Trying to make good use of my time

He worries more about being bored in retirement.  What you have here is two people that only know working and the transition is really hard.  Even not having a job I find that I am always working at something. I have even thought about taking an accounting job for a couple of days a week and then decided how silly that is.

Retiring doesn't mean sitting around doing nothing. Look at the folks here on the Forum....most travel, a lot do volunteer work, there's more time to spend on hobbies, and many are busier than they ever were when they were working.

Wendy

Wendy said:

Retiring doesn't mean sitting around doing nothing. Look at the folks here on the Forum....most travel, a lot do volunteer work, there's more time to spend on hobbies, and many are busier than they ever were when they were working.

Wendy

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Isn't that the truth!  Sometimes it feels like we have to fight for time to sit down in a rocking chair and read a good book!

Margi

I'm beginning to wonder what is going on with this guy, first he says the part will be in the 2nd of July, I didn't bother him for over a week waiting, then I call.  He says it is to be in the 4th, the 4th?  A holiday? I said you told me the second.  So I call that Friday the 6th, no part, he starts the oh its crazy here, we are busy, I need to get on this and get it done.  I said is there any way I can help you expediate this, can I call someone about the part being made? He says no thats me, I told him this is starting to go on to long he needs to get this taken care of.  He goes oh, I've got to get right on it.  And then he says well I just got the alternator but haven't gotten the water pump yet. WHAT?  I was under the impression before he was waiting only for the thermostat housing. 

First of all nothing was wrong with the generator, nothing.  He claims it overheated when he ran it to turn on the AC's. Then he said that the water pump shaft broke which ruined the alternator on the generator and broke the belt.  That surprised me as we had been using it, had ran it for many hours here at the house and on the road.  But ok.  But now I think I'm getting the runaround, something is not starting to sound right. I'm starting to wonder if he burned up the generator or something.

Have any of you had situations like this that you are sick of and how did you handle it?  My husband really doesn't have time to do it is why we spent all the money having it done and I am still out a motorhome!  Man I'm disgusted.

My husband Tom will be home next Friday.  I talked to him and said if it isn't ready lets go down and talk to the guy.  I asked him it he has the parts can he put it back together again, he said yes, I'm sure I can.  I'm calling or going down there Monday and talking to the guy personally as this is getting ridiculous.  He had done work for me before and I think he is a good mechanic.  But I think he is trying to do it all.  I cannot say but it was a family business and he even does the phone answering anymore to as the old lady in the office doesn't look like she is able to do much and I don't know about the rest.  I do think he is overwhelmed but he needs to take care of business in the shop first.  I would think he would want the coach out of there as he doesn't have much room and I don't want it getting beat up.  But also this situation is not starting to feel right and I am starting to get mad which is not good.  I don't want to because it will not be nice if I do and won't fix anything will just make it worse.

Carolyn,

There's not a darned thing I can do to help except lend moral support.  It's great to help family businesses but it does sound like he's trying to do too much.  Maybe you need to visit and go over the issues.  And remember to bite your tongue and count to ten before saying what you "really" want to say!  I know you will....  Sure hope you get it fixed soon!

ArdraF

I'm going down and "visit" tomorrow, don't know what good it will do but I'm about ready to bring it home and find someone else to finish it.  At this point I'm not sure what to do. 

I'm going to have him, if he will followup with onan, about the piece being made.  What he should do is get in touch with them and find the for sure delivery date.  What I'm thinking is he forgot to order and now he is way behind the ball on it, but I want to know if he did.  For cripes sake just tell me.

There has to be some kind delivery date for that.  Then what is the water pump delay??  Now he is backtracking so much is what is really making me wonder.

I want to see the motorhome, want to see what pieces he has, and the condition its in. He is probably using the "who screams loudest" approach and that will be me soon. Likely will find a commercial place to go.  He  has been in business for many years.  I didn't go there for price as he is not cheaper.  I spend $5k getting all the stuff done we wanted done and no issue with that except again it took way to long.  He is a full service facility is why I went there and they are hard to find.

Enough of my tales of woe, but what a nightmare this is turning into. 

Well, I knew something didn't seem right.  This is worse then I thought.

First I found out their shop foreman has been out for a week and a half, I'm guessing on vacation, didn't ask, he was back, owner was gone.

He said the parts are probably in the shop there was a stack of boxes out there and he had't gone through them yet. They had delivered a cover and not the thermostat housing, he said he had just got off the phone about that. I saw the generator was pulled out in front of the motorhome and it was raining on it all apart.

He says he is pretty sure the waterpump is there.  But I'm looking at the motorhome and I see parts hanging down in front of the window and its locked.  I said did you have to take the dash out or something?  He said no, didn't the owner tell you  your motorhome was broken into.  I'm like WHAT!! :'( no one has said anyhing to me.  He says oh I was here, we used to live on site and I run them off with a shotgun.  I says you didn't call the cops he said one dropped his wallet.  He said they didn't get anything but they were taking components apart.  He  said its a bunch of meth heads, very bad area of town.  The owner would not even let me go out to hook up the tow car to it, the lot is surrounded by razo wire like a warzone. I started to leave and came back, I said I want to see inside, so I go in there are wires all over the place out of all the entertainment section plus components up there I don't know if they pulled them out or not.  So I go to the back the TV is pulled out and wires hanging but they got nothing. I find lights on they had not bothered to turn them off so of course the batteries are drained.  I am furious but no point in blowing up.

I look in the bathroom, of course medicine cabinet door open but nothing was in it.  They used the toiled and left the toilet full of crappie toilet paper.  What a mess.

So then I say whats the deal with the generator, I had noticed there was probably 4 or more units with the generator doors open.  I said what is the generator guy doing?  He said well, he has an alcohol problem and wasn't here all the time and had to go to rehab.  So I says who is going to fix this, he said I can, I know how to  do it all.  He said I intend to have it all done this week.  I told him my husband is going to be in Friday, he says it will be done Thursday. 

I am mad, disgusted, and furious.  He said I thought he told you, I said well he should have.  What we he going to do get it back together and hope I didn't notice?

I told you I felt like there was something more to this and this is the sordid story.  If I get it back in one piece it won't go back there again.  What a mess.

Then this morning, Sue Anne is screaming and the neighbors dog is killing one of my chickens, I couldn't get to a shotgun as they are locked up.  I'm screaming my head off, its not the first time, he brings it over, a half dead chicken, I said you might as well kill it, she will just suffer.  Sue Anne is crying her eyes out as these 3 are just big pets that sit on the porch with her and on our laps.  He is the same one that dammed our yard off, he did say he was sorry, I was not nice.

What a horrible day, it has to go only uphill from here.

It's all just horrible.  I don't know how you kept your cool.

Betty

In the above posting where I said I hooked it up, it was on the other visit whereI was going to bring it home not today.

He said he took the overhead piece off but I think it has been pulled down, I didn't look that close but it looked broken to me.  It's the piece that fastens to the roof and the doors are fastened to it.

I told Tom tonight and I said I feel like bringing it home, he said they created the mess, its their responsibility to fix it.  In the future it will go to PPL, I thought they would be able to get it done sooner.  BIG mistake on my part.  We have spent a ton of money on this, its just sickening.

If you still can, take pictures of everything.  You may need legal help before this is over and you'll need every bit of evidence you can present.  Keep good notes of everything said to you as well, date and time stamp them.

Oh, Carolyn, that's awful!    Your "woman's intuition" certainly was correct!  The owner certainly has been less than forthright with you.  I can't believe he thought he could ignore this after you called.

I'm with Ned.  It would be a good idea to return with a camera and take pictures of everything.  Be sure to include little things that don't look so big now but could be a real problem later.  With wiring pulled out goodness knows what might not work!  I'm just so sorry this has happened.

ArdraF

That's a good idea, I have before pictures.  I've just had a feeling for a couple of weeks something just wasn't right.  I really don't have time, its quite aways down there but I think I will do that, I hope this does not become a legal matter, I don't want to have to do that.

What gets me if they were just taking some of that stuff out I wouldn't think that was necessary, I'm betting they cut the wires and were pulling it out after ripping out the overhead. And who knows maybe they have already put some back together.  I didn't notice the radio either, I had a brand new Sony in it, wonder if its still there.

We had Sirius and a new Tom Tom in it too, plus new everything up top satellite dome, new AC's, new everything. I was in shock, didn't notice if my fans and backup camera was there either, yes I do need pictures and  do need to look in the bays and see if all my batteries, new converter, tools, and all the electrical panels are there. I did see that the ATS, new surge protector and cord are there.  He claimed they got nothing.  On the sofa they had a hair dryer that had been attached, a mixer, some other things.  Don't know if they took any clothes, I had all new clothes in the closet, they did not take my vacuum out but the old hair dryer.  There was large quantities of toilet paper in the commode, hubby said look like they would have cleaned it out before I saw it.  He said they would

I did notice the w/d, ice maker, stove were all there and table and chairs they are bolted in.  I had left one new TV at home.  It's been there so long I'm trying to visualize everything.  Imagine what they could have stripped.  There are all kinds of units in there and a very much newer motorhome, maybe it wasn't there.  Mine was closer to the fence. I'm sure they would have methodically stripped each one, lots of money sitting in there. This guy said he had been working trying to figure out how to recnnect the tv wiring.

The fence around it must be 12 foot or higher with razor wire at the top.  Likely electrified too.  And the massive amounts of tools in their shop would be a horrible temptation.  I bet this isn't the first time, they even just crack their front solid gate with razor wire during the day or close it completely.  I wondered around in there for a bit before they saw me, not good, the guys were really busy and working on stuff.

I just hope its all up top entertainment stuff and nothing in behind the dash or on the engine, that's a nightmare of wiring back there.  But I find it inexcuseable he never said anything to me unless it just happened this weekend,even then he should have. Very bad business for everyone all the way arond.

I just printed out lots of before pictures.

I am so angry I can't even go to sleep.  I tried to put this out of my mind tonight and can't because the more I think about it the more lies I realize I have gotten.

First of all if they had told me they might not have had to pull all that apart as I have a pretty good overall idea of how the tv's are hooked up, at least an overview, I was so shocked I didn't take it all in but looked like the overhead piece was broken.  Also the guy said he had been working on it, no he hasn't as the batteries are pretty much dead and the TVs run only on 110 as we took the 12v invertor out of the loop and since the front TV is here at the house they had hookups just there and not connected.  They would have had to have the electric hooked up to run the TV's and then the batteries wouldn't be so run down the step wouldn't even come out!!  There are other wires up in there too as Camping World ran new I believe.

I'm going down in the morning, check all the bays to make sure no electrical equipment is missing, under the bed, and the engine. I've been over it enough I think I will remember though its been there for months.

I am going to be there everyday for the rest of the week to see what progress has been made.  They will get sick of seeing me.  They have destroyed my trust and now I want to see for myself each and everyday what is being done.  And no I do not have time for this, especially this week. I wish I could go to sleep.  I even took half a benadryl to help me calm down.  I try to just remind myself when people do something like this to me that what goes around comes around and it won't get them anywhere in the long run.  But this has the potential to cost us a lot of money. I've really never had an issue like this before ever so guess I'm lucky in that respect.  I just want to sleep for a couple hours or I could really lose my temper when tired.

I turned the news on since I'm awake and there was an RV facility fire in NW Houston, I'm thinking oh no!  But it was on 1960, they said $300k of damage but I think that is under as I saw what looked like 2 or 3 motorhomes, but also a boat and popup campers but quite a few burned.

Carolyn,  If you have insurance on the motor home, I'm wondering if your insurance company should be getting involved.  It was a break-in resulting in lots of damage.  And, I'm thinking you might need to file a police report to cover all your bases.  All this along with your pictures may help.

I am so sorry this happened.  You have a better control of your temper than I do.  I would have come unglued. 

Marsha~

Ok, I have returned from there this morning.  I am ok, I did not blow up.  But I told the shop supervisor that the owner had really destroyed the trust I had in him.  That instead of running me around if he had told me the truth I could have dealt with it. I said what was he going to do try and fix it and not tell me or just let it set there from now on.  he didn't say anything.

Come to find out another one was broken into at the same time and I think it was damaged a lot, not positive.  I'm not getting a real clear picture but asking when it happened was about a couple of weeks ago.  He had told me he ran them off with a gun.  Then he said they didn't pull all this stuff apart that he did working on putting the TV and components back, I'm still not clear on that.  They do have insurance, I don't think they really wanted to tell me about the other one, he said first breakin they have had in 5 years.

So I took pictures, he had me write up anything amiss.  I do not see anything missing just the whole overhead apart.  I had taken everything loose out pretty much before taking it down.  They did not get all the new items, Sony radio, Tom Tom, Sirius, Direct TV box, controls, etc.  I think they were interrupted before they got it all out, still don't understand the whole overhead down.

Anyway if you had seen this you would be mad too.  I told him I would be down again tomorrow, he gave me his card and direct line. I said I will be there.

The batteries had all been allowed to die, they had it on a trickle charger before I got there but they were to dead to do anything so I had them plug up electric.  I almost forgot that the surger suppressor takes almost 2 minutes to click on, I stayed and listened till it clicked, checked the AC's and that things would work, water pump was so so it had a full tank of water when I left it, didn't check that, but it appears they are finally starting to work on it.

I asked exactly what they are doing to the generator.  They finally have the water pump, the alternator, the thermostat housing, the new hoses, and belt.  He said the one screw hole where the housing fastens to the water pump housing is wallered out and they are going to tap it otherwise would have to replace the waterpump housing and that's either a big big deal or expensive.  He said if not for that they would have had that together today.  So down I go tomorrow, think the only way I'm going to get this done is set on them.  Someone else was calling wanting their portable dog van, for washing or somethng to do with dogs.

Anyway the pictures are attached.  I think it looks a lot worse then it is, but like I told him its way past time for this to be done.  The bathroom deal is just nasty.

I've posted so much negative I will post something positive.

Here is a picture of the roof of one of our 1983 Silver Streak 3411 TT's.  This old gal is almost 30 years old, and yes it has been hailed on, but look at the quality of the roof of this old thing.  I just finished washing it down with a combo of Mequiers, Simple Green, and a degreaser. It does not and has not leaked, neither has its sister trailer except around a window somewhere.

Congratulations on keeping your cool, Carolyn.  I don't think I would have been able to do that as well as you did.  What a mess!  I'm so sorry you have had to postpone your travel plans.  As hard as you work, you deserve some R&R time.

Margi

PatrioticStabilist said:

I've posted so much negative I will post something positive.

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Carolyn,

You are way to the positive side in the  number of posts you have made on this RVForum.  You have every right to show the facts.  I did not  see your posts as negative.  I realize this is a terrible experience for you and I  appreciate your trying to stay positive but you deserve a vent or two or three with this last episode.  I think your philosophy about what goes around will come  around will be true in the long run. 

I also know that all those wires  hanging out of front components may look worse than the  actual fix will require  but the issue is you were not told!  That is the rub in my book.  Sigh......You deserve better!