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Topic: appointment @ RnR Spokane (Read 2962 times) previous topic - next topic

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #40 –
Now I just need to forget about the coach for about 3 weeks. :whistle:  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 –
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. ^.^d

 
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 –
Sorry for your issue

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #43 –
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".  ^.^d

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #44 –
Quote from: mike leary –
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".  ^.^d

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 –
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 –
Quote from: speedbird1 –
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 –
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 –
Quote from: Jeff & Sandy –
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 –
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!

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #50 –
I am just so sorry to hear of all your problems.  It must get better soon and you can enjoy the coach.

My previous message said that I got a new Aquahot, but I was wrong it was a reconditioned unit for $6234 but four years ago.

I truly hope that you problems end, and soon, but not as much as you do, I am sure.

Speedbird 1

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #51 –
Got the call from RnR saying that the coach is ready to pick up on Thursday 1 Sep. So off i go in the morning for a 3 hour drive to Spokane.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #52 –
Hopefully all will be well....
I'm back in Eugene, getting the rest of the maintainance on the genny done @ Freightliner then 2 driveways down @ Crappy World for front A/C and replacing both the OTA and Satellite antennae .
And discovered  gray tank valve won't completely close....... just one more thing to add to the list

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #53 –
Quote from: speedbird1 –
I am just so sorry to hear of all your problems.  It must get better soon and you can enjoy the coach.

My previous message said that I got a new Aquahot, but I was wrong it was a reconditioned unit for $6234 but four years ago.

I truly hope that you problems end, and soon, but not as much as you do, I am sure.

Speedbird 1
So as a noob and a buildings mechanical systems engineer what is so super duper about the aqau- hot system

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #54 –
If you have and AH you love it If you don't you hate them  Kind of like Ford vs Chevy

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #55 –
Check out the search function here on the forum - tons of threads on this topic debating th pros and cons

Pros

Endless hot water

quiet heat - typically 3 different zones in a Foretravel. diesel powered (you carry a lot of this on your coach) vs. Propane

Cons

More expensive to fix and maintain less folks that can service

more money to for initial purchase

Propane  Pros

simple, can be fixed often by owner, and almost any RV service facility cheaper to buy initially, maintain and service

Cons

Noisy heat (as opposed to almost silent aqua hot fans) water hot limited - shorter showers, etc.

Many (most who have never had an aqua hot) swear by Propane, as many love Aqua Hot- some have had some VERY expensive Aquahot events - the worst is improper winterization leading to freeze damage.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #56 –
Quote from: Old phart phred –
So as a noob and a buildings mechanical systems engineer what is so super duper about the aqau- hot system

Well it is a 1998 aqua hot so it's 18 years old. First failure so not a bad track record. But they are spendy to fix. But they do work so well.
I had used the coach twice since taking it out of winter storage this year with no leakage. I had a local RV shop winterize it this past fall.
Now I could very well be wrong, But I suspect that it was one of the prior owners usage of an on board Reverse Osmosis filter system (it is disconnected) that produces great but rather acidic water. Which is not so good for copper piping then add a bit of high pressure city water and that may have what pushed it off the cliff. 

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #57 –
I'm not sure why the acidic from the RO would bother the aquahot but maybe I'm missing something. As far as having another AQ, my first experience was when the fuel lines from the pump leaked. Put about 5 gal of diesel into the bays. That was a lot of money just to get that cleaned out. Now, with a water leak on the fresh side I don't think I'd even use it for a boat anchor.

Re: appointment @ RnR Spokane

Reply #58 –
Quote from: lgshoup –
I'm not sure why the acidic from the RO would bother the aquahot but maybe I'm missing something.

Have you every got battery acid on your jeans or tee shirt? Same effect just a lot slower as RO water isn't as acidic as battery acid. But over years it can add up. Sort of like hard water deposits as well.

No matter. Aqua hot is whats in my coach and just like a Tigers stripes it isn't going to change.