I guess in a way, my fulltime RV lifestyle started in 2001 with Crestview RV, even though I didn't buy my motorhome there directly. I wrote about this as an example of the many "angels" I met who helped me hit the road in my journal website, Inspiration's Journey, on the page "The Long Answer" (to the question of how and why I started fulltime RVing).

The salesman who had been helping me look at RVs (Rob Hoffman) put me in direct contact with the owner which resulted in me being able to afford a much nicer RV than I had ever anticipated at the time. Many people who heard about my dealings with Rob could not believe I found a motorhome salesman I could actually trust - someone who put his customers' interests before his own commissions. Rob is a rare breed, that's for sure - I remember him coming out to my home to help me get the satellite TV working before I hit the road. His years of experience and insights were a huge help to me at the time.

My first experience with Crestview's service department was in 2002 during a very difficult time for me. My father had died and before heading out on a rainy day to New Orleans for the funeral, my windshield wiper broke. They worked me in immediately, and besides fixing it right up, the compassion and concern they demonstrated went above and beyond the call of duty at a time when it was especially appreciated.

Back to 2008 - I was happy to find out that Rob was still at Crestview after all this time. I even talked with him about the possibility of trading in on a newer model instead of getting the rather extensive repairs that were needed after over 7 years on the road. He agreed that with the market and economy being so messed up right now, and taking all things into consideration, I'd be better off being able to repair what I had. Not only because I owed more than the current value, but because the quality and amenities of what I had is better than what is available on any newer unit I could afford.

I was really afraid of how much the repairs would be, however. The biggest problem I had was with the living room slide. It had become maladjusted and when I tried to retract it at one point, it became torqued up and would not come in or go out anymore. It took a mobile tech service to even get it retracted fully so I could take it in to Crestview. They were able to fix it, both the interior and exterior issues, for less than my nightmares said it would be. I appreciated the break, and was able to also get some other, more minor, repairs performed so that I was totally road-worthy again. They were also able to get my Onan generator working again after I had been neglecting it by not running it regularly.

At around the same time, the refrigerator broke down and I almost fainted when I was told it could take up to $2,000 to replace it. Thankfully, it turned out that Norcold had recalled the cooling unit on my model and Crestview was authorized to repair it under that recall at no charge to me.

They were also able to take care of a Ford and a Winnebago recall, and I really appreciated the one-stop service ability.