We currently have a new van on order since October. Delivery date into the dealer is April 10th. The dealer booked us in for a handover slot around mid May (to make sure we had a slot). I booked the van in elsewhere 2 days later to have an alarm fitted. I haven't heard from our salesman in some time so I rang around March end to check on progress. Our salesman was not available but a very helpful lady checked the supplier's website and said 'it's still showing as April 10th so hopefully all is good'. She contacted me on April 10th to say that the van hasn't arrived but the supplier web site is still showing April 10th so hopefully it's en-route and will be arriving in the next few days.
This is our first van purchase. My wife hasn't even seen an example of the van (other than video) as there were none available anywhere and is therefore keen to view and start to think about accessories and all the things that one might want to buy for a van. We had planned to visit this week. There has been little or no time available to discuss the fitment of accessories by the dealership (due to the pandemic) so I also planned to visit this weekend with a friend who has had a van for a few years now to try to bottom out what we should have and finalise that with our salesman in plenty of time for them to fit prior to handover.
I hadn't had any further feedback from the dealer so I called yesterday for an update. I was told that my salesman was not in (as if that was the end of the matter). I persisted and a message was taken to be passed to the sales team. Someone called me back but was very reluctant to help saying that my salesman should be keeping me informed as he was doing with his own customers. He advised that he had just contacted the same supplier via email for one of his own customers so would email them again about our order and would expect a fairly prompt response as he had received. I didn't receive any further feedback.
I left it until later this afternoon and, having heard nothing, I called again. Calls are being taken by a receptionist who is unable to assist with anything other than taking messages. No response today.
I appreciate that having only opened for business again this week, it is likely to be fairly manic. I appreciate that there are a lot of orders being delayed due to part supply delays, Fiat cab/chassis supply etc (although I was assured months ago that our order was unaffected). I also appreciate that with our handover being set for mid May, there would be a tendency to only prioritise customers whose handover had been delayed or is due this week.
Nevertheless, I don't think it unreasonable to expect there to have been some communication between the dealer and the supplier shortly before delivery date to confirm the status of the order and whether it was likely to be delivered as per the stated delivery date. As far as I am aware, both dealer and supplier had staff working. I am now starting to feel very frustrated.
I'm just wondering how many others are in a similar position with vans on order and what their customer experience has been like.
This is our first van purchase. My wife hasn't even seen an example of the van (other than video) as there were none available anywhere and is therefore keen to view and start to think about accessories and all the things that one might want to buy for a van. We had planned to visit this week. There has been little or no time available to discuss the fitment of accessories by the dealership (due to the pandemic) so I also planned to visit this weekend with a friend who has had a van for a few years now to try to bottom out what we should have and finalise that with our salesman in plenty of time for them to fit prior to handover.
I hadn't had any further feedback from the dealer so I called yesterday for an update. I was told that my salesman was not in (as if that was the end of the matter). I persisted and a message was taken to be passed to the sales team. Someone called me back but was very reluctant to help saying that my salesman should be keeping me informed as he was doing with his own customers. He advised that he had just contacted the same supplier via email for one of his own customers so would email them again about our order and would expect a fairly prompt response as he had received. I didn't receive any further feedback.
I left it until later this afternoon and, having heard nothing, I called again. Calls are being taken by a receptionist who is unable to assist with anything other than taking messages. No response today.
I appreciate that having only opened for business again this week, it is likely to be fairly manic. I appreciate that there are a lot of orders being delayed due to part supply delays, Fiat cab/chassis supply etc (although I was assured months ago that our order was unaffected). I also appreciate that with our handover being set for mid May, there would be a tendency to only prioritise customers whose handover had been delayed or is due this week.
Nevertheless, I don't think it unreasonable to expect there to have been some communication between the dealer and the supplier shortly before delivery date to confirm the status of the order and whether it was likely to be delivered as per the stated delivery date. As far as I am aware, both dealer and supplier had staff working. I am now starting to feel very frustrated.
I'm just wondering how many others are in a similar position with vans on order and what their customer experience has been like.
Ironically, it could well be there. There were two vans due in from Dreamer on April 10th (ours was one of them). The other one was delivered to the dealer on Sunday morning. Coincidentally I dropped in there for a chat and met a very nice couple from Cornwall who had driven up that day to view after being informed that their Dreamer had arrived.
) and £899 for a 120w solar panel with no mention of what controls would be fitted. Err, No thank you!