Dealers....How do you handle service calls?

[bohms]

I'm just curious to see how all you dealers handle a call when someone calls in and needs service on their tub.  Do you try to help them out over the phone?  Do you get a tech on the phone with them right away?  Or do you tell them that someone will call them back and no one ever does?
Please be honest.  I just want to know if I'm asking too much.  :-/

Thanks!

[Merlin]

We make sure to go over every possible troubleshooting method there is over the phone with the customer first. This way we can try to narrow down the problem and possibly solve it with out the need for a service call.

When the service call is needed it is scheduled immediately and the tech is at the customers house within a day or two depending on his schedule and any parts that may be needed for the job.

No you are not asking to much. Your dealer just doesn't seem to care for their customers after the sale. I hope everything works out for you and your spa.

Merlin

[hottubdan]

We attempt to troubleshoot on the phone.  If we cannot fix on the phone, we have them call a dedicate service department line.  If message, call is returned same day, Monday through Friday, unless too late in the day.  Appointment is made.  Tech goes to house. Since they carry most common parts most calls are one appointment fixes.  We are not out as fast as Merlin.

[Saved by Grace]

When the service call is needed it is scheduled immediately and the tech is at the customers house within a day or two depending on his schedule and any parts that may be needed for the job.
Merlin

Ouch...

I'm hoping for 11 days so my wife and I can enjoy our 11th anniversary next Saturday. Sure would be nice to have our tub fully operational by then.

In His peace,
Fred

[East_TX_Spa]

Customer calls, I tell them to clean their filters and that solves the problem about 80% of the time.  If it is something else, I write up the service order and immediately fax it to service manager.  He calls the customer immediately and schedules service.  Sometimes, we are able to service the spa the same day.  Usually it is within 2 days.  On the very rare occasion, it takes 3 days.

Bear in mind that we have a huge territory (all of NE TX and NW LA) and over 7K spas in service after 23 years.  We have 3 full time, salaried service techs to handle the load.  I can pitch in and get rid of air locks if need be, but I can't do much else except give moral support.

We're having our company picnic tomorrow at Lake Palestine, so if I don't drown or get 'et by an alligator, I'll see ya'll Tuesday!

Term

[Merlin]

over 7K spas in service after 23 years.


We're having our company picnic tomorrow at Lake Palestine, so if I don't drown or get 'et by an alligator, I'll see ya'll Tuesday!

Term

Term-
My store 24 years covering the Antelope Valley from Ridgecrest to Valencia 0ver 11K tubs
1 store 1 Tech  ( he works 7-5 M-Sat)
There are a few ingroundpool stores and 2 spa stores but they are newer to the valley it gets very rough when we get a streak of calls from old Cal spas and old Beachport tubs and a few old HS tubs that were either really old ones of ours, and it can put a hurting on a family owned buisness.

sorry for the ramble  

[bohms]

Wow.  I would be so happy if I had one of you as my dealer.  Our tub has been completely dead since Saturday morning.  No call back from the dealer yet after calling 2 times on Saturday.  I will be calling again 10am today.

[Spiderman]

We opened our HotSpring store last August and we haven't reached the 7K or 11K range yet  , but we're working on it, so we haven't had too many calls yet.  We've only had one call so far that needed quick attention.  

A customer called and left a message on a Sunday, which is one of the days we're closed.  Within 2 hours of leaving the message I was at the customer's house and took care of the issue for him.  He was very pleased  8-)

  

[bohms]

We opened our HotSpring store last August and we haven't reached the 7K or 11K range yet  , but we're working on it, so we haven't had too many calls yet.  We've only had one call so far that needed quick attention.  

A customer called and left a message on a Sunday, which is one of the days we're closed.  Within 2 hours of leaving the message I was at the customer's house and took care of the issue for him.  He was very pleased  8-)

  

Unbelieveable!  Kudos to you!  If you keep that up, you will have a very successful store!

[Steve]

When a call came in for service, we would try and troubleshoot it over the phone which often could solve the issue. If not, we would put them through to our service dept and they would book a service call. Any service was done within 48 hours.

If it was a new spa, it took priority and was looked after either the same day (calls before noon) or within 24 hours. There's nothing worse than receiving a new spa, having a problem and not getting looked after right away! Buyers remorse often stems from initial problems that aren't solved promptly and these MUST take precedence.

[Hillbilly Hot Tub]

We do the same as Merlin and Steve. We try to resolve over the phone, if we can not, we go out within 1-3 days to address the problem. The longest we had to wait for a part was a week.

This sounds like an internet dealer thing to me. You should have much better service, at least a phone call to see what the hold up is!