An Open Letter to Ron Lee

September 6, 2011

Ron Lee President
Country Coach Corporation
PO Box 575
Junction City Oregon 97448

Open Letter to Ron Lee:

I am Rob Brown a very old Country Coach Owner. We bought our first in 1989, a 36 foot Mark V gas motorhome. We had nothing but trouble with the gas engine overheating, had to be rebuilt 3 times, but Country Coach was there to help us every step of the way. That experience, which could have soured us on CC, did just the opposite because of the helpful people on the other end of the phone when we needed them. So, we purchased our next CC in 1999. It was a bullet proof 36 foot Intrigue we even took it to Alaska and back with nary a problem until 2007 when we stopped for service and found our 42 foot Allure. Since I did not purchase an extended warranty, based on my 18 years of dealing with CC, you can imagine my feelings when I learned about the closing of the factory. I am telling you all this to give you an idea of where my expectation bar is set. When I learned that you were trying to bring Country Coach back to life, I was quite shocked and somewhat skeptical that service at the factory would be anything like the old days, which I considered to be great.

Well, as a current Rally Master for Southwest Country Coachers, I felt obligated to give you a try when you agreed to be a guest speaker at our October 2011 Paso Robles Rally. So, I called to make an appointment for chassis service. I called about 9 weeks in advance and made the August appointment. Since we were traveling in the coach, Jim Cooley suggested that we might want to make a wish list as things went along and then email any additional things or questions we might have a couple of weeks ahead of our appointment so they would be sure to have any parts I might need in stock. What a great idea. I think we ended up with 11 additional items to look into. Things that had been bothering us but that weren’t really broken yet. When I asked Jim where we should stay to be nearby, he gave us the name of two RV parks but suggested we just come down Sunday night and he would be sure that they would leave a 50 amp cord out for me and then it would be free and the coach would not be as hot in the morning when the chassis work was scheduled.

Apart from the dust, our overnight experiences were great. We met several other owners who had decided on the same “Free” solution, nice people all happy to have you in business. Then first thing Monday morning, out comes a familiar face, I should have said happy familiar faces, of Doug Beaudry and Jim Cooley to welcome us and get us started.

Eric Wolfe and Joe Wagoner took our Motorhome down to the old Dyno building and we headed out to do some shopping and have our yellow Lab groomed. We had found a really nice lady several years back in Harrisburg and she was still in business. When we returned we met with Angela who is now “our friend Angie” who showed us all the new CC logo clothing and house wares. We bought a lot. Sorry but you will probably have to reorder soon.

I decided to check on the coach. I dropped in on Eric and Joe who were no longer the clean individuals I had met just a few hours ago. They had found a failing ride height valve and that my overall ride height was set low. No wonder I bottomed out so much. I certainly wonder who else would have found those problems as part of a normal service. Needless to say, I am very pleased with their work. At that point, being very impressed, I expected they would have been the highlight of our stay with you. I am sure they will be disappointed to learn that was not the case. Next, Doug set Terry Keeler to work on the ticky-tack items that we had on our list. What a neat and accomplished individual. He repaired issues with our toilet; kitchen slide, gas detector, TV, and most importantly replaced the towing buster switch and fixed the wiring to the tow car that had been wrong since we purchased the coach back in 2007. I can’t say enough about this quiet yet friendly man. He let me watch or help without a complaint. Now I know how to fix these things if they go bad again and I am not near Junction City. At this point I should tell you that I have had other techs look at the problem at various rallies while CC was out of business. They couldn’t find the problem or get me the needed part and sent me on several wild goose chases. Of course, the factory didn’t exist then, so perhaps I am not being fair to those other ex-CC folks.

We ended up staying there for 3 nights and two and ½ work days. We got quotes for tile work, help with our sofa and of course will come to you when we are ready to do the work. I have left out a number of other individuals (Tammie, Arlene, Martine, Sandy and of course Jenni) who we met during our stay, all made us feel welcome and seemed to be very busy even though the Boss was away in Wyoming at a Rally. We also had a nice chat with COO, David Diamond.

So, while you are not yet in the construction phase, Thank You for opening for service and remodeling. We are very pleased with the work done and look forward to using your great staff and facilities again.

Rob & Gerri Brown

PS. Feel free to share our letter with others. It will certainly create high expectations, if you share it with other customers but I am confident that your staff can meet or exceed those expectations as they did ours.