Still Waiting

MagillaGorilla wrote:

mpierce wrote:

et2 wrote:

MagillaGorilla wrote:
RV shops are the same as most motorcycle shops. They over promise and under deliver. One time I dropped of my motorcycle in February. The work was supposed to take 2 weeks. After first threatening legal action and then just threatening physical violence I got my bike back in September.

Different shop, different time, I sent a bike in to be painted. They said two weeks, maybe three. 10 weeks later it was done. I have a dozen stories just like this.

Here is my thing on this. If you cant work on something for a few weeks or months, then don't take it in. Let the owner use it right up to the point you are ready to work on it. They don't do this so they can "lock" in the work and you don't go anywhere else. In my case I could have continued to set up my new motorhome and then brought it to the shop next week.

So you expect people to drop everything when you walk in the door wanting service? That includes all the people just like you who want it now? If a appointment is made you get put in the que. Asking when you might get it back could save you from having to threaten the workers with violence ( brilliant). Then you can decide to leave it or not. If they miss the date go get it back. Your problem is solved, other than getting your stuff fixed.

As you indicated yourself it's not just RV dealers. That's the problem with society today, WE WANT IT NOW. It's like driving down the freeway in a urban area, there is always someone needing to be first - no matter what or who is ahead of them.

Looks like HE DID ask. The answer was 2 weeks. Then took close to a year! Where in here does it sound like he wanted it done NOW, ahead of all others?

ET2 you make many assumptions. First off I never just walk in and expect them to work on my stuff. I ALWAYS make an appointment. What I expect is that if any dealer makes an appointment to perform a service that they honor that part of the contract. If they say to bring it in "next Wednesday" then I expect that they will work on it next Wednesday.

Call me unreasonable if you want but when I make an appointment for my customers, I honor that commitment. As for threatening someone, yes it was done BUT that person owned the business, solicited my business, set an appointment, pulled my bike apart into pieces and then refused to finish the job OR give me my bike back. He took on other projects, went golfing, took vacations and flat out refused to finish or return my motorcycle. He did this for months on end. At that point he is lucky all I did was threaten him. I should have broken his legs because at that point he was stealing from me.

So slow your roll. If you don't believe that people should honor contracts than it is you that is mistaken.

No assumptions on my part. Been there done the waiting game, numerous times. Mine has been in for three weeks come Monday. I have been in touch with the dealer weekly on their progress making sure they understand I'm not just rolling over. We've had it happen no matter where I have had service done ... Even at the factory Fleetwood repair facility ( they couldn't get parts from their vendor).

So I can honestly say as I did in my very first post ... Unless your waitng in the lobby, you're probably more times than not going to have a wait. For all the reasons I mentioned. But that didn't sink in it seems. There are way more systems in these rigs, especially a MH Compared too a bike. Not only that these aren't massed produced on the same scale of motorcycles or cars. The parts are as readily available or stocked.

I'm not the one "complaining" about the wait, that would be you. Never one time having been in this situation did it ever occur to me to threaten with violence. Who said anything about a contract? I signed a agreement to pay for my repairs. Never was it dependent on if a date was met. But perhaps that something you should consider in the future. It might keep you out of trouble and others safe.

randallb wrote:
Now for the other side of the coin. I used to book my shop at 7 hours/day per mechanic. This would leave plenty of time for additional repairs that the owner thought of the night before. It would leave time for some, not always all, of the additional repairs that the customer did not know they needed. It left us time to be thorough and conscientious about the repairs we were doing.
9AM rolls around, the doors have been open since 7AM, and one of the 6 customers scheduled has shown up. No calls, no contact at all. Then the next day everyone scheduled shows up and some of the a$%^oles from the day before show and expect their car by 5PM. When you tell them it is not going to happen they go ballistic. As a shop owner you can give some customers a $100.00 bill when they walk in, kiss their butt when they leave and they still are not happy. This is a very small percentage of customers but they are the ones that cause a good deal of your repair scheduling issues. A business owner can not depend on everyone showing up when they say they will and has to make adjustments for the clueless. I stocked a lot of parts because I was a vehicle specific repair facility but the shops that work on anything; RV, car or truck, can not do this and become dependent on their suppliers to get them parts in a timely manner. This also does not usually happen.
Good Luck but quit blaming the shop. One bit of attitude and the incentive to make you satisfied goes out the window.
Randy

Randy,

Maybe I am the rare customer but each and every time my bike was in for work, I made an appointment, brought it in at the appropriate time and paid 100% for the parts up front. I have done this many times because these shops are small and its not right to expect that this guy forks out the cost of my parts and then has to wait for payment. Every single time the job was done, I was there within 24 hours with cash to pay the remaining balance.

So YES I can blame a shop when they take my bike, take my money and then don't do the work within a reasonable amount of time. I understand that jobs can run over but a 2 week job should not take 8 months. That is non the shop not the customer.

As for the RV shop they identified the problem on Friday but had not ordered the parts to fix it by the time I called on Wednesday. That is 3 work days without even ordering the part. How is that on the customer and not on the shop?

mpierce wrote:

et2 wrote:

MagillaGorilla wrote:
RV shops are the same as most motorcycle shops. They over promise and under deliver. One time I dropped of my motorcycle in February. The work was supposed to take 2 weeks. After first threatening legal action and then just threatening physical violence I got my bike back in September.

Different shop, different time, I sent a bike in to be painted. They said two weeks, maybe three. 10 weeks later it was done. I have a dozen stories just like this.

Here is my thing on this. If you cant work on something for a few weeks or months, then don't take it in. Let the owner use it right up to the point you are ready to work on it. They don't do this so they can "lock" in the work and you don't go anywhere else. In my case I could have continued to set up my new motorhome and then brought it to the shop next week.

So you expect people to drop everything when you walk in the door wanting service? That includes all the people just like you who want it now? If a appointment is made you get put in the que. Asking when you might get it back could save you from having to threaten the workers with violence ( brilliant). Then you can decide to leave it or not. If they miss the date go get it back. Your problem is solved, other than getting your stuff fixed.

As you indicated yourself it's not just RV dealers. That's the problem with society today, WE WANT IT NOW. It's like driving down the freeway in a urban area, there is always someone needing to be first - no matter what or who is ahead of them.

Looks like HE DID ask. The answer was 2 weeks. Then took close to a year! Where in here does it sound like he wanted it done NOW, ahead of all others?

ET2 you make many assumptions. First off I never just walk in and expect them to work on my stuff. I ALWAYS make an appointment. What I expect is that if any dealer makes an appointment to perform a service that they honor that part of the contract. If they say to bring it in "next Wednesday" then I expect that they will work on it next Wednesday.

Call me unreasonable if you want but when I make an appointment for my customers, I honor that commitment. As for threatening someone, yes it was done BUT that person owned the business, solicited my business, set an appointment, pulled my bike apart into pieces and then refused to finish the job OR give me my bike back. He took on other projects, went golfing, took vacations and flat out refused to finish or return my motorcycle. He did this for months on end. At that point he is lucky all I did was threaten him. I should have broken his legs because at that point he was stealing from me.

So slow your roll. If you don't believe that people should honor contracts than it is you that is mistaken.

Bill.Satellite wrote:
Hoping that everyone understands that no disrespect is meant, why are comments like "welcome to warranty" or "me, too" or "happens all the time" allowed to be the correct answer. RVers need to hold their dealers and/or manufacturers feet to the fire and insist they resolve the issue in a timely manner. If they cannot then they should be initiating legal action to get it done. I know 1 RVer who bought a brand new CC (when they were still in business) and refused to leave the parking lot until they got all the issues resolved. He sat there for over 6 months. There is no excuse that could ever justify the actions of this manufacturer.
I bought a used coach from a company and it was sold as-is. However, I spent a night in their campground, found a number of issues and they fixed everyone of them over the course of the next week before I headed out for home. Everyone should expect the same level of service or should be fighting like HE double hockey sticks to get a reasonable level of service.

Bill i respect your question. As you said your ability to stay a week to get your items is the difference. We still operate a business, 24/7. We have not had that luxury. Many here still have to work. We just want what we paid for.

Where I used to work if a customer threatened physical violence (a truly rare event), they were "fired" as a customer. No one wants to deal with that.

hotjag1 wrote:
I guess I have been lucky with the few shops that I have used, but this is my procedure, and it seems to work.

I call a repair shop and schedule an appointment. I drop off the motorhome the NIGHT before(I don't let it sit in their lot for 2 weeks) so that it is immediately available to the service people when they arrive at work the next day. I also let the service mgr know that I will call in late morning to see how things are going(if he doesn't call me first). If he doesn't, I call before NOON to see how things are going(usually the tech is out to lunch until 1 pm and they can't give me an update until he returns).

If parts are needed that they don't have, depending on my need to have my MH back, I ask them to have the part shipped Next Day, 2nd Day, or 3rd Day(I am willing to pay the extra shipping charges)if necessary. I also let the service mgr know that I will be calling back in late afternoon(before 5 pm)to get another update on progress. I have always got my MH back in a very timely manner(2 or 3 days).

I can only assume that they know I will be checking on the progress at least a couple of times each day, so they don't put me off for days at a time. This procedure has worked good so far.

I pretty much take this proactive approach as well. I would never leave my rig at the dealer for 2 weeks just sitting in the que waiting my turn.
I make an appointment. I make follow up calls. If there is a delay for parts I find out how long and hold them to it. Generally I'm in and out in same day, 2 days max.
Be proactive. If dealer is not up to your standards find a new dealer that is. Be prepared to drive if necessary

Well,
Aside from all the hoopla about how dealers/repair centers "should" perform, I thought I'd throw this in the loop. The repair center in question, stated that the likely cause of the vibration the OP felt in his coach is a "carrier bearing" on the drive shaft. That bearing is also commonly referred to as a "Center Support bearing" too.

And, it's normally a very common bearing. I've had more than a couple of them go out. Each time, I found one in less than about 10-15 minutes of phone calls to auto parts supply houses. Now, I don't know Holiday Ramblers very well so, based on the fact that it has a center support bearing or, "Carrier bearing" as it's referred to here, I'm presupposing that it's an A with a front gas engine.( I suppose it could be a FRED too). Did or, does, Holiday Rambler make a class C too? They also have center support bearings.

Now, either the center support bearing that the chassis builder installed is some kind of odd bearing and not the most commonly used ones, or, the RV repair center is lacking a bit in obtaining that bearing. There's a few zillion bearing supplies outlets across America and, I'd surely think they SHOULD be able to find that bearing in waaaaaaaay less than TWO WEEKS!

It's a bearing for Christs sake, not a NASA Space shuttle part.
Scott

randallb wrote:
Now for the other side of the coin. I used to book my shop at 7 hours/day per mechanic. This would leave plenty of time for additional repairs that the owner thought of the night before. It would leave time for some, not always all, of the additional repairs that the customer did not know they needed. It left us time to be thorough and conscientious about the repairs we were doing.
9AM rolls around, the doors have been open since 7AM, and one of the 6 customers scheduled has shown up. No calls, no contact at all. Then the next day everyone scheduled shows up and some of the a$%^oles from the day before show and expect their car by 5PM. When you tell them it is not going to happen they go ballistic. As a shop owner you can give some customers a $100.00 bill when they walk in, kiss their butt when they leave and they still are not happy. This is a very small percentage of customers but they are the ones that cause a good deal of your repair scheduling issues. A business owner can not depend on everyone showing up when they say they will and has to make adjustments for the clueless. I stocked a lot of parts because I was a vehicle specific repair facility but the shops that work on anything; RV, car or truck, can not do this and become dependent on their suppliers to get them parts in a timely manner. This also does not usually happen.
Good Luck but quit blaming the shop. One bit of attitude and the incentive to make you satisfied goes out the window.
Randy

So, just WHOSE fault is it, when you make an appointment for repair, are told it will take two weeks, and takes SIX MONTHS? You say it is NOT the shops fault. Just whose is it then?

I guess I have been lucky with the few shops that I have used, but this is my procedure, and it seems to work.

I call a repair shop and schedule an appointment. I drop off the motorhome the NIGHT before(I don't let it sit in their lot for 2 weeks) so that it is immediately available to the service people when they arrive at work the next day. I also let the service mgr know that I will call in late morning to see how things are going(if he doesn't call me first). If he doesn't, I call before NOON to see how things are going(usually the tech is out to lunch until 1 pm and they can't give me an update until he returns).

If parts are needed that they don't have, depending on my need to have my MH back, I ask them to have the part shipped Next Day, 2nd Day, or 3rd Day(I am willing to pay the extra shipping charges)if necessary. I also let the service mgr know that I will be calling back in late afternoon(before 5 pm)to get another update on progress. I have always got my MH back in a very timely manner(2 or 3 days).

I can only assume that they know I will be checking on the progress at least a couple of times each day, so they don't put me off for days at a time. This procedure has worked good so far.

Now for the other side of the coin. I used to book my shop at 7 hours/day per mechanic. This would leave plenty of time for additional repairs that the owner thought of the night before. It would leave time for some, not always all, of the additional repairs that the customer did not know they needed. It left us time to be thorough and conscientious about the repairs we were doing.
9AM rolls around, the doors have been open since 7AM, and one of the 6 customers scheduled has shown up. No calls, no contact at all. Then the next day everyone scheduled shows up and some of the a$%^oles from the day before show and expect their car by 5PM. When you tell them it is not going to happen they go ballistic. As a shop owner you can give some customers a $100.00 bill when they walk in, kiss their butt when they leave and they still are not happy. This is a very small percentage of customers but they are the ones that cause a good deal of your repair scheduling issues. A business owner can not depend on everyone showing up when they say they will and has to make adjustments for the clueless. I stocked a lot of parts because I was a vehicle specific repair facility but the shops that work on anything; RV, car or truck, can not do this and become dependent on their suppliers to get them parts in a timely manner. This also does not usually happen.
Good Luck but quit blaming the shop. One bit of attitude and the incentive to make you satisfied goes out the window.
Randy