Dealing with Customer Service
08-31-2015
Author: Blog Editor in Chasing Adventure- Coast to Coast
Deb and I just spent the last four days in the Panhandle of Florida. Not by choice, as we were having our oven installed in our Winnebago Meridian. It was part of the deal when we purchased it new this past July.
After spending the night at the Tallahassee RV Park, this is a tremendous park, lots of space and very well maintained, we proceeded to Camping World at Midway. We had the work scheduled since July, and therefore, a simple process to turn-in the RV and pick it up the next day! Wrong! You see, what the owner understands and what the service center understands is way beyond any comparison. They had a ticket to install the oven! Wait! What about the other four issues to be fixed or modified? After discussing it with the service manager, to no avail, I found our original salesman who naturally knew about each issue I had identified! Now we are on track to get all the work done! The one additional issue was to paint the front of the RV with the texture used for a bed liner in a pick-up truck. First we differed on the price quote, not a good start. Then I informed them to do all the other work first or don’t paint the front.
The original agreement was to pick up our RV the next day. Wrong! After painting it must set overnight to harden. (Remember they had to finish working on all the other issues before painting), I was not told that it had to set overnight when we scheduled the appointment. Therefore, we had to spend two nights in a hotel in Destin, Florida.
The moral of this story is that there are two thought patterns involved, one is what the owner wanted to hear, and the other is what the service dealer thinks the salesman agreed to do. Two different worlds! The one major thing to remember is to remain calm! Don’t let your emotional attachment to the RV, which of course you have spent a fortune on to get it equipped the way you would like it, cause you to lose common courtesy. Remember to be professional and courteous in dealing with employees. Before going to pick-up our RV, I had read Our Daily Bread, which I do each morning, and the message for the day was to control one’s anger and emotions! I took it too heart and resisted the temptation to lose my cool and scream and holler like many RV owners will do. And like I have done in the past!
I spoke with the General Manager who is a tremendously polite and understanding person, considering he has to deal with so many emotional owners that want it done right now! I might last a week in his position! He explained how the operations of his Camping World functions. The reason the service manager did not know of the “other issues”, was because there are other division managers dealing with the particular specialty required to accomplish the task. Once they all got together on the same couch, they were able to accomplish the requirement, yet it took the General Manager to clarify the situation to me. I departed the Camping World with the exact cost I had been quoted, the work completed in a professional manner, and a wife who loves the new oven! All because I did not react as a typical emotional RV owner!
Perhaps if we RV’ers could separate the emotional attachment from our RV, we would see how cooperative and accommodating the service centers are when we need service. The work performed by Camping World at Midway, Florida was very professional. Our work included installing an oven, repairing some paint at the top of the rear ladder, replacing a faucet, and replacing original latches with stronger latches. All work looked as if it had come directly from the factory.
About the Bloggers: Debbie and Mike Whitt are part time RV’ers who decided to give up sailing and begin a life on the road and enjoy the RV’ing lifestyle. With no idea of what type of RV they wanted, they began with a used 2006 Damon Challenger. Five RV’s later, they enjoy the RV life in their 2015 Itasca Meridian. They love the adventure, meeting people and searching for all the great seafood spots along the way. The RV life is somewhat different than the sailing world yet, it offers all the adventure they had hoped to find. Although adapting to the RV life has been a new experience, they enjoy the many trips that they have taken to discover the beauty of the USA. They are currently planning to be full time RV’ers by mid-2016. Follow the adventures of Deb and Mike and their two miniature longhair dachshunds, see where their adventure takes them while preparing to be full time RV’ers.
After spending the night at the Tallahassee RV Park, this is a tremendous park, lots of space and very well maintained, we proceeded to Camping World at Midway. We had the work scheduled since July, and therefore, a simple process to turn-in the RV and pick it up the next day! Wrong! You see, what the owner understands and what the service center understands is way beyond any comparison. They had a ticket to install the oven! Wait! What about the other four issues to be fixed or modified? After discussing it with the service manager, to no avail, I found our original salesman who naturally knew about each issue I had identified! Now we are on track to get all the work done! The one additional issue was to paint the front of the RV with the texture used for a bed liner in a pick-up truck. First we differed on the price quote, not a good start. Then I informed them to do all the other work first or don’t paint the front.
The original agreement was to pick up our RV the next day. Wrong! After painting it must set overnight to harden. (Remember they had to finish working on all the other issues before painting), I was not told that it had to set overnight when we scheduled the appointment. Therefore, we had to spend two nights in a hotel in Destin, Florida.
The moral of this story is that there are two thought patterns involved, one is what the owner wanted to hear, and the other is what the service dealer thinks the salesman agreed to do. Two different worlds! The one major thing to remember is to remain calm! Don’t let your emotional attachment to the RV, which of course you have spent a fortune on to get it equipped the way you would like it, cause you to lose common courtesy. Remember to be professional and courteous in dealing with employees. Before going to pick-up our RV, I had read Our Daily Bread, which I do each morning, and the message for the day was to control one’s anger and emotions! I took it too heart and resisted the temptation to lose my cool and scream and holler like many RV owners will do. And like I have done in the past!
I spoke with the General Manager who is a tremendously polite and understanding person, considering he has to deal with so many emotional owners that want it done right now! I might last a week in his position! He explained how the operations of his Camping World functions. The reason the service manager did not know of the “other issues”, was because there are other division managers dealing with the particular specialty required to accomplish the task. Once they all got together on the same couch, they were able to accomplish the requirement, yet it took the General Manager to clarify the situation to me. I departed the Camping World with the exact cost I had been quoted, the work completed in a professional manner, and a wife who loves the new oven! All because I did not react as a typical emotional RV owner!
Perhaps if we RV’ers could separate the emotional attachment from our RV, we would see how cooperative and accommodating the service centers are when we need service. The work performed by Camping World at Midway, Florida was very professional. Our work included installing an oven, repairing some paint at the top of the rear ladder, replacing a faucet, and replacing original latches with stronger latches. All work looked as if it had come directly from the factory.
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About the Bloggers: Debbie and Mike Whitt are part time RV’ers who decided to give up sailing and begin a life on the road and enjoy the RV’ing lifestyle. With no idea of what type of RV they wanted, they began with a used 2006 Damon Challenger. Five RV’s later, they enjoy the RV life in their 2015 Itasca Meridian. They love the adventure, meeting people and searching for all the great seafood spots along the way. The RV life is somewhat different than the sailing world yet, it offers all the adventure they had hoped to find. Although adapting to the RV life has been a new experience, they enjoy the many trips that they have taken to discover the beauty of the USA. They are currently planning to be full time RV’ers by mid-2016. Follow the adventures of Deb and Mike and their two miniature longhair dachshunds, see where their adventure takes them while preparing to be full time RV’ers.
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