Sirius-ly

One of the things we had yet to get around to setting up in the new moose was our satellite radio system. After all, it looked just like the setup in the old moose. So, we saved it as a "to-do" for the road. Now that we're finally parked for a couple of days, today was the day get the job done. I readied myself for the five-minute task.

I powered up the radio and waited for the Sirius screen to give me the number I needed to activate the new receiver. And, I waited. It never came. I dialed up Sirius, asked for help and was told they could work their magic from their end. All they needed was the VIN. I passed along Big Bull's unique number, but Sirius didn't recognize it. They told me to call the dealer. I called and left a message for our salesman. He called back, assured me everything was all wired to go, and asked me to call Winnebago service and they would walk me through the process. I called Winnebago service and talked to someone who apparently was no more familiar with this radio than I am, except he was a lot more irritating. He seemed put off by my call.

Seriously! Can I tell you how much I wanted to shout into the phone, "Do you know that it's people like us who give you a job?" But, instead I railed on about how this appeared to be yet another problem with our faulty entertainment system, which should have been checked out at the factory.

He said nothing.

Just in case any Winnebagoans pass by these parts, that was the exact moment we lost confidence in their product. Heck, if they can't wire TVs and radios at the factory, what else did they screw up? Plus, if every time we call Customer Service we get a non-expert who is inconvenienced by our call, what kind of horrible mistake of a major purchase have we just made?

As I tried to incorporate a visit to a dealership into our itinerary, Paul called and announced our displeasure to our salesman's voice mailbox. Minutes later we got a call from a regional Winnebago representative. He was most apologetic and seemed eager to resolve our problem. Before they wrapped their call, Paul caught something in what the guy said: "The Tour is all wired. It should just plug and play."

Did he say "plug and play"? We'd seen a box somewhere in this coach labeled "Sirius Plug and Play". During our walk-through we discovered it in a cabinet and were told it would enable us to use Sirius in our car, so we stashed it back in the cabinet to deal with much later. After Paul hung up, we found and opened the box. Inside was a small tuner and a dock. This wasn't just for our car. It was for the RV, too! We went searching for a place to plug this thing in. Inside a cabinet we found the docking station we thought was for the optional GPS unit. Paul placed the tuner in the docking station and it fit like a glove. The screen on the little tuner lit up. I turned on the radio and asked it for the activation number and it served it right up. I called Sirius and within minutes our radio was up and running.

We were embarrassed that we were trying to receive with a receiver-less radio, and that we actually did have everything on board to make it work. That said, this radio looks just like - and has the same instructions - as our old one. So, that's what we expected. Little did we know this box that was presented as a car accessory in our walk-through was the brains to the whole operation! And, I'm sorry. The guy in Forest City had our VIN. He, of all people, should know about our setup and how it works.

It took us half the day to get this job done. Now, we had some cleaning up to do.

Before we could start dialing out to close the loop with the helpful people at Winnebago, a call came in. The regional guy had called a big service guy in Forest City and instructed him to call us. Imagine his surprise when he dialed up these frustrated customers and heard, "Uh, we worked it out." We apologized for any user error on our part, but the service big wig took responsibility. He explained that this feature is new, and that Winnebago needs to do a better job of explaining it to dealers, and - unfortunately - the customer service reps in Forest City. He went on to say we should not have been left to figure this out on our own.

Good point.

We looped back with the regional guy and thanked him for his help. He, in turn offered to save us another call and promised to get back to our sales rep. We were very impressed by the responsiveness of our rep, the regional guy and the service big wig. Everyone involved learned something today about a little feature called plug and play, except that customer service rep. We have a feeling his learning may come later.

So, as I celebrate another successful trip around the sun, we're enjoying tunes in our new home. And, just in case any passing Winnebagoans have made it this far in this lengthy post, there's good news for you, too.

Our confidence has been restored.