Who???
We use Glossop Caravans in Glossop for our Swift warranty work, have a good relationship with the service manager Mike Pindell and have good contacts within Swift themselves. Had the motorhome third year habitation service done last Monday and all ok with no damp
Who???
Had the van three years bought it from them from new, serviced by them. They made a total cock up of just about anything they touched.
They managed to deliver the van months late despite having already had it in their possession for 6 months from the time it was first sold to me. The deal was on the condition they upgraded the suspension to 3.5T, and included a number of extras such as fixed gas tank, tv, dish, aerial, spare wheel and a few other bits and pieces...nothing exactly rocket science. Unbeknownst to me the salesman later left, after a month or so going by hearing nothing and getting no answers to phone calls I went there to rattle cages. No-one had looked at the papers. I warned them clearly of the time it would take to process DVLA paperwork, they agreed they should get moving straight away...but they didn't, passed the papers to 'dispatch' who sat on them. Eventually after much chasing and correspondence, then trying to rescind the deal and gouge more money from me for things already included in the deal... they sent the van to another company to do the gas tank. This company was in the middle of a premises move and dragged their feet for weeks. Did GC do something to expedite it...like sending it to someone else...no.
They claimed not to understand how the upgrade should be done...though according to the specialist company that this was being farmed out to Glossop had done the process with them previously. Everyone contradicted everyone and blamed each other and nothing got done for ages. They even tried to blame everything that went wrong on the departed salesman, even though I had stood and watched him getting his bosses approval for the deal at the outset. not that I should grant him much sympathy...his assurance the van had a Euro 5 engine turned out later to be simply untrue. Eventually the van came back with the wrong sized gas tank fitted in the wrong place...right behind the back bumper on the overhang where it would swallow up most of the upgraded payload. They tried to deny their legal responsibility for their subcontractors work...but intimations of legal action copied to all their directors soon resolved that and it was duly relocated... but not because of anything Glossop did but because the subcontractor had some integrity and would not see me disappointed.
The saga continued until eventually the van was delivered...late...without the tele. Installing that they wrecked the worktop beneath...and at first it didn't work anyway. On and on went the agony, nearly every trip back to get things fixed spawned more return visits as they fixed the wrong things, hadn't passed on correspondence or phone messages, or had to 'assess' things someone else had already assessed.
Once we had the van and went away one might have hoped things would have settled on a more even keel...but no back and forth we went wearing grooves over the Snake pass, the pattern of visit, cock up and revisit continued.
It eventually got to the point I had to instruct or confirm everything in writing. But even with it in black and white they still managed to do things wrong, fit or repair the wrong things in the wrong places. The staff are individually pleasant enough but the company's internal communications, checking and supervision leave a lpot to be desired. People in one part of the company don't even seem to have much confidence in those of another. Even the subsequent Habitation Checks left much to be desired...boxes ticked for things not done, boxes un-ticked for things forgotten. The neat and orderly ticking of (some) boxes seems to reflect something done later in the comfort of the office...so no wonder things are forgotten. I find I have to do an exhaustive check of everything claimed to be done every time I retrieve the van.
The lesson I learned about this firm is that it is a 'Deals Factory'. You can get a good deal if you don't ask them to do anything...just make sure to scrutinise everything diligently at purchase, then take it away and don't go back. My problems began with asking them to do something, and asking them to fit things...which also meant them doing something! In my former life managing major contracts the principle of making one firm into the single point of responsibility for everything avoids the blame game of responsibilities falling into the gaps between companies... ho hum! We live and learn.
I don't have the patience to carry on like this...hence my query.
