# Rapido Wokingham



## gaspode

Hi all

Our M/H is currently at Rapido Wokingham for some non-critical warranty work to be done. I took it in on Monday and specified that it must be ready for collection on Thursday at the latest (trip planned and paid for at the weekend). This afternoon I got a phone call from them to say that my van won't be ready as promised on Thursday because one of their technicians was injured in an accident in the workshop today which has understandably disrupted their routine.
So firstly, if any of you have a booking made at Wokingham in the next few days, please get in touch with them as they may be unable to carry out the work as planned.

The next question is what do I do?

Clearly they didn't intend the accident to happen but it does leave me in a bit of a quandry. On asking the relevent questions it sounds as if they haven't started my repairs, even though they've had the van since Monday morning so I guess they'd have been hard pressed to complete by Thursday anyway. Add to this that it's the second time I've taken the van there for the same repair and you might understand why my blood pressure is rising.

They've promised to phone me tomorrow and will attempt to have it completed Friday but TBH it sounds a long shot.
The work is non-critical so I could tell them not to start the repair, collect it and take the van back at a later date but that means making yet another round trip to have it done. Because it won't be ready Thursday it'll affect the planned trip to some extent even if it's ready Friday. I could abandon the trip but don't really want to as it'll let others down (that's apart from any possible financial loss).

Whilst I sympathise with them in respect of the accident and obviously they must put the welfare of the technician who was injured first, what do I do?


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## Techno100

I'd get what you can out of them and give them a miss in future. Deal with a man who can one to one if you can find one that's got cred


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## gaspode

Techno100 said:


> I'd get what you can out of them and give them a miss in future. Deal with a man who can one to one if you can find one that's got cred


I know what you mean Andy, that tends to be my way of working too but with ongoing warranty issues there's no alternative but to use the approved dealer and to be fair they do have quite a good reputation for decent workmanship and good customer service.


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## Techno100

I hope you get your warranty work sorted soon but I wouldn't put off a trip for it unless the engine's going to fall out. I don't understand why dealers book vehicles into their care days before touching them? it's just bad planning. If they have limited staff and get overstretched they should work OVERTIME they blummin charge enough and probably pay the skilled hands a not especially good wage. 
In shopfitting the handover date is IT no excuses or you're fired.


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## Techno100

Although I've found Rapido's to be as hastily assembled as other makes and carry lots of PDI completely missed or overlooked faults, I do feel there's not much to go wrong if you survive the first couple of years. Good materials, nice designs all depend on skilled CARING assemblers but it's easy to rectify their shortcomings if you ever realise faults exist, some owners don't and put up with sub standard work as though it was normal.
I think all manufacturers design their assembly to be as idiot proof as possible to minimise the labour cost but it still goes wrong :lol:


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## Pard

Maybe unwise to arrange for work to be done immediately before a planned holiday- or plan a holiday to follow immediately after the work? [Unless the workshop's en route to your destination perhaps.]

I'd be inclined to bite the bullet, collect the van, have the holiday and return at some later mutually convenient time - a pain, I know, when it'll make it the 3rd visit for the same thing, presumably.


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## gaspode

Pard said:


> Maybe unwise to arrange for work to be done immediately before a planned holiday- or plan a holiday to follow immediately after the work?


You're quite right Pard, not a wise thing to do but not a lot of choice I'm afraid. We use the van frequently and this was the only date offered to me, the work has been waiting to be done for several months. I don't like to commit to having the van out of commission at any time, we paid a lot of money to have it at our disposal 365 days a year and any "down time" is a loss. We like to be able to drop everything and drive off at a moments notice if the weather and opportunity arises, especially at this time of year.

Still not decided what to do, I may give them a ring in the morning. :?


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## harveystc

*Rapido wokingham*

Hi, Sorry to hear of your let down,but i am sure this is a excuse as they have not touched it yet,heard that one before,i book mine in and it is always ready the same day and with big jobs done,they must have more than one fitter,so they can do it if need be,i would take it to another dealer who can do it,regards H :lol:


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## Stanner

Yes sounds like a fob off to me as well. 

They booked the van in knowing your deadline requirements, so I would take the van away as planned and tell them you expect them to cover (fully) the extra costs incurred by you in returning it to them for the outstanding work to be done.

The reason for the postponement is their problem and no concern of yours.


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## josieb

Quick to judge without knowing the full facts aren't we.


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## Techno100

josieb said:


> Quick to judge without knowing the full facts aren't we.


What might they be?
They'd had it 2 full days prior to this incident on Wednesday without touching it despite being fully aware that the customer MUST have it back on Thursday


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## 113016

josieb said:


> Quick to judge without knowing the full facts aren't we.


Unfortunately, it is a sign of the times, far too many people lie and we don't tend to trust anybody. Look at the Coruna Aire thread  
Some people are genuine and we should not jump to hasty and possible wrong conclusions!
Regarding the issue, only the OP can decide what to do!


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## eddievanbitz

So to be fair, CR have a good reputation on here.

It could be that the work was scheduled for Wednesday, their guy hurt himself, and they left it an hour or two to see how he felt.

He may of felt worse or needed a trip to A&E so CR phoned to explain the situation, once they were aware of the situation.

We often get vans left over a few days, especially Webasto warranty and service work where there may be an intermittent fault and the system needs to be left running until a fault develops. If left we can keep popping in and out until the fact occurs.

It is always difficult to get the balance right.

I have had a staff member off since September and is due back in March, which added to the problem in January where we had two other staff in hospital as well :lol: 

We can laugh about it now but having three staff in hospital we a tad difficult, the rest of us actually had to work :wink: 

Eddie


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## Techno100

That is plausible but not a good idea to leave a job to the last minute in case a problem arises once you've started. More sensible to do the job first and have the finished job parked outside for 2 days.

Really everything revolves around how they deal with the customer having caused major inconvenience and further expense so I hope we'll find out?


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## eddievanbitz

Techno100 said:


> That is plausible but not a good idea to leave a job to the last minute in case a problem arises once you've started. More sensible to do the job first and have the finished job parked outside for 2 days.
> 
> Really everything revolves around how they deal with the customer having caused major inconvenience and further expense so I hope we'll find out?


Or they looked at it Monday ordered the bits in ready to fit Wednesday for the customer to collect Thursday?

Or perhaps Gaspode found it convenient to drop it off and leave it Monday

I am not defending anyone, but Caravans Rapido have got a good reputation on here and we don't know all the facts.

Anyway I have to get on with some work or we'll be next lol

Cheers

Eddie :wink:


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## Zebedee

Hi Eddie

No argument with anything you said, except that in Ken's case if they had started the work on the Monday when the van came in, it seems unlikely there would have been any problem. It sounds as if your guess was correct, and they had scheduled the job for Wednesday!

The real niggle here is as Techno said. Why have the van sitting around for several days *before *the job is started, when simple logic would suggest . . . well, what you said above. Get on with it straight away and leave themselves time to fix any "_unforseens_".

Dave 

P.S. When you have worked on our van, your chaps have almost booted me out of the driving seat so they can get started on the job! :lol: :lol: :lol:


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## eddievanbitz

OK then very last scenario. Ken leaves his motorhome with them on Monday "Must be ready for Thursday, or else"

Another MHF'er calls in, unannounced, please, please, please help, emergency, going to ferry, all is doom, help, tears, cry, beg"

Hhhhhmmm, we could help this person now, do Ken's job Wednesday and Wednesday's job Thursday as it is a PDI but not being picked up till a week Friday!

"OK get right on to it, you will make your ferry for your holiday" 
"Oh your so kind :angel:

Dear MotorhomeFacts, I am just writing to say what kind, wonderful people the chaps at Caravans Rapido are, at the drop of a hat, they moved heaven and Earth to help me!

Wednesday: "Hmm that ladder looks wobbly Arrrggghhhh.

"Ah hello? Mr Gaspode, we have a problem  

All made up and tongue in cheek and nothing said here is meant to represent any person alive or dead etc Well you know the drill!

Sometimes tyring to help one person backfires and effects others in any walk of life. 

Eddie


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## gaspode

Hi all
Thanks for your contributions and advice, some very valid points made.
I don't want this to turn into a witch hunt against Rapido, They're clearly under pressure due to the accident and I'm much more interested in getting the job done ASAP. As has been said it's easy to jump to conclusions when we don't know all the facts.
I haven't heard anything from them yet but I'm thinking I'll probably cancel our plans for the weekend anyway, it's going to be too much of a rush if I don't get the van back until late tomorrow.
As Zebedee said, the work should have been started Monday morning when the van was delivered to them, that's really what is annoying me. Had that happened this wouldn't have arisen. 


eddievanbitz said:


> It could be that the work was scheduled for Wednesday, their guy hurt himself, and they left it an hour or two to see how he felt.


The work planned involved some repairs to the gelcoat on the roof and I was told specifically that they would need the van for several days to allow the gelcoat to cure properly before using it, that's one reason why I expected the job to be started on Monday.

Unfortunately from what I was told the accident resulted in the technician being hospitalised so some disruption is understandable, I do hope he wasn't too badly hurt.

I'll keep you updated on progress.


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## Zebedee

gaspode said:


> The work planned involved some repairs to the gelcoat on the roof and I was told specifically that they would need the van for several days to allow the gelcoat to cure properly before using it, that's one reason why I expected the job to be started on Monday.


No special parts to be sourced and ordered for that job then Ken - so no plausible excuse for delay on that score. :roll:

Since *they *told *you* the jollop would takes several days to cure, that would suggest they should have been keen to get started right away, specially since brass monkey weather was (_accurately_) forecast! Maybe the firm as a whole is very good and reliable, but it seems like you have been dealt with by the company plonker! (_Everybody has one_! :lol: )

Knowing you, I bet you have been up there with a fingerfull of Sikaflex so you won't get water ingress problems - but they don't know that!! 8O

Don't think I would be very pleased under the circumstances you have described!

Dave


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## eddievanbitz

gaspode said:


> Hi all
> Thanks for your contributions and advice, some very valid points made.
> I don't want this to turn into a witch hunt against Rapido, They're clearly under pressure due to the accident and I'm much more interested in getting the job done ASAP. As has been said it's easy to jump to conclusions when we don't know all the facts.
> I haven't heard anything from them yet but I'm thinking I'll probably cancel our plans for the weekend anyway, it's going to be too much of a rush if I don't get the van back until late tomorrow.
> As Zebedee said, the work should have been started Monday morning when the van was delivered to them, that's really what is annoying me. Had that happened this wouldn't have arisen.
> 
> 
> eddievanbitz said:
> 
> 
> 
> It could be that the work was scheduled for Wednesday, their guy hurt himself, and they left it an hour or two to see how he felt.
> 
> 
> 
> The work planned involved some repairs to the gelcoat on the roof and I was told specifically that they would need the van for several days to allow the gelcoat to cure properly before using it, that's one reason why I expected the job to be started on Monday.
> 
> Unfortunately from what I was told the accident resulted in the technician being hospitalised so some disruption is understandable, I do hope he wasn't too badly hurt.
> 
> I'll keep you updated on progress.
Click to expand...

OK now we know all the facts and I agree 100%

If you were told that the job would take time to cure and you were expecting to collect it Thursday then a bloke hurting himself Wednesday would be academic (to you) as your van should be sat "curing"

Hope you get it sorted out though

regards

Eddie


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## 113016

Now we have the full facts, it does put a different slant on things and I agree, it should have been started earlier.
But the earlier starters of a very mild witch hunt did not have that information!
In the event they were more right than wrong, lucky :lol: 
Hope you get on Ok with the repair


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## cynigy

Um, here's an idea:

Why don't we ask Rapido Wokingham for their version of events?

Seems to me they've been a bit light on the info?

Nige


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## Stanner

Grath said:


> Now we have the full facts, it does put a different slant on things and I agree, it should have been started earlier.
> But the earlier starters of a very mild witch hunt did not have that information!
> In the event they were more right than wrong, lucky :lol:
> Hope you get on Ok with the repair


Exactly it would seem to be a valid conclusion but for a (slightly) wrong reason. 
If they had stuck to their own schedule and started the work on time they might not have had (such) a problem.


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## gaspode

Just to update you...........

I just had a phone call to say they've managed to complete the gelcoat repair and it should be cured by tomorrow ready for collection. One or two other small items to investigate but nothing crucial to using the van. So fingers crossed that the job will be a good one and we can get on with "normal service". I've abandoned the planned trip now, maybe not an entirely bad thing looking at the weather forecast.  

The injured technician was found to have a broken collar bone (ouch!!) so here's wishing him a speedy recovery.


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## Zebedee

That's good Ken.

Always nice to finish on a positive, rather than having to bash the last nail in some dealer's coffin. (_Some of them really are pretty poort hough_.)

Glad to hear that Wokingham are living up to their good reputation - even if you did have to lean on them a little bit! :wink:

Dave


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## josieb

Did he have to lean on them!


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## Zebedee

Sounds like it Josie. _"Add to this that it's the second time I've taken the van there for the same repair and you might understand why my blood pressure is rising."_

But credit to Ken and all the posters on this thread, it did not turn into the usual vitriolic witch hunt and anti-dealer slagging match that we have seen so often in the past.

The only significant point at issue seems to be that they had the van in on Monday and left it standing for two days without touching it, when they had specifically asked to have it for several days to give the gel coat time to cure before Thursday.

That clearly should not have happened, but they are only human and cock-ups in communication do occur when people are under pressure.

The best thing to come out of this, and all credit to Wokinghams, it seems that once someone in a position of seniority realised there was a problem it was fixed without further delay!

I would be happy to deal with a company like that!

Dave


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## carol

The other thing to remember is that the show is in at NEC and Wokingham have a large stand of Rapidos ther. Stuart their other fitter is there to help Martin as he always does at shows. Plus other members of staff are there.

We have been p,eased with them, and as Eddies scenario we have been squeezed I. Exactly like that.

Do you remember our split water tank in 2010 just within warranty, Rapido France in the guise of Antony Pfaff worked wonders,to pull a tank off the production line, courier it to Wokingham and they fitted it on the Tuesday enabling us to get the train for our two month hokiday. What was more Stuart had to miss Duseldorf to do the job for us

Can't say more

Carol

Hope all works well Ken in the end


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## gaspode

I'm pleased to report that I collected the van today and they appear to have done a very competent job of repairing the cracked gelcoat, hopefully that's now sorted for the life of the van.

All in all it's given us a bit of hassle and caused us to cancel our trip but not the end of the world. If the job had been started on time then the aggro could possibly have been avoided but I can only praise Rapido Wokingham for pulling out the stops and doing their best to rectify the situation under very difficult circumstances.

PS: They tell me that the injured technician is recovering well and hopes to be going home from hospital later today. I'm sure we all wish him a speedy recovery.


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## cabby

Can I ask, was the van wet or damp or needed to stand for at least a day before the repair could be done to full satisfaction.

cabby


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## gaspode

cabby said:


> Can I ask, was the van wet or damp or needed to stand for at least a day before the repair could be done to full satisfaction.
> 
> cabby


I would imagine that it would need to perfectly dry and preferably reasonably warm. They do have workshops though and the van was taken straight inside when I left it so I assume it was kept inside until the work was completed.


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## mearsy

For what it's worth, I have always found Wokingham to be excellent and VERY customer focussed. They have always provided me with excellent service and have undertaken repairs under warranty that they needn't have done.

They might not have a slick professional site (like B'hills.....???) but they are decent folk who I am sure do the best for clients.....


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