And here's the latest. Hang onto your hat and lunch because this going to sound like a roller coaster ride, which it was.
Got there late on Tuesday. Found the factory and the campground without any problems. Couldn't get the coach to level, had both ends off the ground. Ended up doing just the rear manually to make it livable in there for the night. Went to plug in and it's only 30 amps.
. To make matters worse, I don't have an adapter
. Can't run the generator, it's after 10 PM and it's close quarters with other rigs. McDonalds for supper and off to bed we went. Thankfully it was a cool night and no AC was needed.
Wednesday morning it was off to the repair shop. I have nothing but great things to say about these guys, especially Bob Jewell. He's the diamond of the shop. He's been there 32 years and has seen a lot. These guys are wizards with repairs and reconstructions. We talked about the refrigerator, the stairs and the latest issue. While driving to Indiana we heard a crash inside the coach. When we got there we found that the bathroom vanity light had come off the wall and landed on the mirror, hanging by the wire. The mirror did not break thankfully. He said they had to go the other plant to pick up the warranty replacement unit and they would get started. He said he would call us between 2 and 3 in the afternoon. We expected to be on the road home Wednesday.
Bob called about 2. He said the refrigerator they sent was bigger and they had to reconstruct the cabinet and extend it out into the hall about 3 inches
. He wanted us to look at it before they continued and they wouldn't be able to finish that night. We went back to check the repairs. They had to take the slide window out to get the old one out and the new one in. The new refrigerator was huge. Old one was 18 cu ft, this one was 19.5 cu ft. They had done a beautiful job of extending the cabinet. What wasn't apparent is that the doors of the refrigerator will stick out beyond that 3 inch extension. Almost 5 inches into the hallway. Not one of us could figure out why it didn't fit like the old one. Coachmen put us up in a Bed and Breakfast for the night.
My wife and I kept going back and forth about the extended refrigerator. We didn't like, it blocked the hall to the bedroom and back bathroom. I went to bed and about 3AM I woke up thinking about the refrigerator. Why didn't it fit? Over and over for 3 hours. We didn't have internet access and I left my Jetpack at home. At 6 AM it dawned me. They sent the wrong refrigerator.
. They sent a standard refrigerator. RV's need (for most of them) counter depth refrigerators. At 7 AM I started to make frantic phone calls to Bob and Mike (he's the tech working on the unit). I got them stopped and explained why it was wrong. I felt bad, they put a lot of hard work into reconstruction of the refrigerator opening. I told them that they can take the extension off, find any refrigerator that will fit and use matching trim to cover the screw holes from the extension. Well, Bob said no, he appreciated the offer but he is going to get a refrigerator, be it from Whirlpool, Home Depot or Lowes and then have the cabinet department rebuild the refrigerator cabinet to fit it. He said it has to leave his shop as if it left the assembly line.
So, the coach is staying in Indiana for at least a week. It already got the stairs installed, the refrigerator is the biggest issue. We added on the main door latching and unlatching. Turns out that was easy, it was missing 2 screws that align it in place and the strike plate was out of alignment. They are going to reattach the light fixture plus the mirror frame got scratched so the mirror is going to be replaced. Keep piling it on? Sure. He is going to reprogram the automatic leveling system and check the dash heat and AC controls. Finally, when it's all done they will do a Seal-tec to insure the window was reinstalled correctly and to check the firewall for air leaks. He said those air leaks are a big cause of poor dash air output. Finally they will take it over to the rain tank. Due to the leak I had up front he's is going to run it in the rain tank for an hour with the slides in and then another hour with the slides out. Bob said if it doesn't leak then, it isn't going to.
Coachmen has done an excellent job of taking care of the coach and us. My
is at Whirlpool for sending the incorrect refrigerator. I have a contact at Whirlpool RV and Commercial vehicle division. He was the one who was supposed to be getting the replacement warranty refrigerator for Coachmen. I've called him twice and he hasn't returned my calls.
That's where we are, I'll keep you updated as things progress.
Fred
It's getting the new one in that will be the trick. 
. The factory shop will put in a brand new refrigerator. How that is done is up to them. As long as the unit is watertight and all is working we'll be set.
Linear Mode
