Boxer Lovers
Hackett, AR
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Joined: 07/09/2003
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By our nature, RV'ers are optimists. We believe the best in most people including the ones to sell us the RV's and service them. I said optimist not gullable.
I took my coach in to the local Detroit/ Allison shop for its annual PM service yesterday. We had an 8 a.m. appointment, so I arrived at 7:50. At 9:40 I was told to drive into the shop. You know this isn't going to end well, don't you?
Around 10:05 a service tech rolls his little cart of tools to my coach and asks what I was having done. Of course, I've already given this information to the lady at the check-in, along with my pedigree and blood type. After telling him I want oil, filters, lube for the coach, generator, and chassis, he went to work about 10:30. Yes, I said the day before, "you can knock this out by Noon if I'm there at 8, right? Right!"
I'm doing some office work inside the coach, look outside, and there's no one in the shop. Its empty. That's right, its lunch time!
My service tech drifts back in around 1:15 after leaving at noon, and begins work again. We're five hours into this at this point. I occassionaly walk out to check on his progress, but not to slow him down. He says, oh the oil guage on the lube pump is out of whack. I show I pumped 7.5 gallons of oil in, but the dip stick shows its about twice too full. The next 30 minutes are spent draining new oil out of the engine, bit by bit, and checking the dip stick. Finally we've achieved the proper level. Its 3 p.m.
Next, he putting the oil filter on the generator and notes it won't secure. He gets another filter, just like the one they put on last year, same thing. I said let me pull my owners manuel and get the manufacturer's filter specs. Sure enough, they had put the wrong oil filter on last year, and it had miraculously held. The new one blew as soon as the gen set had oil pressure and threw oil everywhere. By now the manager is checking this out because he's out two oil filters. His comment: "Boy, you're just lucky that thing didn't blow off the there and ruin your generator." It was all I could do to keep from killing the s.o.b. on the spot!
No sir, I said, the luck is with you and your shop since you don't have to BUY me a new generator because your incompetent goober tech put the wrong damn filter on last year! Its 3:40 p.m.
Total bill for oil change for coach and gen set, and replacing a serpentine belt (mine they put it on). $798. Telling the guy off, priceless.
I'm needless to say looking for another shop. Wish I could crawl under mine and do this myself, but not able to for a variety of reasons, foremost being I don't know how.
Dave & Robin
Boxers; Jake & Katie
98 Country Coach Intrigue, 40
09 Subaru Forrester, toad
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Hjudge49
St. Augustine, Fl.
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Joined: 08/15/2007
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Besides the ineptitute, poor service and crappy timing, they gouged you on the price. I'd sure find another service shop.
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fordsooperdooty
Orange Kounty Kalifornia
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Joined: 08/13/2004
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For someone who "don't know how" to do it, you certainly made some good observations and made sure you weren't too much of a "victim"! Good job!
A Jayco is not just an RV, it's a way of life! 
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lanerd
Ridgecrest, CA
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Joined: 03/03/2003
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Unless you have some physical disability to prevent you from doing this type of maintenance, I really don't understand why people will pay hundreds of dollars to have someone else do it for them. Plus you have to put up with all the B.S. from incompetent service people, wrong filters, excessive oil...etc.
If you have never tried to do it yourself, maybe it's time to give it a try. Surely you have a knowledgeable friend who can give you help or instructions. It's really not difficult at all. A couple of tools, a drip pan, funnel, and all the correct filters/oil and the job can be done in a couple of hours at most. Your manual will provide you with all the filter numbers, locations, and any other pertinent information.
Ron
Ron & Sandie
'08 Safari Simba SBD35
Toad: Restored 86 Toy 4x4 P/U
Tow Bar: Sterling
Brakes: Unified
TPMS: Pressure Pro
RETIRED!! How sweet it is....
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wandering1
Texas
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Joined: 06/18/2002
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Whats the name of the shop so everyone knows to go somewhere else?
HR
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MNtundraRet
Bloomington, MN
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Joined: 12/06/2007
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You probably got the new young guy they hired to replace the old, experienced maintenance person they laid off about a year ago. The experienced person was paid much better, but some managers, or owners, have to figured out the old experienced person was worth the higher salary.
Mark
Mark & Jan "Old age & treachery win over youth & enthusiasm"
2003 Fleetwood Jamboree 29
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chasfm11
Dallas/Ft Worth Areas
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Joined: 02/28/2004
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MNtundraRet wrote:You probably got the new young guy they hired to replace the old, experienced maintenance person they laid off about a year ago. The experienced person was paid much better, but some managers, or owners, have to figured out the old experienced person was worth the higher salary.
Mark
In my experience, you ALWAYS get the new guy on maintenance tasks. There is no way that most shops will allow someone capable of fixing things to do "ho hum" type work. Sometimes, you even get the new guy after the old guy looked at the job and decided he didn't want it after starting it. Been there, done that.
Now,about not being able to do it yourself (OP). Question: would you have put the wrong genset filter on? Would you have put too much oil in? I've often been faced with doing something that I found difficult. Since you mentioned serpentine belt, let me tell you about a story. I went to do that and found out, after a lot of study, that the factory had put the wrong A/C belt on and mis-configured my A/C compressor to accomplish that. Many others had the same problem (from the same plant). It took little old me, plugging and prodding for the correct information to get it figured out and share the information. Many others paid for things like removing the fan to change the belts, etc. So not only did I save myself a ton of money and headaches but I was able to do the same for about a dozen other guys. The result: I now have all of the right things to change the belt again if I need to (diagram of the path, adapter for the tensioner) and could do the job laying along side the highway in less than 10 minutes. That, by itself, was worth my attempting the work myself.
Everyone does need to know their limitations. I have mine. But because I continue to try things that challenge me, I've found that my limitation line is not nearly as close as I once thought, particularly when I weigh it against paying someone else a lot of money to do the work and finding out that they know less about it than I do.
2000 Georgie Boy Landau 36'DP Cummins 5.9, Allison 1000 5sp
2005 Saturn Vue Toad, Falcon2 Towbar, BrakeMaster Toad Brake
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BarbaraOK
Livingston, Texas, USA
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Joined: 10/27/2003
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lanerd wrote:Unless you have some physical disability to prevent you from doing this type of maintenance, I really don't understand why people will pay hundreds of dollars to have someone else do it for them. Plus you have to put up with all the B.S. from incompetent service people, wrong filters, excessive oil...etc.
If you have never tried to do it yourself, maybe it's time to give it a try. Surely you have a knowledgeable friend who can give you help or instructions. It's really not difficult at all. A couple of tools, a drip pan, funnel, and all the correct filters/oil and the job can be done in a couple of hours at most. Your manual will provide you with all the filter numbers, locations, and any other pertinent information.
Ron
If you are a fulltimer you really don't have a choice as RV Parks don't allow you to work on your coach at a site. Besides which, we worked all of our lives so that we could retire and enjoy ourselves, and our service needs keeps others working who pay into Social Security so that we get our checks every month.
Barb
Barb & Dave - full-timing
Traveling catpanion Shadow (age 12)
Figment II (2002 Alpine 36 MDDS) 
Mischief (2004 Subaru Forester Toad) 
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Boxer Lovers
Hackett, AR
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Joined: 07/09/2003
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Some good thoughts and ideas. I'm not opitimistic I can find a better service center. This is the last of four I've tried in five years, locally.
If you're in this area and need service send me a personal email and give out the name.
One reason I don't attempt this stuff on my own is pure physics. I'm old and fat and my coach has air bags with air leveling only, no jacks, and low ground clearance. Only room for a skinny guy under there even with level height up and blocks under the frame.
In addition, my barn where I store it has a gravel floor which is not something I want to wallow around on for extended periods of time. Plus, having a heart triple by-pass four years ago, preceeded by two angioplasties kind of forces you to avoid gynnastics under the bus.
Guess I'll keep bird dogging these idiots until I run out of money.
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mockturtle
Northwest
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Joined: 05/31/2005
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Please post your comments here: RV Service Reviews.
2000 Born Free 24RB Class C
2002 Honda CR-V toad
Roadmaster Sterling A/T towbar
VIP braking system
Eddyline Merlin kayak
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