Jackson Center Window Installation Issues

[ggoat!!!]

Hi everyone...I had three curbside windows added to my 75th Prototype, and I'm not happy. They were supposed to replace the beltline extrusion/molding first under warranty as it was installed crooked, and "dipped down" under the original windows, and subsequently "dipped up" right next to the windows. Well, they didn't replace the extrusion molding (even though they told me they were going to) and when they installed the new windows they installed them using the existing molding as a baseline to start from. Needless to say, the windows are nearly 1/4" higher than the original three windows. The lower-most porthole windows aren't centered properly either. I'm absolutely not happy...Rick at Airstream basically told me they could do nothing, that I was too picky, that my level of expectation was too high. I didn't know that wanting something centered and aligned was too high of an expectation. He got pretty upset with me at one point. The windows were nearly $2500, 16 hours of labor. For that much money and 16 hours of labor I think they should be placed properly. I have a few other major issues, but NOTHING like the three windows...

Short of reskinning the entire curbside, how would I go about repairing this?

Who should I contact next to get some resolution at Airstream?

Thanks!
Jeff

[danlehosky]

The port hole windows look terrible, even in the pictures which are sometimes tifficult to see flaws like this. I would expect things to be level, plumb and centered. You can really see it in the skin between the lower windows. Make them fix it. It may be cosmetic but isn't that what an iconic trailer is all about. Defending this poor craftmanship is just plain wrong. I've always only heard good things about JC warranty work. I'm surprised to see this.

Adios,
Dan

[Wabbiteer]

I worked security system installation in the Washington, DC area for the Cadillac of security companies more than a few years ago. We walked a very narrow line between destroying intrinsic architectural features and installing an inconspicuous added value every time we fired up a drill or got out hammer and chisel to place key switch where the customer requested & was promised it.

I've seen a Salesman write a check for $500 (2 weeks pay for me at the time) on the spot for a very prominent chipped brick PLUS have a journeyman brick mason called in on the companies dime or add some spendy additional features free of charge when wallpaper was damaged, all medical covered when a child resident cut themselves on a tool plus free monitoring service for a year, the list goes on and on. I'd think Airstream Corporate would agree you have a legitimate problem with both the work, worker and 'Rick'.

Looking at it from the companies best interests side maybe a substance abuse test and X days off minimum for both the line worker and the supervisor who became obstructive and combative. The labor should have been comped. And the windows that look like someones kid brothers' summer school shop project should be repaired.

For a $5000-plus customization to go awry as badly as that... tsk, tsk. For the Airstream representative to attack you the customer personally is unforgivable.

[ggoat!!!]

I must say that "Jon" who did nearly all of the interior work on my Airstream is GREAT to work with and wants nothing short of perfection.

The person who did my windows was a different person.

Also, I left my trailer there for two months. Another thing I had them do was install a round porthole window on the roadside of my trailer over the stove. The window was to match (I provided part numbers) the round window on my entrance door. Well, the window they installed was the glass for the interior bathroom door porthole, meaning it is white frosted and not dark tint frosted. Rick at Airstream insisted since Friday through today that the window was the same; nothing could be done about it. Once I provided him again with the correct part number, he came back hours later stating, "Look what I found, there are different part numbers for each window" as if that were a revelation. But...the window has to be custom made, and it will take 4 weeks. The trailer has been at Airstream for 9 weeks now. No one noticed the window was wrong??? Now I have to trust a dealer in Gulfport, MS (a few hundred miles away from me) to install it who is inexperienced in metal work but has been trained at the factory. If they mess up drilling out the rivets in the porthole just installed, they will ruin the whole wall...so I'm not happy. No adjustment on the price of that window either...

Seems like they waited until the last minute to do my trailer. But, as I stated...Jon knows what he's doing. If you need interior work and attention to detail, go to him...

My next step up the ladder past Rick March is Dave Schumann...I've sent an email to him, and forwarded it to Bob Wheeler. But, I HAVE to leave here Wednesday. Dunno what to do...but honestly, I am absolutely sick to my stomach over this. I do NOT want the trailer the way it is now. When you pay $10,000 for some windows, clearance lights, vents, and a solar panel, the LEAST you can expect is for everything to be installed properly and straight, with Acryl-R that doesn't look like it was applied by a 2 year old with broken fingers and stripped screwheads on all your new awnings. At least Jon took care of all that sloppy work for me...but again, how in the hell do you fix those windows without re-skinning the entire side???

And who else do I contact at Airstream???

Thanks everyone...


Jeff

[ggoat!!!]

I found out this morning that Dave Schumann is out of town. Who else should I try to contact?

Thanks...
Jeff

[danlehosky]

FWIW, I would reapproach the guy who berated you and have a functional confrontation with him. Maybe tempers have cooled. It obviously looks bad and he should aknowledge the situation. Maybe it means trouble for him as a supervisor or tech. If you get the same treatment ask to speak to his boss. If his boss is out of town ask to speak to his boss.

When you show your window installation to whoever eventually looks at it don't get emotional or mad, if you do thats all they will hear. (I hear your frustraton though.).

The repair installation looks like ****, even in poor pictures and they should make it right.
If that means reskinning, so be it. This Forum will get behind you. My post will bump this thread and get it more attention.

Adios,
Dan

[ggoat!!!]

Squeaky wheel gets the grease. After emailing Dave Schumann and Bob Wheeler, the VP of sales and service called me. They are reinstalling the windows right now trying to square them up...got my fingers crossed!

[Airline]

I've seen quite a few airstreams with crooked 120V receptacles,taillights and trim.
I don't understand it,maybe the Factory is built on some sort of Vortex.

Or the factory employees are Drunk !

Its got to be one of the two ; )

[Bigventure]

I can't tell alot from the pictures.
But, it looks like the oval port holes are not the same size as the windows above. (width) I woudn't expect them to line up. I would like them to be centered on the windows above though. It seems like the flanges are wide enough that the windows could be removed and the holes made slightly bigger on one side to get them to line up. 1/8 inch on either side. There is plenty of fudge under the flanges to wiggle them staight. If they have to TIG weld up a rivet hole or two then so be it.

[twobikes]

Gees ggoat, you got off easy on that labor. When I was at Jackson Center last week I inquired how much it would cost to weld one of those double battery boxes on my tongue. The service guy (Maybe Rick) said 10 hours labor and with a straight face totaled that up to over a thousand and "I don't know what those boxes cost." "It's a BIG job." With that introduction to Airstream (and the overflowing sewer in the TerraPort, I left without taking the factory tour. My guess was that working at the glacial pace I might not live to see a trailer completed...

[Friday]

I am now beginning to understand the American phenomenon known as 'going postal'.

[mefly2]

Excellent that AS will stand by their work as agreed upon ... and you paid for ...