TravelWorld Motorhomes (1 Viewer)

Brian and Jo

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Sep 24, 2007
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oswestry,shropshire
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368
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A-Class N+B Arto 88F
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Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
Myself & Jo would just like to say a big thank you to Ross,Annabel,Erik and all the staff at Travel World of Telford for looking after us over the last few months and giving excellent customer care.
We have also had the Goldschmitt full air suspension and auto levelling fitted , while it was with them they also did a habitation service,an excellent job done very tidy workmanship.After collection today I also took it to Fiat in Telford and had a new ignition switch fitted under recall
Brian & Jo
 
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Brian and Jo

Brian and Jo

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 24, 2007
3,002
6,447
oswestry,shropshire
Funster No
368
MH
A-Class N+B Arto 88F
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Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
Hi guys just wanted to add a little to this thread and to say that we have had one or two more snagging problems with the Arto ,the main one was an itermittant electrical problem rendering the 12v system dead.after extensive investigation could not find what it was that was causing it .So Annabel arranged for someone to come over from N+B in Germany to try and solve the mystery and after much digging and probing found a faulty connection on part of the wiring in the roof of the motorhome.Job sorted so well chuffed.Also 2 LED running lights replaced and 4 new wheel centre badges fitted .Arto delivered back to our home yesterday afternoon.So i would like to say a big thank you to Travelworld and especially to Annabel for all your help.:xThumb:
Brian & Jo
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Oooo Brian, I bet that took some finding.

Good result though so well done TW.

Martin

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stewartwebr

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Jun 6, 2010
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Edinburgh
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Morelo Empire Liner
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36 years and 16 motorhomes
Wish I had the same service when I bought my new Flair :-(

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Welsh girl

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Nov 7, 2009
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Excellent service.Nice van too..In my dreams unfortunately.
 

stewartwebr

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Initially, it was more around the attitude of some of the staff. When I collected the van we headed straight off to Europe. I do not tow the car in Europe so did not test the tow-bar electrics they had fitted. On returning 12 days later I connected the car to the electrics and no power found on the tow-bar socket. I called Travelworld and was told, "It has to work it is a plug and play fit" On travelling back to Travelworld they had a look and found the connection where the tow-bar socket and the van is connected was badly corroded. Travelworld insisted it was operational 12 days previous, we agreed to disagree and I still have photographs of the socket and there is no way that the oxidisation occurred over a 12 day period. However, the issue was not really the problem. The part which angered me the most was when I was informed, after just parting with a significant 6 figure sum of money that the issue was nothing to do with them and I would need to go an arrange something with Iveco to deal with it.
After some very strong conversations it was agreed that they would arrange for the van to be taken to Iveco and the issue resolved.

A few months into ownership, the electric habitation door was not pulling closed properly. I returned to Travelworld where it was adjusted. After the repairs the workshop supervisor went through the defects, one of them being the door. He proceeded to slam the door. I explained the door should not be slammed, that was the function of the motors. To my complete disbelief he continued to repeatedly slam the door and at the same time explaining that he had been working on these doors for 10 years and it was a misunderstanding of owners that the doors did not need to be closed with a firm slam. At this point I asked him to stop touching my vehicle. This was supported by Debbie who was clearly embarrassed. I eventually asked Eric the Workshop manager to look at the door. He was non-committal so I demonstrated how the door should work by functioning 3 doors of vans within the showroom. At this stage they suggested perhaps I should take the van back to Polch. It's a long expensive drive from Edinburgh to Polch. Polch delivered an excellent service and commented that the door had been incorrectly adjusted to the point that both motors were buckled and twisted, this made sense given that after Travelworld attempt to fix, pulling the internal handle of the door was like firing a gun with the noise it made.
The Thetford grill never worked. Numerous trips to Telford failed to resolve. In fairness Thetford were of very little help.
The van also had some paint issues, but I wont go into too much detail on here, however, I believe this has been a really serious issue with N&B Flairs for the last 3 years with a number of them having complete new paint jobs.
Things did seem to get better at Travelworld when Debbie was there, then things slipped when she left. This is just my own opinion and being honest its very much the same with the majority of UK dealers. I would go as far as to say they were not the worst during my time dealing with them, but they could do a lot more to support the customer, I felt I was the one doing the organising chasing spares and making appointments.
However, I just replaced my van last month. At the same time I have bought a new Smart Car. If service is based on price of the product the motorhome dealer should be ashamed. The motorhome cost 15 times that of the Smart but the service from Mercedes has been excellent. Follow up calls when you call them within the hour. Calls 7 days before delivery asking if I wanted to be picked up to collect the car. Calls 7 days, 14 days and 21 days into ownership asking if I am happy with the car and if there are anything I need explaining or issues I may need resolved. Call by Mercedes UK asking for my feedback on how the dealer dealt with me and how satisfied I am with both them and the car. The motorhome service after I drove out has been a few unreturned calls and an average 3 days e-mail response time.
I don't think the issue is with Travelworld there is not enough competition in the UK to keep these guys on there toes.
In summary I would probably not deal with them again, however...if the price is right :)

I have edited this to add additional information around the door problem in the event anyone reads this. As stated Travelworld attempted to fix the door and failed miserably. Polch put the issues right and the door did function most of the time. A few months defore I traded the issue got worse and I did some fault finding myself. The root cause of all the issues was the cable between the controller and the door which supplied 12volts to the motors had an intermittent fault, I assume the cable was damaged due to flexing the cable as the door opened and closed. There was a spare core which I used and the door worked perfectly after that...if you need a job doing do it yourself!

Ohhh... if anyone does need to work on the door and take the plastic internal panel off, it took me ages to work it out. The door has a few screws behind the chrome door handle. However to get it off you need to split the door into two parts and pull the 2 sections out of the groove which runs around the edge of the external lip of the door. This is done by pulling the beige part and the cream part apart where they meet in the middle of the door. They are held together by Velcro, it is easy when you know how.

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funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Morelo, N+B, Concorde as @stewartwebr says only one dealer each so no competition to keep the on their toes, the more I read this sort of stuff the less inclined I am to buy a new van.

The other issue is that possibly vans were more reliable when all you needed to do to a door was shut it rather than rely on a couple of motors and the setting of some numpty of a technician.

Martin
 
Feb 22, 2008
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My Hymer has been incredible since new, only issue Fiat dash lights and radio aerial not powered, dealer issue and sorted immediately.
Would highly recommend Hymer.
 
May 8, 2010
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I'd highly recommend Hymer, too, I keep putting off writing my review of Travel World. I don't like writing bad reviews, but I suppose that needs must :oops:.

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MichaelT

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Nov 12, 2015
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Bit worried that N&B vans have so many major issues, maybe they are more style over substance?
 
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Brian and Jo

Brian and Jo

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 24, 2007
3,002
6,447
oswestry,shropshire
Funster No
368
MH
A-Class N+B Arto 88F
Exp
Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
Bit worried that N&B vans have so many major issues, maybe they are more style over substance?
In the 2 and a half years we have owned our Arto it has been a real pleasure owning it.Ok one or two snagging problems along they way but they have been dealt with professionally and without question by TravelWorld.Its a fantastic Motorhome and I would definitely buy another N&B.
Brian & Jo
 
Jun 30, 2011
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Bit worried that N&B vans have so many major issues, maybe they are more style over substance?


Its more the dealer, a good dealer would get it back in, sort it out PROPERLY and then you don't need to complain, the more complicated things get the more they go wrong, engines for instance.

That's most N&B customers in the know go to Polch for checks, work done etc.

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MichaelT

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Its more the dealer, a good dealer would get it back in, sort it out PROPERLY and then you don't need to complain, the more complicated things get the more they go wrong, engines for instance.

That's most N&B customers in the know go to Polch for checks, work done etc.
Polch is that the factory?
 

MichaelT

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Yes, where they are made.

So can you take it there for habitation service as well as warranty repairs?

Obviously a long way to go but if the dealers are not up to it I guess it would save time and effort in the long run if you don't live near Travel World and have to keep going back and forth.
 

MichaelT

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In the 2 and a half years we have owned our Arto it has been a real pleasure owning it.Ok one or two snagging problems along they way but they have been dealt with professionally and without question by TravelWorld.Its a fantastic Motorhome and I would definitely buy another N&B.
Brian & Jo

N&B are not common and on here there are 2 owners who have had major issues, maybe just unlucky...
 
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Brian and Jo

Brian and Jo

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 24, 2007
3,002
6,447
oswestry,shropshire
Funster No
368
MH
A-Class N+B Arto 88F
Exp
Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
N&B are not common and on here there are 2 owners who have had major issues, maybe just unlucky...

Hi Mike ,I dont believe in luck to me its not only about buying a motorhome ,its about building relationships with people ,not only about how you are treated as a customer but also how you approach and treat the people you buy off .The Arto is the third motorhome we have bought from Travelworld and never had an issue with them ,they have been great with us.We too have a business in the motor industry and we deal with the public head on all day every day and it can be a very thankless task .Just my findings and i know many will disagree.
Brian & Jo

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Brian and Jo

Brian and Jo

LIFE MEMBER
Sep 24, 2007
3,002
6,447
oswestry,shropshire
Funster No
368
MH
A-Class N+B Arto 88F
Exp
Been motorhoming for 15yrs.had an American RV for 7yrs,Now got a Niesmann Bischoff Arto 88F
god forbid we have a moan about them on a forum they sponsor,
I take it thats a dig at me :eek: water off a ducks back .I am just voicing my experiences with Travel world which have all been very good ,which is what this thread was originally about.
Brian & Jo
 

John Stanton

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Jul 11, 2017
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Hymer B678 (Heap of crap)
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10 years
Our experience was the other way around ..

The brand new Hymer was nothing but trouble and Travelworld did their best to resolve the problems the Hymer factory had been kind enough to build in - including ultimately water ingress. Despite TW's best efforts the van was plagued with "issues" and as I've said on a previous thread it spent so much time there that we considered telling Comfort insurance that TW was our storage facility.

We always found them very sympathetic and whilst they did their best to accommodate us (always as a priority), in the end we lost faith in the "product" and off loaded it at the first opportunity and we won't touch another Hymer.

I don't doubt there are many happy Hymer owners and many unhappy Travelworld customers on this forum but that is our experience for what it's worth.
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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Bit worried that N&B vans have so many major issues, maybe they are more style over substance?
I am not convinced that N+B vans have "major issues", yes there has been a problem with paint I assume other than white vans but not 100% sure but I do know that the factory have been very keen to rectify these issues, other than that I think you will find that they share equipment from the same major manufacturers as many other vans so therefore share the same problems but in general the N+B design and build quality is still very much "top end"

Martin

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MichaelT

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I am not convinced that N+B vans have "major issues", yes there has been a problem with paint I assume other than white vans but not 100% sure but I do know that the factory have been very keen to rectify these issues, other than that I think you will find that they share equipment from the same major manufacturers as many other vans so therefore share the same problems but in general the N+B design and build quality is still very much "top end"

Martin
Seems Brian & Jo had major electric issues and StuartBR also had major issues but as I said could just be unlucky. I do not know about the paint issues but again on such a "top end" van should it happen? Main thing is dealer support and I am not sure any of them are any good TBH.
 

funflair

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Dec 11, 2013
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So can you take it there for habitation service as well as warranty repairs?

Obviously a long way to go but if the dealers are not up to it I guess it would save time and effort in the long run if you don't live near Travel World and have to keep going back and forth.
Yes you can take your van back to the factory for habitation and warranty work, the major advantages being that firstly they know the vans better than any dealer and secondly they have all spares to hand so no time wasting delay for parts.

You can also go to the factory in November for the open weekend, you can look around the production facility and new vans in the showroom as well as join A typical German evening of musical entertainment and beer drinking, sometimes the beer is free depending on that years sales figures(y) you can go with any van not just N+B.

Martin
 

funflair

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Seems Brian & Jo had major electric issues and StuartBR also had major issues but as I said could just be unlucky. I do not know about the paint issues but again on such a "top end" van should it happen? Main thing is dealer support and I am not sure any of them are any good TBH.
For sure issues like the paint one shouldn't happen, but if they do what is then important is that they are sorted In an efficient manner and I believe that the factory have done this.

The point of Stewart's post I believe was suggesting that his problems could well have been quite trivial if they had been sorted by the dealer as was in the case of Brian's electrical issue.

End of the day all vans will have problems which is why we need dealers to sort them out which I believe brings us back to where the thread started.

Martin

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May 22, 2015
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Rolls Royce cars breakdown Oh Please!

I've dealt with Travelworld for warranty issues and can't speak highly enough!!
 
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So what does all this prove.

Expensive German vans have similar quality control issues to cheaper British vans... So logically buy cheaper British vans and accept you are having similar build quality issues than a much more expensive German van :D2

All dealers have happy and disgruntled customers in equal measures. So good luck with the lottery of finding one who is consistently good... (y)

Simples!

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