FYI, in my post, I forgot to mention our location....ours is the North Little Rock, AR location. Great staff...very friendly, and will work to satisfy the customer. I even had them locate parts for my Keystone that were pretty hard to find, and they called me to make sure I wanted them before they ordered.
I stopped on the road at the CW in Statesville NC. I had a tuneup done there. the cost of parts is about average. They do charge $90 an hour labor rate. Right in the middle of the job, they stopped for lunch (45 minutes) this time went into the labor rate hour. Don't ask me how they get away with it, but they do. I'll never go back to CW for service work again.
Don / Brenda
Full-timing / Ocala, Florida
2002 Saturn (toad)
Called to ask about troubleshooting, was told $300 + because it 'just needed servicing' - at under 80 hours. All it need was more gas. I'd dipped just below the feed from the gas tank.
Got a quote for a mod. First told it was illegal to do (NOT!). Then quoted at over $1000. (Eek! Walked away.) Mobile guy showed me a temp workaround and told me what I need. Later did the job through a private contractor for 1/10 the quoted CW price.
Asked them to test house batteries. They said, ohhh just turn on the generator and drive it for a couple of hours. No check, no nothin'?!
Most but not all of this was Snellville, GA CW. I have no doubt service levels, experience, and practices vary from store to store - but I was not encouraged. Nice does not necessarily equal skilled or reasonable. You DON'T always get what you pay for, and sometimes you shouldn't even be buying it in the first place. Service managers are often paid according to sales - not service levels.
So I gave up on that route. I'd spent many years married to an automotive service manager who wrote a book on industry practices (which I had edited), so I had a clue. But I was spoiled rotten because I always had a personal mechanic and got parts at wholesale. Thought about it a little, and realized any tire/axle/brake work can be done by any good truck mechanic, and there are way more of those than RV techs anyway. As a full-timer, I can't let anybody have my rig for weeks on end, period, ever. So I needed to work out a rolling solution that I could live with no matter where I was.
Got my axle seals done by a mobile truck mech while having lunch. He was from where I was headed. Got recs for another guy to do other stuff there. We don't have many problems OTR truckers don't have regularly and often and most anywhere. I may BUY the guy lunch, I may make the guy some lunch - but I'm not paying for his lunch hour - ever.
Started using the mobile RV mechs whenever possible - at less than 1/2 the total cost in each case to date, PLUS they tend to know the other mechs and dealers shops in the area (probably worked for or with some of them along the way), and can tell you who to see (by name) if it's too big a job for them to do outside a shop. Check locals for first-hand rec's for the mobile guy, check the mobile tech for shop rec's and referrals.
At this point, even if I was pretty sure the coach was going in the shop, I'd likely call out the mobile guy just for a once-over, troubleshooting, and his recommendations. For anywhere from $50 - $100 for the service call, depending on where you are and when, you get face-to-face with your own expert/consultant and cut out all the middlemen - corporate people, owners, service managers, parts people, and lot lizards. He's personally accountable and lives or dies by his rep. If you DO you end up going to a shop, you'll likely already know exactly what you need/want and how much you should be paying for it, and pay for the needed work only - not the troubleshooting/people-juggling time inevitable in any busy multi-bay shop. Considering shop rates and parts markups can cost you hundreds in excess charges or bad work if you choose wrong? Well worth the price! It's not even an add-on cost, because of the diagnostics you get done during that call. I haven't had a bad experience yet doing this way - quite the opposite. If I ever do, I'll be honest and say so (and probably name names!). But so far, so very, very good. Even had guys tell me hey - just order up X part from Y supplier so I don't have to charge yo the markup. If you don't want to wait for me to do it, put it here, turn that, and you'll be all set. Nice! (That's a guy who deserves lunch.)
CW Kissimmee FL sucks
Friend buys 2001 Eagle with stains around the antenea crank.We strip off the sealer the previous owner put around the antenea,test with hose no leak.So he takes it to CW Kissimmee they did leak test by blowing it full of air ? didnt see this myself,$600 later told him all was OK its been sealed.One month or so later its still leaking so takes it back,they take a quick look and tells him its probably the seals around the A/C unit,probably ? what was the $600 for? all they did was paint a rubber sealing paint on every bit of original sealer.Now last Sunday we had some bad rain here in Florida and the water poured into his coach and he was due to put it in storage for 6 months,so day 1 i strip and reseal antenea not convinced it was the problem.Day 2 found the leak ,it was were the wires from the solar pannell goes into the roof (CW painted over these but did not reach under the pannell ) so remove pannell and remove old sealer and gum everything up ,job done .Now this friend is a nice guy and don't like confrontations so i was unable to voice my opinion to them,CW $600 someone needs a good kicking for this shoddy service.
Ian and Doreen now in the UK soon to be in the States
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