# Brownhills



## H12GCP (Dec 22, 2008)

We bought our Mercedes based Rapido from new from Wokingham Motorhomes. Martin, who owns the company, and his staff, are very good. However, because we have moved home, I searched for a suitable, coser, place for servicing. We ventured over to Brownhills Motorhomes in Newark for a recce. We purchased loads of accessories from their shop. We noticed that they had a huge hardstand in a secure area with overnight hook ups for owners having repairs and servicings. Great idea we think. Then wondered across to the servicing reception to find out the costs.....£250 for an initial service and a further £250 for a habitat inspection. Alot of money, but balance the cost of staying near Wokingham and the fuel to and fro, we thought, ok, with a free overnighter at Newark, not so bad. Then came the shocker!! We were told that we can't park overnight because we didn't buy our motorhome from them!! We left!! Since our return, I wrote to Brownhills and they simply told me the same as service reception did. I replied that they have lost £500 x 10 years of business = £5000 + inflation, (the majority of which is profit) all because of a lousy hook up for the night!! Thanks to MHF, I have been able to locate a company from Coventry who will come to me at no extra cost for a total of £190 + parts + vat. BB Motors are getting my business. Sorry this is so long, but I needed to vent my spleen and warn other members about Brownhills and their need for business!!


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## stewartwebr (May 27, 2005)

Take it from me, they did you a favour. IMHO you do not want Brownhills anywhere near your pride and joy. 

Stewart


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

And when they say "them" they do not mean the previous Brownhills management.


I was in there earlier today, needed the loo and its just off the A1.
They are very low on used stock.
I went into accesory shop and purchased a gas level indicator. £1.99.

the young lady at the till said that is free sir. I put my money in the charity box and said thank you.

That was the best service i have ever had from Brownhills.

Dave p


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

I think that a lot of poeple are a bit short short if decent used stock at the moment. Went round Marquis Ipswich and they didn't have much that was decent (my opinion only to avoid being sued).

No doubt this posting will be the cue for a posting from Peter to say that John's Cross has plenty of stock (I know you have, Peter, I looked on your website!)

Cheers
David


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## lucy2 (Jun 27, 2007)

H12GCP said:


> We bought our Mercedes based Rapido from new from Wokingham Motorhomes. Martin, who owns the company, and his staff, are very good. However, because we have moved home, I searched for a suitable, coser, place for servicing. We ventured over to Brownhills Motorhomes in Newark for a recce. We purchased loads of accessories from their shop. We noticed that they had a huge hardstand in a secure area with overnight hook ups for owners having repairs and servicings. Great idea we think. Then wondered across to the servicing reception to find out the costs.....£250 for an initial service and a further £250 for a habitat inspection. Alot of money, but balance the cost of staying near Wokingham and the fuel to and fro, we thought, ok, with a free overnighter at Newark, not so bad. Then came the shocker!! We were told that we can't park overnight because we didn't buy our motorhome from them!! We left!! Since our return, I wrote to Brownhills and they simply told me the same as service reception did. I replied that they have lost £500 x 10 years of business = £5000 + inflation, (the majority of which is profit) all because of a lousy hook up for the night!! Thanks to MHF, I have been able to locate a company from Coventry who will come to me at no extra cost for a total of £190 + parts + vat. BB Motors are getting my business. Sorry this is so long, but I needed to vent my spleen and warn other members about Brownhills and their need for business!!


 Under the old management even customers thinking about a possible purchase/px were invited to spend the night on the overnight hardstanding.


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## ned (Dec 12, 2006)

Hi
I get a bit p****d off with people who don,t understand that the hook up/overnight stay at Newark is for Brownhills club memebers only which means that you have to have purchased a van from them. They have tightened up on this as so many people tried to get free overnight stays. If you had come off the roundabout and gone north 2 miles there was an excellent CL site. You might not like the system but it is very clear about the use of the stopover. So I have very little sympathy for you.

As to the guy who slags off Brownhills I would like to make it clear that I have had superb service from them and they have delivered what they said they would and my service and hab' check didn't cost £500 or anywhere near that.

Cheers.......... Ned


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

Lucky man - good prices and good service together.......... but how much did you spend in fuel there and back to get your free night's stay at Newark?

Thanks for highlighting it.


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## PhilK (Jul 1, 2005)

i have used Blackpool Brownhills several times recently. The engineer carrying out the work has contacted me directly every time, the work is superb. I am really happy with the new regime. 

Phil


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## b16duv (Feb 14, 2006)

ned said:


> Hi
> I get a bit p****d off with people who don,t understand that the hook up/overnight stay at Newark is for Brownhills club memebers only which means that you have to have purchased a van from them. They have tightened up on this as so many people tried to get free overnight stays. If you had come off the roundabout and gone north 2 miles there was an excellent CL site. You might not like the system but it is very clear about the use of the stopover. So I have very little sympathy for you.
> 
> As to the guy who slags off Brownhills I would like to make it clear that I have had superb service from them and they have delivered what they said they would and my service and hab' check didn't cost £500 or anywhere near that.
> ...


Ned, I had very poor, incompetent service from them, they have still not fulfilled their promises, and I'm no longer allowed to be in their club because I had the temerity to complain to them.

A two-tier level of customer service is unacceptable.

David


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

duxdeluxe said:


> No doubt this posting will be the cue for a posting from Peter to say that John's Cross has plenty of stock (I know you have, Peter, I looked on your website!)
> Cheers
> David


Thanks David, your a star, only comment I have to make that anybody using our workshop is welcome to an overnight hook up.

OK its not a flash purpose built campsite but its free, plenty of water and fantastic pub grub 200 yards up the road with a friendly landlord.

Peter


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## solidgold (Dec 1, 2009)

Very pleased I'm not the only one to have problems with Brownhills at Newark. Only bought the motorhome from them in November and it has already spent several weeks off the road while they 'investigated' a problem. They told us they had fixed it but they hadn't. We took it back for a second time for the same fault, they knew it needed to be looked at by an auto electrician but after driving 200 miles for the repair guess what, no auto electrician available. We were very pleased they had an overnight park facility as thanks to total lack of communication from them we needed it. Not best pleased but I did write to complain and they are 'investigating' the poor service.


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## Sonesta (May 10, 2005)

Obviously, we all can only speak as we find and if we have received bad service then we will understandably avoid such companies like the plague and if we receive good service, we will happily sing their praises from the rooftops.  I suppose no business can please all the people all of the time can they and even the best of companies will get the odd disgruntled customer? However, Brownhills do tend to receive a lot of negative response from their customers and as ex Brownhills customers ourselves, I suppose we can only judge them from our own personal experiences! However, it is nice to hear that some of their customers are satisfied with their service etc and if they could build on this, then maybe they could rekindle and restore people's faith in them? 

I did used to like their overnight facilities though and if you bought a motorhome from them and took your van in for any warranty or service work, then an overnight stay was a pleasure! The amenities were excellent, especially the indoor heated swimming pool!

We use Camper UK in Lincoln now and this company are fabulous to deal with and their customer service is second to none. 

Sue


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## H12GCP (Dec 22, 2008)

Sorry that you are pissed off NED, because I expected a little more service for my money. I can assure you that I was quoted £500 a few days ago. It has since been confirmed by Brownhills that they do not entertain the notion of offering an overnight during a service. I started this thread, not to get into a personal argument with people like Ned, but to draw the attention of interested members of my experience with Brownhills. I will not spend another penny with them.....how you spend your money is up to you.


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

I don't have any feelings either way but any decision to purchase a new MH will be taken on the facts at the time, including (in order):

1) The right van!
2) Price and PX
3) Customer service feedback from others
4) Distance to travel
5) Good or bad vibes

At the moment, Brownhills scores well on (1),probably (2), neutral on (4) and room for improvement on (3) and (5).

Unless I want a Hymer, other dealers have the same sort of stock. Just to keep Peter happy, yes I would consider a trip to foreign parts south of the Thames to JCM for a new Swift, if the price is right.


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

duxdeluxe said:


> Unless I want a Hymer, other dealers have the same sort of stock. Just to keep Peter happy, yes I would consider a trip to foreign parts south of the Thames to JCM for a new Swift, if the price is right.


One has to talk to find out!

You know the phone number and I am sure Lawrence, Andy or Mark will be all ears!

Peter


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## duxdeluxe (Sep 2, 2007)

Thanks, yes I know the number but not ready yet. I don't borrow so need a bit more of the readies first.


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## badger750 (Nov 1, 2009)

we got our s/h m/h from brownhills at newark due to a good p/x on our car and a good all round deal but thats were it ended for good service when we went to collect the m/h most of the snags we picked up had not been done not major things but still not done the oil filter was leaking which we found out after the trip home 100+ miles interior was grubby and the excuse we got was its blokes that clean the vans and don't do as good a job as a women would ? and the clutch started to slip on way home which should have been noticed in pre delivery service then they said we would have to pay for the clutch to be done and claim the money back from the warranty company  i didn't pay they did only took 5 phone calls to sort out


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## JohnsCrossMotorHomes (Jul 21, 2007)

badger750 said:


> interior was grubby and the excuse we got was its blokes that clean the vans and don't do as good a job as a women would ?


My valeteers are all male and I defy anyone to do as good a job as they do!

Peter


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## H12GCP (Dec 22, 2008)

On reflection, I am pleased that I was treated the way I was at Brownhills Newark!! Thank you to all the replies that, clearly, have had an equally poor service. I will avoid them in the future. This really underlines WHY we speak on this excellent forum


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## DTPCHEMICALS (Jul 24, 2006)

Ned .
I made a £38 k purchase from Brownhills five and a half years ago.
we ended up collecting mh from the midlands branch. This was due to company cock up. They had let a member of staff use the mh for her holidays. Aparantly one of the perks of the job.
Our V5 had the chassis number of another van that had been registerd at the same time. Our vehicle details were on the other.
Service and warrenty work, other ourchases were made from Newark, a lot closer to home.

When the new management purchased the company they sent me a letter .
It was addressed to Mr DT Autotrail at my proper address.
The letter informed me that my Gold Club was no longer valid.
If other customers received the same , Brownhills allienated a lot of old customers.

Customers remember suppliers for two things.
The times that they are sh1t on and the times they are pulled out of it, and by whom.

Dave p


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## Blizzard (Sep 21, 2009)

badger750 said:


> we got our s/h m/h from brownhills at newark due to a good p/x on our car and a good all round deal but thats were it ended for good service when we went to collect the m/h most of the snags we picked up had not been done not major things but still not done the oil filter was leaking which we found out after the trip home 100+ miles interior was grubby and the excuse we got was its blokes that clean the vans and don't do as good a job as a women would ? and the clutch started to slip on way home which should have been noticed in pre delivery service then they said we would have to pay for the clutch to be done and claim the money back from the warranty company  i didn't pay they did only took 5 phone calls to sort out


Sorry to hear of your experience, which is a total opposite of the service we received from Brownhills NE (Birtley)

They bent over backwards to sort out our snagging list and although the MH has been back to them a couple of times, any complaints I have are with Swift, who are 'not so swift' when it comes to providing spares etc.

I have nothing but praise for the service dept, from the Manager down and would not hesitate using them again.

I know people's experiences can differ on each encounter and I can only speak as I find.


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## GerryD (Sep 20, 2007)

A minute ago I received a text from Brownhills inviting me to Newark this weekend as they are desparate to by good low mileage late motorhomes.
I have to say that we bought two motorhomes from the old company and could not complain about them. I would hesitate at dealing with the new company. And BTW, they have never written to us to say that our Club card is invalid. The Gold Card was stopped some years ago before the new company took over and all holders were contacted to inform them that they needed to upgrade to the new Club card. From recollection, around the time that the new company took over, that fact was reiterated and the old cards ceased to be valid.
Gerry


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## jasonb (Feb 27, 2009)

We bought an Autotrail Arapaho from Brownhills of Newark in 2006.It was a cancelled order and was affered to us just as we were about to leave.We thought all our birthdays had come at once and grabbed it.
We took delivery in mid March and to cut a very long story relatively short we managed to use it about three times in the first 9 months.
WE had the entire roof replaced, the roll out awning replaced,the tap in the kitchen sink replaced, the main deep storage drawer wasn't fixed inside and so on and on and on.We expected some teething problems with a new van,but certainly not on this scale.The worst part of it all was that Brownhills blatantly lied about the situation,that was when we could actually get to speak to someone. We actually went through 3 different service managers in the time it to get our van sorted.
Not impressed!!

Ed


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