Airstream... Is it all that or not?

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

Glad to hear you are happy with the new service center. Don't ever be shy telling folks where you get good service. It may help them out.

Agree...post the positive as well as the negative.

After a very bad selling dealer experience, I contacted Colonial Airstream in NJ for advice. (before I joined the Forum). They told me about the Forum and supplied some very good info. I have never purchased from them but still get an occasional email or phone call. If I was ever to purchase again, I know where I would go. They are out there, just not in NYS.

[tkasten]

kds - SOB means - some other brand......Tim

[fr8tshaker]

Originally Posted by Goin camping

Glad to hear you are happy with the new service center. Don't ever be shy telling folks where you get good service. It may help them out.

At the risk of being as annoying as a turd that won't flush, I am happy with my unit and always have been.

I posted 2 or 3 minor things that needed doing in the 2006 Classic Forum. These were taken care of by AOA.

I made a trip to Searcy in November for service and to find and repair a leak (thankful I had ShamWow during all the rainstorms in NW Arkansas).
The crew at AOA did the sealtech and resealed around the second AC which stopped the big leak. Also resealed any potential leak areas the sealtech discovered.

Bill did a terrific install on replacing the stove vent with the new euro style vent. I did not like the open area at the back of the new vents, so he removed the extension from the back of the Ventline and customized it to fit the new hood. It looks like it was originally made that way.There was nothing wrong with the Ventline, I like the appearance and the better lighting of the new euro style units.

I also wanted a removeable shelf on the bedroom window for my Endless Breeze fan that I use alot when boondocking and during nice weather. Bill made one and installed it. I could'nt be happier.

IMHO- Yes, my AS is all that.

Even a S&B has problems and maintenance issues.

My unit has not had alot of problems and I bought from a dealer that provides great service.

I could'nt be happier with my "house" on wheels.

'shaker

[Gene]

'shaker, glad to see you've had good dealer support and few problems. Your dealer is one of few that get consistently good reviews on this Forum. Although your experience is anecdotal, it shows that good dealer prep and follow up can make a difference.

It seems that some of us get units with lots of problems and some don't. Dealer prep is part of the mix. The buck stops at Airstream because the dealers are their agents and the company is not keeping tabs on them.

Fish', we too have had many problems and a crummy dealer. Try Airstream of Arkansas—that's the dealer 'shaker went to with good results and may not be too far from wherever your town is in Texas. We are now out of warranty and hope the problems end.

Gene

[2airishuman]

Originally Posted by CrawfordGene

... Although your experience is anecdotal, it shows that good dealer prep and follow up can make a difference...

so is yours gene, ALL of these good/bad reports are anecdotes...

but may NOT actually be anecdotal.

the thing is, most happy folks post ONCE about the happy part and move on.

while the moaners, moan over and over about the same old pain...

even AFTER it's been LONG solved or long gone from the trailer...

and i sure like the un-flushable turd analogy...

for which ever anecdote or anecdoter it most aptly applies.

cheers
2air'

[Minnie's Mate]

Like DsN I discovered the issue with over-torquing the front curbside stabilizer while camping this past spring. With too much torque on that stabilizer I had to slam the door with all my might. With proper amount of torque, my youngest has no problem closing the door. Of course, our plan is the front bedroom configuration and that is my wife's side of the bed that wobbles sometimes without the extra tension on the stabilizer. I try to reach a Happy Medium so there are no complaints.

Back in the 50's and early 60's "Made in America" was all the guarantee many people needed. That short phrase was known the world over. At some point all manufacturing positions (not just the automotive industry) wanted too much money for too little work and quality declined to the point that the American auto industry has on many occasions become nearly extinct. Except for Silicone Valley we have lost nearly all electronic manufacturing jobs because as consumers we want too much for too little money and are willing to accept short lived, disposable products from other countries. (I know one can argue the built-in obsolescence means a short turnaround life for any electronics product so why make 'em last.) Despite all this, America is one of the top three exporter of goods in the world. Until less than five years ago we were #2.

I used to consult with one of the top builders in Atlanta on quality control issues. I don't think he ever built a house that didn't require a punch list and a long list of warranty issues. In fact, he added in $500 to the price of the house to cover warranty issues (this was nearly 20 years ago). This was even on houses that he built multiple copies of each year. Airstreams aren't that much different than houses. There are a finite number of plans that gets built multiple times, but they are each hand built just like a house and that may account for my level of satisfaction with our Airstream. We truly had very few warranty issues and really feel blessed with our Airstream. I think it has a lot to do with consumer expectations. To think a $60,000 trailer should be as perfect as a automobile that is built mainly by robots is not necessarily realistic. Remember years ago if you bought an American made car you had to keep taking it back to the dealer for repairs? We just thought that was normal until we became captivated by the Japanese import. Then, the auto industry wised up. My first new car, btw, was a Datsun and I had more trips to the dealer for warranty work and recalls than I have had with any new Ford that I have bought since 1995. Can't say the same about the first new Ford I bought in the mid-80's, though. The American auto industry had to have the foreign manufacturer to compete with in order to get their collective acts together. Airstream has no competition anymore when it comes to aluminum shelled, semi-monocoque (spelling ?)travel trailers with the cache that an Airstream has.

My long winded point is: if your expectations are realistic and you get a good service department, you are more likely to be satisfied with your purchase. Without real competition, the QC at JC probably won't improve much.

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by Minnie's Mate

My long winded point is: if your expectations are realistic and you get a good service department, you are more likely to be satisfied with your purchase. Without real competition, the QC at JC probably won't improve much.

According to a few of our customers, the QC at JC is NG even when it's NC.

But, JC at least offers less BC or BS, than some dealers routinely offer.

Times are different, and our generic labor market, today, is more interested in self satisfaction, instead of customer satisfaction.

It used to be many years ago, that a dealers or factories labor rate was proportional to the customer satisfaction.

Today, that seems to be "inversely proportional". The higher the labor rate, the less the satisfaction delivered to the customer.

Not always, but all too many times.

It sometimes behooves an owner, to travel further to a servicing dealer, that delivers what "you" want, instead of what they feel like providing.

The saddest part of this delemma, is that the true blue satisfied customers, rarely, if ever make a point of letting others know about their smiling experience.

BUT, when someone gets rubbed the wrong way, or their unreasonable demands are not met, then all hell breaks loose, as they will let everyone they can, know about it.

One of the biggies today, seems to be shipping charges. When a heavy truck shipment goes to a commercial address, the freight charges are less than to a residence. If the addressee, alters a shipments delivery address, additional charges surface. That's OK, but the person that made that change, is responsible for the added charges.

But wait, they don't think so. Freight companies today, are almost like the airlines, with all the added charges they can make a person pay.

It's a game folks, and a few know how to play it all to well, making and creating huge problems, all of which are unnecessary.

THEN, they retaliate, in every way they possible can.

What they really do, is create additional costs to vendors, suppliers, and manufacturers that has to be recouped.

Fortunately, the problem makers are still in the vast minority.

Andy

[firedog]

A new club member, went from a SOB to a 34 foot slide out airstream cost
$109,000.00 it rained so bad that the leak on the slide out caused the carpet to form a mildew.Spores and mildew developed after a dealer fix. The carpet was stained badly. I told the member to bring in back to the factory and, or ship it.The dealer could have cared less about fixing the problem.I would never buy a new airstream.A horror story, with people who buy new air stream products. its a dam shame.

Originally Posted by flmgrip

SOB= some other brand