appointment @ RnR Spokane

Topic: appointment @ RnR Spokane (Read 2757 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #25 – August 01, 2016, 06:33:50 pm

Just got off the phone with one of the RnR big bosses. He apologized for the way things have gone. He said that my service advisor while a knowledgeable and good guy, Also said that he is sorely lacking in communication skills and that they have been working with him to improve that area. (personally I think he needs communications boot camp) He agreed that a high level of communication is a must when we are dealing with customers that have hundreds of thousand dollars of coach needing work and that work will usually cost thousands.

He said that under normal circumstances a tech pulls a customers rig into a bay no more than 1-2 days after an appointment. But in this case the Foretravel tech ran into an issue on another coach before my appointment that set him back quite a few days. And this should have been communicated to me by phone before I even drove to Spokane.

My response was that I do understand that such things can and sometimes do happen. But the fact that this was not communicated to me made it look as if my coach was just tossed to the side and that my business didn't matter. I explained that if all the facts had been explained to me I would have had the ability to make an informed decision as to possibly arranging to have a different shop look at my coach. Or as likely would have happened, Just go with the flow and chalk it up to (as craneman says) s**t happens. I just expect to be told when such s**t is headed my way so I can at least "duck & cover"

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #26 – August 01, 2016, 07:10:16 pm

So are they jumping on your unit getting you going?

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #27 – August 01, 2016, 07:27:57 pm

It's in the bay being wrenched on as we speak. They did offer to bypass some other folks but I told them that I do not expect them to push others back as that's not fair too those customers, Just have it done by the promised time. Of course with the shipping time to Colorado and back along with the rebuild time at AH. There honestly isn't much room to speed things up unless they over night the unit too and from Colorado. I'd hate to see the cost of that.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #28 – August 01, 2016, 08:08:37 pm

Glad it's working out for you.

You are a better man than I - I would have gone ballistic and verbally beat them to death.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #29 – August 01, 2016, 08:35:32 pm

Scott

Well I'll certainly speak my mind, (at one point It nearly resulted in my being booted) Yet I believe in giving those that have raised my ire a chance to explain and I have no problem in forgiving and moving on. A fair amount of most issues in our lives simply boil down to either miscommunication or a lack thereof.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #30 – August 01, 2016, 09:29:32 pm

So true. Sometimes I communicate profusely.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #31 – August 01, 2016, 09:38:10 pm

Quote from: Carol & Scott – August 01, 2016, 09:29:32 pm

So true. Sometimes I communicate profusely.

That's me as well. I can literally walk up to a total stranger and start BS'ing with them and my wife can attest that I do that rather often.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #32 – August 01, 2016, 09:40:04 pm

is that a compulsion or purely for entertainment?

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #33 – August 01, 2016, 09:42:14 pm

Quote from: its toby – August 01, 2016, 09:40:04 pm

is that a compulsion or purely for entertainment?

I just enjoy chatting with folks. I've never made a new friend by not saying hi to them.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #34 – August 02, 2016, 08:00:30 am

Never argue with the cook before you get your meal and NEVER argue with the mechanic before the work is done! The time for argument is between the completed work and the bill-paying time.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #35 – August 02, 2016, 11:29:35 am

Larry, The boss called me after I asked the service advisor (very calmly) why the coach had sat untouched for a week after dropping it off. So no argument nor even a raised voice on my part. It was the service advisor that pushed it up the chain of command to the boss. So I'm not worried.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #36 – August 02, 2016, 11:41:59 am

Big Dog,
I only hope that you and your wife will enjoy your coach as much as we have, in the short 3+ years we have owned ours. You have certainly gotten a number of surprises in the first few months. With all those attended to, you have gotten yourselves a ways down the list of things that would have someday needed attention.

Our times traveling have always been a joy, but our times in our Foretravel have been priceless.

All the best on down the road.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #37 – August 02, 2016, 11:42:43 am

It hurts peoples feelings when one has to go up the chain-of-command to get results, but tough toenails.

Were I the owner of that firm, there would be some serious butt kicking in order!

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #38 – August 02, 2016, 12:16:01 pm

Quote from: mike leary – August 02, 2016, 11:42:43 am

It hurts peoples feelings when one has to go up the chain-of-command to get results, but tough toenails. Were I the owner of that firm, there would be some serious butt kicking in order!

Mike, I didn't push it up the chain. My service advisor (of his own volition) pushed it up the chain. Which tells me they were concerned about my being concerned & wanted to be proactive and take care of the issue. I take that as a good sign.

I only had one phone conversation when I called the advisor for an update one week after dropping the coach off. All I asked was why it has sat for a week un-touched and why my appointment was only to see him (the service advisor) and not to start work on the coach.

As per kicking butt. I suppose that other than the communication issue the service advisor has done well in their estimation. Having owned a (small) business, Unless the employee was cheating or stealing I.E. doing something very egregious. It's much cheaper & easier to correct a slightly wayward employee than trying to find a more qualified new one.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #39 – August 02, 2016, 01:14:41 pm

Quote from: bigdog – August 02, 2016, 12:16:01 pm

It's much cheaper & easier to correct a slightly wayward employee than trying to find a more qualified new one.

True, DAT! My point was, (Yes, I owned a service oriented biz for thirty-five years) the "situation" should not happened in the first place! That's where a ( "gentle") butt-kicking would have occurred were it my business. Glad you're getting squared away!

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #40 – August 02, 2016, 01:50:43 pm

Now I just need to forget about the coach for about 3 weeks.

Maybe I'll go chase that bear in the Wallowa's, That will take my mind off the coach.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #41 – August 24, 2016, 03:36:29 pm

It's been five weeks now and just got an email from the shop and it will be at least another week. Of course at first it was 4 weeks, Then 5 weeks, Now it's 6 weeks. So I hope they might forgive me for having very little faith in taking them at their word.

I wonder (I'll ask and report back) if the shop ever even made prior arrangements with AH to work on my unit, Oh I don't know perhaps an appointment. Of course appointments being what they are in the RV industry, I suppose that was a silly thought on my part.

But hey the RV shops have it super tough these days what with making money hand over fist and I feel bad for them having been burdened with working on my coach. Well there's always next years RV season.

UPDATE!

Minutes after posting this I got an email from the shop. According to AH ONE (yes a single lone unit) that was being rebuilt had a leak and production came to a halt and caused a back up of all the other units on the rebuild line.

So, Near as I can tell from that excuse. AH has one tech rebuilding these things and that a single issue on ONE unit brought AH to a standstill? You would think that with a line of units being rebuilt at a minimum $6,700 per. They could perhaps have a second tech.

If it weren't such a sad and pathetic excuse it would actually be funny.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #42 – August 24, 2016, 03:42:31 pm

Sorry for your issue

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #43 – August 24, 2016, 03:58:27 pm

Geez, what a whiner! What's six weeks? Being full-timers, we'd have bought a pup tent and stayed outside on the sidewalk with a sign that said, "These guys are ripping us off".

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #44 – August 24, 2016, 05:36:37 pm

Quote from: mike leary – August 24, 2016, 03:58:27 pm

Geez, what a whiner! What's six weeks? Being full-timers, we'd have bought a pup tent and stayed outside on the sidewalk with a sign that said, "These guys are ripping us off".

Yep that's me. The squeaky wheel.

This one isn't on RnR though as RnR did the right thing and let me know that it was being delayed and that they would ask AH as to why. But AH has taken the RV industry crappy customer service baton and run with it. It's the same ole same ole industry wide lackadaisical attitude about customer service as we have heard from fellow Fortravelers and as explained in Gadget Guru's RV industry thread.

Just like what happened at RnR when I dropped off the coach, AH couldn't be bothered with notifying the customer (RnR) as to what, when and why until RnR had to ask AH what the hell was going on with my rebuild.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #45 – August 24, 2016, 07:11:57 pm

Interesting that they are repairing your old unit?? When mine went bad I exchanged it with John Carrillo and got it before we returned the old one. No hold up at all?? We used his crate to return mine. One day for the shipping and two days work in a local diesel shop in Helena.

At the time I was given to understand that they would not repair them, which I found strange, but my price was similar to your repair.

Speedbird 1

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #46 – August 24, 2016, 07:53:37 pm

Quote from: speedbird1 – August 24, 2016, 07:11:57 pm

Interesting that they are repairing your old unit?? When mine went bad I exchanged it with John Carrillo and got it before we returned the old one. No hold up at all?? We used his crate to return mine. One day for the shipping and two days work in a local diesel shop in Helena.

At the time I was given to understand that they would not repair them, which I found strange, but my price was similar to your repair.

Speedbird 1

Mr. C made no mention to me of him nor anyone else having a refurbished unit of my type laying about and that he could do as you stated. He told me over the phone that he would remove it, Wheel it across the street and have it back in one day. Total time in Colorado (according to Mr. C) would have been have been 4 days at most.

I have found from the two companies that I'm dealing with right now, That RV shops and suppliers are not very forthcoming with information or sage advice. They seem to assume that I'm all seeing and all knowing just like carnac the magnificent and that I know all the deep inside information to ask the pertinent questions. I can ask basic ones just fine.

I was rather naive about how the RV repair business really works. Mr. C said he could get me into his shop in 3 weeks. RnR gave me an "appointment" that was one week earlier and said a week and a half for the AH rebuild. So I figured that with the fuel, Food, Hotel and more miles. I thought that one week longer wasn't a big deal.

Well we can see how that worked out for me.

My wife is more upset than I am and she is still 6 weeks later after me to sell the coach.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #47 – August 24, 2016, 08:14:08 pm

It doesn't seem that this is working out for you birddog. Seems like it has been one thing after another with your coach. Probably a sore subject but did you have a PPI? I don't recall anyone having as many issues as you have had. I'm really sorry for your troubles. Good luck.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #48 – August 24, 2016, 09:55:32 pm

Quote from: Jeff & Sandy – August 24, 2016, 08:14:08 pm

It doesn't seem that this is working out for you birddog. Seems like it has been one thing after another with your coach. Probably a sore subject but did you have a PPI? I don't recall anyone having as many issues as you have had. I'm really sorry for your troubles. Good luck.

A current foretravel owner & Forum member (not a frequent poster though) did go over the coach with me. To me the issue was one of timing of those things that went wrong.

Here is the list of issues. Most of them are things that can and do happen to other coaches. It's just that mine came one after another in a short time.

First, was the Allison shift pad. That pad is a rather weak design for something that gets used a lot and purports to be a commercial grade product. Soft touch switches are an issue in all things that have them. Look at washers & dryers that have them. When they go out you just buy a new machine. My old manual control washer. You just put in a new $10 rotary dial. Most audio components that have them will have a problem with them.

second, and at the same time as the shift pad was the warped exhaust manifold. No one would have noticed that on a regular inspection.

Thirdly, the batteries were toast. It happened not long after the first two issues.

There was a minor water leak at the house pump that was easily fixed. As I said in another post. The basic Foretravel build is fine. The issues have all been from systems supplied by third parties to Foretravel and are the same as used in a lot of other coaches.

After that things seemed to calm down. But then the Aqua Hot went south. No inspection could have seen that coming and I truly believe that it was caused by the use of an RO water filter system and the acidic water it makes.

So for me & the wife it has been very frustrating to have paid what we did for the coach (it was a fair price according to the forum) and then have repair bills amounting to 35% of that purchase price in only the next ten months. And having only been able to use the coach twice for a total of 7 days. That's a bitter pill to swallow and the wallet is smoking hot.

What gets under the wife's skin isn't the coach as much as the horrid kiss my butt, What! You want communication? attitude of those who sell and repair them. And the fact that a 10-15 hour job has cost us 1 1/2 months use (if they deliver it on the third different get well date)

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #49 – August 24, 2016, 10:17:29 pm

You will get ahead of all these issues and with some preventive maintenance will stay ahead of major problems in the future. Your experience with those jack as*#%s in Spokane only reinforces why we have taken two trips to Nacodoches in three years of Foretravel ownership. Keith at MOT is a truly decent tech who will not abide lying,or wasting time diagnosing problems on customers dime. Rudy in Baytown diagnosed our Aqua hot issues within an hour and had us fixed shortly after. Sure these folks need to make a living wage but I haven't felt anything but pleased with time and money spent . I am a firm believer in doing maintenance and upgrades myself whenever possible but all other major deals would try to incorporate my coaches birthplace into a trip.
Don't give up before the fun begins!

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