Failure to Slide
I didn't post this back when it happened. I just found a copy on Yelp! and pasted it here:
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-----I waited for over a week to post this. I did not want to be angry at the time. I also did not want to trash the guy's business for what may have been an isolated bad day. Instead, I am sharing the details. Make up your own decision of whether or not you should ever call on him for service.
-----Here's the story: Last Friday was a horrible day for me. I woke up at 6:30 to get an early start on heading home. But, when I pushed the button to bring in the sofa slide, everything went bad.
-----I tried a few things to get the slide to work before texting a friend. Randy suggested a few more things and also said the battery might be bad. His suggestions didn't work, either, so I put the battery in the truck and headed for Auto Zone to get it checked out.
-----I stopped at headquarters to explain my situation. I was supposed to vacate my site by 12:00, and the park was completely booked for Memorial Day weekend. They said they had a device that would shoot enough power to the slide and bring it in, if the problem was the battery. That didn't work, and the guys told me they still thought the battery might be bad. They used one of those little things to check the voltage, which was strong enough, but when I turned on the lights in the camper, they saw something they didn't like.
-----Off I flew to Spring Branch to the Autozone. They tested the battery and said it was in perfect condition and fully charged. I bought a kit to clean the terminals and headed back to the park. On the way, at 10:16 AM, I called Hill Country Mobile RV Service in Boerne to see if they could help me. I had already been turned down by some others before leaving the park. The guy I talked to, Mike, told me he was at another job but should be able to get to me by 1:00PM. He told me a few more things to try including "follow the wires to the reset switch". I told him I would try his suggestions and call him back if I did not need him to come.
-----Back at the camper, I cleaned the terminals and tried the slide. Nope. I got on the ground, slid under the camper to "follow the wires". Nothing to see there folks. I wiggled back out from under and started doing other things to prep for departure. I wanted to leave the park as soon as the guy got the slide in.
-----I called Mike back at 1:30. I was afraid that maybe he thought I didn't need him. I then waited patiently to either see him pull up or for him to contact me with an update to his ETA.
-----Here is the rest of our communications. I have added the times for clarity. These are texts copied verbatim.
<<<<<2:50 PM MIKE Hello this is Mike with Hill Country Mobile RV Service. Sorry we missed your call. Took a little longer than expected at the job this morning. My day is freed up now if you're still in need of assistance with your slide out. We would be coming from Boerne area.
>>>>>2:51 ME Yes. Please. I am stuck here!!! Guadalupe River State Park site number 70. My name is Jim Baker. The headquarters knows that you're coming.
<<<<<( He gave the thumbs up symbol.)
>>>>>2:53 ME. Thanks!
<<<<<2:53 MIKE We will be in route shortly. I will send you a confirmation when we are headed that way.
>>>>>(I gave a thumbs up symbol.)
<<<<<3:15 MIKE Hello. I sincerely apologize unexpectedly have to pick up my child from school. Still plan on making it out to you once I get things situated. Again I apologize for the inconvenience. I understand you're stuck there and I will get you as soon as I can. If I have to drag the kids with me lol
>>>>>(I gave a thumbs up symbol. What else could I do?)
>>>>>4:40 ME Any updates on when you'll be here?
<<<<<(No response from MIKE)
>>>>>5:03 ME I called him and left a message.
<<<<<(No response from MIKE)
Now, in the meantime, a neighbor from another site, whom I had been communicating with all day, came over at about 5:30 with his phone in his hand. He had found some videos that showed how to manually retract the slide. I never had enough phone service to load any videos. I took him in the camper, and he said he thought he could do it. He went and got his tools, came back, and after about a 30 minute struggle, he had the slide in.
<<<<<6:15 MIKE ETA 1hr 15 min
>>>>>6:16 ME (I texted telling Mike not to bother coming.)
<<<<<( He gave the thumbs up symbol.)
