My email to Berkshire Hathaway has born fruit:
BH forwarded the email to Forest River. This morning, I got an email from Forest River, telling me that Michael Terlep, the General Manager of the Viking Division, will review the email and get back to me. (He's out of the office until June 10th.)
And, I just got off the phone with the Quality and Warranty Manager of Dometic, the manufacturer of the awning. We had a great chat. He took notes, and told me that 1) they have already ordered a Carefree Campout awning to compare with theirs, and, pending discussion of my complaints and comparison of the two awnings, they will most likely redesign their awning.
I know that some people disapproved of my "going right to the top". I did not want my complaints to possible go up to some middle manager who would either dismiss them as crank BS, or hide them and do nothing. Doing it my way means that people up high have passed them along to other people, so there is oversight going on.
My career was in Sales and Marketing. I know what kind of service and honesty I provided. I think I'm entitled to the same.
Monday, June 10, 2:45 PM: I just got off the phone with the General Manager, Chris Mandel, of the Viking Division of Forest River. We had a very nice, civil discussion of my complaints. Viking has already begun an examination of the awning problem and suggested that Dometic do a redesign (which Dometic, last week, told me they had instituted.)
Some people (especially people on another forum) may not have agreed with my methodology, but it has born fruit. They -- Dometic and Viking -- know there is a definite problem, and they are working to correct it so that future purchasers will be happy. I am happy BECAUSE they cared enough to call and talk about it, and they LISTENED. WIN - WIN!
That's great TKnecht. Nothing wrong with going to the top if you can find them. Sometimes the people at the top are oblivious to the problems with the end product. I just bought a new FR Flagstaff and it's good to know that there are reachable people if I have a problem. I hope they resolve your problem to your satisfaction along the way too. 🙂
For things like this, I've found that doing it "the right way", e.g., starting with someone low on the list, gets your complaint buried. No one else knows about it, and it might damage their position if they did, so they bury it. And, it stays buried.
Start at the top, and it filters down, and the actual people responsible CANNOT bury it; they must actually DO SOMETHING. because there will be follow up.
I did not do this for personal gain. I did it because I felt the system was broken and needed a fix. It seems as though I've been successful. Forest River/Viking is looking at the shi....bad awning design, and they are making Dometic re-examine it, also, and Forest River is looking into shoddy workmanship in their popups (something I touched on during my talk with the Viking GM).
Both people I spoke with (Dometic and Viking) were friendly -- not the least bit defensive or angry -- and concerned. I attribute their willingness to listen to my reasoned approach, my good grammar (that's not a facetious statement; good grammar has an immediate, positive aspect), and my experience and knowledge. I did not rant and rave; I talked and reasoned.
As a result, Dometic will come up with a better-designed awning, and Viking will offer a better product to their buyers. Not a bad deal for all of us.
Every now and then, we win one.
I'm glad you are getting taken care of.
I cannot believe Dometic doesn't have examples of all of their competitors' products.
That's R&D 101! Duh!
Chris Mandell is awesome. I couldn't get anything out of Coachmen, so I contacted him. Once the warranty dept got the ok, they got me everything I need, shipped to Korea.
He had some of the stuff shipped himself.
If I lived in the States, I'm sure it would have been a lot less of a hassle.
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