RV Service Timeframe

Just more examples of why I am so glad I do all my own maintenance and repairs. Other than warranty work, tires and paint, I've never used a service center for any car, truck, boat or MOHO in my life. I dread the day I am no longer physically able to do the work myself. That will probably be the time we get out of RVing.

Lou
05 Travel Supreme Envoy

I've learned never to take the MH to the shop unless I can be without it for 3 weeks. I schedule service in advance and ask for finish time. Heck, I even pay my bills. Al I know is they aren't getting paid till it's finished.

I scheduled a service 2 weeks out, brought it in on time then waited 7 days for them to do a test drive, not finding anything, and another 3 days to test drive it again. This time they agreed the RH caliper might be hanging up but would have to wait more days for parts to swap it out. I don't think Ford chassis parts are that rare and the automotive guys get their parts DELIVERED in an hour.

Check and possibly repair dragging RH brake caliper - NOT DONE
Check drivability, shock replacement? - SHOCKS QUOTED (and it was shocking, too)
Grease chassis - DONE
Inspect chassis - DONE (and tried a separate charge)
Balance 6 wheels - NOT DONE (they farm it out)

After setting the appointment and being in the shop 10 days I needed the unit back for a trip so almost nothing got done. REALLY?

OTOH, they found the rear diff fluid was milky - water probably - and flushed the rear diff twice before they were happy with it. Sure would hate to have found it all frozen up on the side of the interstate somewhere. Now, where the water came from is a mystery . . . .

BONUS PAIN - They noted yellow paint and some trim deformation on LH side as "previous damage" that I'm sure wasn't there before, but how do you prove that? Looked like rubbing up on a yellow barrier or light pole . . . .

Taking the moho to a shop, any shop, is a lesson I'll avoid when I can.

Best,
- bob

Having an excellent relationship with the service manager and service staff at my home dealer has served me well over the years.

I have cried wolf at times and they have jumped through hoops to get something repaired in those cases. I have also called to schedule very specific things for repair while we waited since we were enroute to somewhere. That has always worked well for both of us, but I have never been a no show or late for an agreed upon time. The dealer is 75 miles, one way, for us and sometimes is not convenient to get there and then return a few days or weeks later, but we have always been able to work through things to the satisfaction of both sides.

If we are getting something done that is a same day thing and I'm just sitting around their shop waiting they have given me a company vehicle to run around doing errands or maybe just to get me out of their hair. LOL

The point being, a good dealer and a good relationship is priceless. It's a two way street that sometimes requires accomodation from each party to succeed. A lot like a marriage.

dougrainer wrote:

workhardplayharder wrote:

Executive wrote:

Daveinet wrote:
The reality is, that if I state it will be done in 2 weeks, I've not even looked at the problem until a day before it is due.

Dave, I'm not ragging on you here...just asking a question. Why do you quote 2 weeks if you're not going to even look at it for 13 days?..:h..why not tell them to bring it in, say Tuesday and I'll look at it on Thursday? It just seems strange that you'd want my coach sitting in your lot for two weeks just waiting to get looked at. The other thing is that, as a service facility, you have us sign a waiver that you're not responsible if my coach gets broken into, but it's simply sitting there with no one doing anything to it for 13 days...I don't understand that kind of thinking....if there's a logical reason, please help me understand...Dennis

To the OP, unless parts need to be ordered, (a real possibility) or a warranty is involved, I would expect my coach to be fixed within a day or two depending on the service requested. I am also pretty firm with the service writer about what my expectations are and discuss remedies if my expectations are not met. Then again, we full time so three weeks down time is not acceptable.

Most facilities do not stock many parts so we and they are pretty much at the mercy of the part distributors. Warranty companies often want to send out an adjuster to see the issue and take pictures before work commences. That takes time and again both the consumer and the service facility are at their mercy time wise...Dennis

X2. Why can't my RV wait in line to be serviced while it is sitting on my property.

Because it HAS to be at the facility to be pulled IN when the slot opens. Depending on what happens can cause a Service Dept to crawl at times. Emergency repairs and items that take longer once in for repair. Wait at home and have them call you???? I will gurantee, the majority of the customers CANNOT or will not bring it in promptly if called. You would be amazed at the amount of NO SHOWS for Service appointments. Then they call a few days later and then want to bring it right in like nothing changed after we had filled their slot with walk-ins or people that called to make an appt and we tell them to come right in if they can. Well we have customers scheduled every day and what do we tell them for people that no show? MOST people have NO CLUE as to service scheduling and the time it takes. I think if you naysayers spent 1 week at any service facility, you would be amazed at how customers abuse and no show the system. We schedule people for what they tell us over the phone, then show up with 5-10 extra items and get angry when we tell them we scheduled them for the items they told us about and it will take longer to fix. We get emergency requests to just fix 1 or 2 critical items and we work them in and then they drop a list on us and get ANGRY when we tell them that we can do the critical items but will have to schedule the other items. YOU never think about the customer that HAD scheduled his RV in and if we bend will have to wait longer for his RV to be fixed after he did everything to protocol. YOU would not be happy to have your unit set aside for someone that did not make an appt. Of Course, there are Facilities that have too few techs or are just plain wrong in managing their time. LIVE in a HI RV area or resort area and those service facilities can be booked up more than a month. There are 2 sides to every story and this is one. Doug

Thats the same sort of story my "local" RV dealer told me when I needed a tech for an electrical problem. Said my coach had to wait in line for 7-10 days. I told them outright that was horse manure and they said thats the way they work....to which I replied thats NOT how I work. The guys in the back arent telling the people at the front desk whats what and keeping them apprised of the work situation and I dont consider THAT any problem of mine.

Sure makes the dealer look big when all the coaches..etc...sitting around!

Personally...I hope they all go out of business!

Nearly what he ^ said. In our case, we do schedule and commit to a schedule to accommodate customers. In our case, it is equipment, but we will tell customers that if they want to wait, and send it in, in 2 weeks over night shipping, we will work on it and turn it around in a day or so, according to a committed schedule, which we do honor. Its really about what the customer wants to do, within the limits of our repair schedule. The point is, when we tell a customer something, we stick to it, within the best of our ability. That being said, lunch is over and I need to get back to work :(.

workhardplayharder wrote:

Executive wrote:

Daveinet wrote:
The reality is, that if I state it will be done in 2 weeks, I've not even looked at the problem until a day before it is due.

Dave, I'm not ragging on you here...just asking a question. Why do you quote 2 weeks if you're not going to even look at it for 13 days?..:h..why not tell them to bring it in, say Tuesday and I'll look at it on Thursday? It just seems strange that you'd want my coach sitting in your lot for two weeks just waiting to get looked at. The other thing is that, as a service facility, you have us sign a waiver that you're not responsible if my coach gets broken into, but it's simply sitting there with no one doing anything to it for 13 days...I don't understand that kind of thinking....if there's a logical reason, please help me understand...Dennis

To the OP, unless parts need to be ordered, (a real possibility) or a warranty is involved, I would expect my coach to be fixed within a day or two depending on the service requested. I am also pretty firm with the service writer about what my expectations are and discuss remedies if my expectations are not met. Then again, we full time so three weeks down time is not acceptable.

Most facilities do not stock many parts so we and they are pretty much at the mercy of the part distributors. Warranty companies often want to send out an adjuster to see the issue and take pictures before work commences. That takes time and again both the consumer and the service facility are at their mercy time wise...Dennis

X2. Why can't my RV wait in line to be serviced while it is sitting on my property.

Because it HAS to be at the facility to be pulled IN when the slot opens. Depending on what happens can cause a Service Dept to crawl at times. Emergency repairs and items that take longer once in for repair. Wait at home and have them call you???? I will gurantee, the majority of the customers CANNOT or will not bring it in promptly if called. You would be amazed at the amount of NO SHOWS for Service appointments. Then they call a few days later and then want to bring it right in like nothing changed after we had filled their slot with walk-ins or people that called to make an appt and we tell them to come right in if they can. Well we have customers scheduled every day and what do we tell them for people that no show? MOST people have NO CLUE as to service scheduling and the time it takes. I think if you naysayers spent 1 week at any service facility, you would be amazed at how customers abuse and no show the system. We schedule people for what they tell us over the phone, then show up with 5-10 extra items and get angry when we tell them we scheduled them for the items they told us about and it will take longer to fix. We get emergency requests to just fix 1 or 2 critical items and we work them in and then they drop a list on us and get ANGRY when we tell them that we can do the critical items but will have to schedule the other items. YOU never think about the customer that HAD scheduled his RV in and if we bend will have to wait longer for his RV to be fixed after he did everything to protocol. YOU would not be happy to have your unit set aside for someone that did not make an appt. Of Course, there are Facilities that have too few techs or are just plain wrong in managing their time. LIVE in a HI RV area or resort area and those service facilities can be booked up more than a month. There are 2 sides to every story and this is one. Doug

Executive wrote:

Daveinet wrote:
The reality is, that if I state it will be done in 2 weeks, I've not even looked at the problem until a day before it is due.

Dave, I'm not ragging on you here...just asking a question. Why do you quote 2 weeks if you're not going to even look at it for 13 days?..:h..why not tell them to bring it in, say Tuesday and I'll look at it on Thursday? It just seems strange that you'd want my coach sitting in your lot for two weeks just waiting to get looked at. The other thing is that, as a service facility, you have us sign a waiver that you're not responsible if my coach gets broken into, but it's simply sitting there with no one doing anything to it for 13 days...I don't understand that kind of thinking....if there's a logical reason, please help me understand...Dennis

To the OP, unless parts need to be ordered, (a real possibility) or a warranty is involved, I would expect my coach to be fixed within a day or two depending on the service requested. I am also pretty firm with the service writer about what my expectations are and discuss remedies if my expectations are not met. Then again, we full time so three weeks down time is not acceptable.

Most facilities do not stock many parts so we and they are pretty much at the mercy of the part distributors. Warranty companies often want to send out an adjuster to see the issue and take pictures before work commences. That takes time and again both the consumer and the service facility are at their mercy time wise...Dennis

X2. Why can't my RV wait in line to be serviced while it is sitting on my property.

Daveinet wrote:
The reality is, that if I state it will be done in 2 weeks, I've not even looked at the problem until a day before it is due.

Dave, I'm not ragging on you here...just asking a question. Why do you quote 2 weeks if you're not going to even look at it for 13 days?..:h..why not tell them to bring it in, say Tuesday and I'll look at it on Thursday? It just seems strange that you'd want my coach sitting in your lot for two weeks just waiting to get looked at. The other thing is that, as a service facility, you have us sign a waiver that you're not responsible if my coach gets broken into, but it's simply sitting there with no one doing anything to it for 13 days...I don't understand that kind of thinking....if there's a logical reason, please help me understand...Dennis

To the OP, unless parts need to be ordered, (a real possibility) or a warranty is involved, I would expect my coach to be fixed within a day or two depending on the service requested. I am also pretty firm with the service writer about what my expectations are and discuss remedies if my expectations are not met. Then again, we full time so three weeks down time is not acceptable.

Most facilities do not stock many parts so we and they are pretty much at the mercy of the part distributors. Warranty companies often want to send out an adjuster to see the issue and take pictures before work commences. That takes time and again both the consumer and the service facility are at their mercy time wise...Dennis

In most cases, a properly run service department should be able to schedule when your coach will be worked on. If I were dropping my coach off for repair, I would expect them to estimate how long it will take, and when they would expect it to be completed. Once there is deviation from what is expected, then it is time to be a pest. I work in a service department in an unrelated business. The one thing that consumes more time is talking to customers. You have to figure that any time spent on the phone usually means you are not working for twice that amount of time. The phone is your biggest enemy when you are trying to get something done. There is nothing I hate more than to tell a customer that it will be 2 weeks, and they start calling me a week later. The reality is, that if I state it will be done in 2 weeks, I've not even looked at the problem until a day before it is due. The actual time it takes to fix something is rather small, compared to the actual lead time. Get an expected time frame up front. Only bug them, when it goes beyond that.