We’ve been giving mini-updates in our Alaskan travelogues about the progress on the bus projects going on back in Elkhart. But it’s time to catch you all up on the full story.
We had a grand plan for the summer of 2015 – we plotted to leave our bus at a shop we thought we could trust to handle the paint job and some other upgrades, and meanwhile we would get in a much needed vacation while our house was not habitable.
On the surface, this seemed like a great idea and a very smart way to accomplish these two goals simultaneously.
The reality, however…
The vacation was amazing, and went off without a hitch. But things have not been going as planned back at Master Tech RV.
We had our suspicions based on the slower than anticipated frequency of progress reports we were receiving, but it wasn’t until we returned to Elkhart this week that reality set in just how far behind things have fallen.
Lesson Learned: We will never ever again leave our bus behind to have work done while we are not there to directly supervise. Ever.
It’s always tough to have to report on things that aren’t going as well as hoped, and we want to be fair to Master Tech in what we share publicly. But at the end of the day, this is a job we hired out to be done with a set and agreed to timeline, and it has not been met.
We know other people have made plans to have work done at Master Tech based upon our sharing that we had selected this shop for our projects, and it is only fair to our readers to share about our disappointments as well.
We are giving Master Tech every opportunity to make it right, and to get this project back on track.
We are still hopeful that this story will end well.
But right now, this post will explain where we are at, and how we got there.
We’ve created a quick video update as well – filmed in our currently dismantled bus:
Quick Recap
Last year we had the opportunity to have some minor work done to our bus at Master Tech RV, and we were really quite impressed with their operation.
Over the past year, we’ve met up with owner Tim Klenk and his son Austin again in many locations across the country as our paths have crossed at RV rallies and elsewhere.
A friendship had formed, and we started talking to them about bringing our bus to Elkhart to be re-painted this summer and to tackle a few other major upgrades along the way.
They were really excited to work with us.
For a full list of the projects we started off aiming to tackle:
Zephyr’s Summer 2015 Renovation Hit List
We knew this was a big undertaking. But Master Tech assured us that the 4-8 weeks estimated timeframe they had given us for our list of projects seemed reasonable – and we planned our trip so we should have been arriving back about the time things were finishing up so that we could be onsite for any final tweaks.
Originally that was scheduled to be mid July.
We of course took into account that renovation jobs are likely to take longer than anticipated, and we realistically thought we’d be hitting the road in early August.
It seemed smart to pad in a few weeks of extra buffer, just in case…
Here’s how things currently stand schedule wise:
The First Signs of Slipping Schedules
We left Elkhart in late May, after spending a week with Tim going over all of the projects – getting estimates, taking measurements, and ordering parts.
When we left, he told us he was planning to pull our bus into the shop the very next week and he would be getting started right away on the hydronic system install, which he wanted to have completed before the bus went to paint.
But when we left St. Louis on June 3rd for our slow trek to Alaska the bus still hadn’t been pulled into the garage.
By the time we boarded our cruise in Vancouver on June 10, it was still sitting out in the parking lot, never once touched.
On June 15th, towards the end of our cruise, we messaged Tim saying:
“You do realize now over one third of the time we gave you for the project has passed, and you literally have not even touched the bus yet? We are getting concerned.”
We know the bus had not been touched because we had left surveillance cameras on that notify us when there’s motion in the RV.
And wouldn’t you know it, on June 16th we get notifications that the bus is in motion, and project updates and photos suddenly start coming our way.
For a couple weeks, all seemed well – projects were finally happening at a rapid pace.
The generator was pulled, the old hot water heater came out, the PrecisionTemp TwinTemp Jr hydronic system was partially installed, and windows & accessories on the bus started coming off in preparation for painting.
The bus was taken out back and the old paint was stripped, and we got some updates about minor body work being done.
And Then… The Damage
On our cruise back from Alaska, on July 9th Tim sent us a TXT message requesting a check-in call.
He started off saying there was a problem… and he already had a solution.
He told us that the contractor he had hired to do the media blasting to strip the old paint off the bus hadn’t protected the exposed metal as well as they should have.
And because of this carelessness, there had been new damage done to every single metal panel on the bus located directly under the paint line.
Our hearts sunk.
A major point we had made before we left was how difficult fixing the metal was and how important it was to protect it – our bus came from the factory 54 years ago with a beautiful and durable anodized satin finish.
We love the satin finish.
From our project plan document shared with Tim back in May:
We absolutely love the matte satin stock anodized aluminum look that our bus originally came with. “Shine” is not a word we want to hear… We so much prefer the matte look to shiny. Everyone keeps asking us if we want to make our bus shine like a polished Airstream… The answer is an absolute giant NO! But we do love the way Zephyr currently glows in the setting sunlight. We’d rather have a few visible scars than give that up for paint.
And now our beautiful metal had been damaged.
The only way to repair damage to anodized aluminum is to either polish off the anodized surface and make it shiny (which we do NOT want), paint over it, or replace it.
To remedy the damage, Tim told us that he had successfully tracked down some of the last remaining NOS (new old stock) aluminum panels for our bus. And he told us he already had an insurance claim into the paint stripping contractor’s company to pay for replacing all the damaged panels.
On one hand, the potential of satiny new panels was pretty alluring.
And we did appreciate his time and effort into tracking down a solution before notifying us.
But we also found it frustrating that we weren’t informed right away about the damage, and consulted about potential remedies. Tim waited 10 full days before checking in with us about it.
Imposition on our vacation or not, we feel that checking in immediately would have been the right thing to do.
We had a hunch just how much work it would be to replace the damaged panels, and we were especially concerned about replicating the look of the original buck rivets. Now that the bus was converted to an RV, there’s no access to the inside of the body panels without removing the entire interior.
So instead of buck rivets, pull rivets would need to be used – which in our experience do not leave behind a finished smooth appearance. It would take a true master at riveting to make it look good and blend in with the look of the rest of the bus.
But Tim promised us he could do it – and he didn’t present us with any other alternative path forward.
He also told us that once he had the insurance go ahead to proceed, it would actually be a quick and easy process to change out the panels – and it wouldn’t impact the schedule too badly overall either.
We’ve been nervous wrecks ever since – worrying about our bus having its skin stripped off, and what it might look like after.
Would the remedy be worse than the damage done?
Would things get done on time?
Getting Onsite
Master Tech finished a bit of the remaining cosmetic body work on the top half of the bus, and proceeded to paint the roof.
But with lower body panels slated to be replaced, the rest of the painting project ground to a halt and Zephyr was moved out of the paint department and set aside to wait.
The panel situation shouldn’t have delayed the other projects – finishing a partially installed hydronics system, fabricating the awning bracket, installing the generator, or any of the needed interior woodworking.
Unfortunately, everything stalled at this point, and communication from Master Tech became frustratingly scarce.
We lashed out on August 1st in a text message to Tim:
“It has been over a month since the paint blasting (and the damage), and over three weeks since you first let us know that it would not be a problem, and that the parts were found and ready to be shipped. We’ve trusted you to handle it – but we are VERY concerned about the schedule impact, and growing increasingly so. We had planned to be moving back into the bus this week, and to be gearing up to start heading west. As you know, our bus is our home. We are now firmly done with our Alaskan adventure which was planned to overlap this project.. which means we are pretty much homeless’ now. We need firm answers on where this project is so we can make appropriate plans for where we will live.”
We finally managed to get a check in call with Tim scheduled on August 4.
During the call Tim committed to moving heaven and earth towards having our bus completely done by the end of the month so we could keep our upcoming obligations.
To make the deadline, he told us he had decided to move forward with getting the replacement body panels shipped in despite the status of the insurance claim.
And he promised to resume the other stalled projects immediately too.
We made plans to come up to Elkhart in person to make sure this timeline was realistic.
And more importantly, we wanted to get more comfortable with the panel replacement plan before they starting ripping the aluminum skin off – a major point of no return.
When we arrived this past Monday morning, we were sadly disappointed to see that no work had been done the week before.
There were excuses after excuses – they were short staffed, other projects were taking longer than expected, and so on…
In person, things were in more disarray than we could have imagined.
It was hard to see how things could possibly get back on track.
But the new panels were due in Tuesday afternoon, so we decided to stick around to see them.
When the panels did arrive (Wednesday), we asked Tim to prove to us that he’d be able to replace the over 2000 rivets that would need to be removed – and have them look just like the originals.
He got out some scrap metal to show us, and we were horrified with the results.
None of them looked even remotely good to us.
It turns out that the shaving tool that rounds off the pull rivets leaves behind a scratched and shiny surface that may look fine under paint, but on bare metal it was a glaringly different look.
Oh no!
Heartbroken & Hopeless
We would be getting rid of the scratches on our satin aluminum body – but gaining thousands of shiny scratched up dots on that body in the process.
We had to seriously consider which would be worse looking from a distance – all of the middle rivets on the bus looking like this (and noticeably different from all the other old rivets), or just living with the new damage that was done during the paint stripping.
After all, the existing metal is 54 years old, and already has its own share of beauty marks that we long ago accepted as being part of Zephyr’s character.
We also realized from witnessing the sample riveting process just how time consuming this would be.
Tim initially estimated it would take him less than a week to do a panel replacement on the entire bus – but we were starting to realize that this seemed to be an impossible goal.
After discussing it, and holding the sample rivets up in various light, we told Tim that we were NOT accepting the proposed solution.
We did not authorize any body panels removed or replaced.
Maybe there’s a master vintage aircraft restoration riveter out there who can make things look original, but we were simply out of time.
(If you are such a riveter, and can get to Elkhart immediately… let us know!)
Our planned two day stop in Elkhart to check up on the bus was a very frustrating and emotionally deflating experience.
Our hearts were broken as to how little attention our project was getting.
But goodness did it feel GOOD to sit in our bus again.. ahhh.. there’s nothing like home!! Being in our bus reminded us how much we loved living in it.
With the current pace of projects, it seemed we’d be lucky if our bus would be out of there by the end of this year, let alone by the end of this month.
We just couldn’t leave to go back to St. Louis with things so far off track, and the future so uncertain.
So we extended at the hotel two more days, and set out to find a path forward.
A Fresh Start
It is clear that Master Tech has the skills to do an amazing job with a project like ours (we’ve seen their work), and we know that they weren’t directly responsible for the metal damage – it was demoralizing for everyone.
So we walked in Thursday morning, and told Tim we needed to sit down with all of the leads in the shop to work jointly on a plan.
It turns out that our bus had been “Tim’s special project” – and in ideal circumstances it would be great to be getting so much personal attention from the owner of the shop who is clearly a very skilled master craftsman and an artist.
But…
As the owner of the shop, he is also completely overwhelmed with a thousand other fires to fight, and he has to keep putting them out so that other work in the shop could get handled.
Despite his best intentions – there just wasn’t enough of Tim to go around.
And because we were a special project (with the details only in Tim’s head) – there was no one else working at Master Tech who could step in to take over lead on Zephyr to make sure that progress was still getting made.
We all recognized how unfortunate the situation had gotten – but it was time for a “fresh start” with the whole Master Tech team on board, and with a project plan that everyone could see that wasn’t just trapped inside one person’s head.
We dropped a good number of projects from our list to simplify the path forward, and hopefully we have come up with a game plan that gets us painted and out the door by the end of the month.
Our fingers crossed – and we really want this story to end well.
We have a hard deadline of being on the road by September 1st, as we have over 1,500 miles (that’s 10 driving days and 20 rest/work days at our ‘fast’ pace) to travel to Albuquerque by October 2.
We especially don’t want that first trip to be rushed, as we’ll have a coach with a lot of new systems to shake-out.
Not to mention, a huge backlog of work to catch up on.
Why Albuquerque by October 2? We are co-hosts of the first ever Xscaper’s Convergence at the Balloon Fiesta.
The Xscapers are the new lifestyle group of the Escapee’s RV Club aimed at meeting the needs of the working aged RVer.
We helped launch the group with Travis & Mel Carr earlier this year – and if we’re not able to make it to the first event of a group that we help found… well, let’s just say that ain’t gonna look good for anyone.
Return to Elkhart
During our time this week, we also sought out short term lodging options in Elkhart that are pet friendly – and they are few and far between.
But we are very blessed with awesome readers – and one contacted us offering to loan us their RV to park at Master Tech so that we can be on site.
So early next week we’ll return to be there until the end.
We’ll be involved with the project leads on our bus and working daily towards keeping everything on task so we can roll by September 1.
A lot has to come together. It’s very ambitious to have so much left to do. It’s going to be an exhausting ride.
But in the end, it should be awesome and well worth the wait.
We’ll continue reporting from the field once we return next week!
The countdown is on… 14 days until deadline.
(Which wasn’t met.. we didn’t hit the road until September 16.)
Want to follow the progress?
- Bus Renovation Progress Report: A Riveting Tale of Why We’re Way Behind Schedule — Our first report onsite back in Elkhart.
- Bus Renovation Progress Report #2: Week of August 17 — Getting the project back on track.
- Bus Renovation Progress Report #3: Roller Coaster Week — August 22-27 —
- Bus Renovation Progress Report #4: The Paint Job! (August 27- Sept 2)
- Bus Renovation Progress Report #5: Con-Du-It Attitude (Sept 3-9)
- Bus Progress Report #6: The HOME Stretch! (September 10-16)
And… the final project list: Summer 2015 Bus Renovations Tour & Project List
Comment Notes: Thank you for all of the wonderful and supportive comments.. they really help us keep energized.
However, we will not approve comments that are speculations about this situation or the people & companies involved – please keep it factual, thanks.
Also, we realize folks want to help and fix this situation – it’s only natural. Unless you have experience with this era of bus or very similar situation, we do ask that you refrain from suggesting solutions. And there are reasons why some of the obvious solutions (like polishing, painting or other types of rivets) are not our desired outcome – and we just are lacking time to keep re-answering. We do appreciate your concern, we really do – but we need to focus on getting this situation completed to our satisfaction.
Oh, wow! When I met you, Chris, in the parking lot of Master Tech I had no idea what you were dealing with regarding your rig. I am so sorry for the difficulties and the time spent out of your precious home. I meant to send an apology email to you two. When we rolled up and found our rig half-done, I was completely disheartened and I’m sure my behavior showed it. I am so glad we met and I look forward to following your adventures. Best wishes to you and Cherie and your beloved bus. I hope you’re back on the road very soon!
Chris you should take the time and insist on Olympic rivets. While Airstream builds with bucked when the factory does a repair the customer usually has Olympics used for the same reason you mention. You don’t need to remove interior panels.
Done properly hard to tell the difference between the original bucked rivets.
And the biggest reason you should do it is waterproofing. Olympics don’t pull the center out and stay sealed. Pop rivets, even when they try to seal them inevitably end up leaking. Only place Airstream uses pop rivets is on the interior panel.
Might be a battle but the insurance company should also compensate you for alternative living expenses. You might need to retain a lawyer but with the time, sweat and emotion you and Cherie have in your ‘home’ it needs to be done right.
Or.. we can just not replace the panels right now 🙂
Keep you three in my thoughts – Cherie, Chris, and Zephyr are the three. So good you found someone to share their RV.
Chris said above “The biggest issue however is that we are just out of time” – After reading your very sad tale and if you want Zypher done right, I’d say it’s long past time to start looking for alternate ways to attend the Xscapers event. Why don’t you postpone the “big reveal” and get the work on Zypher done right? Perhaps MasterTech would spring for a “loaner coach” in return for the opportunity to make things right? Don’t they own that tricked out 1970’s Wini Brave? Just think of the fun you could have at the Albuquerque rally with that one. “OMG look what the MT folks did to Zypher!!”… And if MT can’t make it right or perhaps there is a rivet specialist that can, get the other stuff finished at MT and then take your baby to that expert. There is a solution but it will take time, so solve that issue first. Turning lemons into lemon aid will help ease the pain. Good luck!
Don’t worry.. we’re exploring multiple options and make the best decisions for ourselves. No one but us knows all of the factors we have to weigh.
We are indeed having ‘the other stuff’ done at MT in what they can wrap up here, and they’re making great progress this week. And we’ll figure out a fix to the panels later if we want to pursue that path.
O boy…reminds of a place that Nick Russel was at gun point in Elkhart IN. We went with his suggestion on the place for great work and we left with Thirty Thousand out of pocket and a job a grade 2er should have been proud of!!! I can’t even sell my (was) a hundred twenty five thousand unit!!!! Never again!!!
I think I know of that place.. we weren’t too impressed by them when we shopped them for a quote.
Sorry to hear of delays but you eluded that might be the case. Move forward and look back at an AMAZING vacation. You both have the business and living skills to work with the company to “get er done” and that is what is happening. I know how exhausting that can be – but learned the same lesson when I had my house built….had to be there EVERY day sometimes twice a day while holding down the full + time job that was paying for it. Nothing like “face time” and all will be well. You’ll give a big ol sigh of relief when you finally get back on the road in your baby!
It was an amazing vacation, and exactly what we needed. And it’ll be awesome to finally have our home back and be back out on the road.
I have lurked on your blog for a year or so and this brought me out of my hole. I am a machinist with
over 40 years experience in metal trades. I think you are right not to let these guys remove the panels.
At the moment, the problem is cosmetic one, a big one, but Zephyr is mechanically ok. Pulling off
the panels can bring the structure into question. Thousands of rivets have to be drilled out. What is just under the panels? Wires?, Plumbing? Gas Lines? etc. Will the new rivets ever be a solid as the old ones? I have doubts. Then thousands of holes have to be drilled into the panels, I assume lining up precisely with the existing holes in the underlying structure? How are they going to do that? What experience with this do they have? I suspect none.
If they pull off the panels and have the same luck they have had thus far, Zehyr could die. Nope,
not these guys. Better to put on a band aid and take time to see if a proper job can be done.
Wishing You Guys the best of luck………..
Yup we agree.. (however, the replacement panels are already pre-drilled from the factory).
Bummer, So sorry things aren’t going as planed. Old man Murphey is popping up again. Keep us posted. Good luck.
By the way congrats on your engagement !
Thank you 🙂
Very sorry to hear of the damage to Zephyr…I’ve been looking forward to seeing the finished product, and after having a few (non-RV) go very sideways due to contractors, I was hoping yours would have a happier ending.
Not sure if it’s an option you’d want to consider, but what about soda or vapor blasting all of the aluminum below the painted line and having it satin/matte clearcoated? Not original and might not be the look you’re after, but it would be consistent and the aluminum would be protected. You also wouldn’t have to mess around with full panel replacement and the horror show of the rivet options provided.
Of course, you’d also need to find a media blaster you trusted not to blow holes in the metal….so there’s that…. 🙁
Exactly.. findings someone with such skills can be difficult, and it may be an option down the road. For now, we want to concentrate on getting back on the road.
Here’s a thought before you get back there tomorrow…
My husband worked in auto-body and repair for most of his working life, and here’s his take on it.
It’s possible MasterTech hasn’t continued the work because of the insurance claim.
They may be waiting for the adjustor to come look at your bus–which even with it’s sexy lines and awesome vintage look, is probably not going to book out very high for overall value as far as the insurance company is concerned.
For example, we put about $60K into our remodel–but that doesn’t mean squat to the insurance company unless we have stated value (i.e. we say it’s worth more than book value now, and here’s what we want to insure it for) which also raises the insurance premium.
So if the insurance company sets a low value on what they may see as a “total” due to the damage to at least half of the exterior of the bus…and that’s all they are willing to pay…MasterTech may be waiting to move forward rather than absorb any loss on it when you turn down the insurance company settlement on the damage because it is ridiculously low.
It may be important for you to know who the “mystery” contractor is, who the insurance company is…and then if you have “stated value” insurance value on your bus, you may want to speak with your own insurance company to see what they would cover, based on stated value.
Really, this is such a disappointing, frustrating and stressful position MasterTech has put you in.
Hoping for the best–and definitely thinking of you!
Must be time for serious cat therapy…(purr)
We’re not at liberty to discuss the insurance details at this point… but even so, there’s no reason for MasterTech to have waited to continue the work job orders. We had already signed on for paying for the hydronic install, awnings, woodwork, generator, etc. All completely unrelated to the panel damage.
Stalling on the paint job made total sense – it needed to happen after any panel swapping that might occur. And of course they wanted assurance that insurance would cover the solution they came up with (and they did get that assurance before having the panels delivered.)
Hi Cherie and Chris,
Colin Hyde Restorations in Plattsburgh NY….I was at an Airstream rally seminar a few years ago where he spoke about working to solve this kind of a problem with the aluminum finish. Not sure if method found, but worth a phone call.
Best,
Kate
Thanks.. should we chose to pursue the replacement panel path, we’d for sure seek out experts in the field.
YOU have the patience of Job. I’d be out for blood, which, as we all know, would get us nowhere. In my opinion…go with a solution that preserves the original rivets. Whatever that means, paint, whatever.
Being upset would just result in.. well.. being upset. Of course there’s been frustration with this, but we’re striving for a positive & productive attitude into this, as best we can.
So so sorry to read about all this… I am dittoing all that has been said…
There is nothing worse than having a project you thought in good hands to find out it is not true, especially while on a vacation so far away.
Knowing all of this makes all of your comments, articles and general running of your two FB pages amazing…hoping this has a happy ending… Perhaps we will be able to have a drink to sucess in Albuquerque!
We sure do hope we can celebrate the completion of this chapter in Albuquerque! Thanks so much for your kind words, Jil and for recognizing our continued efforts in keeping up with all the other stuff too.
Oof!!! This is heartbreak highway! I’ve had house renovation projects go pear-shaped, but what you have experienced is way out of line. Technomadia is a trusted, reliable online resource, and the information will shape my (and so many others) near future full-time RV decisions. I don’t believe your influence entitles you to special treatment. However, when deadlines were not satisfied, and damage had occurred, Master Tech should have been Johnny-on-the-spot communicating with you…AND, worked overtime to make up for project time lost. AND, where were these other Project Managers this entire time? It’s pretty hard to miss the Zephyr just sitting around.
F minus.
All this, knowing full well your influence in the RV world.
F minus minus.
Okay, rant is now complete.
Sending both of you, Kiki, & Zephyr infinite healing mojolicious blessings to get you back on the road ASAP!
I’m curious – what is the model of survellience camera you used to track movement on the bus while you were away?
We don’t at all implicate the project managers in this. Tim took this project on himself as his personal ‘special project’ and never involved them. His intentions were good with that – he didn’t want anything going wrong with this project.
The others team members in the shop really thought Zephyr was just in for a paint job, the damage had been done and it was just waiting for insurance approval to proceed. They had no clue about all of the other projects that got stalled because that information was never shared with them.
Now that they are on the team.. we hope things move along.
For the camera’s, we’re just using old spare smartphones and tablets with apps… Chris plans to write about the setup when we have some free time.
When I stay in hotels I leave my laptop on with the webcam set to record when movement in the room is detected so I can keep an eye on the maid service or whatever. It doesn’t upload to the cloud so I don’t get realtime video but otherwise it works like a charm. Looking forward to Chris’s write-up on what you guys are doing to visually stay in the loop remotely.
I so feel your pain guys!
I spent 5 weeks at an RV repair lot waiting on insurance work. I had no where else to go.
It is so maddening.
Hang in there!
Hanging around with nothing to do, and nowhere to go is so frustrating. Glad you got through it!
So sorry to hear about your troubles in Elkhart. Was thinking maybe you could have the blue belt painted on Zephyr expanded to include the damaged skin under current blue belt. If not now when the painting is done, then maybe later. At least if you are not able to find a way to replicate the original rivets and finish on new skin. What ever is done, I know y’all will make this work.
It is an option.. but read Mister Ed’s comment below for the complexity in preparing the aluminum to do such painting. We’d really rather not cover up the aluminum, it’s classic and awesome.
In my career in the software industry (as I’m sure it is for you guys in your tech work) all multi-stage projects included legally enforceable contracts with specific penalties spelled out for missed milestones etc. I don’t know how the paperwork side of the transaction was worked out before you left your RV in their care but if you don’t have a contract with specified damages there’s probably not much you can do other than flame the business on the web. Of course, given the fact that you guys are fairly well known in the industry if the owner is smart he’ll give you a major discount (like doing it at his cost) so you go easy on him in your post-project autopsy.
I’m really sorry your home improvement project turned into such a mess but keep telling yourself this is just another speed bump on the highway of life.
I don’t think there’s any such standard in the renovation industry for missed deadlines. Hey, if the missed deadlines were because of a valid reason – ie. part delays, unanticipated problems – and were communicated, we’d be totally understanding. Heck, we’re pretty understanding people in general. It’s the continual lack of even getting to work despite repeated promises, multiple times, that has grown old.
And indeed… these tales will eventually be memories to be shared around the campfire. When the bus is done, it will be awesome.
Yes, and that’s why you and some of the other commenters here have been burned by RV service/repair shops – there’s no performance clause in the service agreement so there’s no downside for the RV shop when they screw the pooch. They simply finish the job as best they can or send you on your way with the work incomplete and hope you don’t hire a lawyer to sue them.
Realistically all that a wronged customer like you can usually do after the fact is flame the RV shop on the web and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. Of course that won’t put any money in your pocket or replace the time lost when you could have been doing other (fun) things but it may make you feel a little better knowing that you got some small bit of retribution for all the anger, frustration and worry that the RV company caused you.
Arg… this brings back so many bad memories. We did a complete frame-off remodel of our Airstream the Platinum Airship. We chose to go with Bob Jones RV in Texas for similar reasons you chose to go with these guys. Initially we didn’t expect to do a frame off remodel but we found mold in the sub-floor, spent thousands of dollars to have it removed to no avail. So we opted to completely replace the sub-floor. This lead to removing the interior skin and basically starting from scratch. The initial estimation for a full restoration was 6 months and ended up being 2.5 yrs and thousands of dollars and we still only got half of what we hoped for. We ended up pulling the plug and having just replace the existing interior and feeling lucky to get the Airstream back in one piece.
We got so much run around, project delays, excuses, people being sick etc. Three times we went to Texas, staying hotel for months trying to get the project back on track. It seemed that every time we were there there tech lead was on holiday. It also seemed the only times we made progress was when we were there ourselves over seeing things. Initially, the quality of their work was outstanding but as time went on the quality started slip and several times we had to have them redo work just make sure it was up to quality. We weren’t that fussy, it was just really bad.
Ultimately, our experienced really soured and once what was good relationship end with disappointment and hurt feelings. I could go into far more detail but it would take too long.
But I feel your pain and hope for the best. I have so much respect for you guys, your my go to resource for all things tech, so thank you for your effort with this blog and your apps. Just know you are not alone in your frustration.
Wow – 2.5 years would be maddening.
I would much rather have a project start with a worst-case estimate – on both costs and time. Then when things end up coming in cheaper and sooner, everyone is happy.
So few businesses seem to operate that way though, unfortunately.
– Chris
So sorry for you guys and to hear of yet another RV shop that can’t deliver on their promises. We feel the pain of such careless damage to such irreplaceable material. As long time salt water boaters we appreciate the weather resistance and good looks of anodized aluminum. Besides paint or stainless, not much else would be as durable and maintenance free.
We struck a good deal with Candlewood suites in Elkhart when we needed a place for us and the two cats last year.
Good luck and best wishes for a happy resolution.
We love our anodized aluminum, and it breaks our hearts for sure to see it not taken care of by this contractor.
Glad you were able to find pet friendly accommodations – we did find them, however they were all just 20-30 minutes away from the shop. When you add in long hours in the shop and trying to get work done too, that was just suboptimal for us. We’re very thankful for the option of a borrowed RV to be onsite.
SO bummed for you guys, but I really, really hope MasterTech are able to turn this around. I have to admit this would give me pause using them in the future.
Nina
We certainly are hoping too.. we shall see how things look when we arrive Tuesday morning. That will be very telling as to how seriously they took this ‘fresh start’ approach to get our project on track and out the door by the end of the month.
Hi Cherie and Chris, You met us ate MasterTech. We are sorry to say that after our experience, we have left. So will not see you when you come back. We found another shop with a very good reputation that seems to be honest with us about when they will actually work on us. I sincerly hope that they get your bus up and gone during the new deadline and that maybe you can take and store the panels, then in the future find someone who can install them. Hope to se you around.
So sorry that you had to make that decision… please let us know how the new shop treats you. We may be looking for recommendations to finish up some of our own projects if Master Tech is unable to accommodate us.
Welcome to the wonderful world of having an old bus
As you know by now the original rivets are crust rivets put together with a bucking tool because you have a skin on the inside you can’t do anything with it other than take it apart that’s not your best option
the only option you have are called blind rivets ( not pop rivets like I see in the photo ) unfortunately you need to punch /drill the old rivet out and not mess up the skin
Now speaking of photos the one that you showed that has the New and old rivets the buckung tool is the wrong size it’s too small you need a larger one noticed the center of the rivet shows the indentation of the tool (wrong tool Charlie )
Now how can you correct this there are processable believe and I say possibly loosely to Ways if you could find a airstream trailer manufacturer of the repairs the outer skin you might be able to secure some rivets from them also you might try aircraft rivets aluminum not stainless steel rivets you’ll be beating yourself like a witch
Anybody that knows anything about sandblasting would use a double-sided tape with a strip of brass or copper stripping up against the work edge in your case you had a 16th of an inch to play would’ve been perfect and only be using pecan shells or coconut shells for blast material not sand or black beauty each one is to course
How do you feel about a 1 inch belt line all the way around to hide the blasting portion with a different color paint like a boot stripe
The only other problem that you have there is the skin is aluminum and If you decide to paint down that 1 inch you would have to treat that with acid and then prime it and then put a finish on it
Other option
3m makes a 1 inch striped reflected tape that can go all the way around the bus it will be silver however it will 3D reflect light
This material is used on a lot of transit buses Lotta over the road trucks for advertisement think of the wear and tear that The outside elements puts on that particular product
I’ve never had to do this before is it possible to buff out the blasting marks polish it and chemically etch-it
One other side note I hope that any bare metal it’s on your bus is primed with zinc chromite then a base primer and then you’re finished (zinc chromate primer is lime green to color) used on bare metal Only
Think of any aircraft you ever been on it’s been painted the inside is chromates Limegreen you also have chromite that is used for metal steel it’s red
Now after all that said and done it’s getting late you need to go find a nice restaurant sit down have a nice dinner and a nice bottle of wine and get sh– faced it may not help tomorrow but i’m sure it will feel good tonight
It’s only a small stumble in the road of life
We all hope and expect any work done to be satisfactory and on time and I’m so very sorry this happened to you. I can’t imagine how disappointed you must have been and still are. Hopefully your story will be a lesson to the rest of us that anything can happen and it’s always better to be around to supervise but you had every right to trust them that the work would happen correctly. I certainly hope it’s a needed lesson to Master Tech as well. We will also be at the Balloon Fiesta but not until the 7th and we will try to find you. Good luck!!!
We very much hope to see you both in Albuquerque!
Wow… Based on reviews I had read as well as your earlier experience, I’ve been chatting with some of the guys at MasterTech about some projects we want to get done in our rig next month. I’ve been told a few times that it shouldn’t be any problem to knock it all out within a few weeks of them seeing the rig for final measurements, etc. However, I’m now two weeks in to waiting on a call back about dishwasher & awning pricing and options after having hunt down follow-up to a previous email.
I’m definitely concerned that if they are so far behind as to let *your* project (and all of its free advertising) go south that all of the other 2-3 week projects will fall hopelessly behind…
Definitely following along to see how it all ends!
We’ve been encountering a lot of the same in our project… slow follow-up on ordering parts, confirming details and losing prior notes & communications. We don’t of course expect special treatment, but it is telling that it’s such an issue overall. Their summers simply get super booked up with work load precisely BECAUSE of prior positive reviews, and they don’t have good systems in place to keep on top of it all or to say no to new work.
Tom strikes me as a person who can’t say no – it’s pretty clear that he just got overwhelmed. And I give you a lot of credit for being willing to work with him. You and Chris are Good People and I suspect that in a year or so, you will have forgiven him and won’t even notice the rivets any more. (Or very often.) In the grand scheme of things, this is just the bumpy road that makes you appreciate the Interstates:-))
I do think that is a core issue.. and many of us creatives have that problem. Learning to say no is an important lesson in life for our own sanity.
And no, we won’t be noticing those rivets because there’s no way we’re letting them put any in 🙂
ouch. I love you guys, and after reading the whole sorted tale, I can only imagine how frustrating this must be for you. I also have first hand personal experience with the seemingly INFINITE and LOVING patience both of you bring to a project. This tells me a lot about Master Tech, and the enormous amount of opportunities they must have had to get things right. Having respect for their target customer’s lifestyle should be paramount in their approach. I am sorry they failed to recognize at each turn how this could have a profound effect on your piece of mind and stability, not to mention on their reputation. This never should have happened to anyone. My hope is that if they are paying attention, they will do everything necessary to turn this into a “different” story than is being written by them. Keep me posted and let me know if there is anything I can do.
Thank you Curtis… we have hope too that this story can still have a happy ending to it.
Just read your latest post… SO very sorry for your difficulties! We know how carefully you planned, allowing more than enough time for good results. We also know someone who just left that facility after five weeks of delay after delay. Your recap was well written and informative. Must be a very stressful time for you both! Hug each other! Keeping good thoughts that you can be on track by the end of this month! We wish you a more peaceful future, and look forward to crossing paths with you again one day in the future.
Be well! Dianne & Tom
There seems to be quite a number of folks sitting in their ‘campground’ awaiting service – our situation is definitely not unique.
Thanks for chiming in, great to hear from you both.. see you on down the road!
Wow! So unprofessional and unacceptable! By June 15th when they did not pass GO I would have called a STOP!! Talk about derailing a great project and great advertising…Ugh!! As for the pic above of the office…that looks like a cluster ____!! By the way, since Master Tech hired a licensed contractor (with insurance) to sand blast the bus why isn’t his name released since he did the damage? He should be taking some of the heat also!
Ok enough negative… I hope you get back on track and make the deadline for Albuquerque. Unfortunately it’s looking like we won’t make it either since we’re having a few custom items done on our rig also. Good luck finishing this big project and hopefully we’ll see smiles at the end. Cheers! ~M
Master Tech actually has not shared that information with us, and probably should have. We hired Master Tech to complete the job and had no contact with the contractor, ultimately it does fall to MT to take responsibility for it being done right.
Wow! I know how frustrated I have been trying to get warranty work done on my brand new PleasureWay Plateau XL. Especially in advance of beginning to full time in it at the end of July. Your struggles have been far more challenging! Hang in there!
Warranty work can be frustrating to navigate for sure! Hope it goes smoother of you.
Are you guys really coming to Kansas City? If so we’d love to meet up!
Not sure where we’ve said we’re coming to Kansas City? It’s not in our plans. Perhaps routing through there on our way to Albuquerque, but haven’t looked that far ahead.
How funny, Chris (i guess jokingly said) on your bus update video that if all had gone as planned, you’d be updating from somewhere other than the RV shop….like maybe Kansas City! My 2 cents worth…..it’s a great city. We’ve been waiting for a fulltiming RV couple to pass through……or maybe stay a day or 2.
Oh.. hahaha. Right, I should remember that after doing the video editing and hearing it multiple times. Heh, totally pulling cities out of our head that might be on the way to ABQ. Who knows what routing we might take.. all will depend on timing.
Oh wow, sympathies for you– and I feel for the company too with such a goof as taking on a huge project without setting a team on it they set themselves up for failure and poor publicity instead of success and great publicity. A professional ought to have known better. Rooting for you to get back on track!
We’re hoping for a positive ending to this story. Hopefully with them working as a team now, things will progress and we’ll be happy campers in the end.
So sorry to read this. We understand your frustration; as you know, we are all too familiar with the process.
In regards to the metal damage, I have two things to contribute. First is that there is a third type of rivet which I think would work in your situation, and I am amazed that Master Tech is unaware of these.
The original rivets are a type of blind rivet that requires two-sided access. The rivets proposed and pictured above are known as “shave head” rivets, where the pull mechanism is sheared off flush with the surface and then the whole head is “shaved” with a special rotary tool to make it a relative smooth button-head, suitable, as you noted, for priming and painting with a two-part urethane.
The third type is a cap-head rivet; we have some of these on Odyssey. This is a two-piece system. The first piece looks a lot like a conventional “pop” rivet and is installed the same way. The pop-rivet tool pulls the stem, which, after the rivet expands to the preset amount and a certain additional tension is applied, breaks off at a score line well below the surface of the rivet, leaving a hole in the middle. Then a “mushroom cap” is pressed over the rivet head, with the stem of the cap an exact fit in the rivet’s hole. Once in place, it looks just like a traditional blind rivet, although the convex surface is just a bit more proud of the skin. The trick here is that the mushroom cap and the rivet itself must be matched to each other, so they should be source from the same brand and supplier (“POP®” is one brand).
Here is a link to one supplier; there are others: http://www.bylerrivet.com/products/items-list.aspx?cat=136
With these rivets, you could have the new panels installed and maintain that nice riveted look. Have them supply you with some extra mushroom caps in case any come off over time (unlikely).
The other alternative is to buff out the damage and then have the satin finish simulated by more media blasting with a precisely controlled medium. Companies specializing in media blasting exclusively should be able to choose a medium that will give you the desired effect. If they constrain the buffing and blasting to stop right at one of the flute lines, it would be hard to tell from any distance what was done, even though a practiced eye would see it up close.
I know you are out of time to have either of these done before you need to be under way, but these are two options for the future and you could get Master Tech to commit to one of them before you leave. If anything will be left unsettled, though, I strongly advise you to hold back a percentage of the invoice.
Hope that is of some help.
Thanks for the great info, Sean.
I had heard of cap-head rivets – I am really surprised they didn’t present them as an option.
I also last night tracked down the type of shaved rivet that the Airstream folks use to give a popped look: Olympic Rivets
The biggest issue however is that we are just out of time – and we’ve heard enough horror stories about things going south once body panels come off that it just seems like too much risk to take, especially if rushing.
But we will keep your ideas in mind for potential work down the road.
Hmmm….
– Chris
You would think this shop would have realized the value of advertising they would have in your recommendation to all your blog readers and moved heaven and earth to do a top notch job on your project. This will not bode well for them. I know I would never seek them out now for any work, and I am betting the majority of your readers feel the same.
We really have tried to give them every opportunity to correct the situation along the way, and we’re still holding out for a positive ending.
Wow! Those ‘new’ rivets look awful. There was a lot of craftsmanship that went into the original building of your beloved bus. With you living on site, hopefully they will stay on task and get as many of your projects done. Sending you positive vibes!
Thanks guys.. and scratches to Kiki’s buddy Makena!
All the best laid plans of mice and men soon go astray – Steinbeck
Too true.
Apropos, but not Steinbeck. That’s a paraphrase of a line from Robert Burns’ poem “To a Mouse.” (The original line is “The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men Gang aft agley”) A century and a half later, Steinbeck drew upon this for his title “Of Mice and Men.”
And I get to tend the rabbits… 😉
Wow so sorry to hear about your disappointments….and to think that I was even envious of your ability to go off on an adventure AND have a major overhaul of your rig. Though my rig has been much smaller, as is my overall budget I so wished that I could do something similar and work out ALL the bugs (there aren’t many left but having to do work every month or two is difficult) in my Vantucket 1994 Classic Chevy Van and have either a pop top or penthouse installed! well!
Its a wonderful community that we are all a part of RVillage and all the other full-timers RV, Vandwelling, Cheaprvliving, Tinyhouses, etc.. I am so glad to hear and see others coming to your assistance and offering rigs and parking or whathaveyou.
Hugs to you and kitty,
Simply,
Lesa
It was a great prospect to think we might be able to handle it all at once. Heck, we’ve seen others do similar things while having their rig painted. *sigh* Oh well. Lesson learned.
We are truly blessed to have such a vibrant community and so many gracious offers.
A riveting tale…. sending positive vibes.
Thank you.. very much appreciated.
Over promising and under delivering is why I do most of these things myself. I go slower because of a learning curve but then realize from stories like yours that probably isn’t so. The metal damage is horrible. I hope you get a significant discount for that!
I know nothing about it but a thought occurred : is it possible for a better craftsman to polish the scratches, then restore the matte finish? Of course the polishing will thin the metal so that could be a concern depending on the thickness. Here’s hoping they don’t screw up more and you get your bus back on time.
Polishing is not an option with anodized aluminum… it would remove the satin finish, and then leave behind shiny polished aluminum.. which is a look we don’t want.
I got that you didn’t want a polished look and don’t blame you. It was the possibility of restoring the matte finish afterwards. I see someone else had the same thought upstream only with some actual possible steps to do so. A thing to think about later. I wouldn’t let these guys try it. They would be experimenting on your bus and the rivet samples don’t give any confidence in their ability. Good luck.
We’d only trust someone with proven experience to do such a thing.. and we just don’t have that sort of time (or interest) in pursuing heroic measures at this time.
The cardinal rule of business: underpromise and overdeliver and you’ll never have an unhappy customer. I lived by this creed throughout my career in tech sales and can honestly say it was the main reason I was always at or near the top in sales. Given the fact that ALL work stopped when they could have easily continued working on your other projects that smacks of utter mismanagement so I would NEVER take my RV there for even a minor service like oil/filter changes. What an incredible lost opportunity for the owner since everyone reading your blog will feel the same as you. Fool me once shame on me…
You guys know how much we are feeling your pain, as this saga has unfolded. There are simply no good words. We’re just so sorry for you, and so sad for Zephyr, and we’re hoping for a positive long-term outcome.
We both immediately wondered if anyone at the Yankee Air Museum at Willow Run Airport up here in Ypsi could be of any assistance in the restoration. Perhaps something to look into.
We’d hoped to land pet-friendly lodging for a day or so to come down to see you guys, as you know, but we also found little. Maybe a short day-trip is in order, for some smiles and hugs. {{ }}
Hang in there!
If you can make it down, it would certainly be awesome to hug in person. We did find pet friendly accommodations at the Extended Stay in Mishawaka – about 11 miles away. And pretty reasonable cost too at under $60/night. We have heard from others that there are other hotels in Elkhart closer to the toll way that are pet friendly too.
We checked the Extended Stay out while in town, and would have been fine had we felt we only needed to check in on the project a few times a week. But once we saw the state of things, we knew we really need to be more onsite, and the drive would have added too much to the frustration and exhaustion.
How frustrating for all concerned. I would have appreciated getting a solution along with the problem presented, but understand not wanting to hear about it 10 days late. I think you nailed the issue and then went about resolving that yourselves. One person cannot run a business and lead a huge multi-faceted project at the same time. Good intentions only go so far unfortunately. I can’t believe the number of stories of work not even getting started until nearly the end of a deadline, sometimes after it, and the excuses are all over the map. The whole industry is lacking a sense of urgency and competency in meeting deadlines. Hope all stays on track now, that you’re happy with the final results, and that Master Tech learns a valuable lesson from the experience. Wondering if you were able to make the new couch work with the counter extension……
There’s a general feeling of numbness we detected towards the situation of customers and the imposition of continued delays poses on them.
Unfortunately, the woodworking project to get the couch to fit is one of the projects we’ve had to punt for now. We’ll do a temporary installation on it, and figure it out later.
That’s very frustrating. I have all but given up on having other people work on my rig.
I’m not sure why the shaved sample rivets look so terrible. I used shaved rivets on a panel and they’re pretty much indistinguishable from the bucked rivets. They are a smaller diameter, though.
We’re sure that with experience and training, it could likely be done much better. But this didn’t install confidence in us that we were at such a place.
I’m so sorry for you guys and I know the pain you’re experiencing. You’ve described virtually every home renovation I’ve ever gone through.
I’ve been through several renovation projects on past homes, and I guess I’ve just gotten very lucky with quality contractors who stayed on target, on budget and on schedule.
I’m a longtime lurker, but this has brought me out of the woodwork! We actually went to MasterTech last year after reading your reviews.
We have a 2005 45′ Renegade Motorhome (built on a Freightliner Class 8 semi-truck chassis) and were ready to do a massive remodel, including a completely new roof and all the components that go with it (solar, AC, new wiring, ceiling fans, LED lighting, new Fantastic fans, etc.) We also wanted all new porcelain tile floors with zoned heating, new shower stall, bidet toilet, and many other elements. We are talking a very major high 5-figure remodeling job.
We toured the Master Tech shop and talked with them extensively, and specifically about what we wanted, but we simply couldn’t get any follow-through for timeline or cost estimate on our project. They never returned our calls, or completed the information we requested. One would think they might want a project of this size, but their interest was zilch.
We ended up going to Renegade in Bristol, IN for the majority of the work, as well as three Amish craftsmen in Nappanee, one for the solar (believe it or not–Amish solar experts!), one for all new countertops, and Country Craftsmen Woodworking (Gene Miller) for all of our new custom cabinets and woodwork which included an office space, 55″ flat screen TV on a riser hidden within the cabinet with a gorgeous color changing electric fireplace in front which can actually heat the entire rig.
We stayed on our timeline of about 2 months for everything. We left the rig in Bristol for the first steps of basically dismantling the entire RV–staying with our daughter in the DC area. But then we returned to Elkhart for the entire month of February, living in the Staybridge Suites right off the tollway in Elkhart (close to Cracker Barrel). We have THREE big dogs, and they hotel was completely accommodating of that, plus they have a FREE laundry room, breakfast every day, and night time dinners five nights a week (with wine and beer no less!) We got a substantial discount for the length of stay, reduced to about $80 a day.
Still a lot–but we were very close to Bristol, and we could have our dogs with us.
After the Renegade portion of the work was completed, we moved to Nappanee and basically lived in Gene Miller’s driveway while everything else was done. This was during a very tough weather month with sub-zero temperatures and a lot of snow, but we survived!
At any rate, we feel for your current situation. Totally sucks. We sincerely hope you get it worked out–it’s hard enough taking on a major remodeling project without having so many of the people you trusted and relied on dropping the ball.
It just so happens we will be in Elkhart around 8/25 to have our new roof inspected at Renegade (part of the warranty–have to have it checked within the first year), and get a few small projects done with our Amish woodworking maestro, Gene Miller. So perhaps we can get together for some yummy Mexican food in Nappanee–we know a place! Unbelievable that we found it in Nappanee, but we did. As a side note, we lived in Mexico for 2 years, so we are pretty darned picky about our Mexican cuisine. 🙂
And for anybody out there who needs custom woodworking done on their rig, Gene is WONDERFUL!! Young, progressive, hard-working Amish dude who is a joy to work with.
Glad that you found such great folks to work with in your renovation project! We really thought Master Tech had this project handled, and every indication during our planning process as we were driving in was wonderful – responsive feedback, authentic interest in the bus & us, coordinating on building a project hit list, estimates for various projects and wise guidance on what projects to tackle.
Give us a holler when you’re in town, and perhaps we can meet up.
Will do! That would be fun.
We’ve been RVing for 20+ years–sometimes full-time, sometimes part-time, always as “location independent” entrepreneurs. Had several custom built 5W’s and now have moved into motorhome-land.
But even with the best planning, “stuff” happens.
While we were remodeling the Renegade our “almost new” fridge conked out when they re-installed it, and had to be replaced–and the first run at heated tanks, they woefully under calculated what was needed and ALL our tanks froze.
My husband had to find a better solution for the tank heating, did so, and they had to replace that part of the work they’d done.
Like you, we research and source most of the components that go into our rig–order them shipped to the work place and then have them installed. So not surprising that one aspect we didn’t figure out ourselves had to be redone!
Hoping for the best for you–what a “shudder-full” nightmare to have your beloved aluminum damaged. And the rivet solution? No. Way. (what were they thinking??)
Glad you’ll be there to eagle-eye things. It really is important to be on location if at all possible. We’ve done both–“away” and “there”…and “there” is definitely better!
Onward!
Arrrgh! I feel your frustration. This whole situation is just so disappointing all the way around.
We have had the same kind of issue lately, but we were just getting a bookcase made for our Airstream. We met with the principals of the Ohio company that had made the cabinets for our trailer and there much excitement all around about this job. After 8 weeks, when our small project still hadn’t hit the shop, we heard the same words, “special project” and “personnel problems”. We told them to forget it!
We are now in Florida. Went to the local flea market and found a furniture maker who is making it to our specs. He even came to our rolling home in order to match the stain as closely as possible.
I am sorry this happened to you. I truly hope you will be able to get your home back soon.
We’ve also had very good luck finding small independent folks to do a lot of work with. But those were indeed for smaller projects.
I’m speechless on your behalf.
It sounds like you’ve got a plan to make the best of the situation. With the ingenuity you both possess, I know that in the end you will make this work and that this will not be “the end of the good days.”
I’d like to think that in a few years you will look back at this and chuckle, but I realize that imagining that moment at this stage of the game is asking a lot. Hang in there!
For sure.. these days will make for great future campfire stories. 🙂
How disappointing, to have a shop that you trusted and recommended fail to meet their commitments! Ironic that your positive comments about them probably in some part caused their work overload. They need to learn to say “no, sorry we can’t take on that job right now” to some of the work coming in.
And they allowed your beloved Zephyr to be damaged! That is terrible!
If you find that an alternative to the current paint contractor is needed, I’ve heard good things about Michele Henry, from Phoenix Commercial Paint, also in Elkhart. Nick Russell and Greg White have both commented about her work on their bogs.
Wishing you smooth, swift progress with the remaining work. May serendipity shine upon you in the coming weeks!
We actually did interview Phoenix Paint last year as part of consideration for this job. While her reputation for painting seems solid, she does not have a setup for handling all of the other projects. They are strictly a paint shop. The paint folks at Master Tech are top notch as well, and they are authentically excited to resume that portion of the job.
Fingers crossed for continued progress, and the best possible outcome!
Ugh…as soon as I read “a shop we thought we could trust”….my heart sank for you. How incredibly frustrating – I’m so sorry. (On a side note, I loved the recaps of your Alaskan adventures…that part looked amazing!) I hope things get back on track and go well from this point forward.
Ahhh… Alaska. I need to re-watch the recap and call upon all that positive energy we brought back with us.
So sorry to hear the project failed so far. I wish you strength and good luck with the restart ! As far as I can tell, the problem of work overload at the RV shops is very common here in Germany as well. And being short staffed etc. etc. is the hymn when listening to excuses why the RV shop did not start working on the coach at once.
With good energy and enough people starting to work on your coach now all should come to an acceptable end.
Thank you for adding some positive energy to this.. we are doing our best to bring that sort of attitude into the project.
Heartbreaking to hear that such well-laid plans came unravelled. But kudos to you guys for taking lemons and making limoncello! We really hope that this new plan goes smoothly and enables you to get all the work done that you want AND get back on the road in time to keep your commitments. Keep the updates coming!! We’re rooting for you (but have faith that with you both on site, things will move MUCH faster)!
We look forward to sharing lots of updates of progress soon… *crossing fingers*. Thanks guys, and much love to you both!
If something happens that the one reader’s RV doesn’t work out we are about 175 miles south of you and you are welcome to drive our RV to Elkhart during repairs.
Thank you SO much.. that is a very kind and generous offer. Hopefully it won’t come to that, but it’s so reassuring to know there’s a back-up plan if we need it.
Now that’s a project gone seriously sideways! Yikes! One look at that office, based on the above photo, and I’m thinking I mighta been back peddling out their door to interview a competitor of theirs.
I hope it all gets back on track and finished, as much as you’re letting them finish, on time. What a bummer. But life usually does have a way of making these things come to pass also. Hang in there! Chins up! 🙂
After getting peak at the state of the shop in May, it was honestly hard to get on that train and leave our bus behind. We chocked it up to nerves at going on a big new adventure and the general nervousness of approaching a big project. Oh well, lesson learned – no more planing big adventures and big projects at the same time 🙂