Auto Sleepers service dept

To day I took our new Broadway down to Auto Sleepers service dept, to have a list of repairs to be fixed, after been let down with our dealer. I was booked in for 8am 7th July, I expected to leave it for at least a week, but Mark said it would be fixed within the day. 6 hours later I received a call from Mark saying our van was finished I couldn't believe it, we went to pick it up and all the faults had been fixed and the workmanship was A1, Pat and myself are over the moon. I would like to thank Mark and the service department for the professional and courteous way in which we were treated. 
Our dealer had the van for 3 weeks and did nothing to fix the repairs, after I phoned them twice they said they had booked it in with Auto Sleeper, so not very happy with dealer.

John.

They are very good, aren't they. Always used them for the Hab service as well. Worth the trip

Two questions, who are the useless dealers? And why oh why do these new van seem to always have a list of faults that need repair. The old Quality control problem again. Surely AS can't think this is a 
Cost effective way to run a business plus the stress and hassle involved for the customer does very little for the brand. I have a Bourton on order for October and am starting to panic already. £64 k for a product that will not be A1?

The thing is - test Everything you can at the dealers before accepting and paying. I know things like water leaks cant be detected on demand but most warranty issues are niggles that should be sorted by any pre delivery inspection that Should be carried out.
If its any consolation, If you have bought it from AS's Cheshire Dealer they have a reputation better than most
for finding things prior to delivery.

Hi Roli, 
Yes we deal with Spinney in Cheshire and we are more than happy with them. However we did have "silly" so easy to sort out problems with our present Warwick Duo that required sorting. So fuel to get there, waiting around and so on. It seems that very few customers get a van right first time. I just can't understand the logic. Everyone is caused grief by usually small problems that should never arise in products that cost so much,

I've always had excellent service from Mark and his team, not forgetting Alan and his staff in the spares dept.
I've had dealings with a few Marquis dealerships over the years and find Marquis Northants to be one of the better ones.
I agree the motorhomes should leave the factory without any defects and with some sort of certificate of conformity 
Boaby

Hi Claytaa, our dealer wasn't Spinney, I wished we had gone to them in the first place.

John.

After all the years of complaining about the same thing one can only conclude that higher than inflation price rise's for vans whose only guarantee is to have at least half a dozen faults is deliberate policy the industry don't intend to change.
There seems little point in the Chancellor going to India to tout UK goods when no self respecting foreigner would buy them.

UK manufacturers should be lined up and given a good dressing down in public, a forced to refund treble the worth of getting the faults fixed. Instead they moan about high taxes, wages and regulations.

Sites like this just gloss over these industry wide problems whilst the very large clubs seem to fall over themselves to not name and shame dodgy makers and dealers. 

Let's insist upon a right first time product.  

Peterm

Hi John,
I take it you don't wish to name and shame the dealer who was happy enough to take your money but was unable or unwilling to sort out your problems. If more of them were outed they might start to shape up a little more. Or is it that they just don't give a dam!

Claytaa wrote:Hi John,
I take it you don't wish to name and shame the dealer who was happy enough to take your money but was unable or unwilling to sort out your problems. If more of them were outed they might start to shape up a little more. Or is it that they just don't give a dam!

Hi again Claytaa, I'm trying to get something out of them I've written to MD and sales manager also told them that I will name and shame on the forums.

John.

We used to use the AS Service Centre for everything whilst Charles then Trevor were running it and I never had any complaint. 
When the current job holder took over things change and that is when my accountant said - we spend no more money with AutoSleepers.
For any of you that know me and see me I will explain,  but he tried to con us and didnt get away with it.

NOT MY EXPERIENCE! Mark and his guys are first rate. It's a bit further to travel for me but they have better expertise and all th eparts are to hand.
No contest!

You don't have to shout I am telling you what happened. Trevor was still there and saved the situation. we would have taken legal action
I am not sayiing anything about the technicians or marks ability in the workshop

There was a programme about Rolls Royce and a new car they were building. Everything had to be perfect and it was checked and double checked till it was.
I'm not saying AS motorhomes are RR quality or prices, but like RR, they are hand built by professionals, so why can't the attention to detail still be there.
We had a few silly faults with our new Broadway FB that should never have passed quality control. None were immediately obvious, but showed up within a few weeks and were the result of shoddy assembly. The worst one was 6 months into ownership and the sink waste fell apart covering the floor with about 2 litres of soapy water. The pipe wasn't  glued together at all. ( it is now, by me)
And now ( and I suspect I am not the only one) the tape strips covering all the internal wall joints are peeling up. I have read about this loads of times over the years and still they fit the same peeling tape.
We have a problem with one of the walls now, that AS are coming to look at. Hopefully, a year into ownership, this will be the last item to be corrected.

But, AS are not alone. I have heard countless horror stories about faults with all makes of vans, from Swift to Hymer, all far more serious than anything I have encountered. I suppose I should think myself lucky! 
Allan

With everything I have read about split new vans, I doubt I will ever buy one.
It seems to me that the ideal van, money permitting, would be about 2 years old, and with 10 - 15000 miles on it.
I.e., young enough to incorporate modern facilities and techniques, and just old enough, and having had enough use, for all "snagging" faults to have been identified and rectified.
And of course, cheaper too!! 

I did have a lot of hassle with our new unit bought last November but must admit most was third party supplied ancillaries which failed after a while and would not have been picked up by pre delivery. Most of them I went back to the factory for and Mark and co were brilliant.
And touch wood all is working wonderfully during our month out here in Iceland   

We bought it from Marquis Tewksbury who from a sales point of view were brilliant and one fault we found with the camera they fixed on the spot. Some outstanding issues still remain not faults and they seem somewhat slow to respond but giving them the benefit of the doubt to date.
Took the unit to Marquis Durham to have roof bars fitted, very friendly and professional but had bad water leak afterwards (which I hope was just the roof bars). Rather than the tortuous 100 mile each way to Durham thought we would try the new Marquis in Sheffield (only 88 miles each way and about a 6 hr train and bus journey). Seemed in total disarray but seemed to have done a good job on the bars as touch wood no more apparent leaks. However one of the tank  heater blankets had come off at one end and was dragging on the road so I taped it back up temporarily. Asked Sheffield to stick it back on which they assured me they had but when I checked they had just squeezed some (what looks like silicone sealant) around the edges without even removing my tape. Not impressed and this 'just get it out quick' attitude seems to be the mentality with Marquis. Both branches I used are in the sticks and when it is a hundred or so mile journey I felt very 'neglected' if that is the right word. Finding own way from station on own etc etc.
If I had bought an equivalent value car I would have had far better 'customer service'. I took the base vehicle to Mercedes just to check it over before I went to Iceland and I had the sort of service I would expect after spending in excess of sixty five grand on a vehicle.

So, to sum up my impressions of Marquis. A very get it done quick not too worried about the quality service. And just do your own thing and find your own way to the station attitude.
So I won't use them unless I have to.

AS factory service centre centre BRILLIANT. Just a shame they are 200 miles away, but worth it.  

I'm gratified, after reading this, that we tentatively entered into motorhoming with a 19 year old AS Exec.

I've had a lot of problems with it, all of them due to fair wear and tear so far.

The quality of the original build is, on the surface at least, very high, (under the settees is slightly less impressive).

We have some splits in the cushions, not the material, just failed stitching.

Other than that, I still get pleasure from the unbelieving looks that other van owners, even 5-10 year old vans, give me when I tell them that she's 18 years old.

The GRP monocoque is the main contributor to this apparent longevity, it was a mistake to discontinue it IMHO.

I have not used the AS service centre but it is great to see that most folks they do a brilliant job when required. However when you spend £60 thousand plus surely you should not be needing to use the dealer network or service centre for a considerable time. As I awaiting delivery of a Bourton in October it appears I better accept that I am going to get problems and grief before I hopefully end up with a motorhome that will give me years of pleasure. I still can't get my head around all that money and a less than perfect purchase. I think I must be crazy to carry on and buy the bloody thing!

To find all the snags (nothing made constructed or assembled is acceptable till after it has been 'snagged') you would have to fill all the cupboards and lockers with the things that you personally will install, fill with water and gas, drive 2000 miles and then camp for 5 nights on hook up and 5 nights off.  You would be accompanied by a skilled technician and the AS spares department.  All faults would reveal themselves and would be corrected.  Would you accept that as a new vehicle?

It does take 2 to 2.5 years to clear all the niggles and the Service Centre is the best place to have that done but at least you know how the van has been used and what has been put down the drains and whether it has been driven off the blocks with the steadies still down!  If you buy a two year old van all the niggles may have been cleared but there may be some hidden damage by misuse that will develop when out of warranty.

The benefit the service centre has is that it can walk across and talk to the guys who designed and built the van and use the factory facilities to fabricate replacement components.

Peter

It would be nice if the parts department would answer the phone, or reply to my email form about new body stripes. 

Claytaa wrote:I have not used the AS service centre but it is great to see that most folks they do a brilliant job when required. However when you spend £60 thousand plus surely you should not be needing to use the dealer network or service centre for a considerable time. As I awaiting delivery of a Bourton in October it appears I better accept that I am going to get problems and grief before I hopefully end up with a motorhome that will give me years of pleasure. I still can't get my head around all that money and a less than perfect purchase. I think I must be crazy to carry on and buy the bloody thing!

I did go through the same thought process 'after' I bought mine but trust me it was worth the effort. It is a brilliant bit of kit and now into week five in Iceland and it's even better  

My faults were,
1/ Bench toilet poorly fitted, large gaps and you could see outside when cassette door was open.
2/ Every sealing wall strip came away.
3/ Kitchen sink would not empty back fall on waste.
4/ Split in joint on slate worktop side of cooker.
5/ faulty mood lights over cupboards.
6/ Roof light over cab winding mechanism faulty.
7/ Fridge kept going to Fault code 18.
8/ shower screen came away from wall.
9/ Main heiki fly screen wouldn't retract.
10/ Faulty tank gauges.
11/ Paint chips on driver door frame, dealer won't accept responsibility.
12/ Broadway logo all the letters were coming away.
13/ Water filler cap was broken and wouldn't fasten.
14/ Drip groove with leds over habitation door was coming away.

Also the bathroom door kept flirting open on roundabouts road junctions etc, I altered the door lock myself.

The kitchen drawers kept flirting open as above, I refitted all the catches myself.

The wardrobe door catch broke when we were in Spain I made a new metal one myself.

The back fall on kitchen sink I fixed myself as the sink was unusable.

When we got back from Spain I notified the dealer who told me to bring it in on 2nd June, the service dept said could I leave it a few days. I told them that they could have it for up to 3 weeks as I was going into hospital for a minor operation on the 19th June, they said great as that would give them plenty of time. On Mon 16th June I rang to say I would expect to pick the motorhome up on Mon 23rd June just to give them a reminder. On Wed 18th June I had a call from the office saying the man who was going to do the repairs had left and nothing had been done. When they could see that I was unhappy with this they changed and said the man who was going to do the repairs refused to touch it as he did not want to get involved with refitting the toilet and it was booked in with Auto Sleeper for the 7th July. They also said that Auto Sleeper didn't want it back,, any way when I came out of Hospital I picked the motorhome up and told them how unhappy I was and I would take it down to Auto Sleepers myself.
I sent the sales man, the Head of sales and the MD an email to which non have replied, I've phoned twice today and both times sales manager busy with customers, and twice promised that he would get back to me which has not happened. I think I've been treated abysmally, saying that I paid up front and no finance.

The dealer is AEG motorhomes Stourbridge.

John.


Ps it only took mark and his team at Auto Sleeper 6 hours and everything was put right.

Words fail me. To have all those problems, many minor is one thing, BUT no excuse for poor customer service by those employed in the business.
There are too many instances of poor customer relations with dealers coming on our threads.
AS should be more proactive in putting dealers to right in my mind.
regards

Mike

John,
Without doubt you have been treated abysmally.

artheytrate, I wonder was your van built to order or did you buy it from the dealers stock - ie had it ben in a showroom for public viewing?

Peter