NIRVC: Why Nothing But The Best RV Service Center Will Do

National Indoor RV Centers (NIRVC) Review

RV service, repair, maintenance

One thing we did not anticipate when we bought our big RV and hit the road full-time: 

→ How difficult it would be to get stuff fixed. 

Particularly now, after two years of pandemic escape desperation and the continuing surge in RV enthusiasm.

→ It’s all about demand, supply chain disruptions, and skilled labor shortages.

So what do you do, as a full-time RV traveler?

RV Quick Repair Tips 🧐

1. Try to hold it all together and fix what you can yourself, with guidance from YouTube videos and your RV Facebook Groups.
2. Turn it off and turn it on again, literally: Re-set, check fuses and switches.

–> It’s astounding how often that actually works. 😳

Even so, at some point, you need experts – qualified, certified, and experienced RV service technicians – to assess, repair, replace and maintain the things you can’t.

Sometimes, you don’t have time to figure it out yourself – in an emergency, for example. Or if you’re living, traveling, and working full time in your RV.

This post is all about our RV service experience — all the ups & downs — at National Indoor RV Centers (NIRVC)

Why National Indoor RV Centers???

When we first bought our 2016 Entegra Aspire 40P, we quickly learned about NIRVC on YouTube and in our Entegra Owners Facebook Group.

We came across a terrific four-part series of extremely helpful beginner videos on YouTube by Angie Morrell – the Director of Sales for National Indoor RV Centers – demonstrating everything we needed to know.

Coincidentally enough, she was driving an Entegra Coach Class A Motorhome:

NIRVC’s Angie got us on the road

Part 1 – Pack & Prep (55:34) – “packing, organizing, and weighing your coach”

Part 2 – On The Road (40:22) – “traveling, technical tips, overnight & RV travel day recipe*“

Part 3 – Setting Up Camp (12:30) – “hook ups & leveling – ‘SO MUCH GREAT INFO!'”

Part 4 – Breaking Down Camp (10:00) – “getting ready to go – ‘excellent presentation!'”

[*As an aside, 18 months later, I still use Angie’s super-easy & quick Instant Pot Shredded Pork recipe in Part 2 for Travel Days!]

All about National Indoor RV Centers

The more we learned from Angie in the series and her other excellent videos about large Class A motorhomes, the more we learned about NIRVC:

– National RV service center with five convenient locations across the United States: 

Atlanta – Dallas – Las Vegas – Nashville – Phoenix

– Entegra & large diesel motorcoach specialists

– Concierge level RV service: Sales | Service | Indoor Storage | Wash/Detail | Paint & Body

– Excellent reputation in our Entegra Owners Facebook Groups

We decided NIRVC was exactly what we needed to keep us on the road, as we lived, worked, and traveled full-time across the country. The quest was on…

Indoor RV Storage?

You might not realize how important indoor RV storage could be to full-time RVers:

We started this adventure WFH – Working From Home – where home could be anywhere with good internets. It was an extraordinary window of opportunity at that time, during the pandemic.

→ But what happens if/when the pandemic situation eases and business travel resumes?

NIRVC indoor storage at the different service centers across country could be a great solution: A way we could leave Charlie-the-RV – our full-time home – indoors and plugged in, safe and secure, if we needed to. 

→ And be near an airport large enough to get wherever we needed to be, quickly.

Joining the NIRVC Family

Unfortunately, we did not buy our Entegra from NIRVC. We didn’t know about National Indoor RV Centers when we found Charlie-the-Unicorn RV at another dealership through RV Trader.

After a less-than-stellar start with that other dealer… 🤔

As brand-new full-time RVers, traveling across the country, we knew we needed to be part of the NIRVC family.

The NIRVC Difference

* The highest standard for the smallest detail

“We seek a life-long relationship with our customers and that’s why we call it a family and not a business.”

On the road to National Indoor RV Centers

We started planning months in advance (August 2021) to get to NIRVC Atlanta from Washington State, to figure out a way to address the several issues we had driven away with when we picked up Charlie-the-RV from our dealer in Des Moines, IA. 

The most important issue: Replace the broken washing machine!

Scheduling RV Service

In September, we suddenly had the perfect excuse to head toward Atlanta and schedule the service appointment with NIRVC Atlanta (technically, in Lawrenceville, GA, just outside of Atlanta).

We were super excited to be invited to a close friend’s wedding in November.

We could leave Charlie-the-RV at NIRVC for the much-needed service, repair and routine maintenance issues, while we stayed in Atlanta to visit friends and celebrate the wedding.

By the time we arrived at NIRVC in November, we had a laundry list of issues and concerns we had discussed by email with our Service Advisor.

RV Service DISASTER!

As I’ve mentioned already on the blog, everything that could go wrong, went wrong…

→ Fear not, Dear Reader: It all worked out to a very happy ending and a Raving Super Fans Review for National Indoor RV Centers and NIRVC Atlanta. Keep reading! 😊

But our first service visit at NIRVC Atlanta, as carefully as we had arranged and coordinated, quickly fell apart upon our arrival:

1. Total communication disconnect – lack of communication
2. Crazy level of disorganization and chaos
3. Constantly changing cast of characters: service advisors, techs
4. No post-service inspection or prep
5. What did get done, wasn’t done right.

I did not get my new washing machine… 🙁

NIRVC Customer Service

The very best thing about our entire, disappointing week at NIRVC Atlanta, was a chance encounter on our last day:

RV YouTube Superstars: LOOK Who We Found In Atlanta! 

The consensus of wisdom from our new friends and our Entegra Owners Facebook Group about our experience:

→ Go to the top: Directly to the person who cares the most about the business and its reputation.

I am nothing, if not (and it’s key to remember these things as you enter a customer service conversation):

• Organized
• Polite
• Persistent
• Positive
• 🙂

Once we had a chance to re-group and assess the damage (overnight, at a campground nearby), I followed up with email, text messages – with pictures – and phone calls with the General Manager at NIRVC Atlanta.

Basically, it all came down to this:

We understand it is a very hectic time in the industry, and we’ve done our best to be patient and flexible so that all of this would work out well. We were very disappointed and frustrated throughout this process, especially over the last six weeks, and while at NIRVC, at the total lack of communication and level of disorganization. We never received a proper estimate or copy of the work order and had no idea what would be addressed, if it could be addressed, when, and how much it would cost.

After leaving NIRVC last night (Monday), we finally had a chance to go through the itemized invoice and check everything out. 

We have a number of unresolved problems and questions, specific to the repairs that were completed, such that we will have to come back this week or early next week to resolve…

Fortunately, the General Manager at NIRVC Atlanta completely agreed with us:

[Note: Our wet bay was later completely restored to OEM standard with the correct lever, part repair (behind that panel), and paint correction 🙂 ]

So… What happened??? 

In a time of extraordinary demand for the RV Industry, it has been a difficult time at RV service & repair facilities, all across the country. Not just NIRVC.

Specifically, in Atlanta, we were caught up in a difficult pandemic situation with skilled labor shortages:

• The Service Advisor we had been working with was no longer a Service Advisor.
• We were assigned to a new Service Advisor, but he had gone on vacation the Monday we arrived. (I don’t think he ever even knew he was our Service Advisor.)
• A newer advisor or assistant stepped in to coordinate our service with a newer service tech.
• Nobody seemed to be in charge or oversight of what was being done to our rig, or how it was done.

With apologies and assurances from the General Manager, and a written Work Order of the repairs to be repaired, we scheduled our return to NIRVC Atlanta Monday, December 13th, on our return trip from South Carolina to Florida.

NIRVC Re-Do Review: When we became Raving Super Fans

[Spoiler Alert: Really. We were seriously impressed and pretty much ecstatic by Wednesday, December 15th!]

The most impressive thing about our re-do service visit was a total commitment to quality, service, and satisfaction from the very top down, once they became aware of the problem.

In the week after we left the service center, we were working with Todd Springs, the General Manager of NIRVC Atlanta, to schedule the re-do visit and coordinate all the details.

The following Sunday, while we were parking Charlie-the-RV in Spartanburg, SC…

We got a call and a voicemail on my cell phone from Brett Davis – the owner, founder, and CEO of National Indoor RV Centers (all of them!). Umm, wow?! 🤩 

Asking for more information, promising to make it right:

“…you would be doing me a favor… I’d love the opportunity to chat with you and hear about your experience with us. I consider all feedback a gift… please give me a call…”

That meant so much to us. That the owner would personally call and work with us through the next couple of weeks to understand what had happened and make it all right. Above and beyond.

Which is exactly what they did.

By the time we returned to NIRVC Atlanta, two weeks later, we had a comprehensive work order, detailing everything that would be done on our return visit, working with our new best friend, Todd Springs, the General Manager at NIRVC Atlanta.

It took a lot of patience and coordination, but by the time we arrived on Sunday, and left NIRVC Atlanta late Tuesday afternoon…

Not only were the fixes to the four main problems from the first visit done (repairs to be repaired)…

Every. Single. Thing on our original laundry list had been addressed and completed:

→ Including the installation of my brand-new washer & dryer!!!

Yes, it all should have been handled smoothly and professionally from the beginning, but we all know sometimes life doesn’t work that way. Especially during an unprecedented global pandemic.

The true test of a business and customer service is what happens when there is a problem.

All credit to Brett Davis, the owner of National Indoor RV Centers, and Todd Springs, the General Manager at NIRVC Atlanta, for making everything right.

— ❤️  From NIRVC Super Fans & Family, Sherri & Russ

BOLO 👀  for our related article (up next):

NIRVC Super Fans: 7 Simple Tips For a Fantastic RV Service Visit

This article was all about our first RV Service visit to National Indoor RV Centers (NIRVC) – Atlanta.

We hope you enjoyed our honest, unsponsored review of NIRVC and are inspired and reassured, if you are a new or soon-to-be-new RV traveler, about finding RV service & repair out there on the road — and what to do when things go wrong.

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NIRVC: Why Nothing But The Best RV Service Center Will Do