Good Service Reports and Judy’s Normal

Good service deserves a good report.  Four and a half years ago we contacted Miller Insurance Agency in Lake Oswego, Oregon about our fulltime insurance needs and subsequently purchased a Progressive Insurance policy through them.  We can’t say enough good about both the Agency and Insurer.  Every time we’ve had a claim, both have been “Johnny on the spot”.  No hassles, no runarounds, no BS whatsoever. 

Yesterday morning the adjuster showed up to do an estimate on the damage caused by the blowout.  Within a hour he had reviewed everything, completed the estimate, and will put a check in the mail this afternoon.  He was extremely pleasant to work with and very thorough with the estimate.  Being that we have been with Progressive for 5 years (our last renewal was in August which will make it year five), we qualify for the disappearing deductible.  Progressive paid the entire claim of almost $900 – that will cover not only the repairs, but, also, the upgrade in tires.

Bottom line, if you are planning on going fulltime or looking to change insurance companies then you owe it to yourself to contact the Miller Insurance Agency for your insurance needs.  You’ll definitely be glad you did.

Continuing with the good service theme, we can, also, endorse Discount Tire (also known as American Tire).  Seventeen months ago we “upgraded” the tires on our coach.  Cedar Creek installed some cheap LT tires and one of them broke around the bead while another was our first blowout.  So we replaced them with Carlisle ST tires with a higher load range rating; that proved to be a mistake. 

First of all, let me say that there is a big difference in load range E tires that most fifthwheel manufacturers install.  Cedar Creek installed some All Country tires on ours (they are now installing Goodyear G614s which are better but still have a history of blowouts) and those were junk tires.  When we had them replaced you could easily tell the difference between them and a better LT tire just by picking up one of each – there’s a huge difference in the just the weight of the tires.

Anyway, Carlisle ST (special trailer) tires have had problems as well so Discount Tire is crediting us with 75% of the original purchase price (even though it has been seventeen months and about 8,000 miles) toward new tires.  They called us yesterday to let me know that they have our new tires on hand and to make sure that we are still planning to make the switch.

On top of that, they filled out all the paperwork and submitted a product liability claim to Carlisle on our behave.  Should Carlisle settle that claim (it’s doubtful that they will based on what I have read on the internet) then we’ll return that money to our insurance company.  But, in any event, Discount Tire did all the paperwork for us.

We will be replacing the Carlisle ST tires with Michelin XPS RIBs which are LT tires.  I learned in the Tire Safety seminar at the Escapade that LT tires are better quality than ST tires even though the STs have a higher load range.  Most RVer forums endorse the Michelin tires as the best for fifthwheel applications; they’re expensive though, but how much is your safety worth?

Lastly, we got Judy’s ultrasound and blood test results back yesterday.  She is deemed as “normal” which I find remarkable – she hasn’t been normal in almost 38 years of marriage (if she had have been normal, she would have never married me).  Anyway, Mecoasta County Medical Center in Big Rapids has been nothing but very professional and helpful. 

Also, the clinic that Judy went to in Big Rapids was responsive to her needs; even giving her the results of the tests over the phone and canceling her second appointment so that she wouldn’t have to make the trip or pay for it.  It’s nice to know that you can get good medical with nice friendly helpful people while wandering about the country.

Well, that’s enough for this morning.  We’ll be traveling to Grand Rapids today to visit with our son again.  Until tomorrow. . . .