# My new website



## Rapide561

Hi

Just spent the last hour creating this

www.swiftmotorhomes.com

I am struggling to edit my photos and make them small enough to add on to the site.

Should be fully up and running by the time the rain has stopped!

Russell


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## artona

Hi Russell


:lol: :lol: :lol: and after it is all sorted you can offer to sell the url to swift motorhomes


stew


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## Grizzly

Russell...that is MAGNIFICENT ! I hope you've sent the link to all the right people ?

Why on earth did Swift not register the name to themselves I wonder ? 

Well done you ! 

G


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## Rapide561

*Swift*

Hi

I wanted a slightly different web address but that is already in use.

It has cost me £8.99, but will no doubt keep me busy on this cold, wet Friday.

Russell


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## hannah29

that is coming along very nicely russell and will hopefully come up in search engines for anyone looking at buying swifts, maybe you could add a comments page for other people to put there experiences on. 

hannah


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## bigfoot

EXCELLENT!! Now if the miscreants do a trawl of websites as some firms do with newspapers, expect a call :?: :!: 
Unless,of course, they receive an anonymous email!!!
Local libraries woulsd help you.


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## Rapide561

*Swift*

Hi Hannah

Good idea. That's next on the agenda.

Russell


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## Snelly

A great idea Russell... it takes balls to slate a big firm publically, sock it to em boy! Well done on the domain name too, that was very slack of Swift not to register that!

I know your using a program, but if you need help with your site, pm me. For example, your needs changing! You also need decent meta tags, then you can submit to search engines to be robot'd and listed.


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## annetony

Brilliant if ever there was a reason for not buying new from Swift then this is it. It would make a good comedy sketch :lol: , you could write the script and send it on to Jeremy Clarkson  

Good luck with your case
Best Wishes


Anne


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## Rapide561

*Swift website*

Hi

I have verified the legality of my website and as it is factual and informative etc etc.

It will be more believable once the photos are on board.

Swift did promise to phone me yesterday - but failed so I thought I would adopt the Speedferries approach and fight the pirates.

RW


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## mauramac

Oh blimey Russell I know you have been having problems (typical British understatement) but this all sounds truly depressing.

In truth, I'm sure I would have given up long ago and thrown the towel in, so bloody well done for sticking at it. They think they can just palm you off and hope you will go away and live with it all I suppose.

Website is looking good and very calmly written, no ranting as you would be fully entitled to under the circumstances. This makes for even better reading, so stick to that format and you can't go wrong.

I'm sure everyone on here will be watching and supporting you in all you do.

Good Luck

Maura


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## Danumboy

Hi,

Well done what an excellent site. Like you I could fill many a page with tales of woe from the Swift motorhomes I have bought and of course that well known Newark based dealer. What I find very dissapointing with the response from Swift is their apparant lack of after sales care. 

On my present Bessacarr, bought from another dealer I might add, there was a problem, amongst others, with the manufacturers not puting enough rubber seal round the roof light causing a great deal of noise when it was windy. This was ordered from the makers of the roof lights and was delivered the next day. The Swift parts took nine weeks to come and I am now still waiting for some more parts which must cost less than ten pence to produce. The after sales service is a joke. 

John :x


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## 96299

Nice one Russell,I like your style mate. :lol: I hope this all turns out the right way for you in the end as your luck needs to change.

Just spotted a spelling mistake Russ..on the steamed up window photo..forsted instead of frosted. :lol:


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## 99465

Good work Russell!

Your problems, though extreme, are not unique to Swift - I believe that British built motorhomes are all the same.

In September 2004 we purchased a new Elddis Autostratus RG from Barrons in Darlington and had so many problems that it would take all day just to list them. The build quality and design were absolutely diabolical - unforgiveable even. 

Interestingly we also had warranty & recovery problems, with both Fiat and the AA stating that the vehicle was not covered due to it's weight. Eventually we were recovered from France by the AA - all because Elddis had fitted an incorrect fuse somewhere in the cab area that caused the engine to cut out and not restart at any price. A totally ruined Christmas holiday, with absolutely no help or support from dealer or manufacturer. Without the AA we would still be in France now! No apologies or statements of regret from the manufacturer either - they just did not care.

Fair play To Barrons though, they eventually came through for us. Whilst their PDI left a lot to be desired, their sales and aftersales team were very good. They agreed to a full credit against a replacement motorhome. 

We opted for a Burstner T-Star 680, and now have a Dethleffs I7870 and have had only very minor problems with either - nothing worth mentioning really. The build quality, in both cases, is absolutely superb.

I will never, under any circumstances, buy a British motorhome again.

How sad is that?

Greg.


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## maddie

Hi Russel BRILLIANT, offer to sell domain to swift you may get another problematic m/h from them :lol: :wink: :wink: 
terry


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## Rapide561

*Swiftmotorhomes.com*

Hi

I was amazed the website domain was available. I have done some photo uploads etc and am trying to work out how to get a video clip on. I can record the rain coming in at the door, with the radio on in the back ground to confirm the date etc etc. Just not sure how to do it.

Thanks for your support everyone.

I wonder if I will be "closed down"?

Russell


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## Grizzly

Danumboy said:


> On my present Bessacarr, bought from another dealer I might add, there was a problem, amongst others,
> John :x


John...PM on the way.

G


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## johng1974

Great Russel..

who is Marje Proops?

John


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## 88927

Russell that is a blinding site mate. Do not under any circumstances sell it to Swift because their PR department will shut it down straight away mate :roll: 
I bet you will get loads of hits on the site and hopefully you will save many other people the aggravation that you have had to endure. Just a thought, maybe you could add a section for other Swift owners to comment upon their experiences, use the disclaimer that their stories have to be in their own words and also be factual, insist upon a name to be provided before publication to ensure that the comments made are honest (not sure of the legality of peoples words on websites but I am sure you are able to check this) and it will build up into a real advert for Swift Group products :lol: :lol: :lol: 
Good luck with it Russell, but even more good luck with resolving your present difficulties with the Kon Tiki.

Keith


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## Rapide561

*Problems*



johng1974 said:


> Great Russel..
> 
> who is Marje Proops?
> 
> John


Hi

She is (or was) an agony aunt that answered personal/matrimonial/sexual problems in The Daily Mirror.

Russell


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## mauramac

GregT said:


> Your problems, though extreme, are not unique to Swift - I believe that British built motorhomes are all the same.
> I will never, under any circumstances, buy a British motorhome again.
> How sad is that?
> Greg.


Very sad indeed Greg and given your experience I can sort of understand where you are coming from......BUT

I can't totally agree with your sentiments.

I accept my experience is limited as we only purchased an Autosleeper Pollensa last July but I dont believe all UK motorhomes are bad, ours is a lovely van, we have no complaints with the workmanship or build quality whatsoever.

I am looking to downsize for personal reasons but would be more than happy to buy another Autosleeper. I do think there are thousands of very happy UK owners out there, you just don't hear about them as often as you do the disasters.

Much the same with all things, you only hear the bad stories and it can distort the actual reality.

Maura


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## RichardnGill

Russel 10/10 for that site, and the domain is as good as it gets. I hope you get some good results, it's about time your luck changed.

PS> I wonder how long it will be before the big "B" has another website.

Richard...


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## 103605

Jolly well done Russell, I am thinking of a similar situation regarding our Adria Vision-from-hell......
Don't be intimidated by Swift!!!
Laurie


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## 101776

It's looking good big Russell...

Having read it can I just say...don't take the motorhome to Malta, the roads there would shake a tank to bits, let alone a flimsy old Kontiki!!

I hope Swift get their act together soon, there is no way that door is usuable, it looks to me as if the whole body is out of 'true' let alone the door, have you tried measuring each corner to see if the vehicle is standing square or is lopsided in any way, cos that door just aint gonna fit not no how....and I know ****** all about mechanics or engineering..

Good luck.


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## Rapide561

*Swift*

Hi

Swift have just telephoned and are aware of the www.swiftmotorhomes.com website. They said they were very disappointed by it. I said I was disappointed by my Kontiki.

That makes the scores 15 all.

Russell


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## tokkalosh

*Re: Swift*



Rapide561 said:


> They said they were very disappointed by it. Russell


As you would hope. 
Did they really think you expected them to like it :roll:

Perhaps they will now do something about your dilemma .... fast.


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## Grizzly

*Re: Swift*



Rapide561 said:


> Swift have just telephoned
> 
> Russell


This must be a first Russell !
Make the most of it.
G


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## Duadua

> That makes the scores 15 all.


Come on Russell, having been let down, you are now miles ahead.

How about a direct link to the Swift forum / threads on MHF, for the benefit of non or novice MHF web users, as well as the link to the MHF front page you've already included?

It would help to get newbies straight into the body of MHF.

It would also serve to wobble Swift a bit more still, when they bother to read, as they now surely will, all the problems raised by you and others.

It should up the MHF membership nos. as well. :wink:

Best of luck - fantastic idea and you have carried it out very well indeed.

Duadua


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## LC1962

Great site Russell - lets hope you finally get it sorted....one point of note....your survey.....
Anyone can vote regardless of whether they have a swift or not (I just have although my Grandad had a Swift Caravan once), its easily corrupted - say someone at Swift were to be sitting there continually hitting "No" option, might mess things up a bit??? What say you?


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## Duadua

Good point Linda

I couldn't believe the number of "NOs".

If someone could be bothered to vote, it would most likely be to vote "YES", whereas someone who might be inclined to vote "NO", is also more inclined to not bother to vote ..... in my humble opinion as a non Swift owner.

Very suspicious voting behaviour me thinks Russell, which is running against you. Do you need the vote, if it is going to be abused?

Just ideas, looking forward to the result of Game, Set and Match to you.

Duadua


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## 88781

*Re: Swift*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> 
> I wanted a slightly different web address but that is already in use.
> 
> It has cost me £8.99, but will no doubt keep me busy on this cold, wet Friday.
> 
> Russell


What about "leaky Kontiki" or "Not so Swift" 8O 

Dave


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## Rapide561

*Vote*

Hi

Yes - the vote is being abused I think. The number of "no" votes increased by over 150, yet the number of visitors to the site had only gone up by fifty odd. So, as somewhere along the lines people are somehow voting many times, I shall remove vote option.

Russell


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## JockandRita

*Re: Swift*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> Swift have just telephoned and are aware of the www.swiftmotorhomes.com website. They said they were very disappointed by it. I said I was disappointed by my Kontiki.
> 
> That makes the scores 15 all.
> 
> Russell


Hi Russell,

Your quote above has made my day, honestly. 
I like to see these "big boy" companies getting a some of their own treatment from the little people.

Keep it up mate.

Jock.

P.S. Are you able to remove the "vote results page", as it is not helping you much?


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## 97075

*Re: Vote*

I'm well impressed at this. Good to see some positive action to hit back at a company that tries to ignore it's problems.



Rapide561 said:


> Yes - the vote is being abused I think. The number of "no" votes increased by over 150, yet the number of visitors to the site had only gone up by fifty odd.


I think it may also be worth putting the reason why the voting has been removed as you have in previous post. Then let the readers put two and two together to work out who may vote 100 times to say their Swift was fine.

Good luck.

M.


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## 100109

A word of advise is to check that swift do not have a trade mark. If they do the use of a web address such as you have used could be breaking the law! You may find a writ on the mat if they have.

All the best 


Chris


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## Grizzly

Surely if Swift had trade marked the word "Swift" then they would have bought up all the possible URLs with the word in ? Wouldn't they ?  

I can't see that using 2 perfectly ordinary words like " Swift " and "motorhome" in your website title is breaking any trade mark. Perhaps Russell means to imply they go fast ?

If they should issue a writ against Russell then he will have won. The publicity alone would be worth a fortune.
G


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## 97075

Oddly, it looks like they have not registered much. I've had a look at cannot see anything starting with Swift followed by motorhome (or caravan for that matter!). OVER TO YOU TO CHECK YOURSELF!!

Link to IPO office

Edit - here are all their trademarks - I would be careful - looks like they have trademarked your username!!

Swift Group Trademarks

M.


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## Grizzly

MarkM said:


> Oddly, it looks like they have not registered much. ]
> .


One less employee at Swift tonight ? I 'd love to be a fly on the wall in Cottingham

G


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## Rapide561

*Swift*

Hi

My website, relates to the KonTiki on the M1 with the wind behind it - it is a motorhome moving swiftly.

Rapide - trade marked - good lord - that must surely mean I must apply for a job at Swift.

Seriously though, I will say in public that one lady at Swift has, I believe done her damndest to assist me.

I also note that my webpage provider is offline at present - so maybe this is having an effect on proceedings with the vote.

Russell


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## hogan

Fantastic web site .I almost did not click on the link when i read your comments on pictures but i tried it and it all loaded without much delay which in this day and age is great with someone like me only having a very slow Spanish dial up service.well done


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## geraldandannie

Very good, Russell.

The worst that can happen is that you'll get a "cease and desist" order, and given a few days to take it offline, but as someone said, that would be great publicity. Or not, for Swift :wink: 

That probably won't happen until it starts appearing in search engine results.

Gerald


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## 96299

sell the domain name to them.. :lol:


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## 96105

hi :wink: nice site russ :wink: i see someone posted a link on the dog and cat forum with mixed and some hostile reviews :roll: :roll: 

best of luck

ray


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## Grizzly

Saruman said:


> the dog and cat forum
> ray


What is the dog and cat forum please ?

G

Thanks Ray...just looked at some of the responses and the general tone of them. Not such a civilised lot as MHF are they ? But then, I suppose they are mainly tuggers ! 

G


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## peejay

Blimey, well done Russ, that should ruffle a few feathers at Cottingham.

Don't worry about the Rapide trademark, it was a caravan they used to make a few years back, that probably leaked as well :wink: .

Just returned from a 12 hour shift and you've made my day, great stuff. Word certainly seems to be getting round the forums fast and hopefully it can only help you get the matter resolved to your satisfaction sooner rather than later.

pete


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## Nora+Neil

Well done Russell.

Hope it all works out for you.

Good luck.


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## 101600

It is like reading a script from eastenders, it is so ott that you just dont think its true. But the stress this must have caused is true I know i will never touch a swift for sure!!!!!!!!!


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## Pusser

WIcked effort. Just a matter of getting it at the top of Google for Swift searches. We need some advice from web designers to max out meta tabs. I know a bit but not enough.

This has made my day. I love it.


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## Rapide561

*Swift*

Morning Pusser

I was thinking about you yesterday! When I was talking to Swift, I said "perhaps you would like to take the van back" etc but I remember your comments that only a tyre might be left!

My pal can sort out the Googling etc and there is a program within the webpages to do it, but it takes a few days to effect.

A lot depends on the outcome of the Swift assessor's report on Monday. I know he works for Swift etc, but he is coming to the van and will assess the door and frame etc. There are numerous outcomes such as

1) Yss, it is cream crackered.

2) Yes it is cream crackered but the Fiamma locks caused it

3) There is no problem at all - the gaps are to allow air movement and the rain the comes in is to ensure you do not live in a dry atmoshpere.

4) Not thought of that one yet.

An independant report is also on its way. If my Oscar was here, bless him, even he would know it was a cream cracker.

Wait and see now I suppose.

The good news legally is I can reject at this late stage. I wa under the impression I couldn't but solicitor advise late Friday I can reject as I have allowed many an opportunity to have repairs effected etc.

Russell


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## ianhibs

Congratulations Russel

Managed to log into your website on my PDA while in Denmark and it looks fine. That should make someone act "swiftly". Just looked at it again on my laptop. Your photo is not quite right mate as it's out of proportion. The vehicle looks like an RV. It's easy to adjust.

Cheers

Ian


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## Pugwash

*Likely response*

Hi Rapide,

I suspect Swift Leisure's approach will be:

"We'll help you but first you must shut down the website."

I picked up a new Kontiki 660 for a customer in the north of England in May '06. They toured Ireland with it before we shipped it to New Zealand for them. Swift's designs, particularly the Kontikis, have the "wow factor" and they virtually sell themselves (as yours did to you when you went to look at something much cheaper). Its so disappointing that their quality control is letting them down. I hope you achieve a satisfactory result.

The metatags on your site will not have a huge influence on search engines. They're a lot smarter now and the robots and crawlers look mainly at page content and can "read" and identify the subject. (Your mate probably knows that).

I'll watch with interest for the result. I expect they'll drive a hard bargain and may require the settlement to be confidential. Obviously they'll be taking legal advice - don't expect this to be easy because Swift Leisure will be nervous about setting a precedent and opening the flood gates. Their alternative is to "ride out" the bad publicity - but it could go on indefinitely with that URL of yours!

Keep us posted.
Regards,
Pugwash.


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## zulurita

*swiftmotorhomes.com*

GREAT one Russell,

Will look at it more fully when i get home. at the moment I am in Azay la Rideau and have found an internet cafe with WiFi.


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## Rapide561

*Re: swiftmotorhomes.com*



zulurita said:


> GREAT one Russell,
> 
> Will look at it more fully when i get home. at the moment I am in Azay la Rideau and have found an internet cafe with WiFi.


Hi hope all three off you are having a great time. I hope Jabu has got a sun hat on.

Russell


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## 96105

hi i see sites down now !!has russ got his way

ray


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## Rapide561

*Website*

Hi

It has gone off sight seeing for a while, but the domain is still mine etc. It has gone off my own volition.

Russell


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## ambegayo

*new motorhome site*

Hi, just clicked on your site to have a look (as others seem to have done so already and got a page saying "this page has already been alocated to one of our customers!!! is this a glich or am I losing the plot?


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## 96299

*Re: Website*



Rapide561 said:


> Hi
> 
> It has gone off sight seeing for a while, but the domain is still mine etc. It has gone off my own volition.
> 
> Russell


Yes noticed this earlier.It was mentioned on o&b live.someone asking where it had gone.


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## capnjack

Try this:

http://web.archive.org/web/20070626150613/www.swiftmotorhomes.com/1.html


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