Lets up the communication and drop the pain

[mike.t]

is that a yes or no?

[Wobbles]

Originally Posted by Mr Havercamp

Well someone grew a set............... or more than likely finally just gave up.

Two consumers accuse multiple companies of breach of express warranty in car purchase | Louisiana Record

That link was a little thin on the details.

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by Mr Havercamp

Well someone grew a set............... or more than likely finally just gave up.

Two consumers accuse multiple companies of breach of express warranty in car purchase | Louisiana Record

I thought the"Magnuson Moss Warranty Act" read if a automotive/RV dealer said you have to put the factory part on or it will void your warranty they must give you that part for free.

[HappyGuy]

Mike T, I would be happy to show anyone at Forrest River the potential behind real time online meetings and volunteer my time to do so. My primary interest is in improving the situation and not making a buck.

[Mr Havercamp]

Originally Posted by mike.t

I thought the"Magnuson Moss Warranty Act" read if a automotive/RV dealer said you have to put the factory part on or it will void your warranty they must give you that part for free.

Not sure of that one !

I know it prevents a manufacturer from voiding the warranty in a lot of cases because you used an aftermarket part, but as with all Federal regulations its not exactly a Readers Digest condensed book. I don't know how many pages it would be printed.......a lot I Imagine

[djemgoss]

Originally Posted by HappyGuy

The RV Industry Death Spiral thread seems to highlight a need that someone could fill and make a potential killing in the industry. There needs to be a way to engage more repair personnel in a more timely manner. Right now most mobile repair services are not engaged with supporting new hardware unless the owner is willing to pay out of pocket. One of the main reasons is an inability to communicate with the manufacturer in a timely manner. By timely I mean right now and interactively. Mobile repair services able to go on site and work on a rig. They are not tied to a bay and can handle all but the biggest problems faster than a dealer.

The challenge here is that the industry has not upgraded their support network to use mobile technology. I can setup a bill pay system on my phone, use a meeting program to meet with a person real time and show them the problem first hand. I can take snap shots during the meeting, highlight what I'm talking about and then both participants can mark up the image while talking about it real time. A quote for work can be issued immediately and agreed upon right then and there. On top of that, the meeting can be recorded and kept as a record or referred back to as needed. No need for reams of paper or long and confusing email threads.

The technology exists to allow a manufacturer rep and a technician to deal with an issue real time and there are free applications out there that would allow them to use a 200.00 android tablet to do it. I do this daily in my job so it would be a snap for me to pass this idea on. If anyone from FR on this forum would like to chat about this post or would like me to demonstrate this tech and its setup please PM me. I would be more than happy to setup a webex meeting and walk you through this idea and its potential applications. It could really boost customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Imagine the press you would get both on the customer and dealership side of things if the factory was able to respond in minutes instead of days or weeks? A dealer has a part and wants to verify it's the right one? Take a snap shot and PM it to the parts dept while in a chat. You can compare notes and images to make certain that the right part is delivered.

HappyGuy, I agree with you 100%! I have seen and have used what you are talking about. If Forest River wants to have and keep happy customers so that they are also returning customers, someone should get in contact with you! Better yet, maybe you should try and contact Warren Buffet directly. I think he just might be interested in what you have to offer! Good Luck!!!

[Oaklevel]

The other part of the equation is some of the dealers are small and can not afford the technology. To look up a part our dealer has to look in a book, receipts are hand written. No computer for that here.

A mobile RV repair service would go broke here, also to have mobile repair some dealers that are small would have to hire help and the cost would have to be passed along.

Another issue is most of the components are sourced out and to keep up with other manufacturers parts and many that are discontinued often and from smaller manufacturers.

[BandJCarm]

Originally Posted by djemgoss

HappyGuy, I agree with you 100%! I have seen and have used what you are talking about. If Forest River wants to have and keep happy customers so that they are also returning customers, someone should get in contact with you! Better yet, maybe you should try and contact Warren Buffet directly. I think he just might be interested in what you have to offer! Good Luck!!!

I asked earlier with no reply. I'll ask another way.

Does Mr. Buffett own anything else with this reputation and amount of perceived issues? What's his take on all this?

[mike.t]

Originally Posted by HappyGuy

Mike T, I would be happy to show anyone at Forrest River the potential behind real time online meetings and volunteer my time to do so. My primary interest is in improving the situation and not making a buck.

Then contact Forest (1 r i think) River and any other RV maker and if it will work for them $$$ and also improve the customer relationship with their dealers i am sure they would like to hear your presentation.
And again are you looking for any financial gain out of this? If not kudos to you for helping the RV travelers across America.

[HappyGuy]

Originally Posted by Oaklevel

The other part of the equation is some of the dealers are small and can not afford the technology. To look up a part our dealer has to look in a book, receipts are hand written. No computer for that here.

A mobile RV repair service would go broke here, also to have mobile repair some dealers that are small would have to hire help and the cost would have to be passed along.

Another issue is most of the components are sourced out and to keep up with other manufacturers parts and many that are discontinued often and from smaller manufacturers.

That is the great thing about many of these applications. Companies have gotten wise to the fact that your average consumer will not or can not pay for an expensive license. Even Cisco (whom I do work for btw but not the WebEx division) has a tiered setup that allows people to setup personal accounts, download an app to their phone or tablet,

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...meetings&hl=en

and then they're up and running. How many mobile repair techs have a smart phone? If they do then the out of pocket expense is zero. If a manufacturer doesn't want to pay for an enterprise solution to start with they could start with an open source client using a similar model. The main difference for the technician would just be which app is downloaded and installed onto their device. Still no net cost to the guy on the front lines.

EDIT:
There is an out of pocket expense to pay for the data usage required to run the meeting so I guess it isn't completely free...
END EDIT:

You won't be able to solve the entire problem in one shot but improving communication between the manufacturer and dealer is a good starting point. Companies within an industry often get wind very quickly when their competition gets a leg up on them especially when it involves something that saves time, money and improves customer perception all in one shot.

[bclemens]

I actually did this the low tech way, just yesterday. I had a DX3 customer that had no power in the awning. We were on the phone together and he was texting me pictures of what he was looking at and I was on the exact same model walking through in real time all the troubleshooting items. At the end of the day...it was simply his inverter was put on standby (I hate that Xantrex puts that button there, but requires a menu option to change it back). I foresee a vendor change in the very near future.

While all of that sounds good...you still need manpower to provide real-time solutions. That, more than the technology is still the current bottleneck.

[Tom48]

Originally Posted by mikeysotp

You are missing one key element.

They don't care.

I THINK and certainly HOPE YOU ARE WRONG. Our unit came from the Rialto CA plant to our dealer 35 miles away the day after Memorial Day, 2016. Dealer did his PDI and we came and did ours the next day, June 1. A few minor adjustments at (shameless plug) the dealer Major RV Hesperia CA. Holly crap. They forgot our tank heat tapes. Called the factory,. Rep says WOW it shows on the build sheet, but was not signed off. Steve at factory warranty,. said, sure, if the customer wants to take delivery,We will get them inTOMORROW. Dropped it off 8 am on 6-2-16. Five hour later, got the call. It will be done by 3 pm, you can pick up at 3 or tomorrow morning. Two other small things that I had pointed out on our drop off, walk through had been fixedas well.

Couple weeks later experienced two "screws ripped out " issues. Took to a local authorized repair facility who said " may take 3-5 days, to get approval". Called Factory Warranty (now my best new friend Steve) reported the problem. Steve said. Oh #!?#. I will call them for you right now and authorize it. "That shouldn't have happened. Sorry Tom. Next day service center called ALL DONE. No charge, come get it.

After all the repair nightmares on the forum, thought Ihad died and gone to heaven.

[HappyGuy]

If you limited the initial scope of this "call center" to just a subset of dealers would the reduction in the initial cost for man power be reduced enough to make it worth looking at?

If nobody starts the ball rolling nothing will change...