Sorry to be long winded here, and I hope this is not my last post on this site.
Mark, I, for one, really appreciate having your perspective here. I believe that your posts are well written and thoughtful. I certainly do not see anything that would be a violation of the forum rules.
There are certainly many posters that use this forum as a complaint department. We seldom hear the good things and often hear the bad ones. Dealers and Salesman seem to be the #1 target, but as you state, they are the ones that the public sees.
In my business I have contact with many Techs, Service managers and Shop owners for all types of repair from tractors, automotive , RV , Trucks , Buses, to Aircraft. They all have one thing in common. Warranty work does not pay well. Flat rates are most common and usually virtually impossible to meet unless one is doing that same exact job 10 times per day. On top of that, finding good, reliable mechanics with any experience is beyond difficult. When you do find them, you must pay them big $$ to keep them. (in SF area the best make over $65,000 per year!)
Fortunately there are some that understand this, Unfortuantely there are many that don't (like I_RV2) But that will never change. I guess that's why I quit turning wrenches for a living many years ago. It is a thankless business. The problem is that no one is ever happy when their vehicle (RV) is broken.
Take care Mark, and I hope to read more of your posts in the future.
A couple of thoughts here on the profitability of warrenty work. These are just thoughts off the top of my head on this issue.
a). For a dealer to be a dealer of a manufacturers product, surely they would have the opportunity to review several different manufacturers and select the one that best represents their philsophy, business practices and profitability. If your manufacturer is stiffing you and you can do better being a dealer for another manufacturer, then do so.
b). It would seem to me that dealers have some control over the profitability of the warrenty work that they perform. If the work is done in under the time limit and costs established by the manufacturer, I would bet that the bill submitted to the manufacturer is at their limit.
c). While warrenty work might not be as profitable as non-warrenty work, it is much more profitable then having your service techs and bays go idle.
d). Owners will own several RV's in their lifetime. If you don't take care of a owners warrenty work, it's a pretty good guess that their not going to turn to you for the non-warrenty work, or the trade-in/trade-up.
Wow, not thats funny. My post in support of mark1228 somehow disappeared from this subject. I had posted right after the moderator, and it was there for while, but I just logged in to check on updates and noticed someone deleted it. Let me know if I broke a rule I didn't know about. In the end it looks like a lot of people have valued the opinion of mark1228. The only other thing I suggested that may of been controversal is suggesting others that need to take a deep breath should be scolded.
I also stated mark1228 wasn't trying to sell anything or promote his company. Which I believe is the intent of the rule.
2007 Jayco Jay Feather 29A
2003 Ford Expedition Eddie Bauer (5.4L w/ Tow Pkg)
taborekle wrote: A couple of thoughts here on the profitability of warrenty work. These are just thoughts off the top of my head on this issue.
a). For a dealer to be a dealer of a manufacturers product, surely they would have the opportunity to review several different manufacturers and select the one that best represents their philsophy, business practices and profitability. If your manufacturer is stiffing you and you can do better being a dealer for another manufacturer, then do so. If only it was as easy as this...The most popular brands are among the worst offenders. The sales department usually decides what brands to sell, the service department plays the cards they are dealt.
b). It would seem to me that dealers have some control over the profitability of the warrenty work that they perform. If the work is done in under the time limit and costs established by the manufacturer, I would bet that the bill submitted to the manufacturer is at their limit.This is very true, however it is extremely rare that this would ever happen. I know from personal experience. Overall, you come out on the loosing end, by a large margin.
c). While warrenty work might not be as profitable as non-warrenty work, it is much more profitable then having your service techs and bays go idle.Again, a very true statement. Since I can only report on the shops here in No. Ca, I can say that this never happens. There are customers lined up for service with appointments weeks away sometimes. Two problems create this situation. First, lack of sufficient, large shop space at any sort of reasonable price. More important, a serious lack of qualified repair techs.
d). Owners will own several RV's in their lifetime. If you don't take care of a owners warrenty work, it's a pretty good guess that their not going to turn to you for the non-warrenty work, or the trade-in/trade-up. This statement is completely true! The only problem is that dealers are working as hard as possible to service the units they sold. Quality control in general is beyond bad. There is a large percentage of RV owners that take their unit for warranty work every time a screw is loose. There is no simple answer for this problem. If I owned a RV dealership, I would not turn away any customer, but given the current state of the business, it might take some time to get their unit in for repair.
Just my experience talking..Dixon
Ok, if we're to believe the dealer ... rv manufacturers ... all of them ... are "stiffing" the dealers fair compensation for warrant work ... so how and why is this the customer's problem or fault?
Or is this another case of the "trickle" down theory where the last guy on the chain gets the raw end.
And, warranties only last so long ... instead of whining about being underpaid for warranty work ... I'd be trying to establish some long term "SERVICE" relationships with folks ... no matter where they purchased their RV's ... so that my non-warranty service work would increase in the future.
Every dealership has THREE profit centers ... Sales, Service, and Parts ... usually with separate managers. I'll bet dealer principals don't accept "we don't get get paid enough for warranty work" from their Service Managers ... and encourage the Service Manager to do whatever he has to do to turn a profit.
hart broken barb wrote: Im so disappointed in both the jayco 213 and rv direct. picked up my camper from storage and found that the linoleum flooring was cracked, still took it camping this week and the rear slided out made some noises going out and when tried to get it in yesterday it wouldnt go in. so i called rv direct in Des Moines where i bought it and they told me " what are we supose to do " take it to a jayco dealer or bring it up here and drop it off and we will call you when its done. well its a long drive and with the bed still out i didnt think it would be good on it to drive all that way with it out. so i took it to a local jayco dealer, the dealer asked where i bought it, he said I should take it back to where i bought it or what till this fall when they have time. the biggest problem is for saving 2,000 dollars i now have a camper i cant use and still have to make payments on it
any help on what i can do?
Buy from a local dealer next time. But for now just enjoy that $2000 you saved.
2008 Ford F250 Crew Cab Short Bed 6.4 Lariat Dark Stone & Tan
2008 Jayco 32 BHDS G2
luv2travelnow wrote: everyone thinks dealers make tons of money they dont it is one of the only buisness i see that have to discount there prices to sell there product to survive id like to see you go to a food store or sears or just about any retail store and haggle price they will look at you and say this is the price and that is it..if people would learn to work with there local dealer instead of always demanding they would get a lot farther and have a very good relationship with that dealer....
Dan
It was the car dealers back in the 1960's who started these price wars; not the consumer. Stater Bros and Piggly Wiggly, for example, never got involved with that stuff... I may be sympathetic to your business woes, but it ain't my fault. If dealers have these problems with the manufacturers, I don't see how it is the consumers fault. You got a problem? You fix it! Or find someone who is willing to do it for you. Dealers are under no obligation to fix stuff, and I am under no obligation to buy from that dealer. And dealers should stand up to the manufacturers if this is such a problem. There are other ways to make money out there. So everybody quit crying and get back to work!!!
68 Me & DW
93 DD
03 DD
06 F150 Screw 6.5' Bed, 4x4, 5.4, 3.73
04 Tahoe 23RB-GL Honda EU2000 Parallel Cables "I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for...food." Col. Jack O'Neill, Stargate SG-1.
I_rv2 wrote: Ok, if we're to believe the dealer ... rv manufacturers ... all of them ... are "stiffing" the dealers fair compensation for warrant work ... so how and why is this the customer's problem or fault? It's not, except for when it creates problems like this. I agree, it should not be.
Or is this another case of the "trickle" down theory where the last guy on the chain gets the raw end. That appears to be true, and the customer is the last one in the chain, for sure.
And, warranties only last so long ... instead of whining about being underpaid for warranty work ... I'd be trying to establish some long term "SERVICE" relationships with folks ... no matter where they purchased their RV's ... so that my non-warranty service work would increase in the future. I could not agree more.. As an owner I would never turn away anyone, but I do understand the importance of long term customer relations.
Every dealership has THREE profit centers ... Sales, Service, and Parts ... usually with separate managers. I'll bet dealer principals don't accept "we don't get get paid enough for warranty work" from their Service Managers ... and encourage the Service Manager to do whatever he has to do to turn a profit.
True again.. Unfortunately, the best way for a service department to make a profit is to do primarily customer pay work. Given a choice between customer pay and warranty, they choose Customer pay. This, to me, is a very poor short term answer..Unfortuantely it is all too common.
Thanks for the comments and to the moderator for allowing me to continue on this site. I appreciate those that have an open mind to hear my perspective as I appreciate hearing yours. It seems ironic that some of the people that have said stop whining are some of the folks that are whining themselves about not getting warranty work done at a local dealer they did not buy from.
For your information, my policy is that if the customer has a brand we sell, we will do the warranty work, but as has been mentioned by others, it will be as our schedule allows and not priority. I will say as a side note that SOME of the customers that did not buy from us but want us to do warranty work are also some of the most pushy and hard to get along with. Those folks don't get much help from us.(notice I said SOME,not all)
I think our policy is reasonable, what do you think?
My goal here is to help share another perspective and to learn more from yours. I hope some of you understand that while I will admit that many dealers have a "didn't buy it here, won't service it" attitude, the larger issue is warranty reimbursement and if the RV owners started to voice their dis-satisfaction to the manufacturers, it could only help to improve the situation.
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