TLRD:
Great conversion with good quality components. Price is quite good compared to current market. You will be dropped like a hot potato as soon as the sale goes through and campervan is delivered. If you are persistent, you get a response. If you are very very persistent, you get progress post sale. The donor Transporter was not cleaned properly before fitting. I found dirt under the door sills and mats.
WOULD I RECOMMENT WCC ?
MAYBE. I would not pay the balance of payment until a full inspection and snagging was done at site with Paul and preferably a mechanic on the date of handover. Then agree in writing items to be fixed before the balance of payment is completed. I know this is challenging for some people, given where WCC is based and was impossible for me.
FULL REVIEW:
While looking for inspiration online for doing my own VW Campervan conversion, I came across
Welsh Coast Campers website and fell in love with their two tone
Signature Series conversions. I did a bit of research on the company – there wasn’t much out there that I could see – then phoned and spoke with Paul Lloyd directly.
Paul is the perfect salesman and very passionate about the campervans he sells. He is very personable and we hit it off immediately as he owns some quite special BMX bikes, including a PK Ripper which can be seen in the showroom in some of the photos on his website. He told me a bit about the company and the amount of business they do and discussed the pros and cons of doing the conversion myself versus buying directly from him. These points hit home as I could see from the photos it would take me the best part of a year to source a donor van and convert it myself to the same standard.
Paul emailed the build spec which had everything I wanted, or so I thought but more on that later… I paid the deposit and agreed a delivery date of early December which would coincide with a trip to London to save on travel costs as I live near Edinburgh. After I paid the full balance, I emailed again with the agreed date and time for pickup.
Roll forward 3 weeks and I email Paul the day before pickup to make final arrangements. Paul replies back at 7.30pm – “I’m afraid we’ve had a problem in the paint department … the camper is not going to be ready … we are if you wish more than happy to deliver the van to you free of charge”. We agreed on a delivery date in January as I was away through most of December. By way of compensation, Paul offered a pair of black roof bars with his compliments.
Roll forward 2 months and I take delivery of the campervan at my home, with not much of a handover. The poor delivery guy was knackered and far from able to do a formal handover after an 8 hour drive. The next day I had to start a snagging list, which would take the next 3 months to sort out; awning rail not fitted, heating not fitted, complementary roof rails not fitted, no spare wheel/wheel jack, hole in the back of the driver seat.
At this stage, Paul handed over to Simon who is responsible for "Operations", however Simon is not authorised to make any decisions, that’s Paul’s job. I spent a lot of time bouncing between Simon and Paul by email and phone calls agreeing (1) there is a problem (2) how to fix it (3) how much it will cost (4) who will do the work.
Roll forward 4 months from payment and 2 months from delivery, we have some progress. Simon has sent a replacement front seat cover, which I ended up fitting myself (I am quite handy DIY). Paul has finally paid for a local campervan converter to fit the awning rail. I have given up on the roofbars as a lost cause. While the heater was on the website listing, it was not on the spec email I received, so Paul did not pay for that to be fitted - I thought about going to small claims, but finally give up on that idea...
WHAT IS THE CAMPERVAN LIKE?
Myrtle, as she is now called in a lovely 2 tone campervan conversion based on a 100k mile work van with a good service history. My local trusted mechanic did a check of the chassis, underside and engine and everything checked out great. The only feedback was the wheel nuts were tightened on to a ridiculous level of torque. He had to use a 6ft bar to remove them.
The conversion is great, the choice of materials and colours is good and very retro. Everything fitted was new and in good working order. Strangely the top counter and table used 10mm plywood, which means the edging sits proud – something I will have to replace as putting the table on the rail is challenging.
It was clear that the front cabin has not been cleaned at all. I have since removed all the trim parts and completed a deep clean. There was “workman” dirt everywhere and sand/dirt in all the door sills and under the front mat. There was no spare wheel or wheel jack, which I had to sort out myself. While not a legal requirement, still very annoying. I have found two small rust spots in the past few weeks, which I will have to address myself.
AM I HAPPY?
Yes I am delighted and as the Paul experience fades into a forgotten memory, I am left with a beautiful campervan. I didn’t get to do the full conversion, but WCC has left me with some DIY activities to do on my own.
A couple of mods I plan to do is to install aircon through Alpinair and also a diesel night heater and possibly a pop-top if I get bored of stooping over inside.
