Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Sharon Talks About Her Mayo Visit and Our Cummins Service Center Experience (Part 2 of 2)…

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Thursday was my birthday and I had no appointments that day, however the doctor I saw in dermatology called to say I needed to come back because the biopsy revealed that the place on my tummy was a squamous cell skin cancer (sigh, what a great present for my birthday) and would require removal. Amazingly he was able to schedule the treatment right before my wrap up appointment with internal medicine the very next day. This is the beauty of the Mayo Clinic...amazing.

Image may contain: tree, sky, plant, outdoor, nature and waterIf only things went that easily at the Cummins Service Center. After reviewing the quote and researching, John felt like the service center was charging us way too much for the labor and he felt like he could really do the work himself. So on Friday morning we called to say we needed to pick up the parts. Of course this took several calls because only one person could talk to us about when to pick it up and his extension constantly went to voice mail and he would never return any of our calls.

When they finally called back, they said the parts were not there. Furthermore they weren't sure exactly when they would arrive (probably Monday, the day we plan to leave). After much back and forth both on Friday, they said one of our parts showed up, the replacement hose. We drove the 40 miles over before my final appointments only to find out it really was not there, a technician had driven downtown to get the hose but the insulation that we paid for would have to be shipped to us.

Image may contain: one or more people, people standing, tree, plant, outdoor and natureAfter scrambling and arguing with them (because they wanted to charge us to ship the insulation even after they told us it would be there Thursday and we paid for it already along with a very steep diagnosis fee), we finally prevailed. (Only because John threatened to void the credit card transaction as a dispute and let them fight it out with the credit card company). Because of all this hassle we were cutting it very close to my appointment at the Mayo. I was very upset but alas it came in the nick of time for us to race to my appointment. It really shouldn't have been that stressful, though. The communication at this place was horrible and so we will have to wait for our repairs yet again.

At the wrap-up appointment I learned my x-rays revealed no real concerns other than "normal" wear and tear for my age and all my other tests were positive as well. So glad am I it is all done and we can get back to the business of having fun again...

14 comments:

  1. Yea on the results. Girls just want to have fun, at least that's according to Cyndi Lauper. So, do what she says and have a blast. Hope to see you soon.

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    1. we hope to be in Vero area for two nights starting on the 14th of Nov...

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    2. Fabulous. We could do trivia night at a place in Ft. Pierce on that Wednesday night and Tuesday is w---i---d---e open. Can't wait๐Ÿป๐Ÿท๐Ÿพ๐Ÿธ๐Ÿน๐Ÿ˜. Where are you booked?

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  2. I had a similar battle with another one of their shops that caters to motorhome owners. I had an agreement with the service writer that they would do some routine maintenance that would be in the $600-700 range. An hour after they had the motorhome in the shop, with the transmission drained, they waltz into the waiting room with a work order for me to sign. It claims that, so far they are up to $1400-1500 range, but it could be a few hundred higher. I told the service writer to follow me, and we barged into the general manager's office, uninvited. I told him they could honor their original estimate, or I would put it on my Visa, and dispute the charge immediately. I also told him that if that didn't work for him, he could refill the transmission and pull it out of the bay, and I would be driving it away without paying a dime. He was shook enough that he literally told the tech. to do something else, and didn't get back to me for another 2-1/2 or 3 hours. In the end they took nearly ten hours to do 2-3 worth or simple maintenance, and we were the last ones to leave the building, But, they very grudgingly honored their word. I really believe that they have no issue with pull crap with motorcoach owners that they wouldn't dare to do to any of their truck and fleet customers. As we wasted a long day there, I was talking to a guy who was getting a pan gasket replaced on a simple Onan 5500 gas genny. He got the talk from the service writer and I overheard that it was going to be about $800, but could be higher. He left, in under four hours with a $1300 bill. It was stunning. Less than four hours of labor and a gasket for that money.

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    1. I am so mad and this adds fuel to the fire. It's just WRONG

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  3. Oh Sharon...we are so sorry to read about the cancer spot. Is that the only procedure you need to have? Prayers sent your way.

    Glad all the other test came back excellent.

    Oh how we hate to work with any mechanic place. It does seem like they are always making a much bigger deal out of whatever is wrong. The Tiffin plant was really the one one dealer that stood behind their word.

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    1. Yes! Just a re check in 6 to 12 months. An MRI if back pain comes back. Sheesh! Glad to be done. Thanks for thinking of me! Hugs!

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  4. Glad that things are finally resolved, and that you can carry on. Too bad about the issues with the cummins service centre. Think they just want to make more money on the labor.

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  5. Happy Birthday Sharon! Sorry you didn't get such good news on your special day. Hope it has all been looked after though and that hopefully that will be the end of it. Nice that all the other tests came back with good results.

    What a hassle to have to deal with at Cummins Service Centre. Hope you have that all sorted out now and that John will be able to do the work without any issues.

    www.travelwithkevinandruth.com

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  6. Congrats on the rest of the tests and good reports. Such a hassle with the cummins service department. It seems to be all about the money.

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  7. I really do hate RV service places.

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  8. Happy birthday but sorry about the cancer removal. However, it's good you caught it now. Also, no fun to have to got to repair shops along the way. Fun is the best business.

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  9. Happy birthday and congrats on good news otherwise. We have also learned that getting our RV serviced can be such a huge hassle. Fortunately, your man can do a lot of the repairs himself! Happy travels.

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  10. I had issues with the Cummins place in Albuquerque. Received an estimate for just under $400 to replace a starter motor in my generator. I was right there, waited just under two hours and it was done and in front of the shop door, ready to go. When I saw the bill, it WAS for the correct amount, but the part was $60+ and the rest was for labor. I asked how much they charged per hour, she said $128/hour. The numbers didn't add up, so I asked her again why the labor charge was so high - they had it for less than 2 hours, so a 2-hour labor charge is all there should have been. She said it was because of the diagnostic charge. He looked at it the night before and immediately knew it was the starter motor, there was no more than 2 minutes for that. I wasn't happy, obviously the estimate was more than the actual work, but we never seem to get THAT price, do we? I paid then left. I've been receiving a bill each month since June for the whole amount. One morning I had a phone call wake me up before 7 am - it was the service manager doing a collection call. I reminded him about the two invoices that had to be done because the first one was wrong, and obviously wasn't deleted. He wanted me to send him a copy of my invoice - yeah, right! It's a real mess with that company, and I won't go back to Cummins again. :(

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