Good Thing We Like Lemonade

We last left our blog blacktop boondocking at "Camp Freightliner" in Harrisburg, PA, awaiting the overnight delivery of a new alternator for the Journey.  Making lemonade from the lemons, we took a trip to Hershey, PA to see the Sweet Lights Christmas Show.

It was quite cute, took about 20 minutes to drive through it all and we were one of the very few cars there.  At $20 per car, it was a little pricey, but we needed a little fun after the busy day of making lemonade.

Today, I slept in until 9 am, even though the Freightliner service advisor said the alternator should be in sometime after 8 am, I figured it would come later.  And, of course, I was right.  Later, like 1:30 pm.  In all fairness, the alternator did have to come from Memphis, TN and they had a snowstorm last night, so a little slack was warranted.  The tech picked up the Journey from our exclusive camping site and said it wasn't a big job, he'd have it done for us by 4:30.

Alrighty then, so Marti and I headed out to do a little store browsing and grabbed a bite to eat.  Later, we bopped over to a nearby McDonald's and used their WiFi hotspot to surf the net while drinking some tea and Diet Coke.  Marti was enjoying using her new iPad, doing all kinds of things with it and yes, playing some games on it too.

Arriving back at Camp Freightliner at 4:15, the tech was just finishing up, so we went to the lounge to wait for the keys.

Now for the lemonade, a big whole glass full.  The service advisor came in and said, "Oh, sorry but Cat declined to warranty the alternator repair.  They will not warranty alternators or starters because they are not Cat manufactured items, so you'll have to pay the whole amount."

Hold on a minute.  When I first came in, he told me it was a Cat warranty.  I said okay, but I had an extended warranty, too.  Since Cat was going to pay the bill, I didn't need to use my extended warranty and pay the $100 deductible.  Now that the repair was completed I could not use my extended warranty because the plan specifically states that repairs must be authorized by them first before any work can be done, or the claim will be denied.

I asked for the service manager and was told he had gone home.  I told the advisor to get him on the phone.  The service manager said it wasn't a big deal, he dealt with things like this before and wanted his service advisor to call my warranty company.  Of course, by this time, the warranty company was closed for the day.  So tonight, we are here at Camp Freightliner for our third night with a repaired Journey and no resolution of who is going to pay the $1000 bill if the warranty company denies the claim.  I'm on solid ground, I didn't make a mistake, the service advisor did and Freightliner needs to step up and eat the bill.  This should be fun, I'll be waiting for the service manager first thing in the morning.  We'll see who gets to drink the large glass of lemonade.

Since we are falling behind in our travel plans, we are going to blow off Sioux Falls, do the vehicle registrations via mail and worry about drivers licenses later, like when it gets warmer (August?).  We're planning on I-80 West to Salt Lake City and see what the weather is like going North from there.  If it's not looking good, we'll continue West on I-80 to California and catch I-5 North. 

Yes we know about Donner Pass, but we'll do a food shopping run before we attempt to cross it. ;c)

 

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