A feeling of disappointment

[GrannyJen]

Nope

It comes back with everything switched off. This time was the only time something was on, it was the fridge, but date and time were 2008 I think

 

[Flood51]

Skip the branch office when making a complaint and go straight to Wolfsburg HQ. Tell them what a useless bunch they are in Milton Keynes and you want service from VW HQ. thats my advice for what its worth. Email Dr. Eckhard Scholz and ask for his help and tell him you are frustrated by the lack of results from VW UK and ask him to intervence. This is the email for his head of communications. guenther.scherelis@volkswagen.de

 

[Hammer]

GrannyJen I haven't been on this forum for awhile sorry to say

Unfortunately this is one of the first threads that caught my eye and must say its brings back memory's of an issue I had 3 years ago with my inverter socket. it went on for 6 months with the garage I used at one point told me they had to remove the whole sink/oven unit. As you can imagine I wasn't keen as they clearly didn't understand the Cali at all. I then contacted VW UK directly and after few conversations they advised i took it to another dealer who sorted the problem in one morning of having the van.

I am sure the dealer you have looking at this are far better than the one I used but the bit that surprises me was during my conversations with VW UK they told me VW planned on starting Specialist centres of excellence across the UK. That was 3 years ago and still nothing! The Cali should never have been put through the van centres in my opinion without a lot more training.

The technicians who work on these machines need as previously mentioned to be experts on mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, gas and water systems. I have been in industrial engineering for 25 years and have yet to find one person how can do this! The upshot is we all love our Cali's and we just want the service to go with these great vehicles.

Really sorry you are having such a hard time and really feel your pain.

Mark

 

[GrannyJen]

Thank you Mark, and to everyone else.

I am alive and well camping in Albert who apart from a question mark over his ability to recharge via 240V is as usual performing magnificently.

As always my exasperation has not been with the vehicle or the fault but with the complete lack of any form of expertise.

As you say you cannot expect the technician nor service manager to be a walking expert, but it all seems to go wrong when they consult the so-called experts, and the vehicle comes back and within 24 hours of normal use a trivial fault becomes a major failure!

To me it has been a hapless performance, but to their credit I do feel VWCC have responded to the limit of whatever clout they have. We are now about to resolve this issue amicably on all fronts and to all parties but suffice to say I am currently camping normally and normal to me is with the widest of grins on my face

ps:

It does remind me of the time I owned a pilote A Class on a Peugeot chassis. I complained for three months the ventilation systems were kaput. I had fans, grills, pumps, replaced, almost a whole new fascia, a case of champagne given to me by Pilote, ... Then someone looked inside a ventilation grill ... then another ... then other ....and removed all the insulating foam that someone had squirted in.

End of problem

 

[Jack Burns II]

As you all know I am probably one of the greatest Cali fans on the planet. Having sung the praises of what is a brilliant, brilliant vehicle I now feel quite let down.

In June 2014, with the vehicle just 9 months old, I noticed a 240v charging problem. Whilst displaying the hook-up sign it would just stop charging when hooked up.

It went into the Dealer, returned a few days later, fixed. A faulty control panel replaced.

Except it wasn't fixed. The problem got worse. Sometimes it refused to charge at all. A couple more visits back, a few days off the road, still not fixed.

It is now Autumn 2014. I can manage because I am running the vehicle daily and it charges off the engine. I use it this way, with an intermittent 240v charging fault, through the Autumn and winter.

In Spring this year it goes back. Simples. Replace the charger. Great. It comes back, works for a few days, then the problem gets worse, now it will not charge at all. Back it goes, yet more days off the road, comes back .... after two days back where it was.

So now it's summer. I have 3-4 weeks when I have no use for the vehicle. It can go back to be sorted once and for all.

Off it goes. It is in the garage for 15 days ... yes, for 15 days I am yet again deprived of the vehicle, now over 30 days in total. The dealer, and really no fault laid at their door, is being directed by VW technical support. Finally the earth shunt is replaced, another control panel, the third in 18 months, is fitted. It was returned to me on Tuesday.

Yesterday it was collected and taken back to the dealer. It is now worse than ever. In fact as a camper it is now totally useless. It will charge neither off the 240V hook up nor the engine generator. I have been in touch with VW customer service who postulating great concern have not been back to me in over a month.

I am sure that all of you who have read my postings in this forum would not have expected me to say these words, in fact I can't really believe that I am typing them:

I Really can't wait for the Marco Polo to come to Britain. The MB customer service may not be any better but surely it cannot be any worse.

As you all know I am probably one of the greatest Cali fans on the planet. Having sung the praises of what is a brilliant, brilliant vehicle I now feel quite let down.

In June 2014, with the vehicle just 9 months old, I noticed a 240v charging problem. Whilst displaying the hook-up sign it would just stop charging when hooked up.

It went into the Dealer, returned a few days later, fixed. A faulty control panel replaced.

Except it wasn't fixed. The problem got worse. Sometimes it refused to charge at all. A couple more visits back, a few days off the road, still not fixed.

It is now Autumn 2014. I can manage because I am running the vehicle daily and it charges off the engine. I use it this way, with an intermittent 240v charging fault, through the Autumn and winter.

In Spring this year it goes back. Simples. Replace the charger. Great. It comes back, works for a few days, then the problem gets worse, now it will not charge at all. Back it goes, yet more days off the road, comes back .... after two days back where it was.

So now it's summer. I have 3-4 weeks when I have no use for the vehicle. It can go back to be sorted once and for all.

Off it goes. It is in the garage for 15 days ... yes, for 15 days I am yet again deprived of the vehicle, now over 30 days in total. The dealer, and really no fault laid at their door, is being directed by VW technical support. Finally the earth shunt is replaced, another control panel, the third in 18 months, is fitted. It was returned to me on Tuesday.

Yesterday it was collected and taken back to the dealer. It is now worse than ever. In fact as a camper it is now totally useless. It will charge neither off the 240V hook up nor the engine generator. I have been in touch with VW customer service who postulating great concern have not been back to me in over a month.

I am sure that all of you who have read my postings in this forum would not have expected me to say these words, in fact I can't really believe that I am typing them:

I Really can't wait for the Marco Polo to come to Britain. The MB customer service may not be any better but surely it cannot be any worse.

So sorry to hear what you are going through. You are always one of the first to answer any queries and your advice has been invaluable to us. Count us in folks if you want to start a petition to help Granny Jen

 

[GrannyJen]

Thank you Jack .. but I am now on the verge of resolving all issues...

probably famous last words on the scale of Galileo stating the church has no squabble with science.

 

[capt kirk]

Thank you Jack .. but I am now on the verge of resolving all issues...

probably famous last words on the scale of Galileo stating the church has no squabble with science.

Hi jen
I was just going through old threads and found this, ive read it all but dont see a final resolution, did the Batteries get changed? Did it cure the issue? Is albert alive?? Is the fridge still cold?? Its like an episode of hollyoaks without the deaths, like reading a favorite book with the last page torn out. Cmon finale please, please, please

 

[GrannyJen]

Hi jen
I was just going through old threads and found this, ive read it all but dont see a final resolution, did the Batteries get changed? Did it cure the issue? Is albert alive?? Is the fridge still cold?? Its like an episode of hollyoaks without the deaths, like reading a favorite book with the last page torn out. Cmon finale please, please, please

Yes, all was well in the end. It turned out to be a break in a wiring harness somewhere that created an intermittent break in current flow. Strangely enough I do believe the fault was what was first suggested by a totally non-technical, mechanically dyslexic old dear whose instincts were worthy of being totally ignored.

Albert was restored to his totally stunning and amazing best, replaced by Alfie but went on to provide wonderful service to another lovely family.

Alfie, named after Albert's second son, proved to be equally competent and a worthy successor.

 

[capt kirk]

Yes, all was well in the end. It turned out to be a break in a wiring harness somewhere that created an intermittent break in current flow. Strangely enough I do believe the fault was what was first suggested by a totally non-technical, mechanically dyslexic old dear whose instincts were worthy of being totally ignored.

Albert was restored to his totally stunning and amazing best, replaced by Alfie but went on to provide wonderful service to another lovely family.

Alfie, named after Albert's second son, proved to be equally competent and a worthy successor.

I can sleep tonight………