Hot Air

One of the things we miss from our pre-fulltiming life is our network of trusted and skilled professionals. We were fortunate to have doctors we liked who got to know us. I had the same hair stylist for nearly a decade. We had a locally owned mechanic shop that did outstanding diagnosis and repair, which kept our cars in tip-top shape. And, our heating and air conditioning guy was so great he made one much-needed house call for free.

Today, we especially miss those last two.

At our two last stops we noticed and confirmed that our heat pump wasn't performing as it should. With plans to travel across the toasty western slope of the Rockies next week, we decided to get it checked out. We checked with our heat pump manufacturer and learned that the closest qualified technician for our model was at a dealership in Salt Lake City. Before making the nearly 300-mile trek to Utah's capital, Paul called and discussed the situation with the dealership. He told them what type of heat pump we have, the make and model of our coach, described the problem and explained that we were nearly 300 miles away. The service tech asked a few questions and told us to come on in.

We checked in at the dealership Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday morning, we delivered the moose to the service bay. About noon, we stopped by the dealership and were thrilled to see Bullwinkle sitting out front. We stepped inside and inquired on his status.

The service tech told us the news was bad. Repairs were needed that would require more than one day, and maybe several. The bill was certain to be at least $1500. Maybe more. And, that's if they could get the parts they needed. Worse yet, he reported, the heat pump manufacturer said it would not honor its two-year warranty on this 19-month old unit.

With our heads spinning, we decided to put some space between us and the problem. So, we left the dealership and checked into the local KOA. (We checked out another highly recommended park that looked quite nice, but had absolutely no shade. Right now, we need all of that we can get. And, the KOA has plenty!) Our service tech asked us to call him today and let him know if we wanted to get started with the work on Monday.

From the comfort of our shady site, some things became clear. Something about this exchange was fishy. Paul placed a late afternoon call to the maker of our heat pump. The friendly Kansan on the other end of the line assured us that the warranty would be honored, and plenty of parts are readily available.

Oh, really?

More calls were exchanged this morning. Paul spoke with the service tech, warranty clerk and general manager of the dealership, and another call or two to the heat pump maker. Through these calls a stack of lies were revealed.

Turns out this dealer doesn't do the kind of work needed to fix our heat pump!

Gee, it would have been nice to have been told that before we made the drive. And, if they aren't capable of doing this repair work, what were they planning to do to our moose for several days while we camped in a hotel and they charged us at least $1500?

We don't want to think about that.

We're not naive. We know there are unscrupulous types that find transients like us in need of critical repairs as easy targets to scam. We found some right here in Salt Lake City.

They think we'll just move on down the road and not tell anybody. But, as Paul told the head dude at this dealer, the RVing community is very connected. If any one of us finds a repair place that's not reputable, there are ways to let everybody know.

He didn't believe us.

Well, folks, we'll start right here on this little ol' blog.

What's the name of this dealer full of hot air? Blaine Jensen RV, Kaysville, UT.

Our advice: Avoid them at all costs.