Seeking a Dealership Home
I am completely and utterly dismayed at the lack of "service culture" found at many RV dealers we have engaged to help us with our TC. I am not suggesting ALL RV dealers are this way; however, my recent experiences and POV come from working between two large dealers in the North Seattle area (folks with multiple locations). With no luck, I have bounced between them trying to find someone that will help us in a timely, courteous and accurate fashion.
I know they exist; however, I have not found them. We live in Seattle but purchased our 07 Adventurer from Curtis Trailer in Portland, Oregon. Trevor Curtis, our salesperson and all the staff provided us with the single best sales experience my wife or I have ever had with any purchase ever. Unfortunately, they are geographically undesirable for repairs, service etc.
My experience between the two North Seattle dealers and the level of professionalism has been consistently sub-par. Very difficult to schedule repairs; I understand it is Summer months; however, both dealers we attempted to do business with treated our call, requesting a repair appointment as if we were rude for even asking... followed by a sarcastic laugh and long tawdry line of complaints about how busy they are...No apology for not being able to accommodate us....just the service manager telling me how hard he is working and stress he is under. I get they are busy at high season. I also understand they might not be able to accommodate us as quickly as we would like; however there are lots of ways to make the message land in a reasonable fashion, starting by, "I am sorry, I wish we could help, what if we did ABC?"
Things got worse this past month. I developed a leak in my grey water tank. I was able to diagnosis at least one obvious contributor to the problem. was lucky (they told me so) to get a service spot. The rig was in the dealer for three weeks getting repaired (one day repair mind you). In addition to making this repair they said they would do a 15 point inspection of the rest of the camper systems. Of course, none of this happened. They fixed the broken in-flow pipe I identified--no further testing of the tank. How did they do with their one repair? The very next camping trip---yup, tank still leaks.
A call back to the dealer resulted in ... yes.. rudeness in the form of exasperation that they were too busy to accommodate me ..."its going to be at least three weeks before we can get you in." Lots of excuses offered (with me making no claims or accusations), "We tested that tank thoroughly...I cant imagine.... " No apology for having not adequately repaired the rig the first time. After my raising hell, the dealer reluctantly "took the TC" with no promise of when the repairs could be made. Meanwhile, my Summer months are ticking away at the hands of utter incompetence in the hands of arrogance.
My only guess is that these dealers are making so much money from sales & service that it just doesn't matter. The irony in this situation is that I would have been very interested in trading our 07 for a new rig. Had the dealer been building a relationship with me by fixing my problems the first time, building the relationship and treating me with respect (instead of a burden), they would have likely made a sale this past week. But, they are rich, it doesn't matter. I guess I am just lucky they will sell me one.
Instead, I am very angry and still looking for someone that cares enough to earn my business.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
I know they exist; however, I have not found them. We live in Seattle but purchased our 07 Adventurer from Curtis Trailer in Portland, Oregon. Trevor Curtis, our salesperson and all the staff provided us with the single best sales experience my wife or I have ever had with any purchase ever. Unfortunately, they are geographically undesirable for repairs, service etc.
My experience between the two North Seattle dealers and the level of professionalism has been consistently sub-par. Very difficult to schedule repairs; I understand it is Summer months; however, both dealers we attempted to do business with treated our call, requesting a repair appointment as if we were rude for even asking... followed by a sarcastic laugh and long tawdry line of complaints about how busy they are...No apology for not being able to accommodate us....just the service manager telling me how hard he is working and stress he is under. I get they are busy at high season. I also understand they might not be able to accommodate us as quickly as we would like; however there are lots of ways to make the message land in a reasonable fashion, starting by, "I am sorry, I wish we could help, what if we did ABC?"
Things got worse this past month. I developed a leak in my grey water tank. I was able to diagnosis at least one obvious contributor to the problem. was lucky (they told me so) to get a service spot. The rig was in the dealer for three weeks getting repaired (one day repair mind you). In addition to making this repair they said they would do a 15 point inspection of the rest of the camper systems. Of course, none of this happened. They fixed the broken in-flow pipe I identified--no further testing of the tank. How did they do with their one repair? The very next camping trip---yup, tank still leaks.
A call back to the dealer resulted in ... yes.. rudeness in the form of exasperation that they were too busy to accommodate me ..."its going to be at least three weeks before we can get you in." Lots of excuses offered (with me making no claims or accusations), "We tested that tank thoroughly...I cant imagine.... " No apology for having not adequately repaired the rig the first time. After my raising hell, the dealer reluctantly "took the TC" with no promise of when the repairs could be made. Meanwhile, my Summer months are ticking away at the hands of utter incompetence in the hands of arrogance.
My only guess is that these dealers are making so much money from sales & service that it just doesn't matter. The irony in this situation is that I would have been very interested in trading our 07 for a new rig. Had the dealer been building a relationship with me by fixing my problems the first time, building the relationship and treating me with respect (instead of a burden), they would have likely made a sale this past week. But, they are rich, it doesn't matter. I guess I am just lucky they will sell me one.
Instead, I am very angry and still looking for someone that cares enough to earn my business.
Thanks for listening to my rant.
