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Sunday, December 29, 2013

THEY KEEP COMING, AND COMING

Red Bay, Alabama
Tiffin Motorhomes Service
Temperature 40 degrees & sunny

Before Tiffin closed for Christmas, we had our check list completed.  The last thing Tiffin service center needed to complete was the replacement of a Jack.  

Four green hydraulic lifts raised all 29,410 plus all our "stuff" into the air in order to replace one of our leveling jacks.  Brett completed the job in just over an hour. Another job well done by Tiffin.  

Brett did come to the comfortable waiting lounge to give us the report that one of the jacks was sluggish.  He wanted to know if we wanted to replace it.  We chose to wait.  It may have been a mistake.  Now when we retract the jacks, the alarm continues to ring alerting us that the jack is not up all the way.  That jack is only four inches from where it should be!  We may have to replace that jack when the Tiffin employees return from their week of vacation.  

Before the plant closed own for Christmas, the insurance estimate was completed.  This has been a frustrating experience.  After being told that McKinney RV, an ex-employee of Tiffin, could complete our repair work faster, we chose to allow McKinney to do the repairs.  

All well and good. But....McKinney has been dragging their feet, not returning telephone calls and not submitting the estimate they completed to our insurance provider in a timely manner.  This is not our idea of a dependable company.

Our adjuster called and I explained our situation.  We agreed that no matter how much time it will take, that Tiffin service will do the repairs.  Of course, this called for yet another estimate, this one from Tiffin.  

Within ten....have you got that....ten minutes of the decision to let Tiffin repair the motorhome, a Tiffin employee was at our motorhome, taking photographs and composing an estimate for Nationwide Insurance.  Now, that is service.  

There are many employees and past employees that have opened their specialty shops.  One is TJ Allison.  He works in the cabinetry department of Tiffin service and after hours does the same work.  

We contacted TJ and asked him to install the new television that we purchased from Best Buy in Indianapolis. TJ's price was reasonable and he changed the front in of our coach from ugly to neat and tidy.  At least for a while.  
We now have another storage place located behind the television set.  The wood frame that was made to hold the television is hinged.  

It, after releasing two safety screws, swings open to the
cavity where the old TV was located.  A very nice place for storing some of my fiber.  


While everyone was gone....this campground looked like a ghost town with only four rigs hanging tough here.  

With the service technicians on Christmas vacation, it was a great opportunity to service the employee parking lot along with the campgrounds.  most of the"streets" in the campgrounds are blacktop, but the spots for the coaches are a fine gravel along with portions of the "streets."  

Friday, Saturday, the Pheytons, Allegros and Buses, in the rain, file into the campgrounds, taking numbers that will place them into the que for service and receiving their lot number.
  

We are number three in the que.  But there are seven ahead of us who's work on their coaches was not completed before Christmas and they left for the holiday and have returned. That officially makes us number 10.  

Today brought blue skies with fluffy clouds and more Tiffin motorhomes.  

Thanks so much for joining us today.  Be safe as you travel.  

God bless each and every one of you.  



   

















15 comments:

  1. We never used McKinney. We were told that they do not work fast at all.

    We wished we would have known you were looking for someone else. Custom RV, INC. Brannon Hutcheson is terrific. Everyone uses him for one reason or other. Please keep his name in mind the next time you need some work done.

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    Replies
    1. We will keep him in mind. Thank you for your reference!

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  2. Poor service seems the norm these days. A real treat to find a company that goes full force to satisfy the customer.

    More storage space is always a good thing.

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    1. Tiffin's service is a joy! They stumble over themselves to please! Communication is a ten out of ten!

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  3. Boy you have become a Tiffin expert. We have a slow jack too and David just takes a tire iron out and helps it along. No big deal yet. But we've had others and replacing the solenoid, which wasn't too difficult, fixed them. We've also replaced the retracting springs which helped. Another not too hard once you figure it out. We haven't had to replace the entire jack to fix the problem on any of ours. Really like the job they did on your front TV. Sure wish I could get someone knowledgeable to do one for my Winnebago. Yours looks great and must have some serious hinges and safety screws to keep it stable going on down the road.

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    Replies
    1. Oh my gosh....NOT a Tiffin expert....so far from it.....I have so much to learn. Does your alarm sound when the jack is part way down? The noise is terrible.

      The other jack leaked all the hydraulic fluid....was totally kaput.

      The TV job is great. Maybe, just maybe you could venture to northwest Alabama to have TJ make one for you. If you want his telephone number, let me know.

      Yes, the front is on a piano hinge and there are two safety screws on the upper and lower right side to keep the cabinet from opening during travel. The wood even matches the cabinetry in our coach.

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  4. Seems like you guys have been there awhile now. You will be itching to get on the road for sure. I would just about be stir crazy by now,.......

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    1. We have been here 2 1/2 weeks now. And yes, I'd love to be on the road. My hitch itch is really bad. We drive to some nearby cities to explore which helps our insanity!

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  5. I've been thinking of getting a new flatscreen, but I'd have to go to Louisiana to get it installed.

    Do you use silicone spray on your levelers? They can get sluggish if you don't. That alarm is so annoying!

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    Replies
    1. Where are you volunteering next summer? Maybe you can stop by Red Bay and have TJ install a flat screen for you. It looks sooo nice. AND you do not need to go through the Tiffin Service to have it done, therefore is much faster.

      We will try the silicone spray on our levelers. Thanks for the suggestion.

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  6. Even HWH finally acknowledged that you have to lube your jacks occasionally to keep them working properly. For a long time I carried a long 2X4 to push them up when they were too slow. Once HWH agreed to the use of lubricant, I never had a problem with them after that. It is important to use the right lubricant to avoid damaging the seals. HWH recommended an oil free 3M silicone spray.

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  7. Good luck with getting all that work finally done. The New Tv looks Great.

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  8. If you have Atwood electric levelers, you might need to do the "reset home position" troubleshooting steps for that sluggish leg. We recently had one leg not retract more than a few inches even though the controller showed it retracted. Once we followed the steps, it worked like a charm.

    We second Brannon Hutcheson ... we used him on two separate occasions when we were in Red Bay and have nothing but good to say about the work he did.

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  9. Always hear such great things about Tiffen!

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    Karen and Steve
    (Blog) RVing: The USA Is Our Big Backyard
    http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com
    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

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  10. That looks like quite an operation. I hope that you get everything taken care of.
    Happy New Year!

    Mark

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