Newmar just doesn’t understand “customer service”

[New2road]

Our experience with Newmar customer service was very good. I called, they either answered or called back soon after. They focused on ensuring I wasn't in an emergency situation and provided the guidance needed to sort the issues. We did two trips to Nappanee, one for CPU and one for service/ modification. Both visits were outstanding, and resulted in relationships with technical people. I emailed those folks for information and assistance from time to time and they responded in reasonable periods with help needed.

Not getting stroked is a personal thing. They rep got you out of the emergency situation. they did what ever back office work was needed to get Girard into action. Girard took the lead.

They loose some style points by not being superior in communication etiquette, but have to figure with the volume of calls that may be a tough bar to reach.

[Ljwt330]

Originally Posted by TJ

In my communication with both Newmar and Girard, there were three other action items beyond simply replacing the awning. At least two of them were action items that could only be addressed by Newmar. To not even acknowledge receipt of those action item requests may be fine with the rest of you, but it does not sit well with me.

Since some appear to be content with Newmar’s status quo, let’s just agree to disagree and put an end to this thread. This will be my last post on this matter.

Simply observations from an outsider.

In the op, the complaint revolves around the failure of Newmar to essentially "close the loop" with the customer. He then adds an exemplary response that he would have liked Newmar to provide. The gist of the hypothetical response is that Newmar confirms that Girard is handling the entire issue, will be the point of contact, and that Newmar is always concerned when a customer's satisfaction in involved.

The opening sentence of his final paragraph reads,"That simple step would have taken only a minute or two and would have closed the communications loop to the satisfaction of all parties involved." Anyone reading the op would conclude that all would be well, and no post would have been made, had such a response come from Newmar.

Responses were all based upon the information provided in the op.

Then, 17 posts later, the op adds the above quoted post. If there are two action items that can only be addressed by Newmar, that is a legitimate complaint. However, these items were never mentioned in the op. The focus of the op was solely on Newmar's failure to "close the communication loop," and his own example "closed" that loop without acknowledgement that there were outstanding issues to be resolved.

If Newmar is failing to communicate with the OP and acknowledge two action items that only they can address, that is a different issue, but it is not the issue from which this thread was started. For the OP to chastise responders for being "okay" with Newmar's failure to acknowledge something he never mentioned, is disingenuous. For the OP to leave in a "huff," is, IMO, petty.

[outlawten5]

Originally Posted by Mich F

I must be the only one that doesn't see a problem here ? Newmar helped the OP with directions on how to prevent the problem from happening again. Girard contacted the OP and told him they had been in touch with Newmar and that Girard would take care of the situation from that point forward. That sounds like pretty good service to me. The OP is upset that Newmar didn't call him back to tell him the same thing that Girard told him - that Girard would take care of the issue.

I agree

[Dutch Star Don]

I'm not here to defend Newmar, as with every company they have their issues. But.....in this situation, I don't see the issue. The OP writes like he's an attorney and is demanding immediate action....which he essentially got. Then he was mad because he didn't get a follow up call, that really wasn't necessary.

I've owned two Newmars over almost eight years. During that time, I contacted service once, with a phone call and then an email with photos of an issue. An appropriate amount of time passed and Newmar rectified my issue by cutting a check for a local repair. Should they have have spent time calling me repeatedly until the repair was completed.....I didn't see a reason for them to do that.

I mention the above, because I read on here that people call Newmar for every little thing, which they could easily look up themselves and resolve, in probably less time. Consequently, you have service reps on the phone, answering frivolous questions, taking away from legitimate issues.

Even worse, was the guy in the video.....I don't know how he got that far in life. His CHASSIS breaks down and he calls Newmar after hours and thinks that they should fly out a repairman and fix his coach on the spot, so they don't miss their next reservation. With any of these machines, there's always a chance of breakdown. People think because they paid X amount of money for their coach, Newmar should be at their beckon call, solving ALL of their life issues. If you have an electrical or plumbing issue at your $750K house, it doesn't mean that a plumber or electrician will be there in minutes. It could take a couple of days. In the video, they KNOW it's a chassis issue, yet get upset with Newmar. Using just two connected brain cells, a 12 year old would tell you to call Freightliner, who does have a 24/7 number.

A little bit of a rant, but we often only here one side of the story. This one sounded like the world came to an end because an awning deployed, there was no damage and Girard stepped up to solve the issue. So the OP was upset because , "he sent a summary of the events and request for corrective action" and they didn't respond with a formal reply, after seeing the problem was being corrected by Girard. Sometimes, you need to refrain from getting angry over little stuff, so when the big one occurs, you haven't pissed everyone off.

[TJ]

Originally Posted by Ljwt330

For the OP to leave in a "huff," is, IMO, petty.

“The OP” didn’t “leave in a huff;” I had said all I needed to say and simply didn’t want the thread to become a continuing argument. Each responder is entitled to their perception and my perception had been fully presented.

TJ

[GypsyR]

I feel like some folks need to get out more. I failed to see the missed call, phone tag, buck passing, prevarications, feigned ignorance, issue dodging, blaming, and various other kinds of shucking and jiving I'm used to seeing with any kind of issues with a business transaction on nearly a weekly basis.
If the issue was handled competently but you didn't get a kiss and box of chocolates it still seems to me to have been a good. I really like working with competent people, I can easily forgive all sorts of minor social faux pas from such folks.

[Mich F]

Originally Posted by TJ

“The OP” didn’t “leave in a huff;” I had said all I needed to say and simply didn’t want the thread to become a continuing argument. Each responder is entitled to their perception and my perception had been fully presented.

TJ

If your original post had mentioned those 3 other issues which you didn't mention until post #18, I imagine this thread would have drifted in another direction. Judging by some of the responses, it appears some haven't seen your post about the other issues.

[Rev. Roy]

Originally Posted by TJ

“The OP” didn’t “leave in a huff;” I had said all I needed to say and simply didn’t want the thread to become a continuing argument. Each responder is entitled to their perception and my perception had been fully presented.

TJ

Since you still haven't said what the other issues were on a 4 year old, out of warranty coach, it leaves many wondering just what possible issues that "only Newmar" could handle or even if there really are any. I know many people have unreasonable expectations from companies on out of warranty products.

[NCC-1701A]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Even worse, was the guy in the video.....I don't know how he got that far in life. In the video, they KNOW it's a chassis issue, yet get upset with Newmar. Using just two connected brain cells, a 12 year old would tell you to call Freightliner, who does have a 24/7 number.

DS Don...that is EXACTLY what I was thinking as I watched about the first half of that video and couldn't take it anymore. Calling Newmar for what is clearly a FTL chassis issue is not the way it works in the Motorhome world. Clearly that couple doesn't understand that. Not only that, he was extremely rude himself, which doesn't help the situation.

In my opinion, the "would've been nice to have" response TJ suggests would be a good thing for any company to do. Clear customer communications in business are very important and I have to agree it would have been "nice" for Newmar to close that loop. That said, with Girard having taken ownership and things going well with them, I personally would not have been too upset with the result. The important thing to me would be that someone competent got back to me with ownership to work the issue to closure and that happened.

Just a side note from personal experience....be careful where that Girard Awning remote is....I threw my keys into the little center counsel drawer at a truck stop after fueling and pulling forward to go inside to pick up a receipt and unknowingly the keys hit the remote and deployed the back awning as I went inside the truck stop! I came out to find the rear awning extending well into the lane next to me. Thank God a trucker didn't come barreling out of that fuel lane and remove it for me.

[GUS2000]

I think this guy posting videos is only doing one thing, showing how much of a rude inconsiderate person he is... if I were the service person and got a call from him, I surely wouldn't bend over backwards to help him... just my 2c.. you get what you give ..

[SoCal_Mike]

So, we’re going through some “teething pain” getting the bugs out of our 2021 Bay Star 3014, and I’ve been in touch with both Steve and Rick at Newmar customer service. After some shake down trips, we have five issues that need to be addressed. Two involve design or fabrication errors in the coach, and three involve the chassis. For the ones involving the coach, Newmar stood tall and said they will address them. Resolving chassis issues has been much more challenging.

While some hand holding would be nice, my sense is the Newmar customer service team is very problem-focused but as others have mentioned, also incredibly busy. My sense is they hand you off to the entity who can best help resolve your immediate need. While I was expecting to find things that needed addressing, I wasn’t expecting the frustration of Ford dealers who won’t work on motorhomes, multiple issues affecting the chassis’ safe operation and reliability, and field-level Ford folks finger pointing at Newmar. While the process hasn’t been fun, I will say that Steve and Rick did connect me with the nodes at Ford that got me the answer I needed or connected me to the right people who to help me run the traps. I’m not out of the woods yet with Ford, but I do feel that Newmar customer service is supporting me reactively.

In my humble opinion, the key is accepting that you have to be your own best advocate, and endeavor to be polite, positive, patient and persistent no matter how much you’d rather not be.

[New2road]

Originally Posted by SoCal_Mike

In my humble opinion, the key is accepting that you have to be your own best advocate, and endeavor to be polite, positive, patient and persistent no matter how much you’d rather not be.

So true, in all cases! Motor coaches especially!

Best of luck withy your issues, we have all been there and then we buy a new coach and visit again

[RKins]

Now that the CDC is loosening the restrictions, like masks, etc, maybe now the CS will pick back up as Newmar brings back their staff physically into the system.

[Soniccruzer]

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

I'm not here to defend Newmar, as with every company they have their issues. But.....in this situation, I don't see the issue. The OP writes like he's an attorney and is demanding immediate action....which he essentially got. Then he was mad because he didn't get a follow up call, that really wasn't necessary.



I've owned two Newmars over almost eight years. During that time, I contacted service once, with a phone call and then an email with photos of an issue. An appropriate amount of time passed and Newmar rectified my issue by cutting a check for a local repair. Should they have have spent time calling me repeatedly until the repair was completed.....I didn't see a reason for them to do that.



I mention the above, because I read on here that people call Newmar for every little thing, which they could easily look up themselves and resolve, in probably less time. Consequently, you have service reps on the phone, answering frivolous questions, taking away from legitimate issues.



Even worse, was the guy in the video.....I don't know how he got that far in life. His CHASSIS breaks down and he calls Newmar after hours and thinks that they should fly out a repairman and fix his coach on the spot, so they don't miss their next reservation. With any of these machines, there's always a chance of breakdown. People think because they paid X amount of money for their coach, Newmar should be at their beckon call, solving ALL of their life issues. If you have an electrical or plumbing issue at your $750K house, it doesn't mean that a plumber or electrician will be there in minutes. It could take a couple of days. In the video, they KNOW it's a chassis issue, yet get upset with Newmar. Using just two connected brain cells, a 12 year old would tell you to call Freightliner, who does have a 24/7 number.



A little bit of a rant, but we often only here one side of the story. This one sounded like the world came to an end because an awning deployed, there was no damage and Girard stepped up to solve the issue. So the OP was upset because , "he sent a summary of the events and request for corrective action" and they didn't respond with a formal reply, after seeing the problem was being corrected by Girard. Sometimes, you need to refrain from getting angry over little stuff, so when the big one occurs, you haven't pissed everyone off.

How true