ATF: Gateway - Gateway 3500 couch

[1_oldgoat]

Hey all,
Anyone know how the couch comes apart in our fw?? We had the center section replaced under warrenty, this week, along with everything else that was not done last yr, waited on parts for quite some time, still need a few more before its finished. The salesman broke the center section back the day we did the walk through, he didn't realize there was a handle that needed pulled to recline and just pushed back with all his weight, big guy, anyway its been broken from day one.
I picked up the trailer yesterday and it was bad, couch was still in 3 pieces, nothing put together, service writer swore the entire couch was replaced but the tech that came out said he only did the center section. Now the entire thing sits crooked, about 10 inchs from the wall on the left side and the chaise side is right up against the wall, so now when you close the slides, the couch pushs against the recliners, raises up and comes apart.
It has pushed the recliner backs against the blind standoffs and both of the recliners have holes in them, we knew this could happen from other posts on here so have been very careful and kept the backs away from the standoffs, not now......
I need to remove the back of the center section of the couch off to get to where it is screwed or bolted down to the floor so i can remove the mounting hardware, straighten it out so the left side is against the back of the wall or an inch or so away, not close to a foot like it is now, remount everything and it should be fine for this trip, oh, forgot to mention, when we got a call telling us all the parts were in, we scheduled the trailer for repair, 3 months out, when we dropped it off, was told it would be a week, took 2, and would still be there but we have reservations for the coast this weekend, so picked it up yesterday, also center section that was replaced is broken, just like it was before we dropped it off, so a total waste of time and now not only do we need another couch piece but 2 recliners as well......and i need to repair the job the pro did.
What has happened to pride in work, seems like its the norm now days for shoddy work, no matter what the job is. I would have fired anyone who worked under me if they did as poor a job as was done on my rig, and not just the couch section. Everything that has been touched i have had to repair again myself it seems, i am an easy going person, not much gets me riled up, but man this is out of hand.....no quality control at the dealership, no body cares. I got the oh gee, i thought i did that, must have been interupted and just forgot....
I have called the dealership twice today and no return calls, 5 hrs after number 2, both calls were polite, not ranting like now, we'll see what happens.
In the meantime, i need to get the couch situated so it stops hitting the recliners asap, i don't need more damage done and we are supposed to head out friday so if you know how to get the back off of the couch let me know please.
Thanks ahead of time.....

 

[Bob&Patty]

I have no idea how it comes apart. Call HL service and ask them who made the couch and what is their PH#. They made it and should know how the take it apart. Have your VIN# handy. Also get HL involved now on the recliner and couch issues and what/how you were treated by your dealer. You might ask HL also if they have an independent service center near you that you can use for any more warranty repairs.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Bob,
I am waiting on a call back from HL now. We still have another issue caused from a mystery kitchen sink leak and the local dealer they recommended does just as bad of work as our dealer in Salt Lake, we bought our last rig from the local shop, had plenty of work done here and sorry to say it was just as bad as what is happening now, so thats why i went back to where we bought the Gateway from.
Thats why i say its the norm now days i guess to have people who have no pride in what they do. Not just rv repair, its everywhere, sad to say.......
Should have help from HL today so we may still make the coast.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Cancelled reservations, our dealership called and said so sorry for the trouble but now they need HL to approve repairs?? Not sure i agree with that logic, need approval to fix thier screw up, sounds fishy to me.
Didn't hear back from HL after sending contact info, so decided it is better to not use the fw until its fixed correctly, we would just cause more damage if we tried using as it is now.
Kind of a bummer, resort is a year out for ocean front sites.......

 

[GWRam]

Bob,
I am waiting on a call back from HL now. We still have another issue caused from a mystery kitchen sink leak and the local dealer they recommended does just as bad of work as our dealer in Salt Lake, we bought our last rig from the local shop, had plenty of work done here and sorry to say it was just as bad as what is happening now, so thats why i went back to where we bought the Gateway from.
Thats why i say its the norm now days i guess to have people who have no pride in what they do. Not just rv repair, its everywhere, sad to say.......
Should have help from HL today so we may still make the coast.

I dont know how to remove the back of your sofa but have a couple questions for you from what you mentioned. Do you know the manufacturer of the sofa? Have any photos of the sofa you could post?

I know its a mystery leak, at your kitchen sink, we have one also. I never see anything leaking from the water lines fittings or sink drains or drain pipe, a pan we just happen to store under the sink always seems to end up with about 1/4-1/2 inch of water in it. Could you describe your mystery leak.

Sorry to hear about your cancelled trip to the coast. Where were you going?

 

[1_oldgoat]

GWRam, so sorry i have taken this long to look at my old post, i got my couch apart, fixed it myself, its a little tricky getting the backs off, but once i got it apart setting the bottoms where they were supposed to go was a piece of cake. As far as the kitchen sink leak, i ended up replaceing the entire faucet and cut the pex lines back a little, replaced the clamps, no more leak, at least so far, its our first outing this year so time will tell. I had water coming from the pex lines that hook to the faucet fittings, it was so intermitant it was very difficult to find. not sure if i remember how to upload pictures, but if these post you will see how the backs have a lever that needs pulled back and slides off of a finger on the bottom section, pretty simple once i got the center back off.

 

[mlpeloquin]

A lot of dealerships, but not all, don"t pay squat for the labor so any breathing human is hired. They usually have one that is good to do the "hard stuff". The dealer I purchased form had four really good techs and had a very good reputation. Met my old sales man. He retired and told me they cut the pay so bad that only one good tech is left and the new ones never had experience doing anything. The sales staff also had their commission cut. Any promises/add on stuff to make the sale is done though, but paid for out of the salesman's commission. That is why he retired. And that is why my lug nut were so over torqued that I needed a breaking bar with a two foot pipe to get them off. I had to replace the lugs and lug nuts. A lot of metal pealed off of the threads.

I use one independent shop when I have to. They are great and don't advertise. He has more business through word of mouth that he can hardly handle at times. There are two others with good reputations as well. The independent repair shop handles all makes and does warranty work for all. He does call the manufacture to make sure the work will be covered. Call Heartland to see if there is an independent RV repair facility that they work with near you. If an independent shop does shoddy work, the will not be in business for long. They also cannot afford to have your rig sitting taking up space so the work gets done as fast as it can be and will call for parts without waiting days.

 

[1_oldgoat]

Hey Marc,
I worked in the service industry for most of my carreer, and at several different dealerships, most paid comission so the faster a tech could get a job done the more money they make, i have worked by comission, hourly and salary, i have seen poor work done by techs that had no business picking up a tool, and you are correct most dealerships just want to apy minimum wages so finding a decent tech in any type of service is hard to find, but once you find someone who knows what they are doing stick with them because they are few and far between. I was very fortunate and the last dealership i worked for actually cared about his stores reputation so he took care of his people very well, we had a great crew, luckily, and if a new hire didn't fit in, they didn't last long.
This subject is one of my biggest pet peeves, bad service is the norm now days no matter what the business is, it seems like people are used to it and accept it as well. I gave the dealership we bought our Gateway from a few tries to get things done right, but in the end fixed the majority of things that needed handled myself and will never go back to them again. Its just a sad situation for owners of RV's when our trust in a dealer is not there and the dealership dosn't seem to care if they loose a customer or not.