GOLF (AVAN) camper ordered......AND CANCELLED

[Taps]

I recently joined myswag after ordering a Golf (Bush Challenger) camper from Avan NSW....on the 27th March, after being told that there was ex-stock in melbourne, and It'll be shipped within the next week.....it could be here for easter !!!! I was excited.

two weeks later, I rang to ask where it was......"I'll call you back"........ I called back two days later.......same response

the following week (last week), I again rang again, and surprise surprise, was told "I'll check with the boss and call you tomorow".....well tomorrow never came.

I sent an email to the salesman, and to their general sales email account, still no response.

I sent another email to say if i don't hear from you, I'll have no option but to cancel my order........well.....I cancelled my order. 

When i called to cancel, another salesman replies, "yeah, I saw that email"......nothing more !!!! If this is the service BEFORE I take delivery, imagine what they'd be like after

Now, I'm trying to get my deposit back. It was taken over the phone, with no "terms and conditions" stipulated, so I'm hoping to use this to my advantage.

Even since cancelling, no one from AVAN has rung to ask why I cancelled or to try and get the sale back.....and these guys work on commission ?

Fortunately, the caravan/camping is on........I BOUGHT A JAYCO SWAN OB !!!!!   

Their loss !!!!!

Has anyone else had dealings like this with Avan ?

[WilSurf]

They don't really care by the looks of it.

[Bird]

They don't really care by the looks of it.

They must have gone to a modern training course on Customer Service.... seems std in majority of places.

[patty]

Hi Taps

We have had unpleasent dealings with these people and they are still ongoing.   Service allround is pretty bad.  Once they get your money the sales people don't really give a rats about you and they actually told me I needed to deal with the Service dept not sales anymore.   The sales person actually hung up on me claiming it was bad reception on the phone and he could not hear me after I told him the wheel fell off the camper and he saying what do you mean and me telling him that he has a major problem that he needs to fix now.   The Service / Warranty Manager has been a bit more helpful but then I was not too impressed when I rang him with a recurring problem before Easter to be told that all service work has been postponed until after the Rosehill show.  A quick explaination from me that I am after warranty work saw my camper booked in the next day and supposedly fixed again.  Only time will tell if it is fixed.  I now have the owners details but he can ony be contacted by email.  Going to the Rosehill show hoping to that the owner will be there so we can discuss options with him. 

It has been a really disappointing and frustrating experience (and it is not over) and it kind of takes the shine off purchasing a new camper and moving on from a tent trailer.

[Kit_e_kat9]

Such a shame for you Taps. 

I have the old customer service motto:  "Customers are not an interrruption of our work, they are the purpose of it.  We are not doing them a favour by serving them, they are doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so, and keepin us employed."  and so on and so forth.

Pity so few take these words to heart now.  I hope you have better luck getting back your deposit.  If not, take it to small claims court ...

Kit_e

[Mrs smith]

Good luck with it.
Send AVAN a link to this post.

[Jenko67]

what a joke.....

[Taps]

Good luck with it.
Send AVAN a link to this post.

I like your thinking.

I sent an email to them today. I f I don't get a response within a few days, I just might send the link.

Cheers.

[PeterO]

Hope you get better service from Jayco. This industry is booming and bursting order books make some of these guys arrogant. Well, they will be the first to drop of the ledge when the market turns. And turn it will, it is just a question of time...
Best of luck,
Peter

[singo-26]

Such a shame for you Taps. 

I have the old customer service motto:  "Customers are not an interrruption of our work, they are the purpose of it.  We are not doing them a favour by serving them, they are doing us a favour by giving us the opportunity to do so, and keepin us employed."  and so on and so forth.

Pity so few take these words to heart now.  I hope you have better luck getting back your deposit.  If not, take it to small claims court ...

Kit_e

Here's another one for you Kit-e. If they get in touch with the business owner,they could suggest to him that the most important thing he purchases for his business is his staff's time. Bad staff=no business.

[Jason B]

They must have gone to a modern training course on Customer Service.... seems std in majority of places.

Or they work in the NSW public service and uncle Barry has sacked everyone. 

[Jason B]

Hi Taps

We have had unpleasent dealings with these people and they are still ongoing.   Service allround is pretty bad.  Once they get your money the sales people don't really give a rats about you and they actually told me I needed to deal with the Service dept not sales anymore.   The sales person actually hung up on me claiming it was bad reception on the phone and he could not hear me after I told him the wheel fell off the camper and he saying what do you mean and me telling him that he has a major problem that he needs to fix now.   The Service / Warranty Manager has been a bit more helpful but then I was not too impressed when I rang him with a recurring problem before Easter to be told that all service work has been postponed until after the Rosehill show.  A quick explaination from me that I am after warranty work saw my camper booked in the next day and supposedly fixed again.  Only time will tell if it is fixed.  I now have the owners details but he can ony be contacted by email.  Going to the Rosehill show hoping to that the owner will be there so we can discuss options with him. 

It has been a really disappointing and frustrating experience (and it is not over) and it kind of takes the shine off purchasing a new camper and moving on from a tent trailer.

AVAN hasn't been taken over by the Sydney dealer for Trak Shak and Compo-matic has it? As this sounds all to farmiliar! 

[terravista]

Doesn't sound like good business practice,and you are probably better off not having to deal with them any further.
Is this Avan NSW a dealer with a franchise selling A'Vans or a part of the A'Van Australia??
I have sent a number of emails direct to A'Van Australia, and never received a response.
If you ordered from a franchise, I guess they used the same business school as the head company.
Good luck with your deposit return.
Cheers
Ian

[Mandrake]

I'd be inclined to send this thread and an email to the manufacturer
http://www.golfcampers.com.au/.
Obviously A'van are not going to gooverboard on something that is not their product - Sales people will be trying to sell A'vans rather than Golfcampers ...

Just my 1.9cents worth less carbon tax.

Steve

[Nutto]

Sounds like some of these camper makers could take a customer service lesson from Jayco......
Yes, that's right - for all the s##t that gets hung on jayco (some justified, some not),  they always seem to have good customer service.
Maybe that's one reason why they sell so many    Price alone won't cut it. 

Reminds me of the Maccas' cheeseburger analogy:
Ask yourself this - could you make a better cheeseburger than maccas do?  most people would say yes.  Most would also agree that the maccas chesseburger is a crap product,  BUT - regardless of the burger quality,  the maccas 'system', encompassing the whole customer service bandwagon, ensures they sell a squillion of these crap burgers every day.   Most of us, at some stage, have had no issue with trading $'s for the crappiest cheeseburger on the planet.....


Nutto

[cruisindub]

Did you get your money/Deposit back?

Hope you did get your deposit back, just take the money and buy something else, hopefully you will be happy with the second product. (I hope)

Once you get your money, just laugh and move on and keep telling people of your experience to warn them also.

No time for bad service or arrogant/ignorant 'service'.

[Wendy Benoit]

I purchased a Golf at the Caravan show last Sept in Melbourne. Delivery was 1st Dec. It was a show special and I had a couple of phone calls along the way. I took it away over Christmas and found a few problems which were fixed when it went back for its first service... only thing was the outside table was due to be put on then as there were none in stock at the time of completion. Oh .'Sorry  Did not realise one had to be fitted".. Dragged it down to Geelong again. Service person really good... Said that there, the right hand does not know what the left is doing.
Along the track I have sent four emails about various things both to the Golf address and to A'van address. Not a word either!
Good luck in getting your deposit back.
Wendy

[Bird]

I purchased a Golf at the Caravan show last Sept in Melbourne. Delivery was 1st Dec. It was a show special and I had a couple of phone calls along the way. I took it away over Christmas and found a few problems which were fixed when it went back for its first service... only thing was the outside table was due to be put on then as there were none in stock at the time of completion. Oh .'Sorry  Did not realise one had to be fitted".. Dragged it down to Geelong again. Service person really good... Said that there, the right hand does not know what the left is doing.
Along the track I have sent four emails about various things both to the Golf address and to A'van address. Not a word either!
Good luck in getting your deposit back.
Wendy

so any photos of your unit?

[Blinky Bill]

Well I have a family member seriously thinking about an AVan and I'd like to remove hassle & grief from his tormented life. 

I have just sent them the link for them to reconsider their options. 

Can anyone suggest another option to the AVan for them to consider? I was thinking about one of those Robin caravans but maybe I'm way off. 

Cheers - WD

[Wendy Benoit]

Hi Lost,
Took me ages to work out how to post... Will put some photos up when I work out how.
I was going to get an A'van, but my kids talked me out of it, so consequently Golf. I know a few with A'van and they seem or were, happy with theirs.
Wendy