Service help out in the field

I'd like to take this time to plug some of the service centers out there who do excellent work and do all they can to make the customer happy. These guys all deserve a pat on the back, and I hope you will give them your business if you are in the area.

First up AAA Mobile RV repair in Zephyrhills Florida. Since he is a mobile repair service, he will come to you, but there will be a modest charge for the service call. This guy has some of the best service rates in the country though, so you will be getting the best deal around. Dale is extremely personable, and great at customer relations. He has garnered many kudos from customers out on the road in need of service.

Alpin Haus in New Albany New York are a great bunch of guys to work with. I know first hand that they will fight tooth and nail to make sure their customers concerns are all taken care of. They really go out of their way to provide great service.

Another of my favorites is Findlay RV in Las Vegas. I have seen these guys bend over backwards to make a customer happy. They are a great team and don't send customers away unhappy.

If you happen to be in Colorado Springs, Colorado and need some service, check out Intermountain Coach. I know when I was in the biz I sent them a ton of work and they never turned me down. They do excellent work at a great rate.

These are some of my favorites right off the top of my head. if you have others you know of, feel free to add to this post.

Have a great day

Gas Prices

I see that gas prices are starting to creep up there again for the summer season. I would like to remind everyone that loading your RV correctly can help optimize gas mileage and improve drivability. If you have items that you store in your compartments that you don't always use, take them out and leave them home for certain trips. Can you wait to fill up your fresh water tank until you arrive at your destination? The more your coach weighs, the worse your gas mileage.

More RV Information

Another important consideration for those of you with a motorhome is loading and front end alignment. Many people find that their tires are wearing after only a few thousand miles. The manufacturer I worked for performed an alignment after the coach was built and before it left to be shipped to a dealership. Sometimes things happen on the road, but throwing off an alignment isn't all that easy. Typically the dealers were suppose to recommend that someone purchasing a motorhome would load the coach like they were going to use it, and then have it aligned.

The way you load your motorhome has a lot of impact on your alignment as well as the driveability of your coach. Just because you have a huge pass-through compartment on the rear end doesn't mean you should cram everything you have into it. weight should be distributed evenly throughout your compartments. Make sure you are not putting all of the heavy stuff on one side and lighter on the other. I think you get the gist here. Loading your coach evenly throughout will make the coach drive better and keep the tires from wearing unevenly or too soon.

What you need to know before buying an RV (cont)

I'll never forget the day that a customer called in wanting to know how to drain his holding tanks. I politely asked him how long he had owned his coach, and he politely replied "over a year". WOW!! his explanation was that he did not know he HAD to empty the tanks. It made me wonder if he thought all of the waste and water would just evaporate into thin air.

Draining your tanks ( and flushing them out) is an important step in the maintenance of your unit. Fresh water will get stagnant and we don't want to speculate what will happen to the other stuff if not regularly flushed out of the tanks. I do know this, bacteria will form and the solids will dry up and cause problems with future flushing, and also your tank capacity.

Most RV supply stores carry cleaning products specifically designed for use in RV holding tanks. I highly recommend using one of those products. A lot of people wanted to know if they could use bleach. Bleach is an excellent disinfectant, however, it takes many many rinses with clean water to get the residual bleach out of your tank. This typically would not harm you in the black and gray tanks, however, you will want to be extra careful in flushing out your fresh tank if you are using bleach. I mean, after you think you are done rinsing, rinse it a few more times....you definitely do NOT want bleach in your drinking water.

More of what you need to know before buying an RV

For those of you who plan to tow a vehicle, listen up. Once again, an amazing number of calls come in to the manufacturer about towing capacities. Many people actually call in to ask if they can tow more than what their factory installed hitch is rated for. The answer is a resounding NO. Each unit is typically engineered to the maximum specs it can handle. You should receive a sheet in your owner's packet that will tell you what the weights are on your vehicle. The GCWR is the Gross Combination weight rating, this is the maximum allowance for the total loaded weight of the motorhome and tow vehicle. Exceeding this amount will result in extra wear on the engine and brakes of your vehicle, not to mention difficulties with the driveability. Just don't do it. If you plan to do any towing with your motorhome, make sure you are buying one that can handle the weights that you will require. You might want to consider upgrading if you currently find yourself in a position where your tow vehicle is heavier than the allowable weight, there are motorhomes on the market that have considerably more towing capacity, built especially for those who do a lot of towing for races or other such activities. You will be better off in the longrun than doing damage to your current vehicle.

More about your RV

Another important thing that needs to be talked about is your warranty. By the calls we would get, it seems to me that consumers have a much different idea of how their warranty actually works than the manufacturer who wrote it, so this is something that really needs to be said.

Your warranty covers defects in product or workmanship for a period of time beginning with when you sign your warranty paperwork and ending at a time specified by the manufacturer. For instance, it could be for 2 years and 24,ooo miles. So after you have owned your coach for that period of time, and you notice a defect, it will not be covered. I remember several disagreements with customers because they were out of warranty and just noticed a defect. Their argument was that it was a manufacturer's defect, there from before the purchase date. This may be true, but that defect is covered for the warranty period only and not 1 minute afterward. I was always amazed at the amount of people who would call after owning their coach for several years, expecting something to be covered. For any other instance I will never liken the purchase of an RV to that of an automobile, but I will for this one. If you purchase a new Ford vehicle, drive it for your 3 years or 36,000 miles (whichever comes first), and then notice something you didn't notice before, they are not going to cover it under warranty. The same thing with household appliances. Save yourself the headache of wating to get in touch with customer service just so you can be told no. To me this is a common sense type of deal, and you will be wasting your time calling the manufacturer. That is not to say there will not be circumstances where additional coverage would be considered, however, it usually has to be something pretty bad, or a defect in manufacturing that caused further damage to other components in your coach. Keep in mind, if you do call customer service, and they tell you it won't be covered, there is no reason to scream at them. They do not write the warranty contracts or make the rules. The best thing you can do for your own sanity is to READ YOUR WARRANTY, and make sure you understand what it covers.

Additionally, some of the components of your unit will carry their own warranty past that which is offered by the manufacturer of the coach. They should each have their own manuals in which you can get the information as to what is covered. If there is a registration card, make sure and send it in, some suppliers will not honor any warranty at all if there is no registration.

Once again, I cannot stress enough that you should read your warranty. Also make sure you have looked at all of the paperwork that you received with your coach. If something seems to be missing, you can acquire a new copy in order to make sure that all warranty cards are sent to the proper suppliers. Better safe than sorry.

I've been asked to add a few words about customer service and how to have a better experience when calling. First of all, If you are calling about a component that has been added to the RV and not necessarily something made by the RV manufacturer, it might be better to contact that vendor instead. Items in this realm include the hot water heater, furnace, microvavc and other appliances. One important one would be the chassis itself. If you own a motorhome, the RV part of the unit has been built on a chassis purchased from a chassis manufacturer, i.e. Chevy, Ford, International, etc. If you are experiencing trouble with any of the chassis components, your RV manufacturer will not be able to help you. Save yourself a call to them and the subsequent waiting for an answer, and go right to the source. They are the only ones who can really help you in this regard. Your RV manufacturer may be able to tell you where authorized service centers are located for your chassis, but won't be able to provide any more information.

The separate components on your unit should all come with their own owner's manuals. In those manuals you should be able to find the contact information for that vendor. It is always best and will save you much time to go directly to that vendor for help.