... Around f up with con rs of each technical committee meeting are taken oy operators 9
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operators who feel they hE been given a raw deal by manufacturer or dealer.
Warranty problems
As about 10,000 of the Rf membership have got less th five vehicles, they don't ha the arguing muscle that a !arc operator would have, and this where the technical committ comes in.
The complaints nearly alwa concern warranty problems alleged discrepancies in tl standard of repair work.
As far as matters of this r ture are concerned, the operat with a grouse should go to tl dealer first and try to get sat faction. Failing this he then gE on to the service department the manufacturer concern( with a request for a visit fro one of their engineers. .
If, at this stage, the operat has still got nowhere then tl whole matter should be referr( to the RHA.
When writing to the Associ n Mike Kneen stressed that it is essential to include full deIs of the vehicle, ie make. )e, date of purchase. mileage, ; as well as copies of all the evant invoices and corresndence with the dealers and ?. factory. It is not unknown for member to try to enlist the lp of the RHA without specing the make of vehicle conrnedl This service should not be yarded as a carte blanche to !tting some money out of the anufacturer as the RHA techcal committee has to satisfy ,elf that the charges made by e member against the anufacturer are reasonable id that the faults in dispute ere not caused or aggravated / neglect or misuse.
With over 15,000 members.
e muscle of the RHA can be >eful in cases like this. It was msidered at one stage whether have a sub-committee to deal )Iely with members' corn plaints against the factory, but it was decided eventually that the subject is far too important so the whole membership of the technical committee deals with it In fact around two hours of each technical committee meeting are taken up with complaints by operators.
Personal service
The technical committee offers another personal service to members, namely its -Vehicle off the road for lack of spares" scheme. This can be used where the manufacturer's normal VOR service has ground to a halt and the vehicle is still minus a few necessary bits.
The RHA regards this service as ''a prod to the factory that the VOR scheme is not all it should be It is not a spares chasing service."
Obviously, a reasonable time must be allowed for the dealer and the factory spares department to try to obtain the parts in the first place A member's complaint form can be filled in and sent off to the spares department of the manufacturer concerned. The details required when using this VOR scheme are similar to those wanted in the complaints cases mentioned earlier including the make and model and the relevant chassis/engine numbers.
The major details which will be required are the description and part number of the component concerned, the number and date of the operator's order on the dealer and the number and date of the dealer's order on the manufacturer This last part is the most important thing to quote and it must be obtained by the operator.
Spare parts
Mike Kneen said that the RHA had been trying to get specific information on the actual extent of the spare parts delivery problem "It is the commonest thing in the world to say 'You can't get spares'," he said.
-But when you go into it further and ask 'What can't you get, and how long exactly have you been waiting then?' it all becomes rather vague.
"If we did find there was a very general complaint, then we would discuss it with the manufacturer " As it is difficult to formulate regulations without the advice of people directly connected with the topic, the technical committee is consulted on a number of items in a similar manner to that of the smoke emission problem. It is represented on a number of other committees and on the working party investigating load security, and also the British Standards Institution committee where the standards affecting commercial vehicles are formu lated. •