WildHorse
Free Member
You know how they say bad luck comes in threes, well after having a really bad experience with one supplier of suspension parts, we were booked in to have an awning fitted by a company in Poole.
I went down the night before and parked in their car park over night so i was there first thing.
We had previously driven down to be measured up as brackets needed to be fabricated to match the curvature of the roof, also it was suggested that some additional roof spar braces were added to help with the long term functionality.
The day before i took out the trim, top of the shower etc and got the mechanic we work with to make some additional plates and weld in some additional strengthening brace bars.
The awning was massive 5 metre x 3 metre self supporting, we were quoted a weight of approx 65 kilo but when i tried to lift it, i would say it was more.
So my partner picked me up and we went for lunch, when we got back the awning was on. When i asked if all was OK the fitter said well you better come and take a look, here we go i hear you saying, Yes.
The awning was fully out and trying to push the plates it was attached to through the gel coat roof of my van, splitting and deforming the gel coat at the front and in the middle of the roof section.
A hardwood wedge had been pushed in at the front to try to mitigate some of the weight and twisting of the awning on the fixing plates, what would you like us to do i was asked.
Well take it off i said! the damage had been done, now i am no expert on gel coat and to be fair when i got them to take the front plate off as well, it all sprang back to shape and did not look as bad, so i thought well we can get that repaired fit the plates properly, moving them further back onto the roof and away from the side, pop it back down and they can refit it.
So i drove home with no awning and two plates out of the three left on, next day it was booked back in for a complete overhaul of the rear suspension, whilst parked in the garage up on ramps, another customer pointed me to a local company that work on motorhome bodies and it was arranged that one of their guys come out and take a look. I got the quote £2750.00 +vat, meanwhile i had taken the other two plates off as the damage around the middle plate was also quite bad.
Now! The company have been fair and their response all the way through has also been with good intent, they were a little shocked by the quote, saying they could perhaps get it done cheaper in a body shop closer to them but when i pointed out our time, expenses, fuel, child care etc, they decided against it. The mechanic said well like all of us we are insured against such mishaps whats the problem?
When i pointed this out it was agreed that they would indeed contact their insurance company and as of today we are waiting to be contacted by them.
I went down the night before and parked in their car park over night so i was there first thing.
We had previously driven down to be measured up as brackets needed to be fabricated to match the curvature of the roof, also it was suggested that some additional roof spar braces were added to help with the long term functionality.
The day before i took out the trim, top of the shower etc and got the mechanic we work with to make some additional plates and weld in some additional strengthening brace bars.
The awning was massive 5 metre x 3 metre self supporting, we were quoted a weight of approx 65 kilo but when i tried to lift it, i would say it was more.
So my partner picked me up and we went for lunch, when we got back the awning was on. When i asked if all was OK the fitter said well you better come and take a look, here we go i hear you saying, Yes.
The awning was fully out and trying to push the plates it was attached to through the gel coat roof of my van, splitting and deforming the gel coat at the front and in the middle of the roof section.
A hardwood wedge had been pushed in at the front to try to mitigate some of the weight and twisting of the awning on the fixing plates, what would you like us to do i was asked.
Well take it off i said! the damage had been done, now i am no expert on gel coat and to be fair when i got them to take the front plate off as well, it all sprang back to shape and did not look as bad, so i thought well we can get that repaired fit the plates properly, moving them further back onto the roof and away from the side, pop it back down and they can refit it.
So i drove home with no awning and two plates out of the three left on, next day it was booked back in for a complete overhaul of the rear suspension, whilst parked in the garage up on ramps, another customer pointed me to a local company that work on motorhome bodies and it was arranged that one of their guys come out and take a look. I got the quote £2750.00 +vat, meanwhile i had taken the other two plates off as the damage around the middle plate was also quite bad.
Now! The company have been fair and their response all the way through has also been with good intent, they were a little shocked by the quote, saying they could perhaps get it done cheaper in a body shop closer to them but when i pointed out our time, expenses, fuel, child care etc, they decided against it. The mechanic said well like all of us we are insured against such mishaps whats the problem?
When i pointed this out it was agreed that they would indeed contact their insurance company and as of today we are waiting to be contacted by them.
