Community Forums

55stude · 05-03-2014, 01:41 PM

New to RVing and trying my patience. Is this what I should expect. Try to leave names out to protect the innocent. Had front alignment done in Fla. Told then needed draglink badly. 1st mistake did not feel good about driving so left at a dealership in Fla. After 5 weeks Monaco tells me they are not sure when part will be made. Source engineering said they could make it in 5 to 10 days. Dealership said they would prefer to order which was understandable. 2nd mistake not checking in with them. After 3 weeks said they forgot to order. Yesterday was told part finally arrived only to receive call today informing me they lost a 45 lb. part. Think learned lesson to never leave coach where you can't check up in person. By the way its a 2004 Windsor. Just might be for sale cheap. Should have stayed on the water.

Jeff753 · 05-03-2014, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55stude

New to RVing and trying my patience. Is this what I should expect. Try to leave names out to protect the innocent. Had front alignment done in Fla. Told then needed draglink badly. 1st mistake did not feel good about driving so left at a dealership in Fla. After 5 weeks Monaco tells me they are not sure when part will be made. Source engineering said they could make it in 5 to 10 days. Dealership said they would prefer to order which was understandable. 2nd mistake not checking in with them. After 3 weeks said they forgot to order. Yesterday was told part finally arrived only to receive call today informing me they lost a 45 lb. part. Think learned lesson to never leave coach where you can't check up in person. By the way its a 2004 Windsor. Just might be for sale cheap. Should have stayed on the water.

Would this by chance be in wildwood? I'd pick it up and take it to Barry at josam's in Orlando
They are probably one of the best in the nation at framing members.

Jeff

55stude · 05-03-2014, 02:17 PM

Jeff Josams did line up. Barry showed me wear and I asked if he felt it was safe. Said yes , no, maybe. I understand now why he did not want to get involved ordering from Monaco. If you have ever been to Josams not real sure about long term storage. You guessed where it's stuck at now. Was referred to WW from some one else.

Vanwill · 05-03-2014, 09:24 PM

55stude, PROBABLY the reason the drag link can't simply be repaired by replacing one of the rod ends is that the drag link has a bend in it to allow the wheels to turn sharper. That requires that one of the rod ends be permanently attached to the drag link so that the orientation of the bend cannot be changed and cause the tire to rub on it. HOWEVER, if you get a replacement tie rod end, any competent machine shop can cut out the staked areas and remove the tie rod end. The replacement tie rod end can be immobilized any number of ways, including welding, staking, or pinning. Might be cheaper, too.

Van W 2000 Dynasty 36, pulling one Harley
Eastern NC

jimbo2013 · 05-04-2014, 06:18 AM

Alliance in Wildwood....................service mgr Mark is real jerk.

They claim they know chargers and solar systems, they do not.

Attitude was strange, tech was looking at the wiring I was standing there and they just disappeared for lunch without saying a word.

They said the batteries were only putting out 5 volts and needed to be replaced, I said how are all the 12volt accessories working, they couldn't answer it.

I declined to pay them for their diagnosis and left.

Same batteries in rig 4 months later, all good

tranquility · 05-04-2014, 06:36 AM

No it is not, however my last two experiences at Alliance were not good. Service advisor lied about work done on my MH. No problems with Josam. I have found Barry to be very up front about what I need and have not had an issue with work done or the price. I will seek another place for service.

dsbike · 05-04-2014, 06:49 AM

Just an in general statement here for I am not familiar with any of the shops you are questioning. I have learned that if at all possible never leave your rig at any shop when they claim they need to order your parts and tell them to take their time & call me when it is done. Your rig always ends up on the back burner & as time goes by they forget to order parts, lose parts & just completely ignore that you need to have your rig in a timely manner & take your time does not mean I will pick it up next year. I now have the shop order the parts & make the appointment for repairs in their estimated time for delivery & call me when it comes in. This has had much better results.

55stude · 05-09-2014, 04:01 PM

Finally have rig back. Fed Ex had picked up part for return for some unexplained reason. Still took 4 days to do 2 hours of work. Nice thing was they agreed to meet me half way to NC for pickup. Bad thing driver pulled into CC engine dead out of fuel. Fuel gauge went to full when empty and has stayed there. After 5 gallons of energy back on road. Problem now after fill up gauge reads full. Will handle next week.

dsbike · 05-10-2014, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55stude

Finally have rig back. Fed Ex had picked up part for return for some unexplained reason. Still took 4 days to do 2 hours of work. Nice thing was they agreed to meet me half way to NC for pickup. Bad thing driver pulled into CC engine dead out of fuel. Fuel gauge went to full when empty and has stayed there. After 5 gallons of energy back on road. Problem now after fill up gauge reads full. Will handle next week.

Just a thought, try killing all battery power for 30 sec to 1 minute & see if the fuel gauge resets itself after powering back up.

Robin_M · 05-11-2014, 08:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55stude

New to RVing and trying my patience... By the way its a 2004 Windsor. Just might be for sale cheap. Should have stayed on the water.

Hang in there. I hated my new coach for the first year. It was terribly frustrating getting all the bugs worked out. But every year since then I have enjoyed it immensely. Can't be that different than what some folks go through with boats, can it?

Robin_M · 05-11-2014, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jimbo2013

Alliance in Wildwood....................service mgr Mark is real jerk.

They claim they know chargers and solar systems, they do not.

Attitude was strange, tech was looking at the wiring I was standing there and they just disappeared for lunch without saying a word.

They said the batteries were only putting out 5 volts and needed to be replaced, I said how are all the 12volt accessories working, they couldn't answer it.

I declined to pay them for their diagnosis and left.

Same batteries in rig 4 months later, all good

Living in the NE, I do not have a lot of experience with Alliance - only been there once. But I was there for service this past winter. FWIW, they impressed me as being professional, took care of all my issues (with a minor exception), and the tech team they assigned to me was professional and knowledgeable. One thing I was there for was to have a residential refrigerator installed and they did a good job, re-doing some things in the installation that I had a problem with, or simply wanted to change, without complaint and without additional charge. The one exception was that I asked them to investigate a tire leak, suggesting that I thought it might be the braided valve extension. They "fixed" the leak by overtightening the Doran sender unit to the point that they broke the mounting bracket for the braided valve extension, which still wasn't fixed. Had to remove the cap with pliers and fix it myself later.

Other than that, as I said, I thought everyone was professional and friendly, and the invoice was fair. By the way, I'm not sure who Mark is, but their manager for their service division is a fellow by the name of Josh Hall, who I thought was both knowledgeable and customer friendly. I think they are probably like most very large shops - you have good techs and bad ones - same with the service advisors. A lot of their people are left over from the days when the facility was owned by Monaco, but they also have a lot of new people around as well.

Not being argumentative here. Just stating my own experience. I will use them again. But after hearing some other opinions, I think I'll ask for the same tech team I had before.

mel s · 05-11-2014, 09:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 55stude

Try to leave names out to protect the innocent.

55stude
I'm sorry you had a shop problem.

Although it is a good idea to leave the name of an innocent repair shop out of a post....IMO, the name of a guilty shop should be posted in bold CAPS.

Mel
'96 Safari

55stude · 05-11-2014, 06:26 PM

Have learned a lot. With boats went thru same thing. Learned to do own work. Can support Josams as I think they did very good work. Drove coach home in 20 to 30 mph winds and drove good. Not sports car like but very driveable. Draglink from Source Engineering looks nice and heavy duty.Good thing is I can now have serviced at any truck shop. If I can just get rid of boat I no longer need.