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Before we left for a trip around France in April i contacted my dealer and asked if i could have the second year Hab. Test done anywhere i liked and they said i could not.
It has to be a Rapido dealer for the warranty to remain valid, i did not think the £220 (plus the £80 for fuel cost ) they wanted was a fair price for the amount of work and time involved in doing this task.
I decided as i was going to France i would try and have it done over there and so ending up near Caen i contacted Destinea @ Benouville near Ouistreham and was given an appointment for 1600hrs the next day.
They collected the m/h at exactly the time they said and 90 mins. later all was done even a small repair to a loose front wing, all the correct paperwork for the warranty and all for the princely sum of £80.
Now that is a result, but how can a very big dealer in France cost 60% less than the large UK dealers and in under 2 hrs not the many hours my dealer would require for the same work.
I know where i will be going for the 3rd year and final Hab. test.
Its a pity i did not think to have my first service done at a Fiat garage while i was there.
When I collected my Adria from Germany to import, Marco suggested that it was possible for him to do the Hab. service and even for the Fiat dealer on the same block to do the Mech service on a yearly basis.
He did say it would be far cheaper for me to do it this way as other customers of his have found out!!
I know where I'm going I am sure the work will be of better quality and the service A1
Sorry to be a cynic, but how do you know the servicing was better. What standards do you go by. Do you have proof that all points on the service list were checked. How do you know that the service was/is better than what you would get in the UK. The old saying...'you pays your money...etc springs to mind. You may have paid less money but for what, a stamp in your service schedule.
I wait to be totally shot down on this as I've never toured across the channel, but would like to know the answers, as I'm sure they could be applied in this country.
______________________________________________________________ "On all the oceans white caps flow,
You see no crosses row on row
But those who sleep beneath the sea,
Rest in peace for your country is free".
Spacerunner, were in my post did i state that the service WAS better, i have very high standards and i am very proud of the attention i give too my m/h.
How the hell can you ask what proof have i got that they did what i requested or that they covered all the points required for the test in respect of a UK dealer, how can i or anyone know for certain what the dealer does with your m/h when out of your sight.
All i know is that i was extremely happy with the service that Destinea afforded me and i am confident that the job was done as i requested even to a small repair to a loose front wing that i am positive i would have been charged for at my dealers.
I find your comments offensive because you appear too think i put cost before quality and all i wanted was a stamp to say the Hab Test was done, i can assure you that cost is irrelevant what is more important is not getting ripped off with overpriced servicing.
I did not in any way think I was causing any offence. I know that there are many people in this organisation that are far more technically able than me. All I was asking was what criteria do you judge a good service agent by, and in your and other experienced motorhomers opinion, were European service agents, on the whole, better than UK agents.
______________________________________________________________ "On all the oceans white caps flow,
You see no crosses row on row
But those who sleep beneath the sea,
Rest in peace for your country is free".
Forgiveness my friend, i accept your comments now with the knowledge that you appear to want too know what i (i can only comment on my thoughts) know from previous experience and from travelling across Europe for 39 years that the general consensus is that one gets a better deal in most other countries than you do in the UK. not only for the after sales servicing but also for the purchasing of a new/second hand m/h as well
I am not saying that there are not some very good and honest dealers/service departments in the UK just that in my case i prefer to have what i can done mainly in France and as yet have to be proved wrong.
Thanks, was as I suspected. The reason I was so interested is that I have a French van. So far I am very impressed with the attention to detail, and wondered if the standards continued through the European side of the industry. Can't help wondering what went wrong with the British sense of a good day's pay for a good day's work. And when did it go wrong.
______________________________________________________________ "On all the oceans white caps flow,
You see no crosses row on row
But those who sleep beneath the sea,
Rest in peace for your country is free".
Spacerunner, i too have a french m/h and i very pleased with the quality and build, also with the attention i received from the manufacturer when i called in last year with a water leak from the windscreen, it was done there and then, no questions asked just got on with it, how many UK m/h manufacturers would allow you to do that.
The quality and build of the european models is much better than the english models but having said that my last m/h was a Swift Royale 630 Ensigne, i had it from new for 8yrs did over 90000miles in her and had complete reliability from both the base vehicle (fiat2.8 tdi) and the conversion. So we did once upon a time make superb quality m/hs i wonder where it all went wrong.
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France
I know where I'm going I am sure the work will be of better quality and the service A1
