I have to share this story! NEVER give up!!!
We own a 1992 Winnebago Adventurer, which, until recently, had a leaky roof. We?re not in a position to upgrade, and aren?t prepared to give up RVing, so repair/replace seemed like an option. Last fall, before we put it into storage, a local dealer/servicecenter rep told us he could fix the roof for a specific sum ? not cheap, but manageable. We verbally agreed that we?d bring it in as soon as it came out of storage for the repair. When we went to do just that we learned that person no longer worked there, but that they would check it out and give us an estimate. Unfortunately, we were sent away from there with a ?sorry, it?s impossible, enjoy the time you have left with your unit before it is unusable?. This was without running any tests, or getting onto the roof. We were told that the only way to fix it was to put on a new roof, but the roof we need was no longer manufactured and, if it were, the cost would be $20,000+. I asked directly if there were another solution e.g. putting on a different type of roof, and was told that either wasn?t possible or wasn?t worth the cost. At no point were we offered any options, nor did the dealer offer to check out any other options.
Not one to take no for an answer, I joined a listserve for Winnebago owners and also put my situation on RVforum.net and began to get tips on how to find someone to fix this for us. Lots of calls from California folks (we?re in Massachusetts), and many ?good lucks? later I got a call from George at BayState Ford in Stoughton MA, one of the many places I emailed for advice. After a hopeful conversation George told me ?don?t worry, we can fix this? and we scheduled a drop off date for a Seal-Tek test and estimate. Over the next few weeks we chatted often, trying to make it as convenient as possible for us to drop off our unit. When we did, we immediately felt like we were in good hands! George gave me a complete outline of how they would proceed and we met Bob and Kyle, who would be doing the work. These guys talk straight! They gave us a detailed description of how they?d find the problem(s) and what our possible options would be. In addition, we had a vacation commitment coming up that they promised to meet. True to his word, George called within a few days with an estimate and explanation of what they?d found. The estimate to put on an entire new roof was WELL under what we?d been told from our local dealer, and we gave them the go-ahead. 2 days before our vacation date we got a call ? a one piece rubber roof had been installed and we were good to go!
When we picked up the unit we could tell that the guys had taken great care to do the job right, with some added touches (putting our tire covers on, washing the unit, replacing some screws etc.) We got a full explanation of the work, what to expect, what each cost represented ? no question went unanswered. As Kyle said (as he replaced a light that was out) ?we don?t just care about your rig, we care about YOU?.
I can?t tell you how happy we are to have made the connection with BayState Ford! These folks are creative and thorough, and love a challenge. And, while on vacation, we had 24 hours of monsoon-like rain without a drop!
We own a 1992 Winnebago Adventurer, which, until recently, had a leaky roof. We?re not in a position to upgrade, and aren?t prepared to give up RVing, so repair/replace seemed like an option. Last fall, before we put it into storage, a local dealer/servicecenter rep told us he could fix the roof for a specific sum ? not cheap, but manageable. We verbally agreed that we?d bring it in as soon as it came out of storage for the repair. When we went to do just that we learned that person no longer worked there, but that they would check it out and give us an estimate. Unfortunately, we were sent away from there with a ?sorry, it?s impossible, enjoy the time you have left with your unit before it is unusable?. This was without running any tests, or getting onto the roof. We were told that the only way to fix it was to put on a new roof, but the roof we need was no longer manufactured and, if it were, the cost would be $20,000+. I asked directly if there were another solution e.g. putting on a different type of roof, and was told that either wasn?t possible or wasn?t worth the cost. At no point were we offered any options, nor did the dealer offer to check out any other options.
Not one to take no for an answer, I joined a listserve for Winnebago owners and also put my situation on RVforum.net and began to get tips on how to find someone to fix this for us. Lots of calls from California folks (we?re in Massachusetts), and many ?good lucks? later I got a call from George at BayState Ford in Stoughton MA, one of the many places I emailed for advice. After a hopeful conversation George told me ?don?t worry, we can fix this? and we scheduled a drop off date for a Seal-Tek test and estimate. Over the next few weeks we chatted often, trying to make it as convenient as possible for us to drop off our unit. When we did, we immediately felt like we were in good hands! George gave me a complete outline of how they would proceed and we met Bob and Kyle, who would be doing the work. These guys talk straight! They gave us a detailed description of how they?d find the problem(s) and what our possible options would be. In addition, we had a vacation commitment coming up that they promised to meet. True to his word, George called within a few days with an estimate and explanation of what they?d found. The estimate to put on an entire new roof was WELL under what we?d been told from our local dealer, and we gave them the go-ahead. 2 days before our vacation date we got a call ? a one piece rubber roof had been installed and we were good to go!
When we picked up the unit we could tell that the guys had taken great care to do the job right, with some added touches (putting our tire covers on, washing the unit, replacing some screws etc.) We got a full explanation of the work, what to expect, what each cost represented ? no question went unanswered. As Kyle said (as he replaced a light that was out) ?we don?t just care about your rig, we care about YOU?.
I can?t tell you how happy we are to have made the connection with BayState Ford! These folks are creative and thorough, and love a challenge. And, while on vacation, we had 24 hours of monsoon-like rain without a drop!
