Head West not so young Man

[daugen]

gosh, when you email the CEO things really do happen. The issue of course is why anyone should go through this. And notice that Mr. Red Faced leads off with my apparent failures of communication. Did Jake/Winnebago ever call ME back to see how I was doing? Of course not. This is all denial and evasion.
Exactly what I expected.

I love the "Winnebago has everything in stock." What a crock. Their own parts people said it wasn't so, but he is the boss so he must be right, correct? Minus one inventory but we have the parts.
And of course we will take it under advisement with Lippert. How about doing your own job Mr SrVP of Parts and keep them stocked, like a parts dept is supposed to...

and how about the "we were not aware" part. Well he personally might not have been, but his staff sure was, and they were asked repeatedly how to help out the customer, me, and utterly nothing happened.
The dealer service manager called his employee, and history seems to be rewritten here.

Am I being too negative when I find it hard to believe these folks? I admit to a certain glaze that comes over me when I get these calls anymore.

Well, at least the parts will get to the local dealer. Hey, that's a big start, and gets me closer to selling the thing and getting a fifth wheel and starting over in September.



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Steve Evenson (sevenson@winnebagoind.com)
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1:19 PM
[Keep this message at the top of your inbox]
To: Drew Augenblick
Cc: Jake T. Thompson, Randy Potts
sevenson@winnebagoind.com
Hi Mr. Augenblick,

It is unfortunate that you did not contact Winnebago Industries again after your last conversation with Jake Thompson on 4/10 and 4/11 of 2014. We were NOT aware that you or S&S Apache RV were unable to secure parts from Lippert. Winnebago Industries has ALL of the needed parts in our inventory. They will be shipped on Monday to Fretz RV in Souderton, PA and arrive on Wednesday, May 14th. Please set up an appointment with them at your earliest convenience. Mr. Thompson and Lippert will be contacting you today.

We will share your experience with Lippert components so they can learn from any communication break downs or parts delivery issues.

Please accept our apologies as we do try to help every customer that turns to us for assistance.

Steven R. Evenson
Winnebago Industries
Director of Parts and Service
800 537 1885

 

[Larro Darro]

Everyone there is playing CYA.

But at least things are getting done now.

Larro

 

[texasjohn]

Well, hooray, at least you now have some valid email addresses...and I think you should send a daily status report to these folks...better idea...give them this TBN thread and invite them to post in your thread...to let everyone know what they are doing to make sure your problem is solved....as opposed to simply installing new parts.

Again, since there are so many failures of this nature, and you almost had a second one as well, I think that somehow there is a design problem that needs to be addressed. I would make that point to Mr. Potts, directly, and hope that the parts install easily and work for a long time.

The tone of the email is certainly offensive..."it's all your problem since you didn't contact us yet one more time, and we are perfect in solving all problems, so it pains us in taking these extra steps, but we'll do it, but won't admit that there were problems in getting your difficulty solved." I don't think this is how you show contrition. :thumbdown:

 

[daugen]

yeah, John, but I am much too small fry to get anything better. If I had been willing to sit in that campground for another week, with no table, until the parts got to S&S Apache, well not sure I would have even if they had given me a week out ETA. Instead I got zippo dippo until I made a pita out of myself, and I sure don't enjoy doing that. but I did respond and I won't print that, a bit too sarcastic I think.
I come from a family of lawyers and have dealt in insurance/contract law all my life. So if I wanted to be unpleasant, i guess I could be. But not my nature. I don't get mad, I just leave and you never get my business again. Life is too short, and I sure learned that with my wife passing in November. After what I went through in her battle with cancer the last two years in particular, this rv stuff is just piddling. It is just not worth getting upset over. Actually the thing that got me the most upset was the constant waiting on the phone, by cell phone, and getting disconnected. The lack of parts I understood, sort of, it happens, subcontractor pipelines (the bad electric motor came from yet another company that Lippert then modified for use so of course it is the other supplier who is the real problem.)

Stuff happens. Parts break. Don't worry. Be Happy. sigh

 

[Jstpssng]

yeah, John, but I am much too small fry to get anything better. If I had been willing to sit in that campground for another week, with no table, until the parts got to S&S Apache, well not sure I would have even if they had given me a week out ETA. Instead I got zippo dippo until I made a pita out of myself, and I sure don't enjoy doing that. but I did respond and I won't print that, a bit too sarcastic I think.
I come from a family of lawyers and have dealt in insurance/contract law all my life. So if I wanted to be unpleasant, i guess I could be. But not my nature. I don't get mad, I just leave and you never get my business again. Life is too short, and I sure learned that with my wife passing in November. After what I went through in her battle with cancer the last two years in particular, this rv stuff is just piddling. It is just not worth getting upset over. Actually the thing that got me the most upset was the constant waiting on the phone, by cell phone, and getting disconnected. The lack of parts I understood, sort of, it happens, subcontractor pipelines (the bad electric motor came from yet another company that Lippert then modified for use so of course it is the other supplier who is the real problem.)

Stuff happens. Parts break. Don't worry. Be Happy. sigh

I haven't followed your trip the way some have, but have checked in occasionally.

I admire your patience and understanding... and hope you eventually continue your trip.

 

[k0ua]

Hi Drew, I am kinda late to the gathering here, but I was enjoying your travel log and the pictures, and now see you are on your way home due to the problems with the service or lack thereof from the manufacturer. I am sorry to hear about this, I know you have this on your mind and may not be in the mood, but I was going to suggest that you might enjoy getting your Amateur Radio license, if you go on another one of these trips, so that you could share by voice some of your adventures of the day when you were stopped for the evening..

I know several of us are licensed and I know I would enjoy chatting with you on the radio about what you had seen and taken pictures of that you post here. It is also a good way to make other friends outside of TBN. There are a lot of RV folks that do this, and thought you might enjoy that too.
It is easier now to get your license, as there is no longer a Morse Code requirement. Just an idea, but if you would like more info about it, let me know. And I will point you in the right direction.

Have a safe trip back home, and I sure hope your RV troubles are resolved soon and completely.:thumbsup:

 

[texasjohn]

Daugen, it's clear that you are well able to deal with corporate foolishness when need be....but, neither you nor I should have to do so...here's hoping that the road smooths out for you from here forward!!

 

[daugen]

thanks guys. A drizzly morning and I'm off in a bit to Blountville TN, right on the VA/TN border, to the Rocky Top Campground. Love that name.

I am also keeping in mind that I'll be back in the seat of my Kubota by the end of next week, so there are always good things to look forward to.

And I will start out again, hopefully in September.

 

[mostly_gas]

Drew, sorry to hear about your troubles. I would have been temped to email back to Steve at Winnebago that corporate communications are not your problems, and if there were proper communications there would be less likely to have such severe parts shortage. :thumbdown:

 

[mostly_gas]

Where is the winnebago thread?