Saturday, June 20, 2015

Living on Tiffin Time…

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imageWe left Natchez Trace RV Park and continued on Natchez Trace Parkway for about 60 miles to our destination which is a well known RV park to Tiffin Motorhome owners.  We checked in and were assigned site number 37 at the Allegro Campground in Red Bay, Alabama. For non Tiffin owners the Allegro Campground is a campground adjacent to the service center for Tiffin Motorhomes. We now find ourselves literally in a sea of Tiffin motorhomes…

We pulled in on Tuesday, June 16th and we have no idea how long we will be here because once parked here you become on “Tiffin Time.” Again for those that don’t know, having service at Tiffin is done on a first come first serve basis… or so they say.

After checking in and filling out all of our information including our list of requested repairs we turned our packet back into Judy at reception. She explained she in turn  would communicate to scheduling our list of requests. The next morning Norris stopped by to discuss our list of requested repairs and to see first hand what exactly needed to be done.  His job is to give a vague idea of when you might possibly be seen. After our key items  were discussed we happened to mention some lesser priority items and that's when Norris said if we wanted all of the items completed we would have to wait 3 weeks or more for a full service bay or we could have our top items addressed in what is called an express bay which would be available in much less time. We, of course elected to queue on up for the express bay knowing full well we are now  on Tiffin Time meaning we will never know when exactly we will be seen.  We also know this means we must wait in the ever-ready position with our phones at our side so that we are available to pack up and go quickly whenever they call.

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The next day a few guys came by to try to figure out which parts we might need explaining this would save time once we were called to our express bay. Since they will fix everything they can in three hours we reiterated the priorities on our list. We know we could (if we wanted to) get back into the queue for another three hours for repairs but who knows how long that takes? Anyway, our experience with the express bay  in the past has been that they really seem to get a lot more done than we expected, so for us, it is the way to go. We have talked to a few people who have been here several weeks.  Our goal is a week to less than ten days.

imageWith a weekend coming up we are free as the shop is closed on weekends so we plan to explore a few spots nearby we haven’t explored before. After our express bay service we will have to wait around a bit more as we our also having our radius rails replaced and Tiffin will do this on a Goodwill Warranty (in other words free). So we will for sure hang around to get that work done.

While hanging out in the parking lot called Allegro Campground at least we can try out some recipes we have been wanting to try. How long will we be here? Who knows, as we are living on Tiffin Time…

14 comments:

  1. I think I'd rather be "Living on Key West Time." (its a song)

    Good luck for fast repairs

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  2. So, other than the roof rails (free), what is it that they're doing that you couldn't do yourself? I have to say, I will never own a motorhome where I have to go through that much hassle to get service work done.

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    1. I only came here for the roof rails which we just got scheduled Monday... I also have leak from the A/C I was unable to track and a couple of large window will be replaced...

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    2. Well, Monday's not bad I guess. The other stuff could have been done at any RV shop though, no? Long way to go to have service work done unless you're going to be in the area anyhow.

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    3. well there you have it Kevin, we were coming here anyhow so had the other items done as well while we were waiting

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    4. Are Jim & Donalyn still there? Alabama Hall of Fame and a little restaurant called Odette in Florence has some pretty great local food. Hope you are done soon..

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    5. yep, we saw them yesterday...

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  3. Tiffin Time - I like that. Good think you're retired. Good luck getting everything done that has to be done.

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  4. We know all too well that campground. If you two have the time and want to visit a really nice place, check out the Helen Keller Museum. It is called Ivy Green, birthplace of Helen Keller, June 27, 1860, in her hometown of Tuscumbia, Alabama. It is wonderful.

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  5. An experience we will not have- We bailed on the Tiffin.

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    1. It upsets me to hear it wasn't made right. Hugs to you both!

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  6. At least you have a place to stay and get the work done.
    The flattened chicken looks tasty.

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  7. We squeezed in just before they went to the no-appointments system; glad to read in your comment that you were scheduled for Monday.

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  8. Wow. We are not in the market for a new motorhome, but if we were Red Bay would be a reason not to get a Tiffin. We had a completely different experience when we had some work done on our Newmar last year. We explained the repairs over the phone. They set up an appointment. We arrived on the scheduled day and parked in their free lot. They then completed all the work, while meeting with us daily to discuss progress and offer suggestions. Could not have been happier.

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