Not a Complete Surprise.
On our way to our home base on Easter Sunday (yes, we broke 2 of our cardinal rules – traveling on a weekend AND a holiday), we stopped for lunch and couldn’t get our RV restarted. After an hour of troubleshooting on the phone with Freightliner (our chassis manufacturer), we were able to get it started and drive to our destination with a recommendation to get it in for service asap. Sure enough, got to our home base and once settled and shut off, we couldn’t get our RV to start again.
We Are Getting Good at This.
While talking to the repair facility (1.5 hours from our home base), we were advised they not only don’t allow us to stay with the RV during repairs, they aren’t pet friendly and they don’t care that it is our home. They were cordial, but this was the bottomline and everyone has rules, so we’ve learned to ask. They advised could get us in a week later and we made arrangements to stay with friends who lived within 30 minutes of the facility. Our friends were kind enough to take in not only us, but Bailey (dog) and Maya (cat) while the RV was diagnosed and repaired. The plan was to move the RV to their home the night before our appointment in order to make the pet transitions and move our computers/hardware to their house (we are still working, after all).
Well, Of Course.
After we got all packed up and ready to go the night before the repair appointment, we were unable to get the RV started. We tried repeatedly for 3 hours and were unable to do it. Got up the next morning (Monday) and were still unable to get it started. We called Freightliner and they advised they would send a tow truck. When the tow truck was 10 minutes out, we turned the ACC on to pull in the slides and noticed that the code that prohibited us from starting was no longer displayed and we were able to start it. So (with Frieghtliner’s permission), the tow truck driver followed us to the repair facility. We missed our repair time, but they advised they would get us in the next day and call us with next steps. We were very clear that we are full timers with pets, so timing would be critical.
Cue the Crickets.
We waited most of the next day but heard nothing from Freightliner nor the repair facility. We finally broke down and called the repair facility who then advised us that the part was ordered, but didn’t have any idea when it would arrive. We were assured they would call us back the following day with updates.
Wednesday we again received no calls. When we finally called them, they claimed the part to be programmed at another facility and they thought maybe the repair would be completed Thursday morning. Or afternoon.
At 8:20am Thursday morning, we received a call to come get the RV. The repairs for the no start condition had been made and the repair facility felt that the low batter alert when starting the vehicle was normal (even when it inconsistently displays).
My Spidey Sense is Tingling.
When we picked up the RV, the service advisor refused to give us a receipt or anything with the repairs listed. I advised him that since we travel a lot, I want to make sure we have a record of it in case of future repairs. He claimed the paperwork was incomplete, but that he would email it to me as soon as he completed it. He made a big deal of this…like my wanting a receipt was a totally outrageous request. Having a distant career in the auto industry dealing with service providers, his behavior me question their dealings with us. As of this typing, I still don’t have a receipt or have a good feel for what they did.
Don’t Make Me Work So Hard to Be Your Customer.
We’ll call the manager and give him a chance to send us the receipt and if that doesn’t work, we’ll call Freightliner. Since they paid for the repair, surely they know what was done?
Update: Over 2 weeks later, we are still waiting for the receipt. Time to call Freightliner.