Nice interview.
The things Matt talks about are the things that customers care about and want to know that Newmar will continue keep on its radar screen. In my (several) dealings with Newmar (and Matt Miller), I am fully confident that Newmar will be there for us as time goes on and will stand fully behind their products. They know that their reputation is on line with all of us and they have shown me that they take that knowledge and that responsibility seriously.
Any new coach has issues -- simply because of the complexity of the machine and the many parts and pieces that have to work together in tandem to make it go smoothly. Anyone who thinks that a piece of machinery this complicated will be without the need for repair or adjustment is simply fooling him or herself.
Instead, the relevant question is what the manufacturer will do WHEN those issues arise. Will they face them directly and resolve them in a manner that assures the customer's loyalty and expectations -- or will they move toward the many ways they can always find to wiggle out of taking responsibility for inadequate design or manufacture and leave the customer asking about another manufacturer when the time comes to replace his/her coach?
Like most of us, we have had issues with our new coach (which we love, maybe even more now than the day we turned the key in the ignition for the first time). Though we bought the coach new in November, 2011, it sat on the dealer's lot for almost a year and a half before we took delivery at the end of March, 2012. Did that in turn result in some of the issues we had? I suspect the answer is yes, but we got the coach and the deal we wanted and we have been, and are, incredibly excited about the choice we made. But the coach came to us with "issues" and we needed help.
The dealer, unfortunately, did an inadequate job of resolving the issues we encountered. But Newmar followed up with us -- by calling us directly to make sure we were happy with our purchase (which, at that point we were, honestly, less than enthused) -- and we were asked to get the coach directly to Newmar (not another dealer) so that all issues could be resolved to our complete satisfaction (Newmar even paid the fuel and toll costs to get the coach to Nappanee).
In going over the coach, the techs not only addressed and resolved all of the issues we put on our punch list, they also discovered and fixed a few other small things that they noticed when the did the work -- things that may never have surfaced had they not been addressed at the factory. The techs who worked on the coach emailed and called us and kept us up to date on all issues we presented to them. They made sure that with regard to each and every issue, we knew what they found and what they did to resolve each issue. The work was not done until it was all done. Never was there a question of them wanting to get us out of their hair. I fully believe that they would have kept the coach for as long as it took to get it right and "brand new" -- however long that took.
Bottom line is this: We fell in love all over again with the Newmar coach choice we made and we feel that -- without asking for anything other than fixing the things that were broke -- Newmar went above and beyond what they needed to do, to make sure we were fully happy and completely satisfied with our purchase of their product and with them.
We are.
Happy Motoring!
Deek and JoJo
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