RV Service, Why is it so Bad?

Ok this might sound crazy but since 1973 I’ve been involved in serving customers who want…no, NEED RV service.

Why is it as an industry we still seem to make it tough for our customers to get hassle free service?

Well I think I know a couple of reasons….

Seasonality: from staffing to crazy rushes of customers we constantly battle the crazy swing of supply and demand. Often if just one employee calls in sick a whole weeks service schedule gets messed up and if course the customer who was promised a pickup date is let down, bad service, right?

Technical support: we are the professionals. We should know how to fix an RV. With all the electronics, the new designs, new construction methods and materials and not to mention hi tech appliances often we are put in the position of having to ‘learn’ how to diagnose and repair an RV for the very first time while under time pressure, calling factories and/or tech lines. Bad service, right?

Scheduling: 9 techs, 7 service bays, 2 parts people, 1 parking lot. Only 8 hours in a day! Long weekend coming up…trying to co-ordinate 8′ to 40′ RV’s into service bays at the right time with the right parts. One part is wrong, could be anyone’s fault, doesn’t matter, have to re-schedule. Bad service, right?

I don’t want to sound negative, what I want to say is even if every person in a parts and service dept does everything right there are external forces that sometimes come into play that can make the hardest working staff member look bad.

We constantly talk about what we do have control over and how we can improve by looking inward and improving our methods and processes.

I am very proud when I hear one of our staff say “your right, we could have and should have done better. We are truly sorry we let you down. Will you allow us another chance to make it right?”

We always own our actions, we can and do offer the very best service and effort everday, no matter what challenges are thrown our way.

And we are very lucky to have 38 years worth of loyal customers who understand and appreciate our committment to them.

From the desk of: Brad Campkin

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