Powergear rant

[DFR]

Why any coach manufacturer would use any powergear equipment is beyond me. Their service after the sale sucks to say the least. I was in Northern Indiana when I noticed a broken roller on the curbside slide rail. I went to Nappanee to the Gulfstream Factory to get the part. I was told that the part I needed was a Powergear part and that I needed to go to powergear themselves for the part. Back in the car and proceeded to Mishawaka to Powergear. Once there I was turned away and told they only deal with dealers, not consumers. From there I had to go to the Detroit area for a week (luckily the slide came in in spite of the missing roller). I went to Camping World in Belleville and had them order the part. That was on monday. Today, Friday, Camping World is still waiting for someone from Powergear to return their calls. This is getting ridiculous to say the least. If ever I should buy another RV, rest assured, it will not have any Powergear equipment on it.

[Blaster 22]

Customer service...it's a wonderful thing.

You would think with the economy in the dumper, they'd be busting their butts to take care of people.

[DFR]

I would agree. You'd think that if you had a customer in your lobby requesting a vital part to keep moving down the road, you'd take care of him to get him out of your hair. But, Noooooo, you chase him out of your lobby telling him to go elsewhere. Good thing I have a long fuse...

[wa8yxm]

Power gear does not provide direct customer support.. They do, however, provide dealer support.. They simply insist you go to a dealer and pay through the nose.

Now, I do have an opinion of that.. I will reserve it though because if I posted what I think of that kind of support the moderators would be quite right in deleting or seriously editing my post due to language content.

[mrschwarz]

There is no problem with a manufacturer supporting their customer base. My company does it all the time. There is a difference between supporting your customers and being rude to their customers. When I was in customer service and encountered a situation like this, I worked with the end user for the item (s)he needed and contacted a local distributor to get everything arranged. Win for my customer and win for the guy that wandered in. That's how I would want to be treated. The key to customer service is to treat the person the way you would like to be treated.

[DFR]

The sight of an upset 6'3" 300# man didn't even phase them. There was no offer of how to remedy the situation. I explained that I needed to be moving and didn't even know if the slide would retract. They didn't care. They just walked away from me. In hindsight, I guess that wouldn't surprise me as they won't even return the call for service from Camping world.

[wa8yxm]

DFR.. As it happens I have a power gear part that needs replacement.. You happen to have done an excelent job of describing me.

Upset, 6'3" 300 pounds.

Yup, that's me all right.

[Elkhartjim]

I find it interesting you aren't upset with the coach mfg sending you away. I would have expected them to have had the part in stock or maybe not. Just sayin!

[DFR]

Jim, Gulfstream explained to me that powergear supplies them with the slide unit intact and as such do not stock the parts from the slide. It made sense to me. I wouldnt expect them to stock parts for other things either like refridgerators, furnaces, etc. And wa8yxm we must be twins...

[Meandering Retiree]

I have a twisted shaft on the front slide of my Monaco Windsor. I contacted a local independent repairman here in Gatlinburg, TN. He immediately phoned the order to Powergear. He was informed and then informed me that they would not ship it for seven days. I told him to have them overnight it and I would pay for the special shipping. They did not do that but waited until Friday to ship it. He called me today and he is tracking the shipment, should be in by noon on Monday and he will be out as soon as the part comes in. We were supposed to leave on Sunday....now we will wait until Tuesday. Fortunately, we are retired and under no pressure to get home. He and I discussed their business policy and agreed that it was not the way to please customers. Happy Trails!

[Gary RVRoamer]

You would have had a similar reaction at a Ford or GM factory, or a Whirlpool appliance factory. End users have to work with the dealer network, not direct with the manufacturer.

I'd be more ticked at Gulfstream than one of their component suppliers.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer You would have had a similar reaction at a Ford or GM factory, or a Whirlpool appliance factory. End users have to work with the dealer network, not direct with the manufacturer. I'd be more ticked at Gulfstream than one of their component suppliers.

I agree.I don't know if PG ever dealt with the end user but I do know that they are trying to stay in bus. We have a long ongoing thread in the Fleetwood forum re PG jacks. Most of us ranted early on about the same complaints as discussed here. I had to order a part in 2010 and was informed that the reason they didn't ship right away was because they had to make the part as needed. Business got so bad that they couldn't stock parts as in the past when times were better. They also had to limit tech. phone calls to repair facilities as they cut their tech staff to a minimum. They do however answer emails from the end user in a prompt, curtious , professional knowledgeable way.
They could have closed their doors like so many others in the RV related field.

I for one am very happy that they didn't. My patience is no where like it used to be but I will gladly wait on parts and email the techs for support as opposed to being totally SOL.

[Clifftall]

Furthermore, I had HWH jacks and slides on mt last MH. I had a few problems and went to their factory twice and was treated royally. Things seem to be different today as I read on various forums that they have changed and their service has suffered because of the economy as well.

[Martind4]

We were at the HWH factory late last fall and had great service, our appointment started on time and the project was completed in less time than their estimate, price was right too.

I'd go back again in the future if needed rather than trust a dealer.