This blog is our thoughts about this last week and the diesel shop our Stinger "B" spent time at.
Saturday, March 28, 2020 (picture taken on this date)
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| Looking across the Quality Inn parking lot in Corinth, Mississippi at our home. After four long days the Stinger "B" is ready to roll. |
Starting last Tuesday morning life became a little more stressful for us when our motorhome started to whistle and loose power. For the second time this month we had an issue and we were stopped in our tracks. Our goal has been to get closer to Michigan, our children, our grandchildren, our family, and friends and to be quite honest we felt like Mississippi was sucking us in and not letting us go. At the time this happened we were about three miles from the Tennessee State Line. Do not think this statement is in anyway about us not liking Mississippi. Just the opposite we thing this is a beautiful state filled with our country's history. I have said it before and I am sure you will hear it again. The areas we have been in our beautiful and so full of the Civil War History; we are looking forward to coming back this way to be able to really take the opportunity to explore and enjoy the area but for now we were on a mission to get north. Before getting back on track I will say this: Tom and I have always believed things happen for a reason and sometimes the why is revealed and other times you just have to accept what is and move on in life.
So getting back on track. This was the second time we needed to look for a diesel shop for help and all we had to go on was the reviews posted online. We chose the place based on the reviews and one review in particular posted by another couple with a diesel pusher that had an issue and gave this shop a 5 point rating. It is a strange and somewhat scary feeling to pull into a shop that you know nothing about in a place you have never been before knowing that they know you are basically in their hands. Thoughts of will they be honest about what is wrong, will they find things that really are not wrong, and will they do a good job go through your head. Then there is what will they charge us.
This is our home and now we have to trust complete strangers with her because we are going to be in a motel and that is another whole issue I was not thrilled about. The questions about staying in a motel room are always there and with everything going on well lets just say I did wipe things down and all we can do is hope for the best.
When we had the work done at the shop in Vicksburg we were able to still live inside and they did not need to come in at all. Now there was the possibility they would have to come in and get to what needed to be done through the trap door that is in our bedroom. Any other time this would not have been an issue but right now with every thing that is happening it became one. My first thought was how will we ever get all the surfaces cleaned and disinfected. I was pretty sure right off the bat that was going to be a shot in the dark. Luckily it ended up that they never had to go in and did everything from outside. But still, lets face it, they had to trust that we are healthy and we had to trust that they were. We were at a Diesel Shop, they are showing us what is wrong and there is no social distancing.
There was something about this man from the beginning that gave us hope and confidence that we were going to get through this and we would leave his shop with the Stinger "B" taken care of. Tom had more interaction with him then I did and he truly felt like he was being upfront with us and when he said he would work with us and try to keep the labor costs down that he would do just that.
From the beginning they knew are turbo was shot and before they took it off they showed Tom the issue. Then there was our air filter again before taking it off he showed Tom the issue. Then there was the call about the manifold and yet again he called Tom over to look at it and give him the options.
He kept us well informed about the prices of parts as he went along so we had a pretty good idea what that part of the bill was going to be. The unknown was the labor costs. Tom and I had a figure in our heads as to what the labor costs would be, after all this was the third diesel shop we had been in during March. There had been four days of work (though not steady), two trips out of town for parts plus a search for parts in town so we were prepared to be paying a few dollars. In the end it was just slightly more then half of what we expected. We feel we were fairly charged for the work done and walked out satisfied, not excited mind you, but satisfied that we were not taken.
We pulled out of the shop and Tom drove the Singer "B" back to the Quality Inn parking lot. As I was directing Tom into the space I glanced to my left and there was the diesel mobile unit stopping next to me. To say I had a moment of anxiety would not be an exaggeration. Why was he there? To make sure everything ran smoothly and to see how Tom felt it drove. (Tom mentioned that he could already tell the engine had more power and was running smoother then it ever did.) The next morning as we were getting ready to leave he called to wish us safe travels and to say if we had any issues to call. Okay seriously we have never had that kind of follow up ever.
One last thing, when he called Sunday morning and I told him we were just going down the road for a couple of days he said we were more then welcome to come back there and plug into the shop for a couple of days if we would like and yes while the Stinger "B" was in the shop they kept her plugged into 50amps to keep our refrigerator running. I told him we appreciated the offer but honestly we were looking forward to full hookups.
So we would like to say publicly, Thank you, Warren Bascomb and the crew at Pro-Fleet Truck and Trailer Repair. We feel you treated us fairly, professionally, and with honesty. If we are ever in this area and it is time to have our engine and generator serviced we will not hesitate to come back and have you do the work. If anyone we knows is looking for a diesel shop in this area we would recommend your shop without hesitation. Again, thank you.
We are so glad you stopped by!
If you have time to leave a comment we would enjoy hearing from you.
