it, I have tried to work in mud, and rain, convincing myself and my customers that it doesn't matter about the weather, it's not too hot, it's not too cold! When the van needs jacking up, but the ground is too soft, or there is a dirty great big puddle right underneath!

No Dave, my advice is to continue as you are, a really decent guy offering a good service for a reasonable price.

It does amaze me that normally sensible people will take their pride and joy along to a show, meets someone often, for the first time, working from a fifty quid qazebo and a hand full of manufacturers leaflets and within an hour the normally sensible person is allowing someone to fit say a camera to their pride and joy in the middle of a field

Often, the person fitting doesn't actually work for the camera salesman, is in fact "bussed in" for the weekend as the salesman doesn't "do" technicaloh:

We know this of course as we get the fall out "could you look at my camera please? it is a Ting Tong and the man that sold it too us didn't have an address just a post box, and he is ignoring us

Just an opinion

Eddie

 

[Jaws]

Eddie you are obviously quite a wealthy man... Me, a mere mortal, cannot afford to drive hundreds of miles to have something fitted..
I take the chance to have something done when it is convenient and I happen to be in the right place !

What you say is spot on Eddie, but equally a man who knows what he is doing, knows what he is doing whether he is in a field or in a workshop

As someone who lives by the spanner at a fairly high technical level, I am happy to say David is one of the few people I would allow near my van.. He is, as you know and say, certainly not the man from tingtong cameras as you put it Eddie ! ( love that by the way ! )

I think it goes without saying David would not take on installations if the weather was inclement or the situation meant the job could not be fulfilled to his standard high level of competence and expertise

 

[aba]

i fully agree with eddievanbitz but will say if fitting the item requires anything other than opening a door or locker then don't fit it at shows there is no fun in crawling around in wet grass under a muddy van.
just as there is no sense trying to seal a sat dome or solar panel to the roof in the rain.
if you feel you must fit things at shows stick to tv's / monitors or extra leisure batteries and nothing that involves going on top of or under a motorhome at a wet show.

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[Stephen & Jeannie]

My suggestion !

Inverters ! The one you fitted for me is now working on the Leominster Car Park and the solar panel, also your handiwork will be powering up the battery, also yours, when full daylight arrives.......Many thanks for your help in the past !:thumb:

I nearly forgot to mention the free to air box you supplied, I will be watching the F1 race on that tomorrow am !!!!

 

[eddie]

Eddie you are obviously quite a wealthy man... Me, a mere mortal, cannot afford to drive hundreds of miles to have something fitted..

I wasn't suggesting that you should drive hundreds of miles We all have to be local to some one.

I wish I was wealthy! I am rich, in that I have a wife I love (& who tolerates me ) and four great boys and they are all healthy.

OK so you have something fitted at a show, wheres your back up when something goes wrong? do you have to wait until the next show and drive hundreds of miles there ?

I suspect once the H&SE get their teeth into mobile fitting at the shows, the arguement will be acedemic anyway.

Do you realise that the show organisers turn their backs to any kind of checks whatsoever. No insurance is inspected at all, so the person working on your van may have no public liability insurance, or normal business insurance. Many people assume that anyone fitting is vetted or a bona fide business which is not the case at all.

You wait until someone slips off a van roof and sues the owner of the motorhome who is paying them to install that panel or dish and watch the do da hit the fan! Or someones van catch fire and take out three or four other vans only to find that that "Trevor, doesn't actually work for me, he comes along at weekend to help out"

Dave is a good guy and we get along very well both on a professional level and chewing the cud over a beer, and I agree that he wouldn't enterain anything unprofessional, but what happens halfway through a job and it suddenly pisses with rain?

If you went along to your local hospital and were told that the surgeon thought it such a lovely day that he was going to undertake you heart operation in the car park, you'd be thinking about the problems that may occur and that you would probably be safer in an operating theatre which can handle all eventuallities!

Eddie

 

[Jaws]

I wasn't suggesting that you should drive hundreds of miles We all have to be local to some one..

Nope.. the nearest firms in this area I would not trust to change a tap in my van let alone anything else.. nearest worth while is about 100 miles away

OK so you have something fitted at a show, wheres your back up when something goes wrong? do you have to wait until the next show and drive hundreds of miles there ?
.

Absolutely.. Had Robert fit an Oyster for me.. The control panel went phut a few months later.. Foned him and although he said he was happy to travel the 85 miles to me I said no, wait till the next show .. Job done ( and yes, we do attend all the shows in the south east of the UK )

I suspect once the H&SE get their teeth into mobile fitting at the shows, the arguement will be acedemic anyway.

Once the nice people ( !!!!!!! ) who claim to be looking after our safety get interested in ANYTHING it is time to bail out and find something new to do.
I have absolutely no time or respect for that bunch of buffoons .. just wish they would go get a proper job :Angry:

Must say, reading your posts Eddie, you make very sound and salient points but all seem to be based on the premise the dealer doing the fitting is either incompetent or a low life scumbag ..

I read your posts and it seems to me your view of traders is very skewed.. My experience of traders in the motorhome game who 'do' shows is very positive on the other hand.. Nary once had any sort of negativity with a single one and if a problem has arose it has always been quickly and easily resolved. ( apart from one, and that matter I resolved myself at minor cost and inconvenience )

Ok, I do most of my own work but sometimes it is just handy to have someone say 'I can fit that for you' .. Perhaps it is my own ability that gives me confidence in others ? ( If things do go bottoms up I could generally sort it out myself )

Compared with the pathetically useless b$st&^ds who run bike dealerships ( read places to have money stolen from you with zero customer facing resources ) motorhome parts suppliers and fitters are bloody angels !

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[eddie]

I read your posts and it seems to me your view of traders is very skewed..

Good post:thumb: My view is not skewed, but sad to be honest!

Robert Jackson & Dave Newell are fine blokes, I know them both well and we all help each other out from time to time. (And Robert is the ONLY man to buy an Oyster from as far as I am concerned)

My problem are the traders who turn up at a show, with a van full of crap and flog it to unsuspecting members of the public who assume (erronously) that what they're buying good and it is fitted in a good and competent manner.

I have had years of mobile fitting and know all the pitfalls having actually started VanBitz myself as a sole trader, working from home during the week and taking the family way for fun weekends! Well I say fun, working for me doing mobile installations while Lyn and four small boys walked around the local parks or car boot sales! They grew up thinking that a holiday was sat outside some ones house watching me work through the windowoh:

Things were less complicated to install and motorhomes were less complex, it was still a nightmare though. You can't beat the back up of a properly equipped workshop to cover all eventualities.

Van Bitz regulary deals with problems and troubles for people, trouble caused by people paying out good money in good faith to ar5ehole dealers and traders who simply ripp people off either due to incompetance or because they just don't care.

We sat agog a couplel of seasons ago watching the recievers close down a business at a show, and the salesmen and women carrying on taking deposits on motorhomes! That is the level of contempt that some traders/dealers have for us motorhomer owners! oh:

I am sad to say that there are more bad traders than good ones in my opinion. :Angry:

Eddie

 

[haganap]

Gaslow and alternator wiring upgrades allowing more amps to be put in to the leisures when driving.

 

[eddie]

Gaslow and alternator wiring upgrades allowing more amps to be put in to the leisures when driving.

Good idea, but how do you fill the Gaslow tanks to test them in the middle of a field?

Eddie

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[haganap]

Good idea, but how do you fill the Gaslow tanks to test them in the middle of a field?

Eddie

Thanks Eddie. I'm now going to use my get out of jail card ! The op asked what I would like to see fitted... Afraid I will have to leave the logistics to you
Surely jaws thinks your rich enough to bring your own fuel bowser for that

As matter of interest how would you do it on your site? When I
Installed mine I just took it and filled it up at the LPG station making sure I knew how many liters was equivalent to 80 pc meaning if it went over that figure I had a problem. I then of course checked for any leaks in the normal manner,? Maybe that's the difference between a fitter and a cowboy but mines been tramping on goodstyle for 3 years now :thumb:

 

[eddie]

Thanks Eddie. I'm now going to use my get out of jail card ! The op asked what I would like to see fitted... Afraid I will have to leave the logistics to you
Surely jaws thinks your rich enough to bring your own fuel bowser for that

As matter of interest how would you do it on your site? When I
Installed mine I just took it and filled it up at the LPG station making sure I knew how many liters was equivalent to 80 pc meaning if it went over that figure I had a problem. I then of course checked for any leaks in the normal manner,? Maybe that's the difference between a fitter and a cowboy but mines been tramping on goodstyle for 3 years now :thumb:

We invested in a bulk LPG tank and pump, so we also sell LPG on site in bulk as well as bottles.

This way every Gaslow installation in fitted, filled and tested and a demonstration is given to our customer!

Only one wayto do anything! properly:thumb:

Eddie

 

[dave newell]

Well we've sorted the insurance out so we'll be doing some fitting work at the shows this year. We're planning on fitting satellite systems, solar panels and alugas refillable cylinders. Testing the installation of refillable systems is simple as Gaslow do a test kit which consists of a hose the fits on a standard Calor propane cylinder and the other end screws into the filler point. A pressure gauge in the system allows you to check for leakage by simply pressurising the fill line from a Calor cylinder and the gauge will show any leakage along with the use of LDF.

Satellite TV systems and solar panel fittings will be pre booked only, the Alugas may also be on a pre booked basis.

D.

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[eddie]

Well we've sorted the insurance out so we'll be doing some fitting work at the shows this year. We're planning on fitting satellite systems, solar panels and alugas refillable cylinders. Testing the installation of refillable systems is simple as Gaslow do a test kit which consists of a hose the fits on a standard Calor propane cylinder and the other end screws into the filler point. A pressure gauge in the system allows you to check for leakage by simply pressurising the fill line from a Calor cylinder and the gauge will show any leakage along with the use of LDF.

Satellite TV systems and solar panel fittings will be pre booked only, the Alugas may also be on a pre booked basis.

D.

Hi Dave, out of curiosity how does the customer, whilst at the show fill their Gaslow bottles

Eddie

 

[dave newell]

They don't Eddie, we will fit pre-filled cylinders.

How did the show go?

D.

 

[eddie]

They don't Eddie, we will fit pre-filled cylinders.

How did the show go?

D.

Hi Dave

The show was a joke! more traders than public

Out of curiosity, how do you legally carry loose, filled, LPG bottles commercially without a hazardous cargo licence? Or do you just keep it a secret

Just a thought (don't forget that the beers are still on you at Peterborough

Eddie

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