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stephenel

Not really related but.................

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f7dc9ec4-16eb-11dd -bbfc-0000779fd2ac.html?nclick_check=1

bognormike · Moderator

well what a sorry state of affairs. let's hope that everybody who has deposits get sorted, and suppliers who have supplied goods & servcies will get paid. The lesson seems to be Ignore your customers at your own peril!
Let's hope Hymer germany see the troubles here and get other dealers involved to remove the monopoly. Mad

iandsm

Went to Brownhills Newark last Thursday. This is the second time my new rapido has needed some work done, not brownhills fault though. They did the work without question and to a decent standard all round. Staff were very polite and the rapido and I were looked after very well. All in all no complaints at all and still pleased with Brownhills, the Rapido and the after sales service we received. Good luck to them I say. both the company and the staff who work within it! I for one would certainly recommend them.

Harriflex

I should have taken advice last summer from other Motorhome owners ie: to keep clear of Brownhills Canterbury. However the newly expanded site drew me in, on first impressions the facilities, stock etc looked enticing. It was soon apparent that with the range of vehicles, their sales staff lacked overall training, experience and good customer relationships. Badly damaged second-hand vehicles were on display (not having been through any site workshop) generally there was an air and lack of leadership and no sense of company pride that I was so used to with over 20yrs of caravanning.

This apart, my family were attracted to an ex new demonstrator a Rotec 560, which in itself needed a lot of repairs. Promises were made, collection dates came and went, I wasted hours in attempting to get things right. At the time I vowed not to go back, however during the winter months we suffered numerous false alarms from the vehicle system.

I returned and phoned on various occasions, even to be told to go through the electronics myself! Earlier this year I then spotted severe bodywork corrosion around the external habitation door. Upon my return they scratched the paint surface off around the door frame, later advising me that any warranty work could take months for approval! Also, the number plates had been stuck on with double sided tape and the front plate fell off. In order to take this back for fixing I had used a tape to hold it back in position, which when they ripped this off, the bumper paint came away from the moulded plastic. I was aggressively told that this was my fault and would cost me £120! (even though the motor industry are not allowed to use tape to stick on reg plates)

I then wrote to their COE at Newark receiving a strange reply from the customer services department. Nothing further was done on their part and I waited to hear about my warranty claim regarding the body corrosion. Again, despite many phonecalls, none of which were returned, I then phoned John Kaiser an executive at Newark. Still nothing. Several more weeks have past, so I reported my unforgivable experiences to the National Caravan Council (who at the time must of known about Brownhills current circumstances). From the NCC reply I wonder if they have any teeth as a professional regulator?

Further to todays research on the web, I was delighted to have come across this forum and now all has become more clear. The Brownhill management must be running around like headless chicken, again, with no regard to customer service. The German Hymer group who manufacture the Tec range would be appalled to know what was going on within the UK sole dealership! As we all recognize German Industry maintain a tremendous national pride in their products and technologies.

I greatly sympathize with any members who have lost out financially with recent events at Brownhills. From my own experiences Motorhome dealers need to learn more about customer respect from the caravan "family" industry where there appears to be a 'British pride' maintained. Indeed one of the salesmen summed his experience up when asked about his camping experiences: "God I haven't got your sort of money, I couldn't afford one of these"!

Meanwhile, I still await a reply to my last letters sent to the Brownhill group management. From todays research it would appear that I need to seek advice from Trading standards as well as my solicitor!

JohnsCrossMotorHomes

Hi Harry,

Sorry to hear your tale of woe, looks like your in our neck of the woods, so your always welcome to come and see us.

Good Luck

Peter

Richards

How can a management team buy out a company that they could not manage in the first place and expect us stupid customers to continue to use them? I think I must be missing something - plus Swift are still asking us to go back and expect the best service will now happen with this management buy out. I am not bitter just lots of money down the drain on a very unsatisfactory Motorhome.

JohnsCrossMotorHomes

Richards

Hello Peter, I notice you seem to follow up problems - pity you are not closer or I would come and see you. My tale of woe over 18 months would fill a book. But suffice to say I have not got a good word for the old and present Brownhills set up. Swift are backing them which does interest me as they have done so much to harm their product yet they still stick with them. Kath Powell was caught by me on the Swift stand at the NEC in February 2007 and she left it all with the capable Brownhills which I feel is sad. Now all I want to do is fix this Barnacle of a Bessacarr and get on with my life. Watchdog have been in touch with me and are hoping to air my dispute and with the recent MBO I have contacted them again and expressed my concern that it is not just me with problems it is many so things are looking better for a result now but I am fast tiring of chasing my tail for justice with Brownhills but feel Swift via another dealer should know the extent that Brownhills let there product and me down.