We’re at the Winnebago factory in Forest City, just hanging out in their parking lot ‘campground’ waiting for our turn in the service bays. The routine is that the service mgr. puts next day’s service list on the front door of the customer service area about 4 pm when they close. On this list are the names of the lucky people who will actually get into a service bay and actually have a TECH working in their RV.
Winnebago used to tell people to get their RV’s here at 7:00 when customer service opened but - it took about an hour to get all of the RV’s into the bays and the techs, who arrived for work at 7:00, waited an hour. A waste of everyone’s time. Now, we are asked to be in the parking lot ready to move by 6:00 so they can get all the RV’s into the bays so the techs can start work at 7:00 on the dot. Clever.
Friday, when we arrived, we saw an amazing dance of the RV’s, like the dance of the elephants in Fantasia: large behemoths swirling around the parking lot, pirouetting around each other and pivoting in and out. and All they needed were pink tutu’s.
But that was Friday and it went on all day since the rally had just closed and there were a lot of RV’s hoping for service. Saturday and Sunday were quiet, only those RV’s parked here joined by a continual parade of cars driving up to the front door of the service area, the passenger rushing out to check the list for Monday. There must be at least 50 RV’s in the area waiting for service. On Sunday, we also checked the list to see if, by chance, we slipped in for Monday service. But, no go. We were scheduled for Tuesday and no earlier.
Monday morning at 6:00 we heard several diesel motors rumbling away, getting ready to go in for service, but when we looked out our front window at 7:00, expecting the same elephant dance, we saw - nothing. Awww. Disappointment.
Monday night we eagerly checked the list and we had made it! We were in like Flynn (as my mother used to say.) Which meant - up at 5:00. Whoo - eee. But the goal is to get our RV fixed and 5:00 is a small price to pay. Up at 5:00 followed by breakfast. We then readied the inside of the RV for moving and then got ready to move the slides in. Guess what - the problem slide moved perfectly. Wouldn’t you know it? It is an intermittent problem: we counted that it has failed 5 times out of 11. Not a good ratio. But, today, slid in like a knife through butter.
At 6:00 we looked out of our front window and - there were 10 RV’s ready for their entrance onto the stage for the dance of the elephants, moving into position so that the white-shirted guy with the clipboard could assign a driver to them to get their RV into the service bays. By 7:00, the parking lot was empty - just as it was Monday when we looked out. We had obviously slept through the dance on Monday.
Now, about the driver. Winnebago used to let owners drive their own RV’s into the service area but that was fraught with danger. There were a few fender benders and angry people, thinking some one had taken their place in line. But a fist fight? Sure enough, two guys really got into it over one getting his RV too close to the other. Now, they assign a driver to get the RV into the service bays. The drivers come equipped with a small carpet sample and some plastic to protect your RV when they are in it. Nice touch.
Here’s where you don’t want to see your RV - in a service bay with two people huddled on the left looking into a basement compartment. Actually, that’s Dave, our tech, in the red shirt, with Gary, in the white shirt, looking under the slide for the tiny holes that we can use to bring the slide in with some of our tools.
On the other hand, that means that we are getting the service we need and will soon be on our way.
Hey, what’s with all the chairs. Chairs? What do chairs have to do with RV repairs? Well, they hold your spot in the ‘campground.’ We’ve put ours out, our neighbors have also. If you want the same spot for tonight, you’ve got to either park your car in your spot or put out chairs. Note the car behind the chairs - it is also marking a spot for the RV in that ‘camp site’ who is also in getting repairs.
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