Not going to plan (1)

We set up this Blog to allow all our good friends and family members to keep track of where we are and see what a wonderful time we were having. We promised to post pictures, give commentary and details of our expected pleasurable experiences. And only three weeks ago we purchased, with the kind help of Jacqui's work mates and an advance on an early Birthday present, a digital camera that would not only take 3D photos, video, panoramic shots and map locations to show our readers the precise position where our pictures were taken (how cool is that). Well things have not gone to plan!

Let me take you, our blog readers, back a few months.

After six months of searching Jacqui and I found our " ideal Motorhome" at Brownhills in Newark back in March 2012. We originally tried to avoid Brownhills as they did not enjoy the greatest of press. They seemed to have very poor after sales service. But they had the vehicle we wanted.
Armed with this knowledge and our desire to have the right van for the trip we agreed the purchase with a warranty that should cover us if anything went wrong. Well it wasn't long before we put this warranty to the test.

In April we decided to take Millie and ourselves down to Cornwall to see Louise plus try out our new van. The journey down seemed trouble free however the following morning a light appeared on the dashboard showing we had a problem with our gearbox.
The owners manual advised that we should contact a Fiat dealer at the earliest opportunity so they could locate and rectify the faulty. I dually phoned Brownhills who asked if we could return the van so they could investigate. This we did once we returned.
Rather than draw out the story all I need to say is. It's now October 10th. We tried out our van six times. Brownhills have had the van returned to them, by us, six times over the last six months before finally passing on the reoccurring problem to a specialist gearbox company to investigate. Within a week they found the problem but now, even more frustrated, I am now waiting for Brownhills to obtain and give the approval for the repair to be made.
To date we have now cancelled two pre-booked ferry crossings and likely to miss a third. With no home between the two of us we have found ourselves living with neighbours and family. Can I thank my mum, but particularly Jane & Chris and Jacqui's mum for putting us up and looking after us so well for, so far, almost two months.
So to all our Followers - we have not gone yet but will, hopefully do so soon.
11th October. Thankfully the Auto electrician has really pulled some favours and found a replacement part in Italy and managed to gain approval from Fiat to fix our van. However, there always seems to be one these days, it will not be delivered until Friday week and once installed we may have only resolved the problem but maybe not the cause.

We have decided to leave the van in the UK until fixed. Jacqui and I have booked a late deal to Dubrovnik to get away from all the  frustration we have been experiencing recently.