Our Friday afternoon Swift Sundance. (1 Viewer)

[Mack100]

Good morning fellow Funsters.
I have been mulling this over in my mind and I've decided to escalate the issue.
Some of your points made in this thread have resonated with me, specifically the "not fit for purpose" and rejection comments.
When I take the motorhome back to the dealers tomorrow I shall present them with a letter asking for further clarification about the water ingress through the roof.

I am concerned that the damp in the roof will not dry out simply by re-sealing the roof and I will ask for the dealers views.
I have been advised on here that the roof needs to be opened up to allow proper drying and an proper inspection to be made.

I am also going to reject the washroom door as the replacement looks as bad as the warped original.
I have been advised to join Which legal services which I have done.

 

[DesRes]

If you do not get the damp issues sorted you will live to regret it. Been there, but did not realize the problem until it was too late. Something like a late diagnoses of cancer, it killed my previous van.
Your van is new, you must get the dealer to resolve the problems. Good luck.

 

[CazPaul]

My service manager tells converters of problems and ways ro resolve them, most of the time we get ignored.

We sort our own problems out and dont have 'disgruntled' customers as such in the main, what others do is their business, if they cant be bothered to forestall what could be a problem in the future...........................

Peter

So what Peter is saying is a lot depends on who you buy from, there are good dealers and rubbish ones

He is definitely correct.

Paul.

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[Peter JohnsCross MH]

A serious question for you.

Do dealers inform the various MH and components manufacturers of faults that occur, other than making warranty claims or ordering new bits, and is there some form of meeting held with dealers and manufacturers to highlight faults ? Or is this just left to the manufacturers to work it out for themselves from the amount of aftersales parts they sell ?

I dont know what other dealers do, all converters have sales reps and managers so I would presume they get earache same as ours do!

All new vans are inspected when they come off the transporter before being signed for and any defects/blemishes noted, before boing sold a proper PDI
is carried out and all appliances tested.

After handover we always suggest that owners stay locally for two or three days so that everything can 'bed in' and any niggles then sorted.

If an appliance becomes defective in service, we dont have a crystal ball unfortunately.

 

[MichelleRyall]

I was discussing problems with my husband whilst merrily driving around the New Forest. We both came to the conclusion that the majority of minor faults that we have experienced with our Rollerteam 707 are mainly of the man made type. Cars are virtually made by robots and are quite simple in comparison. Motorhomes have cupboards, shelves, cookers, ply screens, nuts, bolts and screws. All things put in by hand are usually installed by some person trying to do as many as humanely possible in his/ her working day. I do feel that these obviously should not come loose, fall of or break but sadly they do. More serious issues should be identified and rectified at PDI. My husband quite enjoys fixing and modifying small faults.

 

[Mack100]

Mini update:
Dealer workshop reports:
Offside strip lights "burnt out" not sure what this means. They are replacing them with an "upgrade"......halogen! Aren't we lucky!

Truma boiler.....loose connection now fixed.

New washroom door being requested from Swift.

Electric step replaced.

It looks like I'm being fobbed off about the roof damp, "condensation" is apparently to blame.
I'd like to get some industry info about how to dry out a damp roof effectively, I thought I might email Swifts technical director, is this a good idea?

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[TheBig1]

swift wont admit there is an issue so therefore liability. emailing the technical director is likely a pointless exercise. get onto the CEO and get an independent report on the damp in your van first for evidence

my experience with swift is that unless you kick up a big fuss with evidence suitable to be used in court, they aren't interested. they've got your money now so why should they worry

 

[sedge]

I'm baffled - Why (although it was 2009 and this is 5 years later) have they changed from the company who fell over backwards to right the (small, comparatively) damp prob we had on the van we bought then, to a company who won't do anything for anybody?

We had Rolls Royce service for Mini money (speaking in past language here, dunno what the modern equivalent would be)

In 2009 people were still saying then, that they were terrible.

And I have to ask myself this, too .... if they really are so bad at what they do - why does Mark of Central Leisure Services - always land up with another Swift when he replaces his van? Not only does he work on his own van and those of his personal customers, all sorts of makes and models - but also being a Swift Accredited technician, does their Warranty work for all sorts of local dealers. So he definitely sees all the bits that break.

Yet - he isn't put off.

That tells me, quite a lot about Swift !

 

[TheDogMan]

From my own experience, Hobby are one of those arrogant German companies. You can phone or e-mail Hobby UK - they will never get back to you. Not only will they not speak to customers, they don't speak to their dealers either if they can help it. The one time I managed to speak to Hobby UK on the phone (at a dealer's when I was digging my heels in and about to throw a wobbler), they knew less about the installation of TecTowers than I did!

Add to that a ludicrously long wait for any spare parts because they will only send them over from Germany in a large batch.

And add to that the fact that they construct their vans with no thought whatsoever as to how you get to various components to repair/replace them, eg Truma boiler, water pump.

I love my van - the layout is second to none and overall build quality is good. However, I would not buy a new Hobby ever again - purely because their customer service is so cr*p. :Angry:

I bought a used 2010 Hobby and I have dealt with the parts dept at Hobby UK 3 times and they were really helpful, its was only for small items catches & Lights but they were excellant, one item I waited 7 days for as it had to come from Germany.

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[Emmit]

I bought a used 2010 Hobby and I have dealt with the parts dept at Hobby UK 3 times and they were really helpful, its was only for small items catches & Lights but they were excellant, one item I waited 7 days for as it had to come from Germany.

Greetings,

And when I contacted Hobby re my misdescribed 'van, they had a Certificate of Conformity back to me within minutes.:thumb:
The fact that DVLA can't understand the C of C is not Hobby's fault (but that's another story):Angry:

 

[knokinonabit]

I dont know what other dealers do, all converters have sales reps and managers so I would presume they get earache same as ours do!

All new vans are inspected when they come off the transporter before being signed for and any defects/blemishes noted, before boing sold a proper PDI
is carried out and all appliances tested.

After handover we always suggest that owners stay locally for two or three days so that everything can 'bed in' and any niggles then sorted.

If an appliance becomes defective in service, we dont have a crystal ball unfortunately.

I'm pleased that the sales reps and managers get earache, or the posh term feedback, from you, but is this being relayed to their bosses ?

You do go the extra mile for your customers peace of mind when handing over a new MH, and if all dealers were as considerate as you, the industry would be better off for it.

I'm sure that you don't have a crystal ball, and don't expect you to have one, but if something goes wrong in service then I'm sure that your customers would let you know so that it can be rectified.
Then you can give your feedback to the manufacturer, so that they are aware of any problems which may be re-occurring in their product, and they can work to eliminate them.

Isn't that how it should work ?

 

[TheBig1]

I'm baffled - Why (although it was 2009 and this is 5 years later) have they changed from the company who fell over backwards to right the (small, comparatively) damp prob we had on the van we bought then, to a company who won't do anything for anybody?

We had Rolls Royce service for Mini money (speaking in past language here, dunno what the modern equivalent would be)

In 2009 people were still saying then, that they were terrible.

And I have to ask myself this, too .... if they really are so bad at what they do - why does Mark of Central Leisure Services - always land up with another Swift when he replaces his van? Not only does he work on his own van and those of his personal customers, all sorts of makes and models - but also being a Swift Accredited technician, does their Warranty work for all sorts of local dealers. So he definitely sees all the bits that break.

Yet - he isn't put off.

That tells me, quite a lot about Swift !

the little bits that break are not the issue, as theyre common to all manufacturers. structural defects and leaks though are in a different class of problem. its more how swift respond to these warranty issues that they fail as a manufacturer.

As for Mark, i am certain he keeps an eye open for any potential problems and likely double checks weak areas like joints regularly. being in the trade, he no doubt gets his vans at trade prices, so it makes sense to stick with swift

the average owner though only finds damp problems once well established, often at a yearly service. totally different to somebody that makes a living knowing the weak points to keep a professional eye on

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[Mack100]

At the moment I have not been directly involved with Swift concerning any of the problems we've had with the MH, only with the dealer, and to date no-one has refused to repair or replace any non-functioning appliances.
My concerns are that of poor build quality, the MH having left the factory in a potentially dangerous condition (missing bolts) and poor construction (roof sealing) leading to water ingress.

My next hurdle is to see what happens about any damp remaining in the roof. I still have to be satisfied about the amount of damp that may remain in the roof and I'm still not aware of the correct workshop procedure to determine this and rectify it.

 

[sedge]

Mack that wasn't directed at you really TBH, but more towards the folks rubbishing Swift.

To be fair if it was working OK on delivery, the Truma prob is Truma's prob not Swift's and the step too is probably Omnistep's prob, but it is up to the dealer to put it right or get it put right. OTOH, we had a prob with our Dometic fridge in our new van after a couple of months so rang the dealer who said in point of fact he would just ring his local Dometic rep, so asked us if we wanted to do that direct and have it repaired at home? - so we did. The aforesaid Mark has dealt with Truma Wtty & repairs ever since we had the first van, and now he also does Dometic and so we'd just ring him now for either. However, the dealer should be telling you that, not me.

I feel pretty certain that whatever they actually do on PDI, that NONE of the manufacturers (of MoHos or caravans) actually put their vans through a rain tunnel before they get delivered so who knows whether they are sposed to physically inspect the correct fitting of rooflight seals on PDI or not?

Don't help you though, not with a non-pro-active dealer ....... our advantage was that the dealer had informed Swift pdq about the incorrect sealing of the rooflight as soon as they found it and before they put it right. And also told them that we'd rejected their offer of half-doing the job. Who knows what yours have told Swift?

 

[Mack100]

Mack that wasn't directed at you really TBH, but more towards the folks rubbishing Swift.

No worries, hadn't occurred to me that it was

Who knows what yours have told Swift?

I'm sure they havn't told them anything.......yet! Just to point out that it wasn't just haphazard sealing around roof lights, that could easily be missed on PDI.
It was actually the main joints between the cab and the habitation that had been omitted.

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[Puddleduck]

From my son who is a Chartered Quality Engineer working in an industry where errors cost lives:

"Quality can not be inspected in, it has to be built in. For true quality in any industry the ethos of the company has to be that of quality and not 'we can fix that later'."

 

[maz]

I bought a used 2010 Hobby and I have dealt with the parts dept at Hobby UK 3 times and they were really helpful, its was only for small items catches & Lights but they were excellant, one item I waited 7 days for as it had to come from Germany.

Maybe if you are actually paying for the stuff they are helpful. Getting stuff fixed under warranty is another story.

 

[trophychap]

I have just been looking at this thread and would categorically state that Mark of CLS fame does not get any discount from Swift!! He has to buy from a dealer the same as the rest of us. (His words) to me.

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[jhorsf]

I do wonder how Swift are still selling new vans ?

 

[sedge]

Easily - there are a lot more happy customers than unhappy ones. Including their caravans, they have about 40% of the UK market.

That's quite a lot of vans ......