Van's e-mail Tech support

flydjd · #1 07-14-2006, 07:26 AM

Hi all,

Is anyone else experiencing a slow response from Van's e-mail Tech support

Normally I get a response by the following day (to allow for the electrons to reach Europe - Old World - and the Sun to rise in the US) but my latest Q was sent 3 days ago .....

Maybe they are gearing up for Oshkosh

This isn't helping me get rid of my moniker

prkaye · #2 07-14-2006, 07:35 AM

I just posted a similar thread... I have actually gotten NO response from them to an email from a couple of weeks ago.

JohnR · #3 07-14-2006, 07:44 AM

I sent an email last night and got an answer this AM. This is the first time I emailed them and thought the response was pretty good.

BillC · #4 07-14-2006, 08:17 AM

I've had good success. E-mailed about a canopy issue this Monday AM and received reply from Ken Tuesday afternoon. Not bad response time all things considered.

apatti · #5 07-14-2006, 08:21 AM

I sometimes get a response within a day, but it usually takes 2 - 3 days. It might depend on how complex your question is and whether there is only one person or several people who feel "qualified" to provide a response.

Bret S · #6 07-14-2006, 08:24 AM

My experience is varied. The last question emailed Sunday was answered inside 24 hrs. One question posed a month ago got no response whatsoever. I don't think it's malicious, but I don't understand the inconsistany either. So if you don't get an email response don't be frustrated just phone them (as I was advised by another) and get the problem resolved.

I do think Van's support is pretty good, but according to their own advertisement 2 RV-7 Emps are ordered every work day

I wonder how long they will be able to keep up with the flood and if the quality of responses will deteriorate.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #7 07-14-2006, 08:24 AM

I had a question about wing-mating the other day. Got an answer from Bruce Reynolds the next day. Have noticed no changes in service.

prkaye · #8 07-14-2006, 08:28 AM

If demand for the product is growing, and if they want to grow the company to meet the demand, they would do well to increaes their support staff in proportion with this. I know many companies don't do this, which is why the biggest companies in the world seem to have the worst customer support.

Anyway, as long as they get the shipments sent to the correct address in the future, and as long as they are good about promptly replacing damaged parts, that's all that really matters I guess. There are enough builders out there that the community provides the best technical support one could ask for.

Do Vans employees ever post on the forum?

Build9A · #9 07-14-2006, 08:39 AM

I think they pass questions around to different folks with different expertise. Maybe the expert on your question was out for awhile. I always had good responses by email within 24 hrs.

LettersFromFlyoverCountry · #10 07-14-2006, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prkaye

Do Vans employees ever post on the forum?

I've never seen a company employee post anywhere. In conversations in the past, some have had very unkind things to see about the quality of information "on the Internet." Of course that was 3 or 4 years ago.

I think the "missing" ingredient of RV online life is a company blog. Don't get me wrong! All of the discusison boards are valuable and insightful -- as well as inciteful on occasion, of course).

But as they get bigger and bigger, it gets harder and harder to filter out the really valuable builder assistance from the general chatter.

Van's could easily set up a blog and moderate the comments so when they get a tech question...it's available for EVERYONE to see it. I think the one thing that really would be great is to see the SPECIFIC questions that are asked and the SPECIFIC company answers in one location. Nothing BUT questions and answers. No discussion around it. That would be really helpful and would be a nice extension of the instruction manual and plans.