We had such a disappointing experience- and actually we feel we were taken advantage of. From our first interactions with this company, they were very dismissive. Before we left our RV with them they told us they'd get to it within a week, (which was the whole reason we took it to them instead of somewhere else) and they said they'd call us with pricing BEFORE they did any repairs. When we hadn't heard from them a couple of months later we called to check and see how it was going and they said they still hadn't gotten to it yet. A couple of more months later we called again and told them that if they hadn't started on it yet we would just come pick it up- so they said they'd get to it THAT DAY. After they'd had our RV for 5 months we called again and they said they were just finishing it up. 6 MONTHS after we dropped it off they called to say it was ready (after never having called to verify pricing, give us a repair plan, or tell us why it was taking so long- not a single phone call).
When we picked up the RV, we were hit with a charge of $704.66- for an elective cosmetic repair, which we had imagined would be small. We talked to the owner, as we were not made aware of the cost beforehand or given the chance to decide whether or not we wanted to proceed. He argued and talked in circles for about 30 minutes about how "freight charges are just expensive" (this one was $317) and "everyone knows that." He also said that he doesn't understand why people who spend so much money purchasing RVs always want to gripe about repairs being too expensive. I was very patient with him, even after the unprofessionalism, and I told him that was not the case for us- we expect people to be compensated fairly for the jobs they complete. But I also tried again to make the point that we were never contacted about the expected price- or about anything, actually- and if we had been we would have said that we'd rather not do the repair at this time since it wasn't necessary, and cost much more than we expected. I also told him that we should have had an opportunity to check with other shops in town to see if they had the part in stock, which could have avoided freight costs altogether. These were all of the reasons he listed at different points in our conversation for why they bore no responsibility or accepted any fault:
1. We are short-handed (which I sympathized with)
2. Shipping is just expensive (which I also said I understand)
3. You didn't ask for a written estimate (though we asked for a call with a verbal one and they agreed beforehand)
4. Sometimes other RV owners just abandon their RV instead of paying (random...but I also sympathized and said we did not intend to do that)
5. If we have the money to own an RV we should have the money for any repair (very unprofessional judgement that he doesn't have context for)
6. This is not an expensive repair- you should see some of the others we've done (Who gets to decide what is expensive? That is relative to each family and their situation)
We were honestly floored that any small business is able to run this way. We asked him to consider the standard practices that he and his family would encounter at other businesses in town, such as auto mechanics and medical procedures- each of which would ensure you understood pricing BEFORE performing the service. We only asked for him to consider that we were not afforded the same experience and thought it only right for him to take SOME responsibility for that. He said, "I bet you would like that, but we don't see that we've done anything wrong. So I guess I'll just wish you a Merry Christmas." Then he sat in silence and refused to say anything else. I am in shock at our experience with this business and its owner, Rusty, in particular. read more
