Part three
I am also reviewing our “roadside assistance and warranty” plans. We may very well end up with a different company, at least for one of them.
Lessons: 1. Get all your emergency information, warranties etc. on paper, handy to the front console. I thought I gathered all my info into an excel spreadsheet, but in the panic of the moment I couldn’t find it. When I find it, it will be printed and stored in the front console.
2. Take a moment and think of alternative solutions. Deb was making phone calls 8 miles away, then driving back to discuss them with me. Eventually we did leave the RV and made phone calls together. In the beginning, there wasn’t a thought of towing the RV anywhere but the nearest shop. Lack of attractive local solutions forced us to consider the transport direction. If some nice local Ford Dealer offered to let us park it on their lot and look at it quickly – we probably would have taken them up on it, even if it meant driving home and going forward with phone calls. In order to make that work, we probably would have had to spend a night or two in a hotel while we arranged a small trailer to transport all the stuff we wouldn’t want to leave in the RV for weeks or months. Then add in the issue of needing to winterize the RV in case the time frame rolled into winter and at least a few days in a hotel would be in order, plus a trailer rental. Much of that of course, our roadside would have covered.
3. Take advantage of outside resources – as in outside the ring of panic. FB dd help. I even got an offer of help from someone who lived in the area. We didn’t end up using them, but it was appreciated. Even something simple, like the warranty reminder was quite valuable.
4. Learn how to use Starlink in portable mode (or have more than one communication service). We had been using Starlink residential for months in our summer spot in Illinois. Once at Estes Park, I turned it on – changed my address to that of the park and it worked! The trouble was, I didn’t pay attention to the Starlink email that arrived shortly afterward, telling me that I’m not allowed to just change the address on my residential service. They let it work for over a week, but of course the next time I tried to power up – no luck. On one of the many trips to town, I logged in and added portability and then Starlink worked. We had to turn on WIFI calling on our phones but we could make and receive calls after that.
4. We had savings as a buffer. We had to do a wire transfer for the down payment (the first time for me). And we had to have a cashier’s check to pay the driver on delivery. Some services might take credit cards, but this one did not. “They” say, don’t leave lots of money in savings, but it was useful for us. Wherever you keep your emergency fund (or if you plan to use credit cards), you need to be able to get to those funds, via phone or Internet and you might have to move the money via something other than a credit card. Even if we had managed to choose a lower-cost tow option, the roadside assistance packages cover many of the expenses as REIMBURSEMENTS from your receipts. As in, three nights in a hotel and food but only with receipts.
5. Make sure you know what service you are getting when you take your RV into a shop. I knew when we took our pickup truck in, full service was supposed to mean Lube and Oil, among other things. We just assumed the motorhome was getting the same service. It wasn’t. No lube on the commercial truck side. Perhaps we could have asked for it if we hadn’t just assumed we were getting it. Oil type, other fluids, air filter, cabin filter, chassis lube, etc. The next time we went to our Ford dealer, there was a new commercial service manager and he said chassis lube WAS supposed to be part of the service.
Ok, time to name names. The shipping company we chose to setup the transport was U Ship 4 Less . They destroyed my transmission mount, snapped 2 of 4 bolts holding the transmision support to the frame – and the company refuses to even answer my communications. Of course, their web site claims to have no liability for any damage resulting from them arranging for shipping. Thus I’m leaving bad reviews anywhere I can, including with the BBB. So, remember the name: U Ship 4 Less and choose someone else to transport your RV, large box or whatever anywhere.
After the motorhome was taken to the first Ford shop – they decided they couldn’t do the work. So we had to have it towed to another shop two hours away. That tow truck driver (from Feldkamps) beat the shit out of my driveshaft, u-joint and transaxle yoke – causing over $1200 in damage 
.
The owner, the company refuses to take any responsibility for the damage. I’ve tried several ways to communicate including working through the Better Business Bureau and no luck. So if you need a tow in the Champaign-Urbana , Central Illinois area – choose anyone BUT Feldkamps.
Go back to part one here.
I’d have pushed it over a cliff after all that lol!