A Few DUMB QUESTIONS About RV Service

(WARNING: this may have turned into a Bitch-Fest by the end, but it truly is an unbelievable story of crappy Customer Service)

So, of course, after we were able to finally get the water flowing odorlessly, it rains and we find the carpet soaked with water. No problem. We bought an extra warranty. We have only had it less than a month. We will just take it back to the dealer and they will fix it right up.

Well, apparently, the RV repair service industry notoriously SUCKS! I really refused to believe it when we read about some of the horror stories on the net. I figured, "It can't be that bad." I thought I would just let them know that we were Full Timers and that we may need to stay in it while they are fixing it. Easy, right?

Errrrrrr!!!! Guess again. Before we took it in, I called to see when they would be able to take a look at it. The guy I talked to said he wouldn't be able to get to it for a week. I explained the whole Full Timer thing and he moved that up to two days. So, we spent all day and night getting everything together to move for the first time with all of our stuff in it. So Fun.

We secure everything and get to the place before they open up. Perfect timing, I thought. We talk to another guy in the Service department and he, of course, didn't know we were coming or that we were Full Timers. He again tried the "Gee, I won't be able to look at it for a week." I looked at him like he was crazy and explained that we called ahead two days ago and brought it today so cause they said they could look at it today. He said ok and that maybe it would be 1 or 2 days until he could get to it.

Dumb Question #1: Why not schedule me to bring my RV in on the day you can actually look at it?

Whatever! I couldn't do anything about it then so I said fine and we left it. Off to the In-Laws to camp out. The RV Guy said he would call us with status.

A few days go past and no word. Shocking. We have to call this 1-800 number that always goes to voice mail and leave a message. Finally, we get a hold of someone and they say the seal of the slide out is leaking and the o-ring of the generator is no good. Great news, they actually know what's wrong. Wooho...not so fast. The labor it takes to replace the slide out seal is ridiculous and the warranty company does not believe the price they are trying to charge. So, now a representative from the Warranty company has to come out and check the validity of the labor charges. That only takes two days to schedule. Go figure. The RV Guy said he would call us with status.

Dumb Question #2: Why the F do you say you are going to call me back with status and seriously have no intention of actually calling anybody back?

So, two days later, no call. We go up there to pick up some items we left (so we can live) and was able to find out it takes a few days for the warranty company to report.

...And guess what The RV Guy said? Yep, he would call us with status.

Monday rolls around and no word. Smh. No, no, don't proactively call me. Please let me use your stupid answering service and get a hold of you. Thanks. The guy tells us that they have approved the price of the seal but have not made a decision about the generator. What? How is this possible?

Dumb Question #3: How does a representative of a warranty company set up an appointment to look at and make a decision about 2 things only make a decision about 1 thing?

So, as I sit here and think about it, a complete week has gone by and no work has been done. We go up there again on the weekend to get more stuff to live and by this time the guys know us as "The Bounder People". Finally, we see that they are actually beginning to remove the slide and prepare to replace the seal. It's a MIRACLE!! Cool some action, but what about the generator? Well, turns out they have to drop the whole thing out of the RV in order for the warranty company to make a decision. The RV Guy said he would call us with status. I swear, if someone tells me that one more time.

Monday rolls around again and guess what...they called us back. NOT! I had to call them on Tuesday in order to here that they are sending information to the warranty company tomorrow in order to make a decision. The RV Guy said he would...yeah yeah you know the rest.

I have now lost track of time. They finally tell us that everything is covered and we are only responsible for a $150 deductible. Oh, thanks. Good thing we didn't have to spend $1000 for a hotel for a month. Oh, wait.

Its Monday again. We were told last week that it would be ready "early this week". I haven't heard anything and its almost time for them to close, maybe I should give them a call. After 10 minutes on hold, I get a hold of the RV Guy. He says the seal they ordered has been damaged OR it's the wrong one.

Dumb Question #4 and #5 and #6: Are they working on a million RV's at once? Is it too much trouble to actually figure out what is really going on with my house that you have had for a month? How have you been working on it for a week and find out today that there is something wrong with the seal?

I give up. Apparently, they are over-nighting the seal and the RV will be ready on Friday.

I'll believe it when I see it. I'm done.

The Adventure Begins

We still can't believe we really did it. We sold everything we have accumulated in 30+ years to fit into a 35 ft. RV. At times the process of selling everything was pretty stressful but at the end getting rid of all that "stuff" was oddly freeing.  I can't say I miss any of it and it brought us one step closer to our dream of traveling the U.S.

Our final garage sale

I wish I could say everything was sunshine and roses so far but once we got the RV out of storage we had a lot of issues with our water. It smelled like rotten onions.  It took us three weeks of cleaning out the hot water heater, the fresh water tank and lines to get it smelling normal.  We really learned a lot during those first three weeks. Of course once we got the water problem fixed we found a leak in the bedroom and a leak in the generator.  We had only been living in the RV for 3 short weeks  and getting all settled in when it ended up in the shop.  It has now been in the shop almost 3 weeks (the same amount of time we lived in it).  It took 2 or 3 days before they even looked at it.  I've heard from other friends and family that this is how the process normally goes. They take their time.  I will be sharing a blog next week by Chris on this subject.  One thing is for sure I am very glad this happened while we are still in Houston and are able to stay with my parents.  We are also getting some extra family time before we leave.

Chris cleaning out the hot water heater for the third time

We  have been busy planning our trip and  we decided we will be hitting the road on April 15th. That will give Chris at least two weeks to work from home before we leave. We will be heading to Florida for about a month and then we will move up the East Coast.  Some of the things we are really excited about so far are Universal Studios (Wizarding World of Harry Potter??!!), swimming with the manatees in Crystal River, we will be staying at Florida Caverns State Park a week, then I am really excited to go to the Everglades National Park and hopefully Biscayne as well. Plus I can't wait for beautiful BEACHES!!

 I think the first month will be a good test for us to decide how fast or slow we plan on moving. Chris will still be working an 8 to 5 job so our moving will be on the weekends.  Plus we will still have to do all the normal things like grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, and laundry. 

We also finally got rid of my Toyota and got our tow vehicle. We bought a 2015 Ford C-Max Hybrid. We love it so far. It gets really good gas mileage which will be awesome because our RV will get around 7 miles per gallon. Ouch. Now we are in the process of paying off and selling Chris's Mazda. We think we found a home for it which is exciting. Every change gets us one step closer to hitting the road!

Goodbye Toyota

Hello C-Max

If anyone has any recommendations of places to visit in Florida or the East Coast please let us know.