[a/s] Jackson Center and the repair facility and warranty work and my luck so far

["Sandy Noyes" <boojum@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi folks -

Here I am in Jackson Center for the second day.  The first day started with trapping and releasing a 
ferocious two inch salamander which had snuck into the showroom inside the cardboard tube which was 
inside a roll of paper towels.  The woman who discovered the wee beastie was not pleased.  I released it 
just outside the front door where it went off to fend for itself in the wilds of western Ohio, once a jumping 
off place for "the west" and where buffalo roamed.

The folks here at the factory and repair facility are very nice.  The folks here with trailers being fixed are 
very dubious about quality control in the factory and I have heard more than a few voice the opinion that 
AS is the same as Detroit was 20 years ago and may have to learn the same hard lesson: quality isn't just 
important, it is everything.  I don't think the AS people are different than the rest of the RV industry; they 
may even be better.  Some AS coaches are just great and some aren't which indicates the QC problem.

The folks who are working on my coach are fixing some of the things.  It is slow going.  What they have 
fixed they have been very good about.  Some of the stuff will be a hair pulling match.  Like the crappy 
install of plastic trim in the bathroom which is filled by sloppy goop.  They don't want to fix it as it will 
requite a lot of work and is cosmetic.  That is not a good reason to me.  So the drama goes on.

I will keep you all posted.

I plan to take the factory tour this afternoon at 2:00 and  will take some photos to post.  It should be 
interesting.  Those who have been on the tour talk about how carefully the coaches are put together which 
makes me wonder how the coaches have such weird flaws.  It is all very confusing.

Honda in Marysville is open for Honda owners tours Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  This is a once a year 
event to I make take advantage of that, too.  The countryside is pretty much corn and soy beans 
interspersed with interstates alive with 18 wheelers.  If you have been in this part of the country you know 
it gets humid but I have been spared that so far.

That's it for now. 

The deal seems to be that they will fix the easy cosmetic stuff.  The pulled the whole front end cap off a 
trailer yesterday for a fellow to reseal it from leaking.  Today it is the rear cap.  So they do do the work.  
BUt some things they just don't think are their problem.

Like my sloping floor.  When the fridge and bathroom floor are level the front part if the coach slopes 
noticeably down.  The AS rep tells me this is not a problem.  I have asked him to convince me about that 
and he has been unsuccessful so far.  He hasn't fixed the sloping floor either and I think they will fight like 
hell to keep from doing it.  I understand that it is a huge job to fix the floor.  My take is that I bought a new 
coach and I expect it to be a coach without flaws like a sloping floor.

AS does say that the floor is not a problem, and that it was caused by the accident when the tow company 
dropped the trailer last fall.  This is confusing as the problem did not become noticeable until months later.   
What to do?  I just want the damned thing fixed.  But, I hope it does not involve reopening the insurance 
case and a hassle with the repair facility if the damage was caused by the accident.  I do not plan on leaving 
here without having it fixed so it may be a real hair-pulling match.  

The majority of folks who have been here say the folks in the repair center are good guys who want to do it 
right.



         ". . . taking a trip, not taking a trip . . ."
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         Livingston, TX 77399-2035