Saturday, October 13, 2012

La Mesa RV Service Center…

102_9730One of the main reasons we came to San Diego was to see if La Mesa RV’s Service Center would be able to repair our water leak on our city water intake line. After speaking with Tiffin’s Service Center we were advised that La Mesa was an authorized service center for all Tiffin Motorhomes and could do the needed repairs. So how did we get to this point?

Last year when we were in Red Bay, Alabama I had pointed out a pinched water intake line and the Tiffin service guys said that it was a Tiffin manufacturing defect. This defect occurred during the installation of the house shell upon the chassis. As a result Tiffin assured us they would repair it at no cost on our next trip back to Red Bay and felt pretty sure that it would not leak until we made it back in an year or so. Ooops!!! They were a bit wrong on that one as a leak appeared in August during our trek down the coastline of California, about as far away as one can get from Red Bay!

102_9723I called Tiffin Motorhomes and spoke with service who said La Mesa could handle the task. We made our first appointment back in September (they were booked almost month ahead) and took the RV over to the Service folks to have the repairs done .As it turned out that day was a bust as all the La Mesa folks accomplished that day was obtaining authorization from Tiffin to do the repairs.  Because of the time difference on the East and West Coasts along with the paperwork involved we were told they couldn’t fix it  that day afterall because it would be an all day job there was not enough time to repair it this same day.

La Jolla and Torrey Pines 003Sigh…the rep at La Mesa promised to call us "in a day or two" to work us into the schedule before our planned exit date.  The two days went by and we called the third business day and the rep made our appointment while we were on the phone for repair October 10th. He told us to be there by 8:30 am since they needed all day to do the repairs. The day before we were our appointment Sharon called to verify our 8;30 appointment and it was a go. However that evening La Mesa service center called and said not to come in till 10:30 since they were all going to be in a meeting from 8 to 10:30. We agreed but began to worry a little about whether they would get the work done in time. We spent the day hiking in nearby Mission Trails Regional Park (another blog on that later). As it neared 5:00 pm we made our way back to the service center hoping the repairs were made.

Balboa Park SD 049Our service rep came out to the lobby just before 5:00 pm and informed us the repairs were done. YEAH!!! SO I asked him what the technicians did and he obviously didn't have a clue what work was done. Thankfully the paperwork outlined what was done and since we are still in the park for a week I figured I would hook it up to city water and watch for leaks. We have had it hooked up for two days but still don’t know if it was repaired since we have had intermittent rain showers for the last two days, the first rain we have seen in months!! But alas  two leaks appeared around the toilet as they replaced the full length of the water line. One leak at an elbow I was able to tighten but the other leak is a mystery and drips only when the toilet is flushed.

Balboa Park SD 051A call to La Mesa yielded no further clues (only denial from the service rep that it could have been their work). I guess he never read what was done because I had to explain to him that the elbow joint around the toilet was obviously brand new and the entire bathroom was rearranged to gain access so I said I'd really like to talk to the technician directly.  Once I spoke with the technician it was obvious they removed the plumbing from the toilet but he had no idea why there that leak other than a blockage may be causing the drip.He advised flushing the lines to dislodge the blockage. I told him if it didn’t resolve itself before we leave I expected him to look it over and he agreed. The problem I have is if they had pressurized the system at all and made sure there were no leaks after the reinstallation this problem wouldn’t exist. The service rep stated they did this but my guess is they only looked for major leaks and water pressure, not smaller leaks. So our future may include yet another trip to La Mesa RV… Sigh…

Balboa Park SD 027What did we learn from this? We still love and respect Tiffin Motorhomes for service over and above since once again they repaired our motorhome at no cost to us. They even allowed us to get the work done on the west coast without making the trek to Red Bay. We were however not impressed with the Service Center at La Mesa RV. Although it appears they performed the needed repairs they did so without ensuring our home had any leaks and our service rep was nowhere near as efficient or as helpful as the Tiffin service reps. So we learned that if at all possible we will return to Red Bay for any future significant repairs. And if we have any other water line repairs we will insist they hook it up to city water and we will inspect the work ourselves. Hopefully there won’t be another time…

10 comments:

  1. Even thought we just sold our Tiffin, we will be sure the people who bought it know of your evaluation. We only took ours to Red Bay, but would have thought any of their service areas would do just as good a job.

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  2. Good luck with your repairs, I usually fix ours myself, if possible, no more warranties on our 13 year old Holiday Rambler, still a great coach.

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  3. You know my opinion of La Mesa as a sales operation, at least in the Dublin location. I had hope for a good report from San Diego since I think that area will be our second home someday.

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  4. Sorry to hear this. We'd like to think we could have work done without going to Redbay but we always end up there too. Water problems are the worst! Good luck!

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  5. We are learning that too. Tiffin will fix almost anything wrong with out charging- if you go to red bay :)

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  6. Sorry to hear La Mesa didn't do the job you were hoping for! we're heading to Red Bay soon...Hoping it goes as well as everybody says it does!

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  7. I know that you are concerned about the cost and the fact you have a warranty still but for small items such as a plumbing problem I have found that the mobile mechanics are great. Their professional lives and income revolve around doing good work and getting referral business. The dealers sometimes treat the service department as a necessary nuisance to their sales operation.

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  8. Sorry to hear about this. RV repairing is one of THE MOST frustrating things on the planet. We had a water pump replaced this summer and subsequently developed a leak when we use the water pump when we're off city water. Timing could be a coincidence, maybe. I always wonder why places like La Mesa are willing to risk this kind of adverse publicity.

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  9. I hope I didn't paint too bleak of a picture... La Mesa did the work (maybe) but I really thought their customer service was very weak... still better than traveling to Red Bay from here...

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  10. They are the best in the market and their vast track record of experience and reference will attest to the truth that they are indeed the company that is extremely expert in the rain leak repair. They can even do water intrusion, leak repair, waterproofing, water damage removal and mold removal. There is no other company than Rain Leak Repair LA that can repair any damage in your house that has been caused by rain leak.

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