As an operator with a mixed fleet that over the past few years has operated several marques, we have had a highly varied experience when it comes to aftersales.
I am sure I am not the only one who feels that some suppliers cannot do enough for you, while others cannot do enough to get rid of you. As operators, we all understand that things go wrong, and when they do, all we want is for the problem to be fixed as soon as possible with the least disruption for our customers.
If 28 tonnes of baked beans breaks down at the side of the M6, it is not as much of an issue as 49 people. However, some manufacturers are unsure of the difference between people and products.
A lot are now relying on truck dealerships to provide warranty and repair for coaches and buses. We all know that as soon as you arrive at a main agent with a coach, it becomes a relative ghost town.
Spanners fall to the floor and ratchets are still clicking from the job their owner was doing before they scarpered at the thought of changing an armrest, or a toilet dump valve not working.
Then you have the issue of the cab tilt on your 13m tourer not working so well, and the poor mechanic having to fold themselves into an origami swan shape to reach a pesky jubilee clip. There is a whole world of difference between a coach mechanic and a truck mechanic, and the sooner manufacturers realise this, the better.
What is wrong with an old-school mechanic in a van cruising the country fixing things, building relationships with customers, and being at their beck and call when issues arise?
Most coach operators these days have their own workshops, which makes it a pleasurable experience when attending – that and a lot make you a brew, and some will even feed you.
Having worked as a man-in-a-van for a famous Swedish brand (the one that does not make V8 engines), we delivered an excellent service on the front line to customers. You would not have caught me as Mr Product Placement.
We were dispatched in our vans with diagnostics equipment, parts, and special tools for all manner of jobs both in warranty and outside it. We had access to wiring diagrams and product information, and service bulletins were issued aplenty to aid us in our tasks.
We built up a good knowledge of the product and its pitfalls and tried our best to inform customers of any issues they may encounter to avoid the dreaded breakdown. They would much rather have got a call telling them that we needed to come and do a product campaign than one at midnight from an irate driver telling them that the vehicle won’t go!
Of course, I know that manufacturers are going to read this and say: ‘oh yes, where are we getting the money to pay these technicians in fancy vans?’. From repeat business. That is where.
A case in point is one of the two Chinese manufacturers that arrived in the market at around the same time. Its aftersales shone through and now look at it – going from strength to strength, with a fellow Yorkshire dealership close behind in the race purely for its approach to customers and the aftersales support they require.
The salesperson sells the first vehicle, and aftersales sells the rest. It is an age-old adage that has been proved through the years. If a manufacturer wants to sell its products en masse in this country, it needs to have a good back-up system in place.
