I’ve been holding off making any posts for the past couple of months mainly because whenever I thought about the service we received from MasterTech RV in Elkhart Indiana, I became more and more angry.
It all started back in early January when I contacted them to replace the day/night windshield shade. The project increased to also include replacing all of the carpeting, replacing the couch with a Lambright Luxe Theater sofa with power recline and pop-up charging station, replacing the booth dinette with a Villa LD/RD dinette booth.
After more than a dozen emails and phone calls to iron out the details with Broc, it was decided that all of the work can be done in a week so after paying them $8,063 so all of the material can be ordered, the work was scheduled for the week of June 19 – 23.
In early June, I emailed Broc to make sure we were still on track. I thought it was strange when he didn’t respond after two days since during our discussion in January, he was responding to emails withing a couple of hours and also follow up with a phone call. So, after two days I decided to give him a call and was told he retired. I was later told while in the office that he “left the company” implying that he quit or was fired.
Regardless, the new salesperson Tony said he had to look into it and would call me back. That’s when things started going downhill. When Tony called back he informed me that the MCD Shades were never ordered, but they did have the theater sofa, carpeting, and still trying to track down the dinette.
I told Tony that they were paid for all of the material back in January and that I’m only scheduled for the week at Elkhart Campground. He said he would do whatever it takes to make it happen (first lie)
We arrived at Elkhart Campground on Saturday, June 17th. I originally reserved a pull through site and the deluxe cabin for the week just in case the work was done faster. When we were checking in the owner couldn’t understand why I would rent the site and the cabin if we weren’t using both. He said he couldn’t in good conscience charge us, so he only charged us for two nights of the site and a week for the cabin. He said when we return with the coach, he’ll find us a good site then. So, we spent Saturday in the coach and moved everything we needed into the cabin on Sunday. The cabin was nice but smaller than the coach so setting everything up including my office, it was really tight. But hey, it’ll be only for a week, so we’ll survive.
So, at 7am on Monday we were heading over to MasterTech which was only seven miles away. Upon arrival, I met with Tony to go over everything and he told me they were able to get the windshield shade ordered and it is being expedited to his shop.
On Wednesday, I got a call from Tony, he wanted to know what we were replacing the dinette with after they remove the old one or are they just leaving the area empty. Confused by his call, I told him that he was to install the new dinette we ordered and paid for in January. He said they didn’t have it and it would take 5 months to get one delivered (Second lie). I told him the lead time is not 5 months since I spoke to the manufacturer, Villa, and the lead time is actually five weeks, which is why it was ordered in January. I also told him that we had to move out of the cabin on Saturday, and since they are closed on the weekends, we must pick up the coach on Friday. He understood and said he would work on getting the dinette and have an answer when we arrive on Friday.
We arrived around noon I Friday to find the coach outside with the generator running, both AC units running and all of the windows open. I was told there was a problem with the emergency window in the bedroom, apparently it was broken when they opened it. They said the coach wasn’t drivable unless I wanted the window to flap in the breeze as I drove down the road. I told him that was unacceptable, and it needed to be repaired now. Which they did by reattaching the bracket to the frame and using painter’s tape to secure it in place. (They wanted to use duct tape originally) They also had to reinstall the dinette, so we had a place to sit for dinner.
After a few hours we were on our way back to Elkhart Campground to our new pull through site we reserved for the week. Midway through the week, Tony called to let me know the dinette was being made and expedited, but we would have to extend our time another week. Being that it was during the fourth of July I would have to find out if extending the site was possible. I was told the dinette would be in their shop on July 5th and they would make the install their # 1 priority.
July 5th arrived, and the dinette didn’t. We were told the new date was July 10th and Tony would call me when they had it onsite, but plan on having it installed on the 11th. I called Tony on the 10th, and he confirmed that they had the dinette. So bright and early on the 11th we were on our way back to MasterTech. I parked in their driveway and extended the slides. Their technicians began removing the old dinette and asked me if I wanted the seatbelts to remain. Since no one sits at the dinette when travelling, I told him to take them out. I was then told there was another problem. When they were unpacking the dinette, one of the drawers had two cuts in the leather. Tony was on the phone with the warehouse to find out if they had any leather and if it could be fixed now. They did not so it was decided they would install the dinette minus one drawer and have it fixed and shipped to us in Groton CT when we’re visiting our granddaughter.
We left MasterTech but not before they did a little more damage. Apparently when the tech removed the seatbelt, he forgot to remove the bolt that went through the floor. So, when I retracted the slide, it put a huge gouge in the wood floor.
In fairness to MasterTech, they did reimburse me for the extended campground costs and the reservation costs we lost. MasterTech came highly recommended, if you look at their website there are a few well-known full timers like RV Texas Ya’ll, Outside Our Bubble, and Gone with The Wynn’s. Hopefully, they are making some money off the advertising since as Tony said numerous times, this appointment has been on huge shit show. Which is the only true statement Tony said to me.
I would never recommend MasterTech to anyone, in fact I would, if asked, tell them to run and find someone else to do their work.
On the flipside, I would highly recommend Elkhart Campground. They were unbelievably honest and worked with us with all of the changes. We’ll definitely stay with them again if we are ever back in the area.
Until next time,
Safe travels