Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

Phone them and tell them how you feel. Ask them to be honest about why you’re not getting calls back. If you don’t like the conversation, find another shop.

Fair but just because the purchase price is high, doesn’t mean they’ve got a customer service department. They’re probably just a few people in what is ultimately a pretty niche industry. The person answering the phones is almost certainly someone also doing the work etc.

I just feel a bit silly.

Surely you’ll feel sillier if you end up spending £75k with a company that give you the run around?

It sounds like the company have overpromised and are trying to figure out what to do. Whatever the reason it's not great customer service at all

I used these guys many years ago for commercials but they do "lifestyle" as well:

http://www.van-conversion.co.uk/lifestyle-vehicles

from the brochure:

Golf club storage
Tow-bar bike rack
Drop down monitor
Games console
Saddle hooks
Sound system upgrade
Refrigerator...........The list goes on!

so perfect! :)

You should see the amount of ex tradies vans being converted here. Every old transit, Vito and HiAce are being turned into campers. And then there's the VW transporter campers in two tone paint. Super common given the cost and used prices are strong. But then everything in Sydney is eye watering in cost!

Not really- the company is CJL Leisure and they’re the only place that does specific bike vans (MD is a triathlete type), they did the van that the cycling chef guy is rolling around in.

I chose them because they offered something purpose built for cyclists.

Doesn’t mean I couldn’t describe what I wanted to another place of course, but then you would have people who potentially know nothing about bikes making a bike specific thing.

Also, most places seem to be more about big AT tyres, tarmac scraping chin spoilers and diamond quilted leather upholstery- none of which I want.

The bahn mis are very reasonably priced, cheaper than Brisbane!!

These days I struggle to tell the difference between a modern tradie ute conversion and a low-key flash camping one... I guess they're interchangable in a lot of ways, I think a lot are used for both...

Why don't you buy an unconverted van and do it yourself?

@Dammit Richard Sachs says Keep you money for something else ATMO

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1388197

OR...!

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1387060

So funny, I just had a conversation about banh mi prices with a mate from Melbourne, he says they've tried to gourmetify them and charge accordingly. Luckily in Sydney you can still get a proper one for $4, and average price is $7.

Well, I called them - lady (who I've spoke to twice this week) said "nothings gone wrong, I'm just so busy with other inquiries that I've not got round to calling VW, I'll do it now".

About six bux up here, until very recently you used to be able to get one the size of your head for only five bux in the Valley...

Who wants to bet I don’t get a call?

Maybe we could sell them some workflow solutions?

I'd be over the moon just to get "Hi Neil, this link takes you to the VW system and you'll be able to track your van, thanks [person]"

Seems piss poor tbh, I get being busy and all that, they're probably not dicking you about but it's hard to feel like they're not when they don't call/email back with a simple update.

It's not like you're asking for much!

I guess I just keep calling, every day, until the sheer awkwardness of saying "hi, yeah, I was going call you wasn't I?" for the 14th time gets to be too much for them.

not sure if they can't return your call within 2 weeks they are going to get it converted to the date you agreed? as suggested above why not buy your own and do it yourself?
I insulated/lined my own van and it was easier than building doors. Lots of info on YouTube too, I wouldn't attempt a pop top but you could get any converter to do tthat

"nothings gone wrong, I'm just so busy with other inquiries that I've not got round to calling VW, I'll do it now"

useless cunts. pull the plug on them

Quality of work, really, and a thorough understanding of what is needed to fit a bike-centric trip.

This is what drew my attention to them (loads of info on this on the 'net).

You get a full three year warranty, with a delivery mileage camper, that CJL say they would be able to sell in less than a week should you wish to change from it.

Building doors is a fun project that I can take my time over - I don't need to drive them to Morzine in winter. I want something that I can 100% rely on for that.

TBH they might be totally sound and are actually just melting down under the pressure. Have had this on and off with running own business, sometimes its fine, you can make the time to sort out weird customer issues/ongoing orders/updating folk on stuff to keep them in the loop. And then other times you don't even get your lunch till 5pm, your phone rings all day, email server constantly full and at end of every day you have a longer 'get it sorted' list than the previous.
Last year I did a 116 hour week, didn't go home for 4 days of that, just stayed at work for everything, didn't answer the phone or the email, only the door and even then had a large sign that explained why folk had to leave us be for a week. Still didn't get anywhere near bottoming out my to do list. Was a totally thankless task.

Or maybe they just have plenty of work for the next 2 years and could love you or leave you.

I also wondered why DIY wasn't an option, but actually it is quite time consuming generally and it'd likely take a while to get something to CJL standard on evenings and weekends.

Could you shop around other converters and see if they'd be willing to give it a go? The only uncommon thing about the spec is the wet room but it looks like CJL just use a spray-on coating for that

It's a bed-liner, similar to (but not) Raptor. They send the vans round to the place that then sprays the wet room after they've put it together.

Bang on 17:00- no call. Could still happen of course but I’d bet it’s tools down now. I’m going to go to the gym myself. Bit of a bummer.

I guess I’ll call them on Monday.