RV Service Timeframe

Well, I appreciate the answers from Doug and Dave...

That said, I still think it's like going to the doctor...arrive 30 mins early, so the doc can be 30 mins late...HIS time is more VALUABLE than YOURS....sorry, if I'm paying the bill, my time is as important as yours....Dennis

I do many more "repairs" myself today compared to years ago thanks to the free help in this forum. When I don't have time I have a wonderful RV repair facility that comes to me. Only difference between them and bringing it somewhere is a small trip fee. I highly recommend looking in your area for someone that comes to you. A to Z mobile RV repair

okgc wrote:
I admit I had no idea so many owners were upset with their RV dealer service department.

Remember, the complainers will post, the majority of RV owners are happy with their service and have better things to do than post happy results. These posts remind me of times that the Factory calls us and asks why we did not repair the unit or the customer is unhappy. We pull the work orders and go thru the list of what we did with the Factory rep. we go thru EACH line item and state what we found and what we did. 9 time out of 10 with these type calls, they customer had all items fixed and addressed and there was 1 or 2 items that had to be special ordered and had no bearing on the use of the RV. The customers were just PO'd that ALL items were not fixed and told the factory that NONE of their concerns were addressed. The factory calls the retail customer back up because we have faxed a list of the items and the rep and customer go thru the list and the customer agrees that ALL items were correctly fixed to his satisfaction and YES, the SOP parts are what set him off. MOST of these type customers are amazed that the factory rep had the list of what we did and the customer was put on the spot because he had to fess up after being caught in a bald faced lie. Customers get fixated on just 1 or 2 items and that spoils their whole outlook. Fix 20 items and the 21st or 22nd not done is ALL they fixate on. And you know what? We are human too. GUESS who gets the short end the next time they come and who does NOT get the little extra they may need in the future. THOSE type customers. Doug

I admit I had no idea so many owners were upset with their RV dealer service department.

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

Customer, "I need a new 710 cap and I want to upgrade to ceramic bearings in my mufflers".
Shop,"We can't look at your unit for 3 weeks"
Customer, "Ok today is October 10th how about if I bring it back on October 29th"?
Shop, "That sounds good".
If I don't have my RV there by the 29th I go to the back of the line.

I think the real reason is the shop doesn't want you to take it somewhere else while you are waiting for the date to come.
I am thankful I can do most of the work myself and don't have th deal with shops.

sailor_lou wrote:
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

Exactly, why I started doing mine. Problem is other than routine, alignments, tire work etc.

Depending on who the RV manufacture is and parts available it can take weeks to get some parts. I learned many years ago RV are not cars with parts ready available. I know that with front and rear caps damage, a lot of these are not available even on RV less than 5 years old and have to be repaired which can take weeks to fiberglass and repaint.
There is also the other side of this were the RV is repaired and the owners don't come right away to pick it up. We have seen this a lot of times at repair shops were the owner takes days to weeks to pick up there RV. Then find something else they want fix right then and there, that was not on the work order.

Had my coach serviced last week, 3 hours out of my hands and $65.00 plus tax everything was done by appointment!

There are many factors with service scheduling and it all comes back to the whole service department that could delay your appointment.
Customer preference, Wrong or not enough parts ordered, Workers not showing up for work, Unexpected problems, Untrained Technicians causing customers to return for the same service right away, all this has a chain reaction for people waiting for service. My opinion is that, if you have to wait much longer than your appointed service date
go somewhere else if possible.:M

That makes no sense to me because when I arrange for service at the local RV dealer we sort out what I going to have done, they order any needed parts, and when all parts are in we schedule a day for service. I either bring it in that morning, or drop it off the night before. Same with the Ford dealer on drivetrain work, my tire and alignment guy on chassis work.

I do have to be flexible about the schedule, and it can interrupt plans to use the RV but it means that when they can't get to the job for two days, or three weeks, or whatever, it means I have what use I can make of the RV, it is not sitting at their place for that time.

Dropping it off, letting it sit, is just asking for a longer wait. Unscheduled work, somebody's "emergency" or work a dealer needs to close a sale or get rid of an irate customer, will all be slipped in ahead of you, your jibs just gets pushed back in the queue. If a service place is workingme that way, I'll find a new service place.