PDI issues

[suza]

It seems there are a lot of posts related to Pre-delivery inspections and the poor quality of service received from many dealers during delivery.

Here are my thoughts:

Keystone (or any other RV manufacturer, for that matter) could boost sales, and possibly put the "other guy" out of business if the following practices were adopted:

Each dealer would have a "highly trained, certified PDI professional" on staff. Not the salesman, a mechanic, or anyone else who happens to be free at the time of delivery. This person would

1). be familiar with all aspects of each unit on the lot

2). perform a Pre-PDI. Some of the little problems we found with our new RV would have been discovered if someone had taken a bit more care in checking things over.

3). during the final PDI, make sure any important questions not asked by the new owner are addressed and answered, if needed

4). follow-up, after delivery and make sure everything is A-OK. You buy a $50K+ pick-up and someone from the dealership calls, at least once, to make sure you are happy and everything is working fine.

5). make house calls. With today's technology, this could even be a "virtual house call". Some issues might not require hauling the RV into the service center.

6). accompany the purchaser on a short shake-down trip so the owner has a thorough understanding of packing, towing, leveling and securing, taking down; might also provide tips tailored to the owner's specific needs; an "RV personal trainer", so to speak.

7). if any question or problem cannot be resolved, the PDI professional would contact, via a hotline on the spot, a higher level person at Keystone and have an answer as quickly as possible.

8). the manufacturer would provide all owners with an online video library with demonstrations of maintenance, functions, etc. In a tech world, these could easily be kept up to date. Owners shouldn't have to rely on other RV owners to provide these (though another perspective is always good)

I know these things are a bit far-fetched, and the possibilities are endless, but you get the idea. The concept of customer satisfaction and consistently providing a quality product and service have been practiced by successful businesses throughout the years. The increased expense would be the cost of success, not to be passed on to the consumer, but returned to the company in the way of increased sales, integrity and goodwill.

On another note: being a business major, I have wondered why you don't see a lot of media advertising on the part of RV manufacturers. All the auto companies sell their products via television and major magazines. An advertising campaign designed around this "new way of business" just might be the key.

for listening

[jsmith948]

The DW & I like your ideas. Some of them would possibly add to the "cost of doing business" and would likely have to be passed along to the buyer. I probably wouldn't mind paying a little more for the services you've mentioned.
It just bugs me that, considering the cost of an RV, we don't already get these services!

[allmi01]

Now this sounds like an perfect small business for a group of retiree's who want to supplement thier income.

Pete's RV in Indiana did most fo the PDI items onour list. They did have the walk through specialist go through the unit before we arrived and found a few items that needed correcting and had them corrected before we left. Kudu's to the dealership for thinking ahead and knowing things can be wrong on a new unit.

The follow-up portions on your list woudl be a worth while extra cost as an option maybe) from the dealer or the manufacturer.

I've been doing the RV thing for for 25 years and am on ny 6th TT. The follow-up calls are really free if the sales person woudl / could do a follow-up as the auto dealers do. The on-site and personal trainer trips should be an option at cost to the customer. It might even be fun to take a few of these with "rookie" owners to help them get a good start.

In a few more years when I retire, I think I might offer these services to a dealer near where I plan on being and pick up a few buck along the way. I know I've taught a few poeple over the years and you never know, I might learn a few things myself helping others. Nice thing about Rv'ing in general, there is no one right way of doing things.

Great idea! Lets see about making something like this happen. Keystone in general does listen to owner comments an suggestions. Please forward this on and lets see what they say.

[suza]

Originally Posted by allmi01

Now this sounds like an perfect small business for a group of retiree's who want to supplement thier income.

Pete's RV in Indiana did most fo the PDI items onour list. They did have the walk through specialist go through the unit before we arrived and found a few items that needed correcting and had them corrected before we left. Kudu's to the dealership for thinking ahead and knowing things can be wrong on a new unit.

The follow-up portions on your list woudl be a worth while extra cost as an option maybe) from the dealer or the manufacturer.

I've been doing the RV thing for for 25 years and am on ny 6th TT. The follow-up calls are really free if the sales person woudl / could do a follow-up as the auto dealers do. The on-site and personal trainer trips should be an option at cost to the customer. It might even be fun to take a few of these with "rookie" owners to help them get a good start.

In a few more years when I retire, I think I might offer these services to a dealer near where I plan on being and pick up a few buck along the way. I know I've taught a few poeple over the years and you never know, I might learn a few things myself helping others. Nice thing about Rv'ing in general, there is no one right way of doing things.

Great idea! Lets see about making something like this happen. Keystone in general does listen to owner comments an suggestions. Please forward this on and lets see what they say.

Hey, let us know if you pursue this.

[Shelbs]

Actually I don't think your ideas are far-fetched at all! As someone who has "seen how the sausage is made", if you will... I can tell you that I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. And I have been in dealerships where some of your ideas are already being implemented.

I know of one dealership who has a full-time "walk-thru specialist". All he does is customer walk-thru's of newly sold units. I think he told me that he does roughly 700 walk-thru's per year. So here is a guy who is very familiar with the workings of the RV and demonstrates operation to the customer. Prior to delivery, there is a certified Tech who goes through the unit front to back, checking all aspects of operation and fitness. As a customer of this dealership, you can expect a follow-up call about 30 days into ownership and another about 90 days in. Needless to say, this dealership is a model that can be used as an example of how a dealership should operate.

I know of a large national chain of dealerships whose PDI consists of a full 3 to 4 hour inspection of every unit before it is delivered. I think most dealerships do this, although some do it better than others. A Tech will check everything: Electric, plumbing, all appliances, the roof and windows for proper seals, brakes, LP pressure, etc. In this case, the customer walk thru is done by the same tech who did the inspection. This way, he is ultimately familiar with the ins and outs of the specific unit and is more enables to accurately answer customer questions.

I really like your idea about house calls. A couple dealerships in my are provide mobile techs. Most do not. The manufactures could increase their level of customer service by making it easier for independent Mobile Techs like myself to do warranty work. This applies to both the RV manufacturers and those of components like Dometic and Atwood. Many of the Techs I know won't even hassle with trying to do warranty work because the business side is so time consuming.

I think the RV industry has come a long way in the past 5 to 10 years. But it still has lessons to learn. Thank you for your input. It helps me to do a better job, too!