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As I sit with my spouse and canine in our 2014 Tiffin Allegro Open Highway, I can’t assist however replicate on the wonderful group, service, and attraction we now have found as Tiffin homeowners in Pink Bay, Alabama.
For these unfamiliar, Pink Bay is the headquarters for Tiffin Motorhomes. It attracts Tiffin homeowners from throughout the nation who come right here for repairs, upgrades, and repair. We now make an annual pilgrimage to Pink Bay to have numerous repairs addressed, buy components for a couple of repairs I do myself, and benefit from the southern attraction and hospitality of the city. This text walks you thru our expertise as Tiffin homeowners within the Tiffin group and highlights the worth of visiting the manufacturing plant and associated service suppliers, all situated in Pink Bay, Alabama.
Homeowners of Tiffin motorhomes have cultivated a supportive group. By means of on-line boards, social media teams, and native meet-ups, we alternate ideas, tales, and suggestions, and all of us share a typical ardour for exploration, the liberty of the open street, and “roughing it easily.”
Our first weekend proudly owning our Tiffin Allegro Open Highway—affectionately nicknamed, “Optimus Prime”— the step motor stopped working correctly. o We jumped on Fb and commenced looking out Tiffin boards. Inside minutes, we discovered tales of comparable points, together with replies from different homeowners.
I bashfully posted, asking concerning the ability stage required to interchange the motor. After being assured that this was an ideal restore for a beginner like myself— and being supplied step-by-step directions from different homeowners—I ordered the half and had a brand new step motor put in and dealing two days later. From there, I used to be hooked, and I browsed different Tiffin boards on-line, studying as I went.
We quickly discovered about Pink Bay, listening to about upgrades Tiffin homeowners acquired from the specialists there, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than we had our personal record of upgrades we may have carried out ought to we ever go to. Then, throughout our first cross-country, multi-week summer season journey, considered one of our slide-outs stopped working. We ultimately obtained it again in and will proceed our journey, however we’d not prolong it again out till we may get it serviced. And there was just one place within the nation the place we needed to go for such service…
Pink Bay: The Coronary heart of Tiffin Motorhomes
Why Pink Bay? Since Tiffin’s founding in 1972, a cloth of Tiffin-related companies, professionals, components stock, and generational data has grown in and across the city of Pink Bay.
On the border of Alabama and Mississippi, the city has a inhabitants of solely about 3,200 folks. All people who lives in or close to Pink Bay has both labored at Tiffin Pink Bay, AL (or in close by Tiffin crops in Belmont or Winfield) or is aware of anyone who has labored there. Artisans, mechanics, and craft employees have constructed household enterprises round Tiffin motorhomes, growing extremely sought-after expertise and companies. The quantity of information and experience for these hand-crafted motorhomes is unmatched.
Many Tiffin staff started moonlighting out of their very own garages to supply service and customized upgrades for Tiffin homeowners who would stream via Pink Bay for numerous service wants. Whether or not you want customized woodwork to match your authentic cabinetry, customized flooring to mix with the decor, or the newest lighting and know-how to combine into your coach’s current electronics, the entire data and experience is there in Pink Bay.
Slide-Out Restore
With this understanding, a visit to the Tiffin Pink Bay, AL heartland for our slide-out restore made sense.
I wanted to first establish the final service middle I’d use for our slide-out restore and an inventory of different minor repairs we had seen needing consideration. The Tiffin Service Heart operated by Tiffin doesn’t settle for appointments and works on a first-come-first-served foundation. Till lately, they wouldn’t even service coaches as outdated as Optimus Prime (2014). As we’re not but retired, and nonetheless have two youngsters at dwelling, we would have liked a service middle who scheduled appointments.
After some analysis within the boards and some telephone calls, we scheduled our appointment with Precision RV in Golden, MS – about quarter-hour outdoors of Pink Bay. Homeowners Tony Darracott and Terry Ray opened Precision RV a couple of years in the past with a number of many years of expertise on the Tiffin plant below their belt. Papa Joe, Tony’s father, took my name and went above and past answering my questions to assist me navigate the Pink Bay ecosystem, making certain a productive and profitable few days in Pink Bay.
Along with a store, their 5 campsites with full hookups situated of their parking zone took the service expertise to a different stage of comfort and ease.
The work they carried out on Optimus Prime was second to none. They understand how each half and system inside my coach is constructed and the way it works, and personal the entire instruments essential to service any of the components or methods. With the Tiffin Components counter on the Tiffin Service Heart solely a 15-minute drive away, they will full nearly any restore required on the home facet of my coach. And their service comes with a demeanor that makes you’re feeling like household. I’m pleased to report we left Precision RV with our troublesome slide-out operating smoother than it ever had within the time we now have owned our coach, and the rest of our minor repairs accomplished as properly.
Woodwork & Physique
Whereas there, we needed to take full benefit of the Tiffin Pink Bay, AL sources accessible.
Subsequent, we started working via our record of dream upgrades. First was the woodwork and tabletops. Chris Berry, proprietor of Making Sawdust, constructed us a customized console with two drawers and three cup holders to go over the doghouse in between the captains’ chairs. I may lastly attain my cups with out bending over or taking my eyes off the street!
Whereas minor, these adjustments convey me pleasure at any time when I sit down and start one other journey on the open street. Not solely was the standard of workmanship top-notch, however Chris has the precise kind of wooden and stain colours to match the handcrafted cupboards that have been constructed with our coach again in 2014! We additionally had Chris exchange our laminate eating desk, TV console countertop, and toilet countertop with strong floor counter tops.
There was yet another former Tiffin worker’s enterprise to go to whereas in Pink Bay, and that was Professional Finishes in Belmont, MS, about quarter-hour from the Tiffin plant. Ricky McGee owns Professional Finishes, and he and his group are precision specialists in bodywork and paint element. Ricky spent a few many years working within the Tiffin paint manufacturing unit in Belmont earlier than retiring to run his personal enterprise full-time. We would have liked to handle a couple of scratches on the outside of Optimus Prime. Just like Chris along with his wooden stain, Ricky’s group has the entire paint colours used via the years and was capable of match colours completely.
Exploring Pink Bay: City & Manufacturing unit
Whereas my coach was being labored on at these numerous stops, we explored Pink Bay. I loved strolling the charming downtown streets, the place we discovered native retailers and cafes. I soaked up the nice and cozy hospitality of the locals as I visited a number of the historic enterprise institutions, akin to Tiffin Provide and Lodge Pink Bay. All informed, Pink Bay’s small-town environment is a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of metropolis life.
A go to to Tiffin Pink Bay, AL, wouldn’t be full and not using a cease on the Tiffin Manufacturing unit itself. I took a tour of the manufacturing facility, witnessing firsthand the craftsmanship and dedication that goes into constructing these distinctive motorhomes. The woodshop was probably the most spectacular, as the entire cabinetry is hand made with high-quality wooden and development strategies that really set these coaches aside.
The spotlight of the tour, although, was when Mr. Bob Tiffin, the founding father of Tiffin Motorhomes, got here out of his workplace to greet us and pose for pictures. Bob has fostered a service-oriented tradition and customer-first mindset his total life. Now years since he and his sons offered the enterprise to Thor, he nonetheless takes dozens of buyer telephone calls per week. He greeted every of us on my tour, requested the place we have been from, and answered our questions. His ardour for serving to prospects shined via, and these interactions make Tiffin and Pink Bay what they’re immediately.
The ecosystem that exists in Pink Bay is exclusive and price experiencing as a Tiffin proprietor. With service professionals who know my particular unit in and out, personal the precise instruments required for my unit, and might have needed components in hand inside quarter-hour, it’s the sort of service expertise all of us pine for.
The place do you’re taking your RV when it requires substantial service, restore, or upkeep? Do you have got expertise visisting a RV producer or headquarters? Tell us your expertise within the feedback under.
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