Entegra Service Dept – Major Improvements in 2015
Since Jayco purchased Travel Supreme in 2008, the renamed “Entegra” luxury coach line has grown quickly and rapidly due to a great product at a very good price point. With rapid growth sometimes comes the challenge of maintaining quality and continuing to meet customer service and support expectations. While Entegra has not been immune to these struggles, the issues as they develop seem to have been recognized and corrective action implemented. For example, in 2014 Entegra initiated an independent inspection department and new production processes to make factory teams accountable for their work. This has greatly reduced the number of defects coming off the production line.
Likewise some substantial changes have been made in the Service Department where owners visit the factory to have repairs completed (warranty or non-warranty). Entegra offers a two year bumper to bumper warranty and encourages owners to return to the factory once within that period for a PDI (Post Delivery Inspection). At this visit any issues the customer has been experiencing will be addressed, as will any additional issues Entegra finds. As you can imagine this keeps the service department quite busy.
In June of 2014 we had visited Entegra Service for our PDI, then again recently in October 2015 for some additional warranty items. Our 2014 experience was OK but they seemed a bit overwhelmed and we left there with several of the same problems (all minor) that we arrived with. Completely different story in 2015 – we experienced some significant and positive changes in the operation:
- Dedicated Service Coordinators – A person assigned to you and your coach for your entire stay to coordinate and schedule the resolution of all your issues. In the past a service tech was not only responsible for repairs, but also had to act as coordinator for any specialized and/or third party repairs. Consider that several different trades and parts suppliers are involved with most coach repairs and it is pretty a much a full time job for someone to keep them all coordinated, focused and on time. Our service coordinator on our most recent October visit was Owen Brown who had only been on the job a few weeks. Boy what a nice guy and what a great job he did keeping every one in line! Great job Owen, keep up the good work!
- Service techs can now focus on their jobs, develop specialty areas of expertise and no longer have to worry about direct communication with the customer, the coordination of third party services and other distractions.
- Several more service bays to handle the growing Entegra population.
- A couple of service bays dedicated to Spartan Chassis (most Entegra’s are built on Spartan) complete with a couple of Spartan trained techs. No need to make the trip to Charlotte, MI for most Spartan Chassis issues.
- Expansion of the customer service call center and the number of on call technicians.
- Expansion of the customer lounge area.
- Upcoming expansion of the customer overnight area for the coaches.
Service visits are by appointment and are currently running about a 6 month lead time. Booking an appointment that far in advance requires some advance planning, but unlike some other brand service centers, at least your coach will be worked on immediately after your arrival and you won’t need to spend weeks on-site waiting to get into the service bays.
During our recent 2015 visit all of the issues we reported at our 2014 PDI that weren’t addressed were resolved along with a few we didn’t know we had – that’s more like it Entegra!
Some of the things we were here for included:
- Adjustment of the primary awning (Carefree) allowing it to close properly.
- Waterproof seal (Eternabond) delamination at the top of some of the slide outs corrected.
- Some minor paint issues around the cargo door latches and other parts of the exterior trim. This ended up to be the item that took the most time, several days off site at S&S Paint in Wakarusa, IN. Additional problems were also found including some required fiberglass reinforcement on the rear cap and some broken slide room corners.
- Entry door adjustment.
- Fireplace repair. The heater worked great, but the “flame” had failed.
- A cracked hardwood rail at the top of the fridge. The fridge had to be removed to replace the broken piece.
- Dash AC leak correctly repaired (we hope) this time. Lazydays in Tampa had supposedly fixed this last May but their “repair” had failed again before we left RI. Spartan found the real source of the leak and Entegra repaired it. There was a failed crimp on the high pressure hose at the compressor.
- Several seating issues (Flexsteel furniture) including a broken under seat drawer front and collapsed foam. The local Flexsteel team removed the items, repaired them and reinstalled.
- A rattle in the engine compartment turned out to be a broken weld on a heat shield above the transmission.
- Assorted issues with the day/night shades, mostly just adjustments.
- A few other minor items.
The only negative we have to report is that we left with a few new cosmetic flaws. A few scratches in the fridge door, some loose screws that got caught under the slide rollers and scratched the tile grout and one small area of exterior paint repairs that has failed.
In summary we were happy to see the positive changes in the service area of the operation and the improvement in performance and coordination. We were also happy to see the improvements to the production process and the new 2016 models.
Would we buy another Entegra? Definitely YES! the two year warranty alone is justification enough. Compound that with how Entegra truly values their customers and makes us really feel like part of the Entegra family and that warranty becomes even more special. I mean, how many customer service directors (Joyce Skinner) for a product that you own give you a big hug? Topping it off with one of the best quality products for the price makes it an easy choice.
Nice report, Rob! Entegra is surely keeping pace with their growing customer base. Nothing is perfect, but they surely do try. Would we buy another Entegra? You bet…we are on our second one, and loving everything about it, including the Entegra Family.
Great to hear Flora! Congrats on your new Entegra!