Last summer, while pulling our Lance RV cross-country in what turned out to be a 10,000 + mile trip, the unthinkable happened. Brutalized by many days in a Virginia heatwave, our refrigerator/freezer died. Our trusted dealer (a known-quantity) -- indeed, ANY Lance dealer -- was over 3,000 miles away, back in California. With our trip a mere 1/3 completed and our warranty several months expired, we were faced with an expensive appliance replacement! What's more, my wife had loads of hard-to-find frozen foods that were going to go bad if we didn't get that fridge replaced fast.
Now the worst thing about this situation is that I was going to be completely at the mercy of the dealer/installer. My fantasy was that a smart, RV-savvy friend would suddenly appear from nowhere and act as my advocate to get us through a fast & effective replacement. Well -- lo and behold! -- out of all the RV dealers in the Virginia Beach area, I managed to hook up with such an advocate at Southside RV in Chesapeake.
As my smart friend in the RV business, Lou (the owner) was very proactive on our behalf, taking the initiative to educate me and protect me from what I don't know and from what equipment manufacturers might have built in that would "bite you in the butt" when I would later be out there in the wild using the fridge. He showed a deep knowledge of the kinds of things that can go wrong and helped us avoid choosing the wrong model. Sharlene (Lou's wife & owner) went so far as to help my wife and I to go online and read the reviews of various models ourselves and then collaborated with us in making the choice. And when it was finally delivered and he began the installation, Lou proved to be a picky perfectionist who took long as necessary to get it right. Yet, having cleared his schedule just for us, he managed to get it all installed in a single day, so I needed to make just one 100-mile round trip from my daughter's farm. And despite the time crunch, he still managed to make some modifications to the one-size-fits-all installation recommendations the fridge manufacturer had made. For example, he did a bit of rewiring to make the fuze more easily accessible, so I can easily replace it myself if needed, instead of having to tear the housing apart to get to it! (He was on the phone arguing them several times about such things!)
Amazing fact I discovered that day: Before Southside RV will agree to sell a particular brand of RV, Lou (the owner & my advocate & RV installation expert!) insists that the manufacturer send them an RV to evaluate. When it arrives, he proceeds to roll up his sleeves and take this sample RV completely apart! He removes bolts & screws and gets behind the walls and the trim and sees whether they are hiding sloppy workmanship and ill-fitting parts. If he discovers shoddy construction, then he simply refuses to sell this manufacturer's RVs.
So if you are looking for an advocate in the RV business -- someone you can trust to be on your side -- then look to Southside RV. It's a true family-owned, family-feeling business. They are hands-on and engaged and sometimes a bit grumpy, especially with rookie manufacturer's reps. Lou and Sharlene are simply good, trustworthy people who will do right by you. read more
