Saturday, July 24, 2010

We Tried…but…Finally Had To Make The Call

We are patient people, really we are.  We’ve been business owners (about 20 years ago) so we know how things can go.  But there comes a time when your patience has worn so thin, you just have to make the call. 

The problem I’m referring to is the one regarding our back-up camera.  On June 24th when we had the monitor replaced, and they did NOT have the 2 pigtail units for the side cameras, they told us they’d call us ASAP when they located them.  We waited and waited and waited.  Bruce called and had to leave a message and never got a call back.

                                                           Hot air balloon filling up at our CG in Utah back in May.DSCF4812


He gave it one more try early last week and called the Service Department at I-5 Uhlmann RV to see what was going on.  Sort of got the run around again, and that was from the Service Manager.  So we were getting nowhere fast.

                                                           All the “Hot Air” is in the balloon now, sort of like at Uhlmann’s RV.DSCF4813

It was time to go over their heads and call the General Manager of this RV dealership.  Don’t like to have to do that, but sometimes people give you no choice.  Bruce had to leave a message and we were wondering if we’d get a call back.

                                                           The balloon people are ready for take off.DSCF4816
Two hours later the General Manager of the dealership returned the phone call.  He asked what the problem was.  Bruce began giving him the details.  As I was listening to only one-side of the conversation, I half expected for Bruce to be interrupted a few times so the GM could make an excuse.  Nothing…..Bruce was allowed to just keep talking and talking give his story. 

                                                           The balloon is free from the tethers and floating away over the campground.DSCF4818
Fortunately, we keep good records.  Bruce had the dates of each and every phone call we had made to the Service Department for all of the 20 weeks this has taken.  He was able to relay this info to the GM.  In all due respect, we were away from here for 100 days, but still they did nothing to get the parts that they promised us while we were gone.  We had made a few calls while we were away to check on things.   After Bruce was finished speaking, then the General Manager began talking.  He was livid to say the least that we had been treated so poorly.  He told Bruce that he had definitely made the correct phone call to ask to speak to him.   He promised to look into the issue and call back the next day.

                                                            Close up of the people in the basket making their videos during flight.DSCF4819


Sure enough Mr. General Manager called back the very next morning.  He said that even though their computers showed the parts had come in, they could not be found anywhere.  He apologized, once again, and said that the 2 pigtail parts had been reordered from Winnebago and would be there ASAP.  Someone from the Service Department will call us when they come in to arrange an appointment for installation.  He apologized about 37 more times before hanging up.

Funny thing…the very next day Casey from the Service Department called to let us know that they would keep us in the “loop” and let us know when the parts come in.  Gee, that’s all we ever wanted in the first place.  Return our phone calls and let us know what to expect !!! 

                                                                The balloon is now heading over Canyonlands National Park.DSCF4821 
I really hate when service people treat you like C _ _ P.  Things can go wrong, people make mistakes, orders go missing…..just treat us with respect as your “valued customer” PLEASE.

Like the balloon in my photos today, those people at I-5 Uhlmann RV have just been full of hot air.  This is an extended warranty job and since they have begun the repairs we want them to finish the repairs.  We’ll see if they can improve their reputation in our eyes.  I’ll let you know.

Until next time…..so long for now!

15 comments:

Rick said...

I couldn't agree with you more, Margie. You've definitely been getting the run-around and it was time to take your problem higher up. Let's hope the manager's attention get's those guys on the ball.

Unfortunately, this seems to be all too common a practice with a lot of RV service depts. I got so fed up with one outfit here, after many, many delays, I made an appointment to bring my 5'er in for a small fix. I never showed up just to get even. Guess what? They never ever called to even ask what happened!

Gypsy said...

I would say you have shown extreme patience as well as courtesy. I'm glad you finally got someone who listened and hopefully will get the ball rolling. For all that companies cry about the economy hurting their business you would think they would do everything possible to keep a good customer and ensure return business. That's hard to find any more.

You gave them every opportunity, and good for you for finally going over their heads to get some action.

Sue and Doug said...

the squeaky wheel gets the grease!!..good for you for calling the highest 'mucky muck'..I would have done the same..except I am not as patient as you!!

Carol K said...

I like how you told the story with reference and pictures to "hot air". Very clever, Margie!

It sounds like the service manager really listened to you and is taking appropriate action. I wish you good luck with getting your backup camera fixed. Keep us posted!

Al Bossence said...

"Ya did the right thing, Pilgrim" as John Wayne would say. So unfortunate that some service & retail people have to be like that & cause so much undo stress for others. It's an all too familiar story in the RV inddusty.

Phyllis said...

Margie - you know what we are going through too. It is beyond aggravation. 6 weeks just to ORDER the parts. Now 3 more weeks - nothing. And with us it means sitting in my daughters drivway as the summer winds down.

What is with these dealers? With jobs and business being such as they are, you would think they would be jumping through hoop to satisfy the customer.

Travels with Emma said...

20 weeks!! Holey Schmoly!!

Dennis and Donna said...

Now you just impressed me by tying up that little problem in a nice package...while all the time I was wondering why the hot air balloon pictures..YOU ARE JUST TOO CLEVER!! Quite an analogy (is that the word I want to use??)..The older I get, the more I am intolerant of poor service..If only people would JUST DO AS THEY SAY THEY ARE GOING TO!!! great blog...

Kenny And Angela's Adventure said...

It's ashame people have to go thru all that for something so simple.

Hope the GM keeps his word.

Unknown said...

Hi Margie. Thank you for inquiring about my Mother. She is feeling much better and getting around just fine now. Dad too, in spite of the cancer being throughout his whole body. I'll update soon on my blog about all that. Meanwhile, we sold our truck and our toy-hauler travel-trailer recently. The truck was great, but too small for the fifth wheel that we want to purchase. The TT was made by Forest River and we bought it at General RV....NEVER, EVER again will we ever purchase a Forest River product and certainly not from General RV!!! I'll go into more detail on our blog about all that. We are anxiously waiting for delivery of our new 2011 Chevy Silverado diesel 4x4 truck and then we hope to buy a 2011 Keystone Fuzion 322. We've learned the hard way, but we think that the two new purchases will last us for many years. Now, if we could just sell our house, but I think we'll have to wait for the economy in Michigan to improve first, so we'll just spend the coming winter in Texas again (or maybe AZ or CA if the oil disaster gets any worse). Hope things end up working out for you with the dealership.
- Mary Ann :-)

Cyndi said...

This is a great example of why it's important to keep records of your phone calls like you did. I hope everything works out - and SOON.

Kathy said...

Communication, communication, communication! I guess those of us old enough to remember GOOD customer service find this unacceptable since we remember the days when a handshake was a symbol of a man's word!
At least the GM lit a fire under some people enough to get what you needed. I hope he uses this to teach his employees better customer service.
Love the balloons!
Kathy

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Sounds like you were very much more than reasonable here and I am glad to hear the man in charge stepped up an accepted responsibility. Even that seems to be a fading art these days.

Good luck!

Chuck and Anneke's RV travels said...

Sounds like you were very much more than reasonable. I am glad to hear the man in charge accepted responsibility. That also seems to be a lost art these days.

Good luck on getting the needed parts.

KarenInTheWoods said...

It's such a shame to even have to go over a service dept.'s head to get just basic customer service! argghhh

Went through that last month or so with ordering shocks. I know what you mean about wanting a simple phone call. That would be fine even in the order was delayed, just to let you KNOW.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Karen and Steve
(Our Blog) RVing: Small House... BIG Backyard
http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/