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Our Globetrotter was the unfortunate victims of a side-swipe in a lorry car park at a Motorways services in October 2009- we took our rig to the repair chop that Safeguard told us we must go to in Hereford.
We were told it would take a few weeks to get the parts in. As the doors and side panel were damaged we had to keep it off the road.
It is now February and they still are telling us that the parts are not there and that they have no clue when they will be in.
We rang Safeguard to see if there was anything they could do to expedite this and they said it was not their problem that it was taking too long
Has anyone else had to wait so long for parts and been met with such apathy and inertia?
This seems to be an all too common problem with parts availability.
I would suggest that you contact Dethleffs directly and inquire as to the availability of parts directly from them. if they have them in stock, they should be with you in 2-3 days, certainly no more than a week.
Was the accident your fault, or did the truck drive off without stopping?
As you as the insured have a responsibility to mitigate costs in the event of a claim, so the liable party should have to repair your vehicle in a reasonable time. Do you have legal protection cover - if so I would see what redress is available through that course. Alternatively, you should seek independent legal advice.
If you had holiday plans that you have had to abandon, then could the cost of obtaining a replacement motorhome for your holiday be part of the claim.
I'm certainly no expert, and I'm sure that others will offer advice here, but it seems you're getting the dirty end of the stick here.
Hope you get a quick resolution and are back on the road soon.
A few years ago, I sideswiped a Yaris and wrecked every ABS panel on the RH side of my MH. There wasn't a hope in hell of getting replacement panels from the now defunct Due Erre manufacturer in Italy. A local guy who makes custom fairings for old motorbikes was able to make new panels for me in fibreglass. He (carefully) used the LH panels as templates and did a teriffic job. Seeing as the sideswipe was my fault, I reckon I got out of it cheaply! Might be an option for you too, if your insurance company would agree to this as an expedient solution?
This does seem to be a common problem. You might be better helping the workshop source a door from the supplier rather than from Dethleff themselves. Can they repair the panels or do they have to replace them - its amazing what a good bodyshop can achieve?
I think that you will have to be proactive and keep the pressure on as the bodyshop has probably ordered the parts and will just sit there and wait for them to be delivered from Dethleffs.
We were travelling in Germany two summers back and meet a chap who told us about the Dethleff’s production plant at Isney in Baden-Württemberg.
I had a damaged bumper at the time and was dreading taking it to a "rip-off" merchant back home in "sunny" Yorkshire.
Anyhow, off we trotted to Isney (lovely small town with a great stellaplatz in the centre for only €6/nacht) while there we got chatting to a really nice guy who was in charge of their service centre.
I mentioned that I was glad we'd been told about their service centre as I dreaded take our motorhome (A6991) to a British dealer.
This chap informed me that they are often reluctant to send parts to UK dealers as they are very bad at paying!!
He told us that, on occasions, he’d been contacted by UK dealers to say that the part they'd order had arrived damaged and so wouldn't pay. This even though he knew the part had been carefully packaged prior to leaving Isney.
The impression we got was that Dethleff were very wary of sending parts to UK dealers for these reasons (slow/non payment, false claims)!
I was sorry to read about your problem with delayed parts. The best advise I can give is that should you ever be in need of a repair and you're in (or near) Southern German get along to the service centre in Isney, it'll save you a lot of time and money!
PS While we were in Isney I mentioned, to this nice German chap, that I’d had trouble with my leisure battery not holding a charge. On picking up my van, after its repair job, he informed me that he’d replace the battery, even though it was out of warranty, what a lovely man.
PPS One final piece of info. If you own a Dethleff you can say at the main site for free Inc EHU! Any motorhomer can stay at the main site but there a €6/nacht charge for non-Dethleff motorhomes.
Hi given the rite Dethleffs supplier you will not have a slow parts distribution as a company they are second to none..
PM me if you need parts please.
Regards
Steve carding
dethleffshelp@towtal.co.uk
Hi.
I know this is a bit late but from the information I have no insurance company can dictate to you where you have your vehicle repaired.
They all try it on because of the deals they get from there preferred repairers but they cant make you go there.
GC.
I would certainly be applying more pressure to the insurance firm, and look to go elsewhere for repairs. Probably worth enquiring about the cost of a motorhome hire for holidays etc.
I am not sure that Dethleffs have a UK respresentative anymore.....there used to be an "01472" contact number, but I think I read on the Dethleffs website that this was no longer available. I could be wrong on this though.
Could I ask member "dethleffshelp" in what capacity he is posting? Is he an agent for Dethleffs, approved repairer etc? The name Dethleffshelp is suggestive of a connection with Dethleffs and whilst this may or may no be the case, the answer maybe useful to other members.
In 1997, someone ran in to the back of my car. The local Ford garage quoted £430 to repair. The insurance firm sorted it out elsewhere, and when I collected the car, I enquired about the cost, had I had to foot the bill. I can't recall precisely but it was over a grand. I recall clearly the £430 as coincidentally, the reg number was N430 etc etc.
Hope you get it sorted soon.
Russell
______________________________________________________________ Our long trip around Europe - blog now online at www.swift-kontiki.co.uk
Could I ask member "dethleffshelp" in what capacity he is posting? Is he an agent for Dethleffs, approved repairer etc? The name Dethleffshelp is suggestive of a connection with Dethleffs and whilst this may or may no be the case, the answer maybe useful to other members.
Hi Dethleffshelp is part of the owners club which I run.
I work for towtal as manager and currently hold service and repair agent of the year award as voted by the Dethleffs owners club. We have full Dethleffs approval for service,repair and warranty work
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France
How long must wait for parts??
