Finally - a GOOD DEALER EXPERIENCE !!

[UK-RV]

Hi Guys

It's finally happened.....

We've found a dealer willing to go that extra mile to put things right - Poulsbo RV in Kent, nr Seattle. (poulsborv.com)

This is the 4th dealer (excluding Lazydays) that we've stopped at for warranty work - and this is the first that has tried to do everything asked of them (or been upfront and honest when they couldn't).

We had various broken items including the toilet seal, wardrobe shelf, cooker cover, drawer catch, dropped engine door, main slide issues and a chip to the generator bay door.

Knowing that things would need to be photographed, written up and faxed to Fleetwood for authority to repair, I took didital photos of the broken items and sent them to Poulsbo RV.

Scott Towmey (Service Director) arranged for most of the parts to be ordered for our arrival - a couple he just couldn't get in time, but he emailed me and let me know before our arrival.

Shortly after leaving the coach at Poulsbo, we received a call with a price to repair the chip to the generator cover - at which point we again explained that it was a warranty issue.

There was a slight mix-up in that Scott didnt feel the chip to the generator cover (found the morning after leaving Lazydays) would be a warranty issue and he thought we were paying to repair this - despite emailing him stating it was to be under warranty.

When we arrived back at the dealership and explained to Scott that the problem had been logged with Fleetwood nearly 3 months ago, he still felt it would be a problem getting authorisation but that he felt responsible for not understanding our requirements and/or explaining the item would likely be chargeable.

So, he rang his bodywork guy (sub contractor), who was at the dealership.

The guy took a look at the chip, and stated he would have it repaired and painted within 30 minutes. He also took time to explain how best to treat/fill paint chips.

He was insistant that he gave the front of the coach a wax whilst he was there and suggested which wax to use - he even gave us the half-full bottle he was using, free of charge.

If Scott had explained the problem with claiming this item under warranty, we could have headed to a different dealer (or had the fun of getting Lazydays to handle the repair and any subsequent water damage when we are back in Florida next March).

Because he felt he had let us down, he went out of his way to ensure we left his dealership 100% happy.

I can't explain how pleased we are in the way they handled this.

Paul

 

[DougJ]

Hi Paul,

I'm not surprised by your positive report on Poulsbo RV.

I've never had any service done there--they're a bit far from the Vancouver, BC, area where I live--but I've seen them in action at the Winnebago Itasca Travellers club state rallies in WA state and have been positively impressed.

Ciao,

Doug

 

[Tom]

Maybe your luck is finally turning positive Paul. Time to buy a lottery ticket.

 

[Karl]

Paul,
Glad to hear that the black cloud has moved from over your head a bit!

How about posting the procedure for fixing the paint chips under a new topic? It's sure to be of interest to many of us.

 

[Tom]

It also would be nice if Paul posted some of his other good experiences (aka sightseeing) to share with us and other folks to follow.

 

[UK-RV]

Karl - I KNEW that I shouldn't have mentioned that? ;D

I should point out that I am NOT a "get your hands dirty" kind of person - I can spend many hours giving the brain some excercise, but am useless when I need to change a lightbulb etc.

So, when Lazydays presented me with 3 pots of touch-up paint and zero instruction on their use, they went in a compartment in the hope they never needed to come back out again.

Of course, little marks have started appearing and I was going to take a look at repairing them "after our Alaska tour" - no point fixing them now only to have lots more at the end of the trip is there !? :-[

Anyway, apologies if this procedure is the most obvious basic thing to you guys - but for me it was a masterclass.

1. Turn the paint pot upside down and shake until the metallic sediment has been cleared from the base of the pot and has been mixed with the paint.

2. Unscrew the cap - WOW, theres a paint brush in there (that's saved me a trip to Home Depot). Wipe the brush on side lip of pot until it appears all paint has gone from the brush.

3. Holding brush upside down, hold it against the paint chip as small amounts of paint transfer from the brush - no need to move the brush.

4. Paint will fill the chip and will then slowly dry out to match the surrounding areas.

Sorry if that was a bit obvious guys, but I certainly learned something.


Tom - Im not too good at describing the places we've been/seen.

Only yesterday, we both said how much we had enjoyed seeing everything we had seen - it didn't matter whether it was touristy things or just driving thru a small village or passing a pretty house, they all added-up to making a pleasurable trip.

I have set-up the website (www.ukrv.co.uk) for folks back home to keep track of our tour, but as I spend more time experiencing things, Im getting less time to update it. We have made a point of getting the 7 rolls of film developed when in Vancouver so at least people can see a few pics.

Paul

 

[Karl]

Paul,

That wasn't as obvious as you may think. I would have held the brush right side up and smeared it on; just as many of us have done when touching up chips on our cars.

 

[JohnSandyWhite]

We have made a point of getting the 7 rolls of film developed when in Vancouver so at least people can see a few pics.

;D It is much simpler AND cheaper with a Digital camera Paul. I loaded ours everyday onto the Laptop.?

Glad to hear things are getting  better.

 

[UK-RV]

Hi JSW

I do have a 4 year old digital camera but the batteries don't seem to last very long after each charge.

Im actually trying to find some good binoculars with built-in digital camera.

The ones Ive got my heart set on are around $250, but I cant find any stores that sell anything over $60. I don't really want to buy without first handling them.



Hi Karl

oh well, I guess I dont feel such a thicko now then.



Paul

 

[Jeff]

Hi JSW

I do have a 4 year old digital camera but the batteries don't seem to last very long after each charge.


Paul

Paul:

I had the same problem with rechargable batteries ijn our camera. Have had much better luck going to Costco and buying a BIG package of AA's.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

I do have a 4 year old digital camera but the batteries don't seem to last very long after each charge.

A few dollars for some new batteries ought to fix that, Paul. Are they standard AA size? Many stores carry rechargeable AA's.

Glad to hear you finally got some good service. We had a similar good experience with a dealer in Albuqueque when our problem-plaugued Dolphin was new - the Service Manager went out of his way to fix as many of our numerous problems as he could and to record documentation for the rest with National RV so that we could get parts ordered for insytalltion at a future stopping point.  Unfortunately the dealership has changed ownersip and location, so I'm not able to recommend them to others.

 

[Ron]

Hi JSW

I do have a 4 year old digital camera but the batteries don't seem to last very long after each charge.

Im actually trying to find some good binoculars with built-in digital camera.

Paul

I use to use rechargeable AA batteries in my Nikon digital but found that the Lithium AA batteries usually last a year before requiring replacement.? IMHO the Lithium batteries are the best way to go.


Good to hear you found a good dealer for warranty service.

 

[JohnSandyWhite]

I do have a 4 year old digital camera but the batteries don't seem to last very long after each charge.

Hi Paul. Like other's. We bought a pack of batteries from Walmart. A set of batteries usually lasted a week or so. We took over a thousand pictures and deleted those that were not what we wanted.