Problems with my Broadway FB

Hi peeps
I bought myself a brand new Brodway FB ls t october after my husband passed away last july, after a 2 year battle with cancer at 46.
At christmas the fridge packed up and thetford and the dealers were shut dow so it didn't get fixed for a month!! I goggled the fault and others all around europe were having the same trouble.
then in july my skylight winding mechanism stopped working, then the towel thing on the door fell off even though its never been used!!!!
then the heater stopped working on electric and i don't want to run it on gas as on a site with electric.
Its only done 312 miles of which all are taking it back to the dealers who agree 'its broke' lol
I'm trying to be a patient customer and am going to leave it with them for 10 days in attempt to get it 'fixed'
any advice???

Really sorry to hear of your plight, must be really frustrating.  

From the tone of your post it sounds as if you are being much more patient than I would be; respect to you for that as you seem to be keeping things in perspective.

Are you still on site trying to get the heating to work? If so let us know and we'll try to suggest a few things to check - might be worth mentioning what you've already tried, e.g. obvious stuff like trip switches?

Hopefully your dealer will get things sorted, have you told them you expect it to be done within the 10 days? 

Always difficult to know at what stage to stop being Mr/Ms Nice Guy/Gal and start being more formal e.g. putting expectations and deadlines in writing.

In any event, you will get both moral and practical support on here so keep us posted. 

 

Thanks for your advice I will make a list and leave it with them I've been back 54 or 5 times and I'm lucky to be only a 30 minute drive from the dealer.
also the manufacturers seem to shut down all the time which is frustrating as i want to actually go somewhere in it.  I sort of live in it most of the time but seriously they sell you the vehicle and then you have to keep taking it back. 
The dealers seem quiet happy to take the 50k off you and then their v nice tech man has to ring up thetford/truma and i don't want to invalidate the warranty by going somewhere else GRRRRR

Sorry for your loss. 

 Perhaps if you mention casually next time you are at the dealership that you have posted a comment on this forum regarding the problems with your Broadway FB, they might shift up a gear. Worth a try

Thanks
I think i will make a list and see what they do.  I will stress I want it all done as obviously its still a purchase so I think it comes under normal customer satisfaction, fir for purpose etc 
If they keep messing me around I will make some calls to some other dealers around the country and see how they would deal with it.
otherwise I might park in front of their gates ha ha till i get some satisfaction lol

Do bear in mind that Auto-Sleepers do not actually make the fridge or the heater or the rooflight and if these items require replacement then such items have to be obtained so 10 days may be a rather tight deadline but hopefully they will be able to give you a date for completion of the tasks.

Hi, that sounds like an awful lot of 'failures' on a new van, with very poor response from the selling dealer. If you can show that the 'failures' are real and not contributed to by 'finger trouble' then you would most certainly be covered by the 'sale of goods act'.

I note that you say you have returned to the dealer, a 30 minute journey, on 54 or 5 occasions. Is it a particularly slow journey (eg 30 minutes for 1.75 miles x 2 for the return journey x 54) because doing the maths makes your recorded mileage very low for that number of journeys if the distance is any greater.

Name and shame the dealer.

David

easylifer wrote:Hi, that sounds like an awful lot of 'failures' on a new van, with very poor response from the selling dealer. If you can show that the 'failures' are real and not contributed to by 'finger trouble' then you would most certainly be covered by the 'sale of goods act'.

I note that you say you have returned to the dealer, a 30 minute journey, on 54 or 5 occasions. Is it a particularly slow journey (eg 30 minutes for 1.75 miles x 2 for the return journey x 54) because doing the maths makes your recorded mileage very low for that number of journeys if the distance is any greater.

Name and shame the dealer.

David

I think "54" may be a typo?

cheeks and tongues.

The Truma Combi on our Warwick Duo conked out on electric.  The 230 volt supply was OK - worth checking because various connections in our van were not tightened up.  Marguis near Tewkesbury diagnosed a failed electric heater element.  Truma paid for both of heater elements to be replaced under warranty.  This involved taking the complete Truma Combi unit out.  The time for the job is at least 5 hours.  Hope this post is more useful...
Pete

Strikes me we let AS off too lightly because they don't actually manufacture the components, but think about what do they actually make? Just the holes in the plastic that everything else fits into - and they get that wrong often enough.
Faulty components was one of the factors that did for the UK car industry.

I think it is quite fair to blame AS for the poor quality of the stuff they buy in, as if the quality drive of the 80s never happened. It's us who have to suffer their couldn't care less practices.

Let us not be quite so craven about windows that fall out and multi component failure. It's us that keep them in Bentleys and hotel holidays.

What is in it for the scorned punter to make excuses for an industry that raises prices faster than inflation and wages, but refuses to improve it's well documented quality failures? A van is a purchase not a religious icon.

Peterm

Peterm wrote:

I think it is quite fair to blame AS for the poor quality of the stuff they buy in, as if the quality drive of the 80s never happened. It's us who have to suffer their couldn't care less practices.

Hear, hear!

OK lets reject Dometic and Thetford fridges, Truma heaters and water heaters and Seitz window blinds (who are owned by Dometic). So now you haven't got any motorhomes to build because you haven't got anyone else to buy these from. There are no other manufacturers of caravan/motorhome products such as these components. Where do we go? Oh, I know - China!. We can guarantee the quality from there, yes of course we can.

Paul,
You raise some very interesting points.
You are correct that much of the leisure industry is dominated by a small number of companies all over Europe. Companies that have fairly stable markets and product lines. One would assume that most of the poor design and snags would have long since been ironed out, but what pressure is on them to do so?

This raises the entirely rubbish state of UK industry and competition. Companies and banks are cash rich, have spare capacity and innovative staff, but no willingness to compete and carve out a market.

Give you an example. I want a large rigid black box to fit on my bike rack. I have a choice of two widely known brands, Fiamma and Thule. At the Three Counties show I asked several traders if they could make me one. No takers. So 
I need to pay £425 for a plastic box with a weak lock and fixings. For that money you could buy 4 mountain bikes with gas suspension and 15 gears.

If there is no competition it is up to the industry to get together and put pressure on the suppliers, but cooperation is a thing that UK busness is traditionally bad at. We have lost entire sectors of industry because of this.

The high costs of failure, many pounds per new van, are borne by the dealers, AS, and ultimately by you.

So what would you do? Just keep on tutting?

Peterm

I didn't realisa i was going to spark a political debate lol
I will see how they get on with the 10 days they have to fix it 
made a list for them and will play the widow card/helpless female lol
Ill let u all know  thanks for your advice

I'm sure you know what tactics work best for you but just make sure 'helpless female' isn't interpreted by them as 'weak'!  

Sarah, please accept Mrs BB and my commiserations with your problems and the wish that they are sorted out quickly. There are some who seem to advocate a softly softly post as it's not AS fault that the product they build has a number of vital components that appear to be consistently below standard and regularly commented/criticised both on this forum and elsewhere. Give them no quarter, play every card you've got and be completely ruthless! Good luck, a report to Trading Standards works, we know we've gone down that route ourselves. We are planning on buying a Broadway at next years February show, the more we read the more our concerns grow.

Peterm wrote:Paul,
You raise some very interesting points.
You are correct that much of the leisure industry is dominated by a small number of companies all over Europe. Companies that have fairly stable markets and product lines. One would assume that most of the poor design and snags would have long since been ironed out, but what pressure is on them to do so?

This raises the entirely rubbish state of UK industry and competition. Companies and banks are cash rich, have spare capacity and innovative staff, but no willingness to compete and carve out a market.

Give you an example. I want a large rigid black box to fit on my bike rack. I have a choice of two widely known brands, Fiamma and Thule. At the Three Counties show I asked several traders if they could make me one. No takers. So 
I need to pay £425 for a plastic box with a weak lock and fixings. For that money you could buy 4 mountain bikes with gas suspension and 15 gears.

If there is no competition it is up to the industry to get together and put pressure on the suppliers, but cooperation is a thing that UK busness is traditionally bad at. We have lost entire sectors of industry because of this.

The high costs of failure, many pounds per new van, are borne by the dealers, AS, and ultimately by you.

So what would you do? Just keep on tutting?

Peterm

There really should be a like button or some means of showing total and absolute agreement with a poster. There isn't so take a proxy like (x10000)!

You've had the van almost a year and haven't been able to use it? Have you contacted Autosleeper? They have a Customer Service manager, Alan Curry, it might be worth talking to him, after all, their motto is " Putting aftersales first"! I am sure he would be interested in the problems you have had and the inability of the dealer to ensure your van is fit to use.
I contacted my dealer about a problem with my van, they escalated it to AS and Mr Curry is coming out to see the van at my home.
We are also in the Southeast, I would be interested to know where your dealer is.
Allan
Ps. Your not alone. Our towel holder fell off the back of the bathroom door too, it had been screwed just into the thin plywood surface of the door using normal wood screws. 
Our heated towel rail fell apart, all the bathroom chrome fittings fell off after a trip down a bumpy road, the sink drain fell apart last December in the middle of France and flooded the carpet, bathroom door handle seized up, 4 cabinet catches seized up and I had to fit a surge valve in the water pipes to stop the pump continually chattering. Luckily, I could fix all these myself, properly.
It's just a shame about the lack of quality control

Hearing all these problems with new vans, makes me feel happy that we opted for a W reg monocoque.  Hopefully, all such problems were confronted by previous owners?  We are delighted with the quality of our van, despite her being "of a certain age"

Swansea Jac wrote:Hearing all these problems with new vans, makes me feel happy that we opted for a W reg monocoque.  Hopefully, all such problems were confronted by previous owners?  We are delighted with the quality of our van, despite her being "of a certain age"

Greetings from 'over the hill by Brecon !' Jac. Your van looks as if it's got another good few years to go too!

ajrm wrote:You've had the van almost a year and haven't been able to use it? Have you contacted Autosleeper? They have a Customer Service manager, Alan Curry, it might be worth talking to him, after all, their motto is " Putting aftersales first"! I am sure he would be interested in the problems you have had and the inability of the dealer to ensure your van is fit to use.
I contacted my dealer about a problem with my van, they escalated it to AS and Mr Curry is coming out to see the van at my home.
We are also in the Southeast, I would be interested to know where your dealer is.
Allan
Ps. Your not alone. Our towel holder fell off the back of the bathroom door too, it had been screwed just into the thin plywood surface of the door using normal wood screws. 
Our heated towel rail fell apart, all the bathroom chrome fittings fell off after a trip down a bumpy road, the sink drain fell apart last December in the middle of France and flooded the carpet, bathroom door handle seized up, 4 cabinet catches seized up and I had to fit a surge valve in the water pipes to stop the pump continually chattering. Luckily, I could fix all these myself, properly.
It's just a shame about the lack of quality control

ajrm. Our sincere commiserations to you too. As prospective purchasers we would be very pleased to get a heads up after you've had your issues sorted. The money that Mrs BB and me are thinking of investing in a new Broadway didn't come easy and the thought that we're going to be plagued by constant trips back to dealerships is a concern. We've been there and done that with a very expensive Laika bought from Lowdhams and the thought of having to go through that again..........well you know the rest.

Bertie, our issues are minor and have all been fixed. AS are coming to look at some loose insulation, none of these problems have stopped us using the van, and in just over a year we have clocked up almost 12000 trouble free miles. We haven't seen a van that we prefer either, these are mostly well built and substantial vans. We had looked at loads of other vans and the interiors of all of them seemed flimsy and there are stories around listing problems for almost every make of van.

ajrm wrote: We haven't seen a van that we prefer either, these are mostly well built and substantial vans. We had looked at loads of other vans and the interiors of all of them seemed flimsy and there are stories around listing problems for almost every make of van.

Well said. If it's what you want, then as long as issues are minor then things can be sorted. Don't forget every other make of van uses the same appliances and will have the same problems. As regards overall quality and build, there are several good brands out there (and several poor ones) but all have a downside if you have a list of wants and needs. Stick to that list and choice is limited.

Just to remake my point Paul, I really don't see the worth of a complacent attitude. If AS is the best of a bad bunch then that is no reason to be cheerful. 

My small easily fixed minor snags included a major roof leak in Germany on a 2 month old van, and a complete change of leisure electrics, a costly visit to the factory, about a fortnight of downtime at the distant dealers and so on. 

This year I have seen a brand new van window which had fallen out. 

If I enumerate the couple of dozen Nuevo faults most were down to absolutely poor build quality. The bought in components actually worked well. I suspect this is true of the entire industry, not just our vans. Now I have ironed out most of the build faults I am starting on the wear and tear ones. So life goes. I love our Nuevo, but frankly don't see why buyers should be complacent about the hassle.

Peterm