# Frankia @ Brownhills



## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Called in at Brownhills in Newark today. I saw a very nice FF4.

Did not know until I called in they were the new Dealers.

TM


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Frankia aren't too fussy then. Not surprised given their attitude to customers, Alan.


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## tony50 (Oct 16, 2007)

erneboy said:


> Frankia aren't too fussy then. Not surprised given their attitude to customers, Alan.


Actually I was talking to a chap on the Frankia stand at the Nec in February and he turned out to be the Managing Director of Brownhills and he is well aware of the struggle he has to improve customer relations , and he gave me his card and said if you have any problems with us dont hesitate to ring me , I know he is relatively new but he seemed genuine enough . 
ps. I know nothing about the company apart what I have read on here.

Tony A.


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

I have never dealt with Brownhills and know nothing about them.

I have dealt with Frankia having bought a new Frankia van, sold to Spinney without a Frankia warranty apparently, although I wasn't told that till after we had the van.

Frankia didn't want to know about us which was hardly surprising. I would have expected Spinney to mention the rather extraordinary warranty arrangement before they sold us the van and was surprised that a manufacturer with such a good reputation would enter into such a deal though.

If Frankia are doing what they did with Spinney their vans will be coming without a factory warranty, and if Brownhills are as dishonest as Spinney seemed to be with us then buyers won't know till they have a problem. Then it will be left to an insurance warranty claim.

Of course it is possible that Spinney had no intention of being dishonest and that they simply forgot to mention this very important, some might think vital, fact to me when I was buying. Who knows? Alan.


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Crapham seemed to have had the same arrangement where they covered the warranty and was not backed by Frankia.


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## ob1 (Sep 25, 2007)

Alan - I bought our Frankia via Cranham Motorhomes. It has had Frankia warranty work carried out by Cranham (wrong sized garage doors mainly) in good faith and without further problems. 

The non warranty arrangement with Spinney sounds extremely odd to say the least and one that I have never heard of before and it reflects badly on both parties. I know that manufacturers warranty work is not flavour of the month with dealers due to the poor rates that they have to work with but leaving a customer without warranty cover is not on. If a dealer won't accept the manufacturers warranty terms what can the manufacturer do? Perhaps this was another reason that Spinney lost their distributor franchise some years ago. 

Not the sort of question ("does this brand new vehicle come with a manufacturers warranty") you think to ask though is it?

Either way, if that is the arrangement then any problems still rest with the supplying dealer.

Ron


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

We did have warranty. It was insurance based, an MB&G policy. It worked to some extent. The main problem was that they will pay only to rectify problems and not for investigating them, also they will pay only once for any problem so that if it's not correctly identified first time round that's tough, unless of course the dealer can find a way round that.

Your dealer has to identify any problem and tell them the cost of repairing it before they will OK a claim. We all know that isn't always possible and that dealers will not undertake extensive investigation without charging. So to some extent it will work OK if you use only the supplying dealer for any repairs you may need and leave them to deal with the claims. That does not work so well if you have a problem away from the UK.

It's clear that any manufacturers warranty is more comprehensive than that. In the end I just had things fixed and then chased Spinney for the money. I have no idea how or whether they recovered it, frankly nor did I care, Alan.


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*Warranty and BHills*

I asked about the warranty, they come with Factory warranty.

Sales Managers (2) came to look around the outside of the motorhome when we took a special trip and took time to go back.

They Never even looked inside or Asked or enquired about the very high spec.

Made a silly offer for a trade-in.

They did not seem interested to me.

Shame, had they been more interested, we may have looked to sell privately, place an order or make an offer on the sale or return demo from Frankia.

TM


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## wakk44 (Jun 15, 2006)

Dealers are not interested in fitted accessories,when it comes to a p/ex price they will only give the basic price based on year/model/condition.

Strange then that when the p/ex is put on the dealers forecourt they make much of all the after market fitted accessories. :roll:


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

wakk44 said:


> Dealers are not interested in fitted accessories,when it comes to a p/ex price they will only give the basic price based on year/model/condition.
> 
> Strange then that when the p/ex is put on the dealers forecourt they make much of all the after market fitted accessories. :roll:


Steve, I think generally, you are quite correct in your assumption, however, when we were trading in our Hymer Tramp, Fullers, did say it was quite a high specification van as it was on maxi chassis, with air suspension, a weight upgrade to 4100kg and extras galore  
Also previously, Peter at Johns Cross offered a higher price and also said it was a high spec van!
But I say again, generally, I do agree with you


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*nick*

Thanks Grath and wakk.

But as they never came inside. They would not have seen the condition of the interior. It is in good nick. but could have...

Been smoked in
Tears in upholstery
Animal Damage
Cracked mirrors and bathroom fittings
Stains

All Sorts of horrors

TM


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## 113016 (Jun 5, 2008)

*Re: nick*



teemyob said:


> Thanks Grath and wakk.
> 
> But as they never came inside. They would not have seen the condition of the interior. It is in good nick. but could have...
> 
> ...


TM, I am sure they would be looking much harder if it was their very own money and not the Companies :wink:


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

Well, I gave them the opportunity.

TM


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## crusader (Jul 5, 2012)

tm would it be a case of when they inspected the van at the handover stage ,,,, well mr mob you will have to give us an extra £???? if the deal is to go ahead ??


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## teemyob (Nov 22, 2005)

*No more Frankia*

Brownhills rang me today to tell me they are no longer Frankia Agents.

They said they had been experiencing lots of problems with communications and backup from Frankia.

As a result, the Senior management of Brownhills had taken the decision to drop the brand.

Deciding to continue with Rapido as its premium product.

TM


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## erneboy (Feb 8, 2007)

Maybe brownhills are improving after all.

Not that there is much wrong with the Frankia product, which is lucky because I found that expecting any useful help from them was pretty much a forlorn hope, even as a customer paying cash for repairs (no cards accepted) on a van which should still have been in warranty. They are very nice people though.

I ended up doing all my own repairs that way I knew what had been done. Frankia were inclined to tell me what I wanted to hear only for me to find out later that they hadn't done what they said they had done at all. I will be kind and say there may have been translation problems.

In summary, it's a good product with few faults backed up by nice people who aren't really capable of helping when problems do occur, Alan.


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## leseduts (Jun 3, 2008)

Brownhills will not sell many Rapidos if they do not sort their salesmen out.
I called in and asked to speak to a Rapido salesman.I am still waiting (6 weeks now) for him to contact me with details of payloads. The Rapido brochure seems a bit shy about such things.


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## bigtree (Feb 3, 2007)

Having not long left the Frankia factory after having warranty and repair work done,I have nothing but praise for them.They now have a new workshop manager who I found very helpful and friendly,they carried out all the warranty work that was agreed last year plus repairs in a very quick and efficient time.They gave me a van to stay in for 3 days while the work was carried out and did more than I asked for without charging me more.As for Brownhills being the new importer/dealer,that was news to who I spoke to.


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