Hi Folks. We recently bought a Supreme Executive (hardtop).
As is normal with all Aussie made 'vans, we have had plenty of problems with it -mostly fairly minor.
But the big drama is with the manufacturer. I have sent a fault list by email through the Dealer (George Day Caravans in WA) and the response from Supreme is disappointing (if Im being pleasant) and bloody arrogant.
Many issues they reckon its not a warranty issue (including bits that have fallen off internal fittings) or they want photos (like a leaking shower rose on the external shower - how do you take a pic of that for goodness sakes).
Ive told the Dealer that if this is how they want to play the game, I will complain to the ACCC, but I'm keen to know of others who have newish Supremes and how they got on with warranty issues. A caravan repairer told me that they used to be top quality until the father retired about a year or so ago and the son took over the business and cut costs and employed monkeys.
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
You should be contacting the dept of Consumers affairs -as they are responsible for working between the supplier (George Day sold you the van - you don't have to be going to Supreme) and the customer. Firstly tell George Day of yor intentions and if that doesn't improve their attitude, just do it. You will have to document the issues you have raised with Geore Day, but I'm guessing that is already in place. Warranty on expensive items is far longer than the one or two years they quote!
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Glen
A diesel Nissan Pathfinder towing a Coromal Element 542.
Surely warranty is Warranty , they cant pick and choose what they want to fix and what they don't want too , from what I understand from their attitude give them a miss and go straight to the ACCC and make a complaint , let them sort it out because down the track you will need some sort of backup if anything major goes wrong .
Had similar issues with our previous van. After a couple of phone calls and emails with no satisfactory result, they were politely informed that the next call was to Fair Trading. The reaction and speed was as if someone had either set fire to their backsides or put a rocket up there.
It is unfortunate that it has to come to that, but, when someone working at a dealership referred to the caravan industry as being 'agricultural' all of a sudden it all made sense.
The industry is booming and there are more then ever people on the road full time. Problem is the industry hasn't come to grips with this phenomenon.
Larry
BTW, previous van builder is no longer. Bust or bankrupt. Whatever. Moral of the story: you can only run a crappy business for so long before it come back and bites you on the backside.
I had problems with a new Windsor (MFG Fleetwood) van, there were many issues which should be covered under warranty, had 2 Windsor repairers but they never fixed the problems the first time, they get you back on the street and hopefully you will travel and the next dealer/repairer will deal with the problem.
I got so sick of these games I contacted the NSW DFT, they advised me ONLY report the issues (keep a record of date and what discussions you have with the selling dealer) to the selling dealer and let the selling dealer arrange for the issues to be repaired, if nothing is done, write to the selling dealer giving time (say 14 days) to have the warranty repairs corrected, if not done, report back to the DFT.
I found this was the only way I could get repairs done.
The manufacturer does not want to know !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Look on the web www.productreview.com.au and search under Supreme, you may find people with similar problems.
omg. I am so sorry to hear that. but all of us on here need to know these things. so thankyou. strop and I bought a supreme a month ago but it is 2007. one of the reasons we bought an older van was because of the hassles people have said they have had with newer vans. We had an older 1990's jayco before this one and everyone we spoke to said "it's an oldie but a goodie". and it was.
The supreme we have now is beautiful. so far, so good.
I can understand people considering imported vans if they are cheaper and the ones made here have warranty hassles.
at the same time I wrote this thread, I also emailed the Dealer telling them I was very unhappy with their response - that they were responsible and if they weren't going to warranty the work, I was off to the ACCC.
The attitude seems to have picked up a bit now - more co-operative and rather than send me to a caravan repairer (the Dealers original intention), they want to do the repairs themselves. Also telling me they wanted the pics - not the manufacturer, so they knew exactly what part was needed and it could be ordered in before the Xmas close down so that it fitted in with the repair work done in January (when it suits me).
I haven't spoken to one new 'van owner yet who had not had multiple problems with their investments. Interestingly, one of the other members on this Forum posted a letter sent to him by the Customer Relations Manager from Jayco. Although my 'van is not from them, I nonetheless emailed him and we emailed each other about 5 times with my bitch that it seems to be the norm for Aussie built vans to be full of faults, often very obviously through poor workmanship. I also suggested that as Jayco have approx. 50% of the market, they needed to step up to the plate within their industry and get all the manufacturers to start taking pride and care in their products. He agreed and said he would forward all my emails to their G.M. Be nice to think something will come of it (yeah, yeah......I believe in the tooth fairy lol)
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
Bruce I have to say that I had a problem 12 months ago and fair dinkum they could not have been nicer .Rang me mid way to see if I would like to see the progress etc . Supreme is fantastic in my book.Cheers John
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Westy. Some people I know are like slinkies. They look really funny when you push them downstairs !
John. Good to hear that you had a good experience with Supreme. So far they have not made any contact with me - its all been the dealer to date, so will just wait and see what happens.
But will be going to see Supreme when I visit that area and have a good moan about their quality and see if they actually offer to have a look at the 'van (which will be in their yard when I visit them). That will tell me if they are good or bad.
As I mentioned earlier, the old man set up the business apparently and has recently (not sure when) retired. Supreme had a good name then and stood by their 'vans. Now the son runs the company and he is driven entirely by the "bottom line" and the quality has plunged accordingly (so a caravan dealer who until recently sold Supreme but dropped them as he got too many problems from them told me)
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Cheers Bruce
The amazing things you see when nomading Australia
We saw George Day in action at one the Caravan & Camping shows in Perth. Failed to impress us. Came across as a ruthless salesman. I think he could do more for you and lobby Supreme on your behalf. IMHO.
Larry
