Hi, Is anyone else having trouble getting the service department at the factory to respond to messages? I have left two phone messages and one email. The phone messages were one and two weeks ago and an email today. My coach is there for repairs after an accident and I discovered when visiting the shop that there had been a mouse or rat or chipmunk or something that had entered the electrical compartment. I am concerned that they are taking the proper actions to rid their shop of this problem.
We have several Forum members who live in NAC. Perhaps one of them will see this and volunteer to swing by the factory and see what's up?
I just purchased two house batteries last week. All bays are full with warranty work very difficult to get an appointment. Lots of warranty work going on along with work on the older coaches.
Busier than an one armed paper hanger.
I spent 10 days trying to get an appointment for April about three weeks ago. At least a half dozen voice mails and a couple emails went unanswered. When they did call back (twice) while I was driving they left a voice mail and my return calls were never answered. I gave up and scheduled the work at MOT with one call.
FOT has three service writers (according to Beverly). It is very hard to see how they cannot even answer the phone or follow up with a call.
James Triana now runs the shop.
They had been hit very hard in NAC with Omicron , when I was there last week.
Every shop including Nacogdoches Motorhome Service at least 4 weeks out.
At Foretravel , go through operator and leave message on James Triana's phone if he doesn't pick up.
Yesterday , I phoned for and got the date I ask for in July .. They are busy in spades big time . Nearly over whelmed kind of thing . The (two) service writers phone rings non stop . There is 4 people there that are close to retiring and when they go is when I think the wheels will come off the wagon . In the mean time ------ ::) ::) ::) Brad Metzger
We are currently in Nac and have been for nearly two weeks. Dropped 10 coach $$ on MOT fixing air leaks and other stuff. >:( After MOT we've been at Xtreme having my "accident" repaired. Luckily that's covered mostly by Progressive. When we arrived at Xtreme while trying to level, the driver windshield cracked so had to return to MOT for a window replacement. Another hit for Progressive. While in town we've visited FOT for some parts and found the maintenance area full of newer coaches, just a couple of older rigs. The coaches were there but not many workers could be seen or heard. A couple of techs were on afternoon break. Service writer offices were dark. James T said he was down two techs. Outside it was a ghost town. Contrast this to MOT. Three crews working and interacting. Workers outside cleaning and washing coaches. Sales people showing coaches. Rigs coming and going. Across the street more activity. FOT is a different animal since the new business model was implemented a couple years ago. FYI: While at Xtreme Keith R. was working on another coach in the parking lot. He was kind enough to check my leveling system because of the cracked windshield. He has rented a maintenance stall in a facility just down the highway north of Xtreme. Keeps pretty busy doing coach inspections.
Thanx, David & Sherry, for the update on current conditions in NAC. Reports like this are very helpful and of great interest to Forum members! ^.^d
I am guessing since their sales are way up, their warranty work is also.
Hope they replaced all your airbags and ride height valves, rebuilt both six packs, replaced dryer and all your little regulators and step cover and step actuators rebuilt aux compressor and replaced its filters including all parts for 10k
Scott
Since it also included "OTHER STUFF", difficult to judge.
If it was "two weeks" mostly spent in the shop, then $10k doesn't sound unreasonable...at the old rule of 1 coach buck per day.
I may have to increase my rates for working on my own coach, I must be undervalued
Scott
Second thought I better not could never afford it then
Since reading your post today and needing to schedule a service appointment anyway, I called Foretravel this afternoon. My call was answered by accounting and transferred to service who scheduled my appointment. No problemo. They had a March opening but my issue involves the side radiator so my appointment had to be pushed back since it will take longer than 1 day.
Though labor and material service costs have risen, I have found Foretravel to be reasonable with their labor and parts charges and have found their workmanship to be very good (I don't have the strength or energy to do what you DIYers do but I get under the coach and inspect all work). Additionally, I bought koni fsd shocks from Foretravel parts for less than the online links I researched from the forum (at the time I purchased them).
Yep, I would think critter control would be an ongoing problem in any Nac service shop. One can never be sure if the critters originate from outside the shop or inside from an unsuspecting coach. I will be sure and bring a sufficient supply of peppermint bags and spray as well as anything else I can think of to keep the critters (spiders, mice, etc) away.
Yep, those soon retiring are going to be some big shoes to fill but I know of one of them (not personally) that is being trained to take their place and he is a stand up, hard working fellow. What I like about Foretravel is that are still engineering driven, process driven and they train their techs in the FOT way in the shop without charging the customer.
Ugh we had a little rodent enter our coach while at NAC for a week at the last visit. Keep in mind it is COLD in the area and they can't control what is outside and or brought in accidentally by other coaches as they are moved in and out. We never found it only the remnants of the insulation it had made a nest somewhere, we advised our service guy Zach just as an FYI for him. Since we have had it back, there has been no other indications of anything still aboard (over a month now).
They are super swamped, we had a major miscommunication months ago and it took moving heaven & earth to get us in, we left her there for weeks initially, then had to bring her back in Jan for a final week of work. This was mostly warranty but within that were items like aquahot not working in a zone and water pump issues so we needed them fixed. We still have items that had to roll to the punch list for later this year, we scheduled for November but I remember in Jan. Zach mentioned they were booked well into the summer! They had also had covid occurrences in the shop and of course it made its way through the employees which since they are IN office/shop employees that leaves a lot of balls in the air with no one to catch them. I agree, I often wished they had a better process for communication but I think it is simply the nature of the beast at the moment. I just kept telling myself to be patient...which is NOT something I am great at!!! ;D
Also I think it Is 2 service writers and Ronnie who does all the warranty coordination and a lot of tech help! I am just throwing this out there, if you are reading these comments are not a motorcade member, I would become one. It does seem to help you get to live bodies and will save you $$ when you can make it.
Yes, I am a Motorcade Member. They started work Monday on my coach exactly the date they had told me about back in October when my coach arrived there by a towing company. I understood this from the beginning. But, Fellas, there is a way to have your phone messages and emails answered within a reasonable time. They would not (or should not) put up with this type of communication delay from their suppliers. The service writer finally called me yesterday which was two weeks from when I left him a voice message. He claimed to have sent me an email message previously. Turns out he had entered my email address incorrectly or someone had. Funny that Ronnie had my correct email address for the last 10 months but the shop did not. Why wouldn't that address be correct through out all of their data systems? They cannot do much about Covid-19 and its variants. But they could get someone to return phone calls and emails. All this makes their high end prices come into question. Just my opinion. It probably will be May 1 before they complete the repairs. And I am certain that they will do an excellent and professional job. That is why I insisted the repairs (most likely totaling 85K) be completed at their factory location.
bpperk, What happened to your 2015 IH45 coach for it to be towed and need 85K of repairs?
We camped at FOT for a few days in January. They were busy and all service bays were full, with mostly new coaches. We were shocked at the condition of the campground. We've stayed there several times over the years and have never seen it like this.
There was garbage everywhere. Every grass surface was covered with stickers. We couldn't walk our dog without boots.
The trash is not a good sign in my opinion, for a company selling million dollar coaches.
Kill the weeds/stickers. Pick up the trash.
Just to share what I do when making a FOT service appointment (for what it's worth and the advisors seem to be very appreciative). Is to:
1. Call and reach a service advisor, discuss the list of items I am requesting service for and receive an appointment date.
2. Send a confirmation email to the service advisor with my Name, Service Appt Date, MC# in the subject heading with the list of repair items in the body of the email.
3. Sometimes the advisor will send a followup clarification email and we are go to go.
4. After service - Also I have found it helps me remember what was on the original list and if needed, an easy way to add/delete from the list plus provides an easy way to followup (post service event) should a followup be needed.
Update. My coach is still at the factory service center. The front cap has been out of the mold and by now should be attached to the body. Next the coach goes to paint where it is scheduled for 80 hours of paint work. After the paint is complete it will go back to the mechanical service center to have the lights, mirrors wipers and all other things attached. Then they will test all systems. Eventually they will notify me that it is complete. I asked when that is likely to be and the answer was perhaps July. Well forum members, if you have read this all the way to here I want you to know that the coach arrived at the factory early in October 2021. I also want you to know that the factory completes a new coach every five days. But they want me to be understanding that repairs take along time.
Very similar to when we had the front cap on our 2003 U320 replaced. Took a little less than a year and ran about $84K. Fun times.
I had talked to someone that said it took almost a year to get his new coach from the time he placed the order with the dealer.
I am going to bet they are short handed.
I know on their front banner they have a help wanted sign. Just like every other business these days.
In our business we are short about 6 service people. We have ads everywhere. If one comes in to fill out an application most do not have any experience in what we do. When one comes in with some experience we offer them what they are asking. They say they will take the job and when the day comes for them to show up, they don't. My wife yesterday said she remembered the day when we use to put an ad in the new paper and had ton's of applicants.
Spent a week at the factory at the ladies driving school a few years ago,mostly hung around the shops most of the time,no way they make a coach every 5 days,it's a moot point but it's a longer time frame.
For what it's worth last fall I talked with a truck driver who was delivering Spartan chassis to the FOT factory. He told me he was delivering 4 to 6 chassis a week. Production must be high as I don't believe they would be stockpiling all those chassis.
I also talked to a couple who just took delivery on a new Realm. They said the lead time from placing their order was almost a year. Obviously business is good.
Now another month has passed and my coach which was to be in the Fiberglass shop is still there. Next is paint that they have billed and been paid for 80 hours of work. After that its back to the service shop for finishing work. The service adviser said that it might be July before they call me to come and get it. Unbelievable. I think they use the squeaky wheel theory there knowing that I live 1550 miles away from their location. I think they are risking their supposedly great reputation by not supplementing the repair shops with factory workers until they get the backlog taken care of. HANGING IN HERE. My prayers are for the people of Uvalde.
Think some of the problem is finding people who want to work and can.
Well folks. Here is an update. My coach finally made it out of paint and is now back at service having all things installed. Tomorrow is Labor Day. I may be able to get it in October. If so then the coach will have been at the factory for one year. The total of the accident Will have cost my insurance co just about $100k. The accident was my fault for not pulling off the road sooner. I would have to have blocked one lane of I81 to have stopped on the road and I thought I could get to the exit. Wrong. We were not physically injured. Many blessings can be counted but it sure has been a long year without the coach. Hopefully the repair is first rate. Nearly 330 hours of labor billed but a year to complete? I have questions that they cannot answer. Covid , lack of workers, backlog of work, parts ordered but long delivery times. Surely the owners of the company do not suffer when a customer has to wait. In the meantime sales are better than ever. I was in the human service industry for 50 years and never forgot that the customer needed prompt service. Takeaway from this. If you have a big wreck you may want to sell the wreck and purchase another coach. We can earn more money but we cannot replace lost time. But most of all don't have a wreck. Lol
Ill be in Nacogdoches tomorrow if you want me to check on your coach or send you some pictures.
He
It sounds like a horror story. Thanks for sharing. The liability is always in the back of my mind, kinda takes the wind out of the sails. I will follow your advice. Ive never owned anything that was so needy yet so rewarding and I guess I should say fragile. Most importantly no one was hurt and coaches can be repaired or replaced. So true time slips by.
Scott