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After the Brownhills are Downhills saga I hoped for a quiet life, Mandy is now in remission and we are trying to make the most of our motorhome that Brownhills supplied to us with the very best after service possible.
Last Thursday 28th of April my son and I went to Armitages West Yorkshire to have a tow bar and A frame fitted to my just purchased Smart Car, we left Bury St Edmunds for the 170 mile drive at around 5.30 am to get to Armitages by 9am. The Manager (Wayne) met us and went around the two vehicles to list anything on the vehicle’s (marks dents etc.) before they start work on fitting the A frame to the Smart Car and the tow bar and electrics to the Motorhome, he commented how they were both in very good order.
Armitages lend you a courtesy car so you can go off for the day while they do the work.
My son and I drove to York and spent the best part of the day there and returned to Armitages a 3pm as they said all would be ready by 3.30pm, we waited till 4.30 …. Still not ready …. Then the secretary of Armiages came and said the Smart Car is ready we will do you a demo of how everything works while the engineers finish putting the tow bar on the Motorhome.
We ran through the demo all seemed OK I then went and paid for the two things with my debit card and waited for the motorhome the time was 4.52pm, at 5.10pm the motorhome was driven out to the smart car and our second demo started. The engineers and other were running about like headless chickens trying to lock up the depot, the next day being the Royal wedding and a holiday they wanted to get away, anyways the chap doing the demo connected me up to the motorhome and said now put the car in neutral, hand break off this done he checked it all and showed me how to put a bungee from the seat to the break pedal after which he hurried me into the motorhome to test drive towing the Smart car. I pulled away and was amazed how easy it was and I braked as instructed but noticed it was not so easy to pull away after that but continued on my test laps of the car park until he appeared and waved me down to check the linkage and do any adjustments, I told him after the first time I braked it seemed harder to then pull away, he said it was because I was not used to towing the car behind and I needed to give it more welly.
At this point the linkage brake cable was very loose so he adjusted it and went inside the car to check the bungee etc. he then asked me if I had any spanners and that I should check the adjustment two or three times on my way home, he then shook my hand and wished me luck and I climbed back in the motor home and pulled away.
My son and I got onto the A1 quite quickly and headed south, I was disappointed as I was struggling to get above 50mph, we had got about ten miles along the road and I saw this juggernaut behind me flashing his lights, he then came along side me waving frantically, I looked in my reversing camera everything looked fine with the Smart but I pulled over at the next layby, I got out walked to the back of the motorhome and could smell hot breaks but when I got to the Smart Car there were flames coming from the rear wheel hubs and the hubs were glowing red hot, a lorry driver pulled up behind and jumped out with water to try and extinguish the car but the rear plastic body was well alight, it was to far gone to save it, I raced and unhitched the car and drove the motorhome away further along the layby,
As I got out I saw my son taking a picture with his phone, a split second later the car exploded and we couldn’t see a thing getting back in the motorhome out of the thick black smoke. My son called 999 and I called Armitages and got hold of Wayne telling him what had happened giving him a running commentary whilst moving the motorhome again as there were further explosions. The Police arrived with the fire brigade, I told Wayne this disaster has got to be down to him and could he call me back as the Police want to talk to me, he said yes of course and kept saying he was so sorry.
I explained to the policeman what work I had had done and he looked at the receipt and his watch 5. 35 and said that it was only 40 minutes ago that you paid for it!
I gave the policeman a statement and he suggested I call Armitages to get them over here with there insurance to clear this mess up.
Wayne arrived about an hour later having to queue in the 10 mile tail backs each way and all he could say was how sorry he was and started taking pictures at which stage he then said to me in front of my son and the Highway’s agency that there is a kink in the brake line they fitted. Wayne carried on saying how sorry he was and he would sort it all out and get us a courtesy car he then asked the Highways Agency if my son and I could go home as we had 160miles to go, we got home and had to explain why we looked like coal miners and our cloths had burns from the sparks.
I have tried to get hold of Wayne since Wednesday but he is always with a client but have since learned he is not excepting liability, I have talked with other A frame fitters and one in particular has said that Armitages have had problems like this before but because it has happened a week or a month later they have said it has been down to the customer not adjusting the set up correctly and have not paid out, in my case it was all done by them…. The case continues.
Last Thursday 28th of April my son and I went to Armitages West Yorkshire to have a tow bar and A frame fitted to my just purchased Smart Car, we left Bury St Edmunds for the 170 mile drive at around 5.30 am to get to Armitages by 9am. The Manager (Wayne) met us and went around the two vehicles to list anything on the vehicle’s (marks dents etc.) before they start work on fitting the A frame to the Smart Car and the tow bar and electrics to the Motorhome, he commented how they were both in very good order.
Armitages lend you a courtesy car so you can go off for the day while they do the work.
My son and I drove to York and spent the best part of the day there and returned to Armitages a 3pm as they said all would be ready by 3.30pm, we waited till 4.30 …. Still not ready …. Then the secretary of Armiages came and said the Smart Car is ready we will do you a demo of how everything works while the engineers finish putting the tow bar on the Motorhome.
We ran through the demo all seemed OK I then went and paid for the two things with my debit card and waited for the motorhome the time was 4.52pm, at 5.10pm the motorhome was driven out to the smart car and our second demo started. The engineers and other were running about like headless chickens trying to lock up the depot, the next day being the Royal wedding and a holiday they wanted to get away, anyways the chap doing the demo connected me up to the motorhome and said now put the car in neutral, hand break off this done he checked it all and showed me how to put a bungee from the seat to the break pedal after which he hurried me into the motorhome to test drive towing the Smart car. I pulled away and was amazed how easy it was and I braked as instructed but noticed it was not so easy to pull away after that but continued on my test laps of the car park until he appeared and waved me down to check the linkage and do any adjustments, I told him after the first time I braked it seemed harder to then pull away, he said it was because I was not used to towing the car behind and I needed to give it more welly.
At this point the linkage brake cable was very loose so he adjusted it and went inside the car to check the bungee etc. he then asked me if I had any spanners and that I should check the adjustment two or three times on my way home, he then shook my hand and wished me luck and I climbed back in the motor home and pulled away.
My son and I got onto the A1 quite quickly and headed south, I was disappointed as I was struggling to get above 50mph, we had got about ten miles along the road and I saw this juggernaut behind me flashing his lights, he then came along side me waving frantically, I looked in my reversing camera everything looked fine with the Smart but I pulled over at the next layby, I got out walked to the back of the motorhome and could smell hot breaks but when I got to the Smart Car there were flames coming from the rear wheel hubs and the hubs were glowing red hot, a lorry driver pulled up behind and jumped out with water to try and extinguish the car but the rear plastic body was well alight, it was to far gone to save it, I raced and unhitched the car and drove the motorhome away further along the layby,
As I got out I saw my son taking a picture with his phone, a split second later the car exploded and we couldn’t see a thing getting back in the motorhome out of the thick black smoke. My son called 999 and I called Armitages and got hold of Wayne telling him what had happened giving him a running commentary whilst moving the motorhome again as there were further explosions. The Police arrived with the fire brigade, I told Wayne this disaster has got to be down to him and could he call me back as the Police want to talk to me, he said yes of course and kept saying he was so sorry.
I explained to the policeman what work I had had done and he looked at the receipt and his watch 5. 35 and said that it was only 40 minutes ago that you paid for it!
I gave the policeman a statement and he suggested I call Armitages to get them over here with there insurance to clear this mess up.
Wayne arrived about an hour later having to queue in the 10 mile tail backs each way and all he could say was how sorry he was and started taking pictures at which stage he then said to me in front of my son and the Highway’s agency that there is a kink in the brake line they fitted. Wayne carried on saying how sorry he was and he would sort it all out and get us a courtesy car he then asked the Highways Agency if my son and I could go home as we had 160miles to go, we got home and had to explain why we looked like coal miners and our cloths had burns from the sparks.
I have tried to get hold of Wayne since Wednesday but he is always with a client but have since learned he is not excepting liability, I have talked with other A frame fitters and one in particular has said that Armitages have had problems like this before but because it has happened a week or a month later they have said it has been down to the customer not adjusting the set up correctly and have not paid out, in my case it was all done by them…. The case continues.
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