As with Mordor, one does not simply walk in to the RV mechanics'

 I came into this entire situation knowing that there was a great deal that I didn't know.  I knew that I didn't have a functional knowledge of how to work every system in the operation of an RV-style vehicle.  I've made progress on a lot of it, and for the most part it is all under control.  I also knew that I was operating from behind on mechanical issues, which was fine to me.  That's why you have van doctors, right?  So you might think. If you were to think that, you would be, like myself, sadly mistaken.  Apparently my contractual obligation window sticker was a bit of self-fulfilling prophecy.  With regards to the van doctor, one does not simply walk in.

Since the end of the maiden voyage, I have been –with varying degrees of intensity– seeking medical care for the van.  Largely for the whole gas tank thing, but also for some other small annoyances that I possibly don't have the technical nous to figure out. For instance, one example of such an annoyance would be if the propane system in the van has an Actual Problem or whether it is a matter of the period of disuse that it saw prior to our making acquaintance.  

I've already told the tale of the first attempt at repair with regard to the gas system. Of course at this point we are just thinking that the problem was limited to the fill hose to the large tank. Then the trip to Leavenworth... which put me back in the negative feedback loop of RV repair shops.  I figured that even though they had technically addressed what we thought the primary issue was, perhaps the first repair shop was not quite as well-positioned to help as an RV shop would be. This is a 1989 purpose-built Class B RV after all. Surely they will have some expertise in addressing these kinds of problems. I still do not have the answer to this presumption.

Seattle is a very long, skinny affair that is handcuffed geographically by two large long skinny lakes, Puget Sound, and the Cascade Mountains.  Everything is orientated, by necessity, north and south.  It is also difficult to get north and south with any guaranteed expediency and then get back home afterwards if, say, you need to leave an RV at the doctor's.  There are a metric ton (tonne?) of such establishments in the Seattle area.  Many of them are further south even than the airport, which is already 25 miles south of my exit off of I-5.  We're only about 10 years or so from having a light-rail option that could conceivably get me from such a place on the south end to within a mile of my house, give or take.  So I look north.

North is not much better in the general scheme of things.  There are RV places, but the bulk of them are 35 minutes north.  There is a small tiny oasis, though, somewhat close to the old stamping grounds. Lynnwood, Everette,  and Marysville have a very small number of options.  In my research, one of those options looks to be a large, somewhat busy concern that is well rated.  It seems like a no-brainer.  I contact them.  

The place has a website, as most places do these days, but no direct scheduling interface which is less than convenient.  They do have a chat window with customer service types, so I initiate a chat with a view to scheduling an appointment.  It seems like a relatively straight forward operation.  It turns out, though, that the people who run the chat on the website are not able to setup an appointment. So someone with some job title like Repair Coordinator (or some such) will contact me back through email to schedule an appointment.  I go about my day, checking my email occasionally so that we can get this addressed. No email.  A day passes.  Two days. I'm not stressing out at this point because we have no trips imminent and a little time to play with. The time frame since I last spoke to someone now extends to a week.  I'm trying not to be "that guy" so I embrace patience, but an entire week seems excessive.  I head back to the website.

"I contacted you guys to schedule an appointment a week ago and no one has contacted me back." To this second person's credit, someone did end up contacting me the next morning.  They asked a couple questions to which I replied within 15 minutes of their original email.  Radio silence.  A day passes. We're now getting closer to a getaway we had planned for my birthday. I'm starting to get nervous. As the time passes, I am researching a secondary location in the event that this continues as the first time did.  I find a place that is closer to home, has good reviews, and contacts me back when I contact them.  Good start!  It turns out that they are happy to schedule me right away.  Perfect. When are we talking?  Two weeks off.  Not ideal, but umm OK... it still gives a week for them to effect the required repairs.  Let's do it.  The next day, the Repair Coordinator from the first establishment contacts me again.  I tell them that, in the lack of communication, I have made other plans.  Things seem reasonable at this point, if not preferable.  

I drop the van off at the new place for it's scheduled appointment.  I told the first contact in the email that we have the gas tank as the main concern.  If there is time, I'd also like issue b and c looked at.  By the time we get to the dropping off stage, there are a couple other things that have come to light... minor things. So when I drop it off, I reiterate: Gas tanks, issue a, b, and also thing c and d if there is time.  I need the van back by the 26th of October.  I had told the first guy that in email. I told check-in guy that.  "Cool. OK." Sure.  I heard nothing for days and I know that their business hours are Monday-Saturday.  Sunday they are closed... so as Saturday passes and I still haven't heard anything, I contact them again, reiterating my need to have the van on Monday and further delineating a time we would need it by.  The email guy tells me that they had technicians out sick but that I would have the van by my deadline.

At this point, I'm still thinking that things are cool and we can get on this getaway for my birthday, so I have a low key stress-free Sunday.  If I recall correctly, all of my sportsball teams won that day.  Monday comes and I go to get the van.  I tool in just a handful of minutes behind my pickup time and the check-in guy from before greets me.  We establish what vehicle we're talking about and he tells me "well, our mechanic quit last week, so we didn't do the gas tanks"... so I left my van with them for a week (after waiting 2 weeks for the pleasure of doing that!) and they changed a headlight which was stuck, changed windshield wipers arm was missing parts, and set my tire inflation to factory specs.  For what it's worth, the correct tire inflation made a huge difference in the breaking performance of the van.  But I still have a dual tank gas system that only pulls fuel from the smaller front tank.