Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Classic Morgans (pre-CX) ARP4 Handbrake.

Admittedly I have had no experience of MMC's after sales service, I've only ever bought spares from them, but IME they've been great.

It's a tricky one, the "we know best" thing. One the one hand, there are dozens of owners posting well-meant advice on this and other forums on how MMC could run their company better. On the other hand, it is their company, they've been doing what they do for over a century, they sell hundreds of cars a year to hundreds of satisfied customers.

Over the years I've experienced unsolicited advice from people on how I could expand my company, switch from being a one-man band to a full-blown consultancy/training organisation etc. All very well intentioned, but it's their image of what my company should be doing, not mine. I think there's a parallel to be drawn.

There are some pretty straightforward things that MMC could do to improve quality and reduce overall costs, there are plenty of us on this forum who have proposed such measures. It's inconceivable that the leadership at MMC are unaware of these kinds of production principles and controls, therefore we must assume that they choose not to implement them. And fair enough, it's their company, I feel.

Certainly it is their company but it is common courtesy to reply to communications in a timely manner. If they really don't want to deal with the end customer even a reply such as "Thank you for your email. We no longer deal directly with owners please contact your nearest dealer" would suffice if that is what they want. Mind you to stop dealing with owners would be a break in the Morgan tradition and would be moving in the direction of the anonymous executives of every other car company.

Oh, absolutely, I have no wish to appear as some kind of MMC apologist.

One phenomenon I have come across over the years is that sometimes employees with heavy workloads become fixated on the task that is demanding their attention right now, and can lose track of the bigger picture - so failing to reply to an email that is not on their critical path can have wider ramifications - like reputational damage.

In some organisations, employees are often driven solely by their KPIs and targets, and if 'Keeping the customer satisfied' isn't one of the things they get measured on , it's just not going to get sufficient attention.

This is one reason why the concept of Muri, reducing burden on workers, is just as significant as Muda (elimination of waste) and Mura (reduction of variation).

Answering emails is one of those things that carries asymmetric effort. It's very easy for a dissatisfied customer to bang out an email saying "Why haven't you fixed my Discombobulator yet?", it takes less than a minute, but the recipient has to do a great deal more work to find out who is looking at the issue, go and talk to them, get an appraisal of the situation, check with the relevant management as to what tone of answer is required, and construct a suitable reply that doesn't further commit the company to deadlines it may not be able to meet. So getting a meaningful response together can represent a not insignificant cost to the company.

But yes, even an automated reply would be better than nothing. How about:

"Dear Customer, thank you for contacting MMC. Rest assured that we are giving your enquiry our fullest attention and will reply as soon as we can.

If you do not hear from us within the next 2 weeks, please read this email again."

;-)

i am still confident that my dealer will fix all the problems wich may arrived on my future arp4.I have since 4 years a 4/4
sport and she is running perfectly.I have had a broken windscreen and a broken starter wich where replaced under waranty.The arp4 is a plus 4 with a tuned engine a new suspension wich is used in competition and 4 disk brakes.This is not new .I can accept some problems because the car is made by hand and is still affordable.It is not a pagani zonda or a Bugatti veyron.

Thanks "Harwich"and others, applying the footbrake before the handbrake works.
I can no longer push the car with the handbrake on!
I will leave the car in gear with the handbrake on (as I normally do)
I will explain this in three years time if the problem is still there to the MOT tester and he will pass the car.
I don't think so!
I will take up the fault with the dealer when he is available on Tuesday and keep you informed.

Glad to hear it!



You may be ok if the test uses a rolling road rather than plates. The MOT test rules say:






Good plan.

Re MOT, if your car has a LSD, your car should not be brake tested on the rollers. The handbrake has to show a certain retard on the meter when on the road. Start buying your MOT tester drinks NOW.

Sorted..!

No rush to "get their skates on" then!

Is eddie's problem a one off of less than good build or checks?
I find it odd that with so many cars using rear discs these days that there should be an issue. The design is now well established.
Years ago many rear disced kits failed SVA tests due to poor rear brakes. The major kit companies solved this and even after market versions were designed.
A solution of pre-engaging the rears with the footbrake is really only a temporary solution. Eddie...your dealer should be able to sort it for you.