Why would you want factory service? The factory knows your RV better than anyone, they will have immediate access to parts, and you won't be subject to the whims of a dealer service department, such as showing preference to the dealers customers over you.
When you want factory service, the most important step is calling far enough in advance to get an appointment for a date that's convenient to you. We called about 3 months in advance, but at least a month would probably be sufficient. When I called again about 3 weeks before our scheduled appointment to push it back one week, they were already full on the new date and we had to schedule for the following day. On the initial phone call you list all of the items that you want done and set your appointment date.
About a month before our appointment, we received a letter in the mail from Monaco outlining the procedures to follow when we arrived as well as a set of maps to the various service centers in the area. Monaco has service centers in both Elkhart and Wakarusa, we had been assigned to the Elkhart facility. A spreadsheet with all the requested service items was enclosed, along with time and materials estimates where known. It's important that you state all of your desired service items on the original service request as they will rarely accept addon items, unless they're safety related or keep you from traveling. We did have some additional items that came up after our initial phone call so I sent an email to our service rep about a week before our appointment hoping that they could accomodate at least some of them.
We arrived at Monaco Plant 9, the Elkhart service facility, on Sunday for our Tuesday service appointment. They have a 40 site campground behind the plant with water and 50 amp electric at all sites as well as a dump station. Had the campground been full, there were 4 30 amp electric hookups next door at the Roadmaster plant that we had been told we could use.
On Monday we checked in with the receptionist and were assigned our service writer and given two signs, one for the motorhome windshield and one for the towed. Since our actual appointment was for Tuesday, we were done for the day. The next morning, at 0630, our service writer arrived and went over the list of service items and to our delight, all of the additional requested items were on the updated spreadsheet. The service writer then left and went to go over the list with the service technician. He showed up a while later and moved the motorhome to the service bay. The routine for each day until the work was completed was for us to get the motorhome ready to move by 0630 each morning, then the tech would arrive about 0645 and take it into the service bay. Each bay has 50 amp electric available and the tech would connect the power immediately after driving into the bay. Monaco runs an open service shop so we were allowed to go in and out of the motorhome at any time and even discuss the work with the tech who was very accomodating in answering any questions we had at any time. One thing you can't do is to ask the tech to do any work that's not on the list. At about 1500 each day, the motorhome would be moved back to the campground by the tech and he would hook up the electric.
We had an extensive list so our service took nearly 8 days (6 working days). The only night we weren't able to stay in the motorhome was the day they removed the old black water tank for replacement and they couldn't get the new one installed in the same day. Monaco made a reservation for us and our dog at a local motel (Candlewood Suites) at their corporate rate. This allowed us to sleep in the next morning, which was a side benefit.
When the work was completed, it was too late in the day to settle the bill so we did that the next day. We were again delighted to find the final total was significantly less than we had estimated. We did have a couple of minor adjustments and our service writer took care of them quickly and fairly.
While we were here, we took advantage of the parts department just a block away to get some items we had been looking for and been unable to find in the usual places. The parts people were very helpful and the prices were fair.
We have another appointment on Monday here in Elkhart and as long as the Monaco campground isn't filled right now, they are allowing us to stay here until then. If the campground should fill up, we would move to the Roadmaster plant next door with the 4 electric hookups but it doesn't appear we'll have to do that. This accomodation is certainly appreciated.
All in all, our experience at the Monaco factory service center was better than we expected, even with having to get up so early in the day
It was certainly better than most of our dealer service experiences. We don't have a Monaco motorhome, we have a 1997 Holiday Rambler (a Monaco brand) and we saw Beaver and Safari motorhomes here as well and they all received the same service.
When you want factory service, the most important step is calling far enough in advance to get an appointment for a date that's convenient to you. We called about 3 months in advance, but at least a month would probably be sufficient. When I called again about 3 weeks before our scheduled appointment to push it back one week, they were already full on the new date and we had to schedule for the following day. On the initial phone call you list all of the items that you want done and set your appointment date.
About a month before our appointment, we received a letter in the mail from Monaco outlining the procedures to follow when we arrived as well as a set of maps to the various service centers in the area. Monaco has service centers in both Elkhart and Wakarusa, we had been assigned to the Elkhart facility. A spreadsheet with all the requested service items was enclosed, along with time and materials estimates where known. It's important that you state all of your desired service items on the original service request as they will rarely accept addon items, unless they're safety related or keep you from traveling. We did have some additional items that came up after our initial phone call so I sent an email to our service rep about a week before our appointment hoping that they could accomodate at least some of them.
We arrived at Monaco Plant 9, the Elkhart service facility, on Sunday for our Tuesday service appointment. They have a 40 site campground behind the plant with water and 50 amp electric at all sites as well as a dump station. Had the campground been full, there were 4 30 amp electric hookups next door at the Roadmaster plant that we had been told we could use.
On Monday we checked in with the receptionist and were assigned our service writer and given two signs, one for the motorhome windshield and one for the towed. Since our actual appointment was for Tuesday, we were done for the day. The next morning, at 0630, our service writer arrived and went over the list of service items and to our delight, all of the additional requested items were on the updated spreadsheet. The service writer then left and went to go over the list with the service technician. He showed up a while later and moved the motorhome to the service bay. The routine for each day until the work was completed was for us to get the motorhome ready to move by 0630 each morning, then the tech would arrive about 0645 and take it into the service bay. Each bay has 50 amp electric available and the tech would connect the power immediately after driving into the bay. Monaco runs an open service shop so we were allowed to go in and out of the motorhome at any time and even discuss the work with the tech who was very accomodating in answering any questions we had at any time. One thing you can't do is to ask the tech to do any work that's not on the list. At about 1500 each day, the motorhome would be moved back to the campground by the tech and he would hook up the electric.
We had an extensive list so our service took nearly 8 days (6 working days). The only night we weren't able to stay in the motorhome was the day they removed the old black water tank for replacement and they couldn't get the new one installed in the same day. Monaco made a reservation for us and our dog at a local motel (Candlewood Suites) at their corporate rate. This allowed us to sleep in the next morning, which was a side benefit.
When the work was completed, it was too late in the day to settle the bill so we did that the next day. We were again delighted to find the final total was significantly less than we had estimated. We did have a couple of minor adjustments and our service writer took care of them quickly and fairly.
While we were here, we took advantage of the parts department just a block away to get some items we had been looking for and been unable to find in the usual places. The parts people were very helpful and the prices were fair.
We have another appointment on Monday here in Elkhart and as long as the Monaco campground isn't filled right now, they are allowing us to stay here until then. If the campground should fill up, we would move to the Roadmaster plant next door with the 4 electric hookups but it doesn't appear we'll have to do that. This accomodation is certainly appreciated.
All in all, our experience at the Monaco factory service center was better than we expected, even with having to get up so early in the day
It was certainly better than most of our dealer service experiences. We don't have a Monaco motorhome, we have a 1997 Holiday Rambler (a Monaco brand) and we saw Beaver and Safari motorhomes here as well and they all received the same service.
