We're on the road, right now in Abingdon, Maryland. The RV Park is on the shores of the Bush River, very close to the Aberdeen Proving Ground. That's right, the place where incredibly lethal weapons are tested. The peaceful surroundings provide a layer of disguise that lulls you into thinking it's a laid back place. The traffic on route 24 says differently. Although we are happy here and everyone is nice, we're looking forward to getting further south as the cold is starting to show up and the massive oak tree next to Puffins II is crapping acorns all over us, day and night. We are under constant attack from these bombs.
So there needs to be some catching up, as it's been a while since Julie and I recounted the adventures we've experienced up till now.
So let's start with the Puffins II -
Needless to say, there oughttabe. Ought to be STANDARDS and more formalization that protects consumers from the RV industry. When you buy a house, the consumer is very protected throughout the entire process - not so much in buying an RV. I learned that getting a thorough pre purchase inspection is a critical element in understanding what works, what doesn't, who and how it gets repaired and really important is when it will get repaired.
There is an outright disconnect between the RV manufacturer and the selling dealership. Quality control and post manufacturing (in our case), didn't seem to happen. And the selling dealer, who swore up and down that they had gone through the rig with a fine tooth comb and tried to persuade me to forego the NRVIA inspection hadn't done a thing, Their expectation was that I'd pay, add some optional, dealer installed items and then, be gone. The pre-buy inspection took place while the dealer was explaining how everything worked. They allocated a couple of hours, which didn't cover a lot of important things... whether it was power, tanks procedure, TPMS set up, rear and side cameras. The washer/dryer were tested and when the washer was filling with water, the dumping process left a small flood on the bedroom floor. Yup, the people responsible for ensuring everything was operational must have been watching reruns of Barney Miller.
We took the rig to Cold Springs RV, after leaving the unit overnight at the Hooksett Home Depot. I worked there part time and the manager there (Matt), was very gracious and let me park there until we took off on this adventure.
At Cold Springs, we arranged to have some pre-departure service performed and also asked having the passenger side sofa in the living room removed and in its place, a new custom dresser installed. It's no secret that available space in RV's is precious and clothes storage is very limited. The dresser would help alleviate this problem. The dresser was designed by the consultant at Easy Closets, an on line seller of a lot of different storage solutions. Cold Springs wouldn't do it, nor some other custom services. The Technician I worked with, Joe Amrol, said if I was willing to bring the rig up to Concord, he could do the custom work I was looking for, as long as it didn't interfere with his primary job at Cold Springs. So we did that.
After a few days, I was contacted by Joe and he let me know he was no longer at Cold Springs RV. He, along with his wife, Bri were fired. I believe the reason was rooted in how the dealership service department had operated for years, a family run, customer focused operation and now, with new personnel, they were morphing into a corporate environment... kind of a cookie cutter approach, where custom service was not a part of their business.
Joe was the foreman at Cold Springs and Bri ran the office for all the services the company offered. From the beginning of knowing Bri first, then Joe, it was clear they're both dedicated to providing outstanding service and crafting relationships that would keep customers coming back. Getting fired was opportune, as their dream for a lot of years was to open and operate their own RV service firm It happened earlier than they expected, but jumped right in, embraced the opportunity and in a few weeks had organized and established a business name, found and rented a decent work space, and started booking work that takes them well into 2024. Many of their clients were people who knew and respected their work ethic.
Joe likes to joke that Julie and I were their first clients and plans to hang our picture in their office. That would be a blast and we're flattered. I can say that Joe and Bri are rare. They give a damn about what and how they do things and our new camper is proof of that. And yes Bri... I'll turn off the batteries!
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They're based in Henniker and I've already started to formulate things I'd ask Joe to do...
That's all for now. Will catch up on where we've been and some of the things we've done.
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