Repairs to Landcruiser, computer, fridge, awning, Tvan
Submitted: Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 20:17
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Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen)
We have been back from the
Flinders ranges and we now have everything pretty much repaired thank goodness. Only the tyres that I stuffed have not been replaced but I am on my Dunlop GrandTreks on my alloys and they will do as I have no trips planned.
In
Robe I was feeling nervous pulling down the Tvan awning as Glen (Vic) and Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa were watching. Have only used the awning once and pulled the hatch of the Tvan down and broke two of the tabs on the awning where they connect to the Tvan. I thought I would get it fixed before packing it away and went in to
Southern Cross Canvas and they sewed two new ones on while I waited and then........."No charge" ...... was I happy or not. What terrific service so give them a go as they will stand by you!!
The Tvan went back to Track Trailer and they fixed the
water take guage and put some dust sealing on the doors and stuck the rubber seals on the doors on so that they can't fall off - no charge as expected.
Laptop was taken to get repaired and needed a whole new screen and was under its extended warranty and again "No charge" The invoice said that it was $1500 to the insurance company so I am glad I did not have to pay.
Engel replaced my 2.5 year old 60 litre fridge with a new one for no charge so no complaints there.
Finally, on Thursday, the Landcruiser went in for a new Transfer case seal and front axle seal and it took two days but I had a loan car for free too. Fixed under warranty for ........ "No charge"
Overall, I am a happy chappy but I reckon that I would have been up for heaps of dollars if they were all out of warranty... 1k for the car; 1.5k for the computer; new fridge for 1.5k, so might not have got much change out of $5000 counting the other bits and pieces........ makes travel expensive but I have no complaints about service - particularly
Southern Cross Canvas.
Andrew
Reply By: Mick - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 20:41
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 20:41
Hello Andrew and Jen,
Very disappointed to hear of the poor workmanship on the TVan. If they can't get such a basic thing as dustproofing right on an off road van I can't help wondering what else is not up to the job and will surface on future trips. Engel failure ...
well yes I've heard of that before and lap tops really need to be treated gently. I took a laptop across the Simpson which is far more difficult than the Flinders and it survived, but I did pack it very carefully with heaps of cushioning. Good to hear
Southern Cross helped you out - I have one of their tents as I like to go
places where you can't take trailers - and I've been happy with it. Good luck with your next trip - I think you've used up all your bad luck anyhow!!
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 20:55
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 20:55
I am very happy with the Tvan - I was disappointed with the poor sealing of the doors but they were terrific when I took it back and I hear only good reports of their after sales service. I would not like to give the impression I was unhappy with the Tvan as I would certainly do not regret buying it.
We took the Laptop to
Cape York and back last year and it was fine on those shocking roads but ........ backing out from under a shady tree suddenly the laptop light went out and that was the end of it.
Next trip - despite what I said above - Kimberlies in mid April to mid June next year (I hope)
Andrew
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:48
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:48
Andrew, Ian from
Southern Cross is a white man.
I have one of his tents and also one of his swags, nothing but quality with either product, plus he's a nice bloke to boot.
As for the cost, if it was out of warranty, you could afford it.
Just send Roachie the bill for the free advice the other day. Cost covered. LOL.
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:53
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:53
Forgot to add, What happened to the Engel?.
Also I would be a little disappointed in the T-Van issue for the money you paid you would hope they got the basics right.
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Follow Up By: Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:09
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:09
Ian from
Southern Cross is a white man .....????
The Engle has a bracket welded to the side of the cabinet which holds the compressor. This 'let go' and the compressor dropped down and one of the copper pipes carrying the refridgerant ruptured and let go all of the gas.
Andrew
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Member - John (Vic) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:17
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:17
Yeah "white man" straight shooter, no crap, tell it as it is type thing.
Boy you live a sheltered life, you should get out and travel, see the world and learn the lingo.
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Follow Up By: Big Kidz (Andrew & Jen) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:19
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:19
Time for a "Sea Change" maybe!!
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Follow Up By: Bobvic - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 23:36
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 23:36
Big kids, you may be happy with the van but I think the point which has been made is that if very basic requirements have not been attended to, what else might have been overlooked? Of course they'd be terrific when you went back - after all they sold you a faulty product and are basically hoping and praying for your "forgiveness". They are
well aware that bad reports spread quickly!! I hope that nothing else proves to be a problem with it. Check that the power system is working correvtly and that the batteries are charging correctly when on 240v and on 12 volts. I've heard of others having troubles in this area with them. Personally I don't think the quality matches the price tag!
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Follow Up By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 17:57
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 17:57
Bobvic, no matter what you buy anymore there is no quality, but Andrew is lucky he did get good after sales service, there isnt much of that around any more. We have just brought a brand new Kenworth truck and after 35000 k's the front hub seal give out. We are still fighting with Kenworth. That shouldn't have happened on a brand new truck. The brand new speed boat in the picture below, we took that out, and the first time out, the steering cable broke. After just 20 minutes in the
water. Now after paying nearly 40 grand for a new boat that shouldn't happen either. But hey, if something dosnt go wrong with a brand new item now, you start to wonder why. You get used to things breaking down, new or second hand it dosn't matter.
Karen
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Reply By: Member - Jimbo (VIC) - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:38
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 21:38
Well you will buy cheap junk LOL
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Reply By: Member - 'Lucy' - Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:45
Saturday, Nov 06, 2004 at 22:45
Evening Andrew and Ms Jen
Just hope you haven't expended all your good luck on warranties, whatever, it seems a good result all round. I am still fixing/changing little things since our Simpson trip in May 04.
As for your laptop, Maaaaaaaaaaate! you are very lucky.
Where I get my computers from have two examples of bizarre costs for laptop repairs. Both out of warranty.
One was a Sony with a stuffed screen. $1,500 plus labour, GST, Transport etc etc.
The other was (can't remember the brand) one with a stuffed mother board.
Quoted $2000 plus to fix.
Both of them were over 3/4's of original purchase price to fix. Owners apparently gave it the bird, and purchased new ones.
The reason given for the exhorbitant cost is as follows:
Desktops are just a box which any dude can open, insert a motherboard, power supply, memory modules, CPU, Graphics and audio card and with a bit of luck you have yourself a puter.
Laptops firstly have to have designed & matched to intergrated components which are then individually 'welded' together in a set sequence to fit the case.
This sequence has to be reversed bit by bit to fixed them
To 'unweld' , fix , and 'reweld' one of these suckers back together apparently takes a sh%t load of man hours. Plus the specialist part costs the earth.
So the moral of the story is treat them with kid gloves especially out of the house as they are prone to power quality issues and shock/impact issues.
Ken Robinson
AnswerID:
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Follow Up By: V8troopie - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 01:14
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 01:14
Ken, I took a broken laptop apart, just to see how easy it would be to 'get at' the parts inside. I did not have the manual with the correct sequence so it was not an easy job at all.
As to putting it back together again - no way - way to fiddly and awkward fitting parts.
And I am an electronic technician! - I feel sorry for the guys who fix laptops for a living.
I carry my laptop in an old rigid plastic typewriter case that I lined with eggcarton type foam panels. That keeps it very
well cushioned and one can pile things on top of it without worrying as one would with the soft laptop cases.
Klaus
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Bonz (Vic) - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 08:26
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 08:26
Yer I did the same, had been given a laptop that was faster than the one my son had but the screen was jiggered. Easy I thought just swap the screens and bingo! faster laptop and alls
well in the playground. I pulled the whole thing to bits, keyboard, wiring screen hinges, the whole shebang, only to find that four screws would have seperated the screen from the lid - DOH! anyhows it didn't faze me pulling the one with te stuffed screen apart cause its stuffed but I was worried about the good one. Short answer is the screen was same size same make but had a slightly different plug on it, and after my 16yo pointed out one mistake with the wrong screw in the wrong hole all went back together.
Theyre packed tight in there alright.
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Follow Up By: Member - Willie , Epping .Syd. - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 16:22
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 16:22
Hi Guys ,
I notice all you guys are talking about how you pack your notebooks to stop them failing . So how does everybody go with OZEXPLORER down the corrugations on the CSR ???
Do they bugger up or not ???
Cheers ,
Willie .
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Reply By: Member - Geoff & Karen - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 18:01
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 18:01
Maybe a KANGA CAMPER should have been the go, had no trouble with ours. Dust proof through and through. About the only damn thing we have brought new that we havnt had any trouble with..................LOL
Karen
Had to say it..............heheheheheheeheheheheehe
AnswerID:
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Reply By: Willem - Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 18:12
Sunday, Nov 07, 2004 at 18:12
Geez, you are accident prone and rough to boot....hahahahaha You definitely are a dangerous person to be around Andrew(Jen is excluded from this conversation).
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