Bonjour a tous

Today was the day when we took the caravan to have the motor-mover fitted. When I made my enquiries of the supplier, we had a succession of discussions about the mover, the caravan and any problems that might arise. I specified the all exact details of the Eriba and pointed out to them that I had heard that fitting a mover to an Eriba might entail special factors and that extra brackets etc might be needed. Off they went to check and phoned back to say they had consulted their brochures and other info and that there would be no problems in fitting the item : the price quoted would cover any extras that might be needed. Happy, happy! What could possibly go wrong? After all, they are an appointed Hymer agent!

We set off early on our 100km trip across to the shop north of Rennes to get there in good time for the fitting which, we had been assured would take about 2 .5 hours. On our arrival, we were ushered round to the back and the mechanic had a look at it and discussed with me where the battery should be fitted. Nice caravan, he said, but ' I do not think we can finish this before lunch maybe 5pm'? Deciding that we really did not want to spend a day hanging about, we said we could return tomorrow am to pick it up. Fine he said. So, off to the shop where we selected a number of items we needed for the Eriba. 'No need to pay just' now, she said. 'Pay off the whole thing when you come back tomorrow'. Jolly good, and eventually we set off for home. Almost home (90km) - and came the dreaded telephone call. We pulled into a lay-by to hear the lady tell us that actually, they could not do the job and could we please come back and take the caravan away. 'Terribly sorry', she said.

We drove back to the shop in some state. We got there and, having demanded to see the shop manager I was ushered into the work-shop where the chap started to explain why it was impossible. The motor mover, if fitted, would be 'too low down' and would be 'dangerous'. Also, it would need 'special brackets, but in any case they could not do it as 'it would not be safe'. I told him that I had explained all this on the phone. Crestfallen, he was. I asked him if he was the shop manager? No he said, I am just the fitter. 'Right' I said, 'I want the boss - NOW'

After 5 minutes, the manager appeared. We had a VERY vigorous discussion. His attitude was, sorry to say, typical of the French view of customer service - so sorry, but there is nothing we can do.

Stood my ground and had it out with him. Eventually he said that they had previously fitted movers to Eriba, but 'every Eriba was different' and they had to conduct an inspection of each van before deciding whether or not the fitting was possible. I said this was bull-shit and had they said that I was coming for an inspection only, I might not have bothered. At this, he capitulated and said that they had been wrong to accept the order and deposit without being sure they could complete the job. He then understood that we had bought a number of items for payment on collection. They then had a lengthy discussion about the sum involved and decided they could offer the goods free in exchange for all the inconvenience. There was then a pretty abject apology and the poor girl who had handled the 'deal' was brought in to do a bit of grovelling. All too much for me. Enough was enough, and I said that their offer was OK, but maybe next time they would do their homework before accepting the contract and wasting everyone's time.

I then asked the manager where I could get a mover fitted for less than the 3300 euros (in my previous quote). Having told him that I could cross the Channel and get one fitted for 1000 GBP (I had telephoned for a quote near Soton), he said 'Angleterre - but it must be a special offer - non?' No, I said - it is quite possible. He did not believe me.

So - there we are - older and wiser. We are having some good French red to console ourselves - and it was a nice day today, lots of blue sky, sun and 13C at one point. It's what we came to France for.................................................

Hope you are having a nice one. Best wishes

David

How annoying David.

Sorry to hear this story of crap service and I did have a sneaky feeling they were better at it or adapting over there.

When we bought ou Puck L at AL in Poole we were told we couldn't have a mover as it was too low, but I am still investigating it.

Quote: hampshireman wrote in post #4

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Sorry to hear this story of crap service and I did have a sneaky feeling they were better at it or adapting over there.

When we bought ou Puck L at AL in Poole we were told we couldn't have a mover as it was too low, but I am still investigating it.

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Thanks for all the comments. "I am still investigating it" (Hampshire man) - will be interested to know if you find a way of doing it.

We seem to have reached the end of the road on fitting a mover here (cannot manage the 3300 euros demanded by the only other supplier we can find), so we will do without at least pro-tem

However, I wonder if there is anyone on the forum with an Eriba Triton 430 BSA which has a motor-mover fitted? It would be interesting to hear about that.

On a lighter note, I have been preparing the caravan for its storage (starts tomorrow) and used Auto-Glym products which worked very well. I bought replacement handles from jandi and will fit them later. I have also followed all the very helpful info on here about preparation for over-wintering - so thanks again for all that.

Best wishes to one and all

David

OK David, sure you will the right thing. There will be someone in here witha Triton and info. I don't think lighter notes come into it when there is time to stop using the Eriba, but we do as we don't camp through the winters, lots do but I always feel a note of sadness when the cover goes on.

Hello again

I did contact jandi - somewhat reluctant to do so as I really cannot be too much of a customer given that I am in France while they are back in my native Scotland and i do not wish to exploit their patience. Nevertheless, Jean was as helpful as ever and took time to write at length about motor-movers and the potential problems that can arise on Eribas - with which, I think, many of you on here are already familiar. I cannot speak too highly of Jandi - one of the best companies I have ever come across (No! I am NOT related!)

Given a free-hand in this matter, I would be inclined to take a holiday in Scotland next year and call in at Jandi en route to get the job done, but this is not going to be possible.

More research uncovered the motor-mover people near Freiburg - we expect to pass through there in May, so an opportunity perhaps arises. I made an initial enquiry and was astounded with the speed and quality of the response. They do Reich movers and have already told me all the info they require me to send on, including pictures and ground-to-chassis measurements. They will provide a quote and need a minimum of 2 weeks notice so they can be sure of having all necessary stock to hand. Their site has lots of info about their products - I learned quite a wee bit just from reading through their stuff. A German Jandi, you might say .

Meantime, I have uncovered another Eriba dealer out near Brest. The guy there says, in principal he can do it but will not commit himself until he actually sees our Eriba. We might follow that up later.

Anyway - we took the Eriba to its winter storage today - all fine and dandy.

Hope you are all having a good one today!

Hello, I had a Reich mover, battery and DTek charger fitted by Midland Movers in Cannock for £1200, when I wanted in about 2 hours, excellent service.

Great result Dave