By Nanci Dixon
For the most part, we have had amazing luck with mobile techs. So good, as a matter of fact, that we became a little too careless and trusting.
My husband had bought a Roadmaster tow and brake system from a neighbor. They had only used it a few times before changing RVs. My husband wanted to tow his pickup instead of our small KIA and needed a whole new system. We called all the shops around the Phoenix area and they were all booked up for months. We found a mobile tech that was 1/4 the price and available the following week. That should have sounded the alarm!! Ya think??
I checked out reviews. Almost everyone said how great this mobile tech was about coming back to fix what wasn’t working right. I only saw the “how great” and not the having to “come back to fix what wasn’t working right” part.
Day 1: He was late and left early (to fix something not working on another tow bar job). Day 2: He was looking for installation instructions on his phone. I had shown him all the paper install manuals to him on day one. Day 3: He didn’t show up. Day 4: The wires were pulled out and all over. The sound of drilling through the firewall. Note: The firewall did not need to be cut through. There was already an opening. Day 5: Late. Days 6 and 7 included a lot of complaining about his customers (another red flag), then he said “I usually don’t work on Roadmaster….” But he said he did when I called him.
Finally done. Everything worked… we hoped. I called later and asked if the remotes should turn off. He said that he didn’t know how to install them and would replace them with another kind. He said he would be there the next Monday.
We never saw him again … a minor blessing.
Fast forward to a call to Roadmaster to see how to turn the power to remotes off. I sent photos to them and found out the remotes and brake sensors were not mounted or wired correctly.
We took the RV and truck to our trusted shop in Minnesota—Crystal Welding in Maple Grove. They remounted the remotes and the brake controller, and redid all the wires under the truck hood, adding fuses where there were none. They secured the InvisiBrake™ box, and used wire tubing where once there were bare wires. And they did it all right. In the end, we paid as much as we would have if we would have waited for a shop.
Buy the best, you only cry once… Buy the best and you only pay once, too!
##RVT1114
So what are you saying? Research the tech- you claim you read the reviews of the tech. No other advice on how to do that research.
Read all the reviews. The good,and the bad. Then weigh them out . I always read all the reviews. To see the bad most of the time you have to go an extra step. That’s why they kinda hide them.
As Nanci said, use some thought when you read reviews. She said, ‘came back to fix…’ enough of these implies ‘didn’t do right the 1st time’ (and how many customers moved on so the tech didn’t have to come back?). I’m reminded of the joke about the former farmer’s job references saying he was ‘out-standing in his field’.
We’ve used this site when we’ve been on the road and at home. https://rvtaa.org/locate/
If they are certified, they have at least gone through classes. And not just some yahoo who thinks he knows it all. Yes, I agree. You have to read all the reviews and start with the negative ones first. We found a tech near home. Certified, but was only a year or so, this is his retirement gig. But if you read his profile, you see his 40+ years of wide experience and he has been an RVer for decades. He’s wise enough to know his limits and has said I don’t work on that. So far, we’ve had good luck on the road, finding reputable techs. Read ALL reviews.
Most of these so called “technicians” now days are wannabes who will Bee Ess their way through any kind of work. I worked on diesel trucks for years and saw a lot of these so called “technicians” and their sloppy work. RV’s are no different.
Thank you for the cautionary story, Nanci! 🙂 Have a great week and safe travels! 🙂
I’ve had two local mechanic shops install Roadmaster baseplates, for $100 each time. Note they were car mechanics, not RV anything, but by showing them the installation instructions they immediately understood what I wanted and followed the instructions. Roadmaster’s instructions make no deep knowledge needed.