Delivery Fiasco

[poweredbytheholyghost]

We were to take delivery on our new Cardinal 36TS yesterday. We purchased it two weeks ago in Mesa Az. We live in Farmington N.M. 7hours away.
We were scheduled to do the pdi on Monday at 3pm. We had done the initial walk through when we purchased and had several items that needed attention. We arrived about 2:30 and were told that they were running behind. Finally at 4:30 we began. After a few hours of instruction and inspection, we had a few more items to add to the list. Some of the original items on the list were still incomplete. We had arranged to spend the night in the coach at the dealership which we did. We had previously negotiated that the dealership would have the coach delivered to our site in N.M. Over night, we discoverd a few more minor items.
In the morning, the Service Writer along with two techs began to fix the items listed, as we waited for our tow driver who was supposed to be at the dealership at 9am.
Finally at 12:15 pm, after lots of tense iquiries about where the driver was, we left to go back to N.M. We are supposed to hear from the dealership to arrange again for our coach to be delivered. We will not return to the dealership.
Ok, i know you all are wondering why we are having it delivered...i'm a weenie!!!....never owned a truck before, and never towed anything. I didn't want my first tow with a 39 1/2 foot rig and long bed truck to be a 7 plus hour trip over mountians etc.
We are tired and frustrated. This dealership is probably the biggest in Az, but very poor in service, follow up, and communication. Our sales person has been non existent since he "made the sale"
Al

[Lil'Darlin1972]

We were to take delivery on our new Cardinal 36TS yesterday. We purchased it two weeks ago in Mesa Az. We live in Farmington N.M. 7hours away.
We were scheduled to do the pdi on Monday at 3pm. We had done the initial walk through when we purchased and had several items that needed attention. We arrived about 2:30 and were told that they were running behind. Finally at 4:30 we began. After a few hours of instruction and inspection, we had a few more items to add to the list. Some of the original items on the list were still incomplete. We had arranged to spend the night in the coach at the dealership which we did. We had previously negotiated that the dealership would have the coach delivered to our site in N.M. Over night, we discoverd a few more minor items.
In the morning, the Service Writer along with two techs began to fix the items listed, as we waited for our tow driver who was supposed to be at the dealership at 9am.
Finally at 12:15 pm, after lots of tense iquiries about where the driver was, we left to go back to N.M. We are supposed to hear from the dealership to arrange again for our coach to be delivered. We will not return to the dealership.
Ok, i know you all are wondering why we are having it delivered...i'm a weenie!!!....never owned a truck before, and never towed anything. I didn't want my first tow with a 39 1/2 foot rig and long bed truck to be a 7 plus hour trip over mountians etc.
We are tired and frustrated. This dealership is probably the biggest in Az, but very poor in service, follow up, and communication. Our sales person has been non existent since he "made the sale"
Al

I'm sorry you had such a bad experience. Hopefully once you do have it finally delivered everything will be as you wanted it.

Personally, I think it's a great idea to have it driven for you since you have no previous towing experience. You need to start out away from other people...not on busy roads with mountains, lol !! It might take some time for you to feel comfortable with it...what a way to start out

[romantraveler]

Congratulations on your new coach. You will find that it's not that difficult to tow, just take your time and enjoy. All the BS you put up with will be forgotten the first time you park at a great spot and kick back. Happy camping.

RT

[campswithcritters]

Great to hear you did get it and hope things are working out better. When you do decide to move it yourself as said above take it slow. Remember to corner as wide as possible (watching the mirrors or out the window) and keep an eye for low hanging branches, another thing most don't remind you of is that you need room on the outside of a turn as the axles in the middle make the tail wag some toward the outside of a turn. Yes this is all from personal experience (and ya'll can have a good time laughing about that), I have been very lucky as only minor damages I was able to fix myself and learned something to pass on each time! Have fun with it!

[Luizianna]

Congrats on your new camper! Like others said...take your time. Maybe find a large empty parking lot...like a school on a weekend, and practice turning...backing up..etc. We have had ours for two years now and DH still refers to a "hitching" and "unhitching" checklist he laminated and keeps in the truck. Says he doesn't want to get too confident and 'forget' something. Don't let anyone rush you...you will be driving like a pro before you know it and the next newbie will benefit from what you've learned.