Service & Maintenance Award of the Month: Advantage Caravan Repairs
Peter and Jo from Advantage Caravan Repairs have been known to us here at Caravan & Motorhome on Tour for years now. Peter has always offered immaculate service to both us, and countless readers.
If that wasn’t all, even one of the foremost RV maintenance experts in Australia, Peter makes himself readily available to field any technical questions from readers - from serious problems solvers, to friendly advice, Peter has always made himself available to vanners.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Advantage Caravan Repair to learn a bit more about and just why they’re being showered with industry accolades this year.
Congratulations Advantage Caravan Repairs - you’re this month’s recipient of Caravan & Motorhome on Tour’s Service & Maintenance Award!
Could you please tell us a bit about yourselves – when were you founded and what do you consider to be your mission statement?
Advantage Caravan Repairs celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. The business is owned and led by industry expert Peter Robinson. Peter has an impressive 25 year career within the Caravan Industry in Victoria, having worked within caravan manufacturing before establishing the award winning, Advantage Caravan Repairs. Peters vision for his business has always been ‘lets get better not bigger’. By virtue of that, Advantage Caravan Repairs has gone from strength to strength over the past 10 years and is now a solid, reputable and professional operation.
What services do you offer to RVers?
Advantage Caravan Repairs boasts a comprehensive array of services, to all makes and models of caravans. In addition to offering the standard services you would expect in an RV Service and Repair Centre, like insurance work, servicing, and accessory installation, they are renowned for having the capacity to undertake major/complex smash repairs, including fibre glass caravans, they are specialists in wind up camper repairs, and also undertake extensive renovations and restoration projects, bringing many older vans back to life! Their capacity to offer such diversity in their work, a lot of which sits outside of the ‘standard’, sets them apart from other RV Service and Repair Centres.
You’re vanners yourselves – how do you think this helps you offer superior service?
Remember ‘Milly”?. Advantage featured the renovation of ‘Milly’ in Caravan and Motorhome a few years back, and she is alive and well and used regularly by Peter and his family! Being keen caravanners themselves, their regular travels, puts them in touch with other travellers and affords them the opportunity to assess how people travel and use their vans. This only adds to their knowledge base and further informs the business directions. For example, Peter’s recent travels suggest that diesel appliances are currently the ‘talk of the town’.
What separates Advantage service from your competitors – why do you think a first-choice with so many travellers?
Advantage strives to do things a little differently when it comes to customer service, and they find that these differences are one reason why customers keep coming back! Advantage work on building trusting relationships with customers. This comes from spending time with people, and Peter is very generous with how much time he gives. Advantage aim to create a warm and welcoming environment, where customers feel comfortable, respected and part of the repair process. In their experience, Advantage have found that its often the little things they do that really count!
Peter’s made his expertise available to readers for several years now in our “Ask the Expert” section – do you believe education and regular maintenance are the most important things that prevent costly damage to rigs?
Advantages mantra for many years has been maintenance, maintenance, maintenance! The ‘Ask the expert’ column that Peter has been writing for several years has allowed Advantage a wide audience to ‘spread the word’, about the importance of maintaining your caravan. The column is much anticipated by readers now and Peter gets calls and emails from all over the country from those who want expert advice.
Does teamwork play a big part in the success of Advantage?
The team at Advantage as described by Peter are one of the businesses biggest assets. They are skilled and valued and their contribution, past and present employees, are critical factors behind the success of the business.
You’ve had a great year – what awards and accolades have you picked up?
In July, Advantage won the Caravan Industry of Victoria 2015 RV Service and Repair Centre of the year award, which recognises excellence in the Service and Repair category. Advantage were thrilled that their efforts and contributions were formally recognised.
If you could impart one piece of van-care advice to readers, what would it be?
Advantage’s number one piece of advice when it comes to caring for your caravan is to get it serviced. Most routine maintenance problems can be identified at that point. Don’t wait until you have a problem, always try to prevent them from occurring!
Any closing thoughts, statements you’d like to share with our readers?
Advantage has many exciting new initiatives coming up in 2016. They are working toward receiving accreditation via the Service Safe Accreditation Program. They are also focusing on ways in which they can contribute to the growth and professionalism of the broader caravan industry, via participating in things like sponsoring local sports groups and making donations to local non profit organisations. Advantage will also be launching an exciting new arm to its services. Stay tuned for this one!
To get in touch with Advantage Caravan Repairs call (03) 8339 0772 or visit www.advantagecaravanrepairs.com.au
