It starts with an “excuse-fest”!
Finally, the pickup appointment is set. It is 2023-05-19, 1:00 PM. The happy occasion was getting closer, but then… then came the first “bang”.
Once again, I ask another question. Shortly before pickup. The saleswoman is surely thinking “Groß again”.
I get a reply by email saying: “could you please give me a call”.
It is Tuesday, 2023-05-16 at 2:57 PM. Because of the public holiday on Thursday, that is effectively less than 48 hours before handover.
My stomach drops. I call back…. “Due to illness and because parts are still missing again and again and because… blah blah blah, delivery will be delayed until next week”. Whaaat!?!?!?! I cannot believe it, and immediately I ask myself: Who actually schedules their appointments? Do they plan with a wet thumb in the wind to determine dates?
And then I draw the conclusion: what a chaotic outfit! But that does not help me either. That I am supposed to call back does not surprise me, though. Who wants to proactively call and deliver bad news themselves? Maybe she is also hoping I “forget”.
The fact that I now have about a week less time to move in does not seem to matter. I reject the suggestion to keep the appointment and drive off with a “half-finished” motorhome and have it completed later. Apparently others do that. Somehow they have not understood that I am not “others” and that I will be living in it. For me it is “all or nothing!”
On the way to the handover briefing
Now it is time to prepare! And spend money!
If it is in writing, it sticks. That is certainly true for a handover as well. So, time to get to work and write checklists. There are a few minimal templates, but if you want to test properly, you have to create your own again. That is where my job as a management consultant helps—of course I create a 12-page checklist. One page per area, plus all other areas such as interior, exterior, office, kitchen, cab, etc., with topics like: surfaces, electrics, water, gas, power, and so on and so on.
Later, of course, comes the realization that I did forget some important points after all.
Paperwork—and first, hand over the cash!
Since I am purchasing the vehicle through the company, I have the advantage of being able to reclaim VAT. The dealer wants that before handover. I pay in installments. They can have a bit more work with me and get annoyed. However, I hold back a larger portion until I am on site. After all, you can also make an instant transfer—because you never know. In the end, I have paid the VAT and do not get the consulting mobile.
My first success: In the invoice, they miscalculated in my favor by about 90 euros. Reluctantly, that amount is reversed. They probably thought I would not notice. Not with me. Once all the paperwork is done, it is off to the handover briefing.
In the sparse handover room
Pressing every button is mandatory!
The “highly qualified” briefing
Equipped with two witnesses, we get started. We arrive more than early for the 1:00 PM appointment. From the huge checklist to the test hairdryer for sockets, everything is there.
So, we can get started. I admit to Ms. X that I am a complete beginner. Now I expect to be pointed to particularly important topics. Wrong. The “handover hall” is sparsely furnished. Other dealers are surely a bit more luxurious. But what does it matter—as long as the quality is right. If only.
Ms. X gets going. Strangely, she has no checklist. Everything off the cuff. Does she know everything by heart? Not at all, because later it turns out that important topics could not be tested at all, such as the water. We continue at breakneck speed. Photos are forbidden. Meaning: by the instructor.
A mechanic type with tattoos. No clue about modern tech like apps for battery, solar, etc., with the justification “I do not have any apps in my caravan, so I do not know my way around them and cannot tell you anything about that.”
But I would very much like to know already whether the solar panels are charging the battery, or how good the charge level is in %.
She explains the heating fairly precisely. It is summer, after all, so that is important. But how I get hot water—she does not. That would have been more important.
We continue testing and documenting. A few small scratches, a stain on the rear sofa, right at the edge of the base of a bottle, but only halfway. No idea how you even manage something like that.
In the end, I spend from 12:45 to 18:00 on the premises. Only about 1.5 hours with someone accompanying me. When I leave, 2 of 3 apps are working. One only appears—miraculously—once I am at the campsite and connect shore power for the first time.
I have to say: I had imagined a handover briefing differently. This was more of a “please do not ask too many questions” event.
At least I get a shopping voucher for the shop for the minor defects. No desire to negotiate anymore. Redeem it immediately and get out of here fast!
Overview: shore power, solar, battery (480 Ah)
Example solar yield per day
And then it goes “bang”
If you will not listen, you will have to feel it. But if you are not told something, you cannot listen to anything. Like the fridge door, for example. It automatically locks at the top when you close it, but not at the bottom. Not being told that as a beginner is really shitty.
Because if only two 4 mm pins are holding the thing, one of them plastic and the other not even firmly installed and made of a cheap aluminum alloy (they surely wanted to “save weight” here), then you can imagine what happens when you drive onto a federal highway and have to take a corner a bit faster because someone comes racing in from the left far too fast.
It goes “bang” or even a “double bang” and the door is lying on the floor. Thank you, Ms. X, for the information (the missing information) that is now causing me a lot of trouble again.
The outstanding quality of the “anchoring”
Conclusion
Prepare yourselves. Prepare very well! With checklists and witnesses. Watching YouTube® videos beforehand helps—especially with regard to the installed equipment.
But one thing is also clear: it still always turns out differently than you think. Look forward to the next report as well! Fun and mishaps, once again, are pre-programmed. See you then!
My future view from the window
