Faults on motorhome cannot get the dealer to rectify (1 Viewer)

Oct 15, 2020
50
98
Darlington
Funster No
76,915
MH
Pilote
Exp
Since 2009
Bought a new Pilote motorhome from SMC Newark just at the beginning of the last lock down and couldn't use it until may and found a lot of faults and issues with it after contacting SMC on a few occasions have just been fobbed off.
The motorhome was brand new with a two year warranty.
On two occasions i have had to rectify the faults myself the most severe being the electrics were constantly tripping out which when traced led to a connection that had been wrongly wired with the earth and neutral crossed i would have thought that a full electrical test would have been carried out prior to delivery.
Due to the amount of issues I am now finding I have lost all faith in SMC and Pilote.
Does anyone know what course of action I may be able to take to get these problem sorted.
 

kevenh

Free Member
Jun 1, 2019
3,319
11,801
Thatcham
Funster No
61,329
MH
Compass C-Class
Exp
I'm a Progressing Newbie
Write to them. Be clear about the faults and your expected satisfactory outcome of writing to them

edit: & w2f

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BigDean

Free Member
Mar 31, 2018
347
392
Bath, UK
Funster No
53,093
MH
Adria
Exp
Since 2017
In the end of the day you have to weigh up whether the time and effort trying to get the manufacturer/dealer to correct faulty items is worth it. I have given up. Just costing me another £500 to get an independent workshop to replace all the crap fittings Adria put in their motorhomes with ones that wont leak. Beyond annoying, but they just don't care. Even more so now their order books are full. Even "known issues" are just ignored.

And from what I read, every manufacturer is the same.

I honestly don't know what we will do when we want to change next time. Because of the terrible customer service, we may end up keeping this one forever!

We need a legal way of making the industry change!
 

MillieMoocher

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 18, 2015
1,118
10,634
West Yorkshire
Funster No
37,199
MH
Autosleeper Kingham
Exp
40 years under canvas: Motorhome 2016 To 2020
You might have already escalated this at SMC but if not, you might want to email Alistair Briggs Price and or Gavin Briggs Price who are the MD/owner of the business

alistair@smcnewark.co.uk

gavin@smcnewark.co.uk

It might be worth mentioning (as I have ) that their reputation is currently turning to cr@p based on appalling post sales service.

since getting Alistair involved things have moved on, but for example today I had to chase them up as the promised phone call on Monday hadn‘t materialised.

once my issues have been sorted I will post the tale here but for now as we are working collegiately to get to a satisfactory solution I want to keep my head down!
 

sedge

Funster
Jul 7, 2009
5,491
13,024
Nr Jct 3 M6
Funster No
7,396
MH
C class
Exp
Aug 09 to date 9,000 miles!
For us the fount of Pilote knowledge is Bill Hayes and all his staff at Hayes Leisure in Darlaston so if you had a choice I'd say ask them - but no help now (I don't think anyway?) as it's warranty on a new vehicle.

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Nov 17, 2012
1,929
2,610
WEST SUSSEX
Funster No
23,714
MH
HYMER B SL 674
Exp
SINCE 2005
I would give the original dealer notice of say 2 weeks outlining what you want them to resolve. State that if it is not rectified you will get it resolved by a specialist auto electrical company and will be billing them for the work. Mention that you are also concert from a safety aspect as you have no confidence in the equipment sold.
 

hja

May 8, 2020
895
3,071
Lincolnshire
Funster No
70,433
MH
Globecar Summit Prim
Exp
Since 2019
Probably not relevant to OP problems, but dealers are very short of parts at present, e.g. pumps. All the same issues of deliveries etc that apply to other items

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ctc

Oct 12, 2015
1,501
2,505
Crowle
Funster No
39,408
MH
Hymer b680
Exp
New
Why does the customer have to put up with faulty goods and then a long struggle with the dealer? I have had faulty goods from China, immediately replaced with an apology. Always worried about their reputation.

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Blue Knight

Free Member
Aug 7, 2017
5,232
5,703
Durham
Funster No
49,879
MH
Globecar Summit 640
Exp
2016
We've bought two new vans from SMC (Pilote and Globecar) and I have to admit that they've been relatively pro-active in sorting my problems but I had to chase them quite often too.

That said, the main gripe that I had with SMC was the quality of their workmanship which, all told, was really crappy and I had to ensure that I checked everything afterwards.

My new Pilote was flooded because they didn't fit and seal the solar panel system correctly - and I do mean flooded. It took £560 of electric via a 2000W dryer to get the van dry again. I did the roof repair myself as I didn't trust them to fix it properly.

They've also been fairly poor when it comes to understanding electrical systems and batteries; sealing watertight doors, refitting furniture etc and a number of other things.

I've had lots of interaction with SMC over the years and the ultimate problem is that they are incredibly disorganised behind the scenes. The left hand doesn't know what the right is doing.

Enough said!
 

EML

Sep 18, 2018
164
207
Norwich
Funster No
56,275
MH
Transit PVC
Exp
15 years
On two occasions i have had to rectify the faults myself the most severe being the electrics were constantly tripping out which when traced led to a connection that had been wrongly wired with the earth and neutral crossed i would have thought that a full electrical test would have been carried out prior to delivery.

That's completely inexcusable. Good luck. This is an £18 Chinese socket tester I plugged (ha) on another thread recently, which I keep in the van. It'll find incorrectly wired sockets, but I haven't tested that bit of it, as I'd have to be pretty dumb to wire a socket incorrectly.
 

Lenny HB

LIFE MEMBER
Oct 18, 2007
52,684
147,591
On the coast in West Sussex
Funster No
658
MH
Hymer B678 DL
Exp
Since 2008 & many years tugging
That's completely inexcusable. Good luck. This is an £18 Chinese socket tester I plugged (ha) on another thread recently, which I keep in the van. It'll find incorrectly wired sockets, but I haven't tested that bit of it, as I'd have to be pretty dumb to wire a socket incorrectly.
The earth should never we swapped with live or neutral.
Live and neutral swapped on a contental van would not be considered a problem as all contental supplies are double switched and they don't differentrate between live & neutral.

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Jun 2, 2020
12
32
Leigh On Sea, Essex
Funster No
71,361
MH
Bessacarr 412
Exp
6 months
Bought a new Pilote motorhome from SMC Newark just at the beginning of the last lock down and couldn't use it until may and found a lot of faults and issues with it after contacting SMC on a few occasions have just been fobbed off.
The motorhome was brand new with a two year warranty.
On two occasions i have had to rectify the faults myself the most severe being the electrics were constantly tripping out which when traced led to a connection that had been wrongly wired with the earth and neutral crossed i would have thought that a full electrical test would have been carried out prior to delivery.
Due to the amount of issues I am now finding I have lost all faith in SMC and Pilote.
Does anyone know what course of action I may be able to take to get these problem sorted.
 
Jun 2, 2020
12
32
Leigh On Sea, Essex
Funster No
71,361
MH
Bessacarr 412
Exp
6 months
So sorry to learn of your problems, I can only imagine your frustration and disappointment. The many problems I have read about regarding new MH's lead me to purchase a lightly used, well cared for MH from a dealer with a good reputation. I know things price wise have changed lately but the MH I purchased was 18 months old, £7K less than new and had 3k miles on it. All the warranty work had been completed and it was prepared for sale beautifully. My view is let someone else sort the niggles, and just enjoy the MH without the agro. By the way the MH I purchased has performed faultlessly and nothing has dropped off, broken or leaked. Perhaps I have just got lucky....
 
Jun 10, 2020
434
947
Funster No
71,636
MH
Dethleffs Advantage
Exp
Since 2008
In the end of the day you have to weigh up whether the time and effort trying to get the manufacturer/dealer to correct faulty items is worth it. I have given up. Just costing me another £500 to get an independent workshop to replace all the crap fittings Adria put in their motorhomes with ones that wont leak. Beyond annoying, but they just don't care. Even more so now their order books are full. Even "known issues" are just ignored.

And from what I read, every manufacturer is the same.

I honestly don't know what we will do when we want to change next time. Because of the terrible customer service, we may end up keeping this one forever!

We need a legal way of making the industry change!

The legal position is laid out here:
Some aspects have time limitations so good record keeping for correspondence is important. Avoid telephone calls where there is no record of any discussion, use email or post where possible.

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Ken Hall

Free Member
Aug 15, 2020
42
91
Whitby North Yorkshire
Funster No
74,495
MH
2016 Carado T135
Exp
40 years
Just a bit more ammunition for your arsenal: The Consumer act 2015, into which is subsumed the earlier Sale of goods & services act and the Consumer credit act, Your first port of call for redress on any purchase is the retailer (the motorhome dealership) not the manufacturer (converter or base vehicle manufacturer).

It's probably out of the range of the consumer credit act (£100 to £30,000), but if you were to purchase goods with a deposit paid with a Credit Card (not applicable to a debit card) and the retailer doesn't respond you can ask the credit card company to act for you and they are obliged to do so.

we had solar PV fitted in 2013 and the company went bust before it had provided the ten year repair insurance policy. We had paid a £50 deposit with the credit card (Halifax) and when the roof started leaking and we found that optimisers had not been fitted, I contacted the Halifax and they stepped up, no fuss and covered a £3,000 repair job, paid up promptly and still accept warranty until the installation is ten years old (the original insurance cover period).

We don't use credit cards for credit (we pay off at the end of every month) but we have have a number of other refunds from the card issuer, where the retailer kicked up or refused to accept their responsibility under the Consumer act 2015. Let the credit card cmpanies do the work of challenging the retailers that don't respond.

I'm happy to advise on Consumer Act issues and taking companies to the Ombudsman.

Regards Ken
 

Coolcats

LIFE MEMBER
Jan 24, 2019
5,894
9,743
Funster No
58,207
MH
HymerCar Ayres Rock
duplicate of above

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Oct 5, 2021
42
100
Funster No
84,682
MH
Not yet, but looking
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is your friend. I recently rejected a £250K super car due to it having many faults. I needed to get a solicitor involved but the end result was the supplier (not manufacturer) replacing it with a new car and compensating me for solicitors fees. You have a statutory right to reject the vehicle and expect a replacement or full reimbursement. By law the supplier has one opportunity to fix the issues but if not successful you can reject it. The CRA 2015 has some differences for vehicles, in contrast to items such as TV’s etc.

Top tip: everything to be done in writing and if there is a phone call, follow up with an email to cover what was discussed.

This explains it further….

https://www.clerksroom.com/downloads/697-Consumer-Rights-for-Motorhome-Owners-and-Rejecting.pdf
 

frenchie 79

Free Member
May 11, 2021
102
108
Funster No
81,088
MH
c class
Bought a new Pilote motorhome from SMC Newark just at the beginning of the last lock down and couldn't use it until may and found a lot of faults and issues with it after contacting SMC on a few occasions have just been fobbed off.
The motorhome was brand new with a two year warranty.
On two occasions i have had to rectify the faults myself the most severe being the electrics were constantly tripping out which when traced led to a connection that had been wrongly wired with the earth and neutral crossed i would have thought that a full electrical test would have been carried out prior to delivery.
Due to the amount of issues I am now finding I have lost all faith in SMC and Pilote.
Does anyone know what course of action I may be able to take to get these problem sorted.
We bought a new Bailey Autograph august 20.Continental leisure Llanilli.We live 4 hours away.Loads of things wrong.Good job other half is good at fixing things.They wanted us to take it back & leave it for 3 months before they went in it due to Covid.I got in touch with bailey who advised to get jobs done under warranty at a local Bailey dealer.Nobody would fit us in.I rung 3 dealers who wil only deal with past customers.So guess what I’ve bitten the bullet and we are going to Llanilli in nov.They Will have a look & we will have to take it back when parts in.Which she said could take up to 6 months due to not getting hold of parts from bailey.She said she even had to drive to Bristol herself the other day to pick up parts (oh dear)
 
Nov 20, 2017
489
636
Worcestershire
Funster No
51,424
MH
Dethleffs
Exp
Since 2015
The earth should never we swapped with live or neutral. Live and neutral swapped on a contental van would not be considered a problem as all contental supplies are double switched and they don't differentrate between live & neutral.

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Oct 20, 2018
10
41
North Wiltshire
Funster No
56,832
MH
A class
Exp
Over 20 years
After 20 years of almost trouble free second hand motorhomes of all shapes and sizes, we bought a brand new premium model from a main dealer as our ‘keeper’ into retirement. After two years (including the first lockdown) half of the total mileage was return trips to the dealer for remedial work, often with a car following to take me home/bring me back. Having run a business with many skilled tradesmen doing quality work, I find the total lack of quality at all levels from design, manufacturing and service lamentable. We have sold it and shall not replace it having discovered the benefits of hotels and a sports car.
 
Sep 14, 2021
46
88
Funster No
84,170
MH
Just looking
So sorry to learn of your problems, I can only imagine your frustration and disappointment. The many problems I have read about regarding new MH's lead me to purchase a lightly used, well cared for MH from a dealer with a good reputation. I know things price wise have changed lately but the MH I purchased was 18 months old, £7K less than new and had 3k miles on it. All the warranty work had been completed and it was prepared for sale beautifully. My view is let someone else sort the niggles, and just enjoy the MH without the agro. By the way the MH I purchased has performed faultlessly and nothing has dropped off, broken or leaked. Perhaps I have just got lucky....
Out of interest which dealer did you buy from? Sounds like you had a good experience and we are Essex based as well. Recent visits to dealers a distance away have left a less than pleasant taste and we are leaning more towards buying older, forget manufacturers warranty if we buy 2016/17 and avoid being tied to one dealer for repairs.
 
Jun 2, 2020
12
32
Leigh On Sea, Essex
Funster No
71,361
MH
Bessacarr 412
Exp
6 months
Out of interest which dealer did you buy from? Sounds like you had a good experience and we are Essex based as well. Recent visits to dealers a distance away have left a less than pleasant taste and we are leaning more towards buying older, forget manufacturers warranty if we buy 2016/17 and avoid being tied to one dealer for repairs.
TC Motorhomes in Herne Bay, Kent. My experience was first rate. I am not sure how much second hand stock they have, I was down there a few months back for a service and Hab check and they only had a few second hand MH's in stock. They are a main dealer for Chausson. If a decent trade in lands they market it on their forecourt. I simply cannot believe how many problems new MH's seem to have. I am so glad my nearly new MH has been a good one.... A little tip, Les Bateman Motors in Southend are a decent little find for running repairs and general maintenance and MOT's. Bit old school but do a decent job and trustworthy.

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