Let's start by saying that I was in the automotive... - km
Let's start by saying that I was in the automotive service industry for over 20 years. As such I know there are times that repair concerns can't be duplicated so no repairs will be attempted. I'm ok with that because a dealership can't be expected to throw parts at the repair till it works.
In Feb 2020 I experienced a furnace failure where the furnace fan works as designed but the furnace will light for approx. 10 seconds but go out after 5-10 seconds. This repeats itself for 5-10 minutes till eventually the fan shuts off.
I returned to the selling dealer HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE for repairs. The dealership replaced the propane regulator and I picked up the RV.
In May 2021 I traveled to the Badlands of South Dakota and arrived to 8" of new snow with daytime temps reaching only 35 degrees and night time temps of 10-15 degrees. 1st time I had attempted to use the furnace (staying home partially because of Covid)- FURNACE NOT WORKING - SAME CONCERN as described to my Service Advisor JD previously.
I removed the Sail Switch - clean, reinstalled and tested voltage at 12 volts from the Circuit Board to and from the Sail Switch. Tested the voltage from the Circuit Board to the HI-LIMIT SWITCH at 3 volts. Suspected Circuit Board failure - called an On-Line Repair facility who confirmed voltage to low and should also test at 12 volts. I ceased diagnosis at this time.
On May 13th upon my return from South Dakota/Nebraska I dropped the RV off at HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE and advised the Service Advisor JD of my concerns and what tests I had performed and the outcome.
Approx. two weeks later JD called and advised that the furnace was working as designed but temps were now in the 70's His advice was to take the RV to Canada (somewhere where is was extremely cold or wait till next winter).
Next time I experienced failure take it to the closest dealer or call Montana RV.
I called MONTANA RV who said if the dealership thought the circuit board was/is failing then they should replace it!
I searched the web and forums and discovered my concern was not new to the industry and several members of the MONTANA OWNERS CLUB FORUM directed me to to find Mr. Vititow. Mr. Vititow of UNITED RV in Dallas had experienced the exact same failure previously and had posted his results. His eventual diagnosis was to remove the Circuit Board place it in a freezer for some time, reinstall, verify the concern, apply a heat gun to warm up the circuits to expand the solder joints at which point it would start working again and then to replace the Circuit Board as the casual part.
On JUNE 11th, I contacted Mr. Vititow of UNITED RV for permission for HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE to contact him in regards to his diagnosis and eventual repair. Mr Vititow stated he was more than willing to discuss this repair with HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE. Mr. Vititow provided his phone contact info to give to my repair facility.
Glad that I may now have a possible repair for my concern I called my Service Advisor JD of HOLIDAY WORLD - MEQUITE. JD advised me that it would be another week before the shop could get my RV back into the shop for another diagnostic test. His main concern was WHO was going to pay for the test if this test failed. I informed JD that I would be more than willing to pay for this test to be performed as returning to usage of the RV knowing another failure was imminent without a proper repair was unsatisfactory. Rarely have I seen such resistance to repair a vehicle as I experienced. His response was "we don't have a freezer" which dissipated when I asked if the dealership didn't have a refrigerator for employees. My phone call was at 11:30 am and JD said it might be late in the day before he could find the opportunity to call Mr. Vitotow.
I felt so unconfident in JD's responses that I immediately called the General Manager Terry Ellis of HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE (the Service Manger was unavailable). I expressed my lack of confidence that JD would follow through but Terry Ellis reassured that he would see to it that someone would follow up with Mr. Vititow.
FAST FORWARD - 10 DAYS - JUNE 21ST
I contacted Mr. Vititow of UNITED RV who informed me that NO ONE has contacted him about the above described concerns/repairs!
I called my Service Advisor JD at HOLIDAY WORLD who told me the dealership has not found time to get the rv back into the service department for additional diagnosis and it would be some time before they are able to.
I then called the General Manager Terry Ellis who stated he "was in the dark" as to the status of the rv. I told him that neither the Service Manager or the Service Advisor had called Mr. Vititow of UNITED RV. As General Manager of the dealership he reports that he does not supervise the Service Department and they "do their own thing" So much for expecting management follow-up!
NO ONE AT THE DEALERSHIP MANAGES THE MANAGERS! QUESTION - WHO IN THE xxxx IS IN CONTROL! I've never seen where ALL managers don't answer to the store's General Manager. That's the purpose - and General Manager's answer to an owner or CEO. The General Manager is the eyes/ears for the owner/CEO
In my time in the automotive service industry if ANYONE (Service Advisor or Manager) had such disrespect and disregard to any customer the 1st offense would have been a long conversation with the owner (not a manager) and no opportunity for a 3rd - TIME FOR A NEW JOB OR CAREER CHANGE! But that's why we were ALWAYS a TOP TEN DEALERSHIP! You get to the top by taking care of your customers!
HOLIDAY WORLD - MESQUITE was more than happy to take my $1k for my annual maintenance repair but disregard the difficult warranty work.
Sincere Thanks to Mr. Vititow of UNITED RV for agreeing to assist me with this repair.
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