[Larry]

Go see Jeff for your dish. He just did mine with the Winegard Travler and it is great for HD Directv. I kept the old Tracstar for a backup or if we want to watch while in motion. Jeff will call you back if he doesn’t answer the call the first time.

[Archived]

Thanks for the info Mark.

[Archived]

Larry,

Who did you talk with each time at Coachworx/Parliament? If the ball got dropped 3 times, there must be a pattern.

[glen]

This is just a general comment about all our service providers. I am not making excuses for anyone but merely outlining what I see as a pattern with every one.

Every place that services our coaches has one or two key men who are generally the gateway for scheduling, information, or assistance with a problem. That person generally runs the shop and in a lot of cases is a hands on person who sometimes is actually doing work on customer’s coaches. We who have owned coaches for a while know this person. Every shop has this “go-to” guy. This person does not sit at a desk. He is on the shop floor. He is in a customer’s coach discussing a problem. He is looking over a mechanic’s shoulder offering advice. He is constantly answering his phone.

His day starts the minute he walks in the door and it ends after he is exhausted many hours later. Part of the reason he is exhausted is because he never has a few minutes to sit down and just relax with a cup of coffee or a sandwich. If he is at a rally he is the guy with his head in the engine compartment or he is crawling in the bay of a coach.

The reason he doesn’t return calls is because he likely doesn’t have the time set aside to sit at his desk, close the door and go through the list of messages.

Unlike the auto industry that has a bunch of guys with clean hands standing at a counter dealing with phone calls and customers, our service gurus are the real deal. They are not “service writers”. They may not even have good customer skills, but they know their stuff and because they know what they are doing they are getting requests for their time all day long.

New customers are at a disadvantage because they don’t know the secret handshake. Those of us who have developed relationships with our service providers know the personal cell phone numbers. We have the email addresses. We are known by the service provider and we know him.

When calling for information only we go to the end of the line because our service providers probably assign priority to phone calls and the customers whose coaches are broke get a high priority. Customers who are long term customers will get attention before someone who is just seeking information and is unknown. Nobody gets a chance to just chat. There is not enough time in the day for that.

[Andy]

Jon hit the nail right on the head here !!

If you were to drive into Coachworx for an estimate they would be all over you like a rash… Rick and Ben amaze me in what they accomplish in a reg. work day… we were there for a week and our coach never sat for a minute that someone wasn’t doing something to it and they were often still there working at 6pm… I think their hours were 7-4 pm… I was really amazed… they are busy all the time… and will still take the time to teach you something.

When we bought our first Prevost we met Rick and Ben at our first Prevost Rally at Buckhorn and they spent 2-3 hours with us teaching us about things we had no idea about… they were so patient and gave us their cell phone numbers incase we had a problem and I can’t tell you how many times I had to call them. BTW we didn’t buy the bus from them either!

Not returning calls to possible clients is not a good thing for sure… I wouldn’t be happy either, but things aren’t always as they seem. Next time you are in the area you might just stop by there and say hi.

Cheers, Diane

[Archived]

I tend to agree with Jon harsh as though it seems. It’s probably not that they don’t need new/more customers, it is likely that the majority of new enquiries they receive that take up valueable time to answer just don’t lead anywhere. Most are just ringing around to get the lowest price. If someone is within a drivable distance then chances are they will show in person to get a price and decide there and then. Again as Jon says, get in there and let them see your face, even book some minor work just to get on their customer list. It is certainly the way I will proceed as & when we hopefully join the ‘bus’ crowd.

Different scenario but same idea, It was on the news in the UK a couple of months back on if it is right that unsuccessful interview candidates don’t get any communication. The common answer, and I include myself in this list, was that for most businesses, they don’t have time to contact all those who were unsuccessful at getting past the first stage, especially as most shouldn’t have even applied in the first place.

[Joe]

I have been following Prevost and do not have one yet, but I will tell you that I met Ken at Millenium and have dealt with him at Parliament a few times. I have looked at a Parliament coach and when I did I contacted him and got some very valuable information and education from Ken, Ben, and the others that he put me in contact with at Parliament. When I was at the POG Show this past January Ken probably spent more than and hour educating me on things about Prevost coaches.

Returning phone solicitations to everyone may be difficult as has been said above, but I can assure you that if you spend ANY face time with these folks you will be amazed at how obliging they are, as stated above.

Fabulous thriving organization at Parliament, and looks to me to be a growing one at that. If you have watched them for a while you can definitely see it.

[Jim/Chris]

I agree with all the above. My issue is don’t keep saying your going to call someone back with a price on parts and service, then never call them back.

[glen]

Larry,

You have Chiefland Florida in your signature. Now I know very little about small towns in Florida, however, you should really take some time off from whatever is pressure cooking you. How about a nice day or two trip in your Marathon to visit Parliament in person. It would give your coach some needed exercise, lower your blood pressure, and allow you to meet two very nice, all around good guys.

From this post and the previous post I am reminded of one of my customer’s phone call. This gentleman was very hostile, demanding, and wanted everything else I was already investigating to come to a halt while I immediately took action on his problem. I explained to him that I had a process to investigate concerns as they came in chronological order. You understand, first in, first out. After spending 30 minutes on the phone, mostly listening, I said I would be glad to spend the rest of the day on the phone listening to you or I could log in your concern and get back to resolving the problems from previous callers from the top of the stack (oldest) and work my way to the bottom of the stack (newest), your choice. He reluctantly suggested he would let me do my job.

A little perspective. At that time I was a public employee. I was responsible for 8,000 road miles of highway from Interstates to sand clay dead ends. Every sign, signal and pavement marking was my responsibility. I firmly believed in returning calls, loggin in citizen concerns, actively listening to their concerns, evaluating the approximate date they could expect to receive a complete report of investigative findings. I sent an acknowledgement letter to each caller with that information. In an average month, I had 300 calls to answer. I spent a good deal of time out of the office and usually the last hour plus of the day and the first hour of the next day were spent returning calls. Sometime I would make the connection, sometime I would have to leave a message, and sometime an automated message that their voicemail box was full and thus unable to accept a message. I noted date and time when I made the return call or in some cases calls simply for my protection.

The one best call ever came from a lady wanting a new traffic signal. She in fact without knowing it described my primary job responsibility to me, “Your job is to anticipate our stupidity and take action before we hurt ourselves.” There is nothing more to be said taht can top that statement.

[Archived]

I came to Coachworx before they folded back into Parliament. I came here on advice from word of mouth.

That is how I met Dave Sullivan, Joe Evans, Ben Cummings and Rick May.

I have come here for the past 3+ years.

With the exception of Dave Sullivan who received a job offer from a friend which was too goo to refuse, all of the above are still here. That is just one reason for why it is important to have a place you can go to for service. The people get to know you and your coach and you start building a relationship.

I do feel comfortable being here. I buy beer for the guys on Friday and share some BS stories all of us can laugh about. Sometimes, I am at the short end of the stick and sometimes not. It feels good.

Now, having said all the above, it does not mean that you should accept every word you hear. After all, they are human. Most of them anyways … 🙁 …

You need to educate yourself about your coach and its systems.

Having said all of the above, please note that I have sent some $$$$ to Jeff Rowe, recently, to secure a space on his schedule to update my “beloved” Crestron system.

I have started to work with his programmer and all is well.

Well, cheers,

Ronald

[Davy]

Mr. Sturm,

Sorry to hear you have not received a call-back in any way. This is news to me. We have had issues with a service writer which we had to replace recently. I hope this move on our part will resolve some call-back issues we admittedly have had this summer.

Remember, for anyone in need of assistance that has trouble getting through to us, here are our direct numbers:

Rick May (Prevost) 813-833-2284

Ben Cummings (Engineering/Prod) 813-830-8619

Ken Robertson (GM/Sales) 727-748-5986

Richard Simpson (Service Manager) 727-420-9871

Vince Cannizaro (Paint/Body) 727-433-4579

Hope this helps. By the way, I left a message for you on your phone this afternoon.

Ben Cummings

Parliament/ Coach Worx RV Center

Clearwater, FL

[Wilbur]

Ben,

Thanks for the call and your numbers. I will give you a call back today.

Larry