Kingham
LIFE MEMBER
Cheap Is Not Always Best.
A timeline of my PVC up-rate thus far and I'm not best pleased.
22/04 Emailed John Ruffles Consultancy asking them to do the up-rate and providing the fact that I was on the XL chassis, with Al-Kober Air Tops and tyres load rated to 118, all of which would allow me to go to 4500kg max wt and increase my rear axle to 2600kg.
I asked JRC to confirm that I could go to those weights, asked their cost and also what they needed from me to get the ball rolling.
24/04 Received email confirmation from JR that my van is the right spec to go to the weights I previously quoted and to proceed, I was required to send a copy of page 2 of my V5 and an image of my VIN plate.
Sent the images and paid the fee.
05/05 Called home and found JR had sent out my new VIN and certificate, but had not increased the rear axle weight as previously discussed. Sent Email to JRC to explain this.
06/05. Received email from JR and I quote "YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NOT READ MY EMAIL OF 27/4 WHEN I ADVISED YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXCEED THE MANUFACTURERS AXLE WEIGHT WITHOUT SOME FORM OF MODIFICATION, SUCH AS AIR ASSIST"
Ah ! So it's my fault, because I didn't read an email that I never got, purportedly dated 27/04, three days after I'd already had confirmation from JR that my van had the requisite mods and we could proceed.
07/05 Emailed JR to advise of the above and politely asked that he carefully re-read my initial email, where I confirm all of the mods.
Later that day I received an email from JR, in which he says he missed the fact that I had Air Tops fitted (which is at odds with his email of 24/04) and apologised for that mistake, but continued "MAYBE I WOULD NOT HAVE MISSED IT HAD I HAD SIGHT OF THE ALKO PLATE"
Ah ! So it's still my fault, because I sent JR precisely what he asked for when I initially asked what he needed from me to proceed, when in fact I should have guessed that he had actually not asked for everything he needed.... my bad !
Anyway, he said he would make it his first job on Monday.
16/05 Returned home and found JR had rectified his mistake and had sent me a new VIN plate with the correct weights this time and also a new certificate, nicely laminated, but crucially missing JR's signature and date of signing.
Not wanting to have to email JR again and knowing the answer before I rang them, I checked with DVLA to see if they would accept the certificate as it was, but they confirmed that it is an official document and it was vital that I send a signed and dated certificate.
Later that day I advised JR by email of his omission and third time lucky, a third certificate has arrived today and it is correct, but no explanation or offer of apology for sending out an unsigned certificate.
I appreciate that even Engineers have bad days and obviously make mistakes, but to lay the blame for those mistakes firmly at your customer's door and accuse your customer of not reading emails correctly, when your customer has read every email and done everything you asked of them, is not professional and has left a bit of a bad taste and me wishing I'd paid the extra money and gone to SVTech.
A timeline of my PVC up-rate thus far and I'm not best pleased.
22/04 Emailed John Ruffles Consultancy asking them to do the up-rate and providing the fact that I was on the XL chassis, with Al-Kober Air Tops and tyres load rated to 118, all of which would allow me to go to 4500kg max wt and increase my rear axle to 2600kg.
I asked JRC to confirm that I could go to those weights, asked their cost and also what they needed from me to get the ball rolling.
24/04 Received email confirmation from JR that my van is the right spec to go to the weights I previously quoted and to proceed, I was required to send a copy of page 2 of my V5 and an image of my VIN plate.
Sent the images and paid the fee.
05/05 Called home and found JR had sent out my new VIN and certificate, but had not increased the rear axle weight as previously discussed. Sent Email to JRC to explain this.
06/05. Received email from JR and I quote "YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NOT READ MY EMAIL OF 27/4 WHEN I ADVISED YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO EXCEED THE MANUFACTURERS AXLE WEIGHT WITHOUT SOME FORM OF MODIFICATION, SUCH AS AIR ASSIST"
Ah ! So it's my fault, because I didn't read an email that I never got, purportedly dated 27/04, three days after I'd already had confirmation from JR that my van had the requisite mods and we could proceed.
07/05 Emailed JR to advise of the above and politely asked that he carefully re-read my initial email, where I confirm all of the mods.
Later that day I received an email from JR, in which he says he missed the fact that I had Air Tops fitted (which is at odds with his email of 24/04) and apologised for that mistake, but continued "MAYBE I WOULD NOT HAVE MISSED IT HAD I HAD SIGHT OF THE ALKO PLATE"
Ah ! So it's still my fault, because I sent JR precisely what he asked for when I initially asked what he needed from me to proceed, when in fact I should have guessed that he had actually not asked for everything he needed.... my bad !
Anyway, he said he would make it his first job on Monday.
16/05 Returned home and found JR had rectified his mistake and had sent me a new VIN plate with the correct weights this time and also a new certificate, nicely laminated, but crucially missing JR's signature and date of signing.
Not wanting to have to email JR again and knowing the answer before I rang them, I checked with DVLA to see if they would accept the certificate as it was, but they confirmed that it is an official document and it was vital that I send a signed and dated certificate.
Later that day I advised JR by email of his omission and third time lucky, a third certificate has arrived today and it is correct, but no explanation or offer of apology for sending out an unsigned certificate.
I appreciate that even Engineers have bad days and obviously make mistakes, but to lay the blame for those mistakes firmly at your customer's door and accuse your customer of not reading emails correctly, when your customer has read every email and done everything you asked of them, is not professional and has left a bit of a bad taste and me wishing I'd paid the extra money and gone to SVTech.