Hello from Livin' Lite!

[tinkeringtechie]

But people have been posting things in this and other sections that leave the "factory" response to a bunch of us bozos on the internet. You really ought to be jumping in with the official response, or whatever it is us jokers make up will be taken as the final word, and most of the time we're guessing.

Are you calling me a bozo?   Seriously though, I do feel like a bozo posting replies in the factory section, but I'd rather they get a response from a bozo than no response at all. Many of those questions I have no idea on though, so those questions went completely unanswered and they probably moved on to other manufacturers.

[christianm]

[quote source="/post/14417/thread" timestamp="1440164822" author="@tinkeringtechie"][quote source="/post/14375/thread" timestamp="1440035248" author="@pinstriper"]But people have been posting things in this and other sections that leave the "factory" response to a bunch of us bozos on the internet. You really ought to be jumping in with the official response, or whatever it is us jokers make up will be taken as the final word, and most of the time we're guessing.[/quote]Are you calling me a bozo?   Seriously though, I do feel like a bozo posting replies in the factory section, but I'd rather they get a response from a bozo than no response at all. Many of those questions I have no idea on though, so those questions went completely unanswered and they probably moved on to other manufacturers.[/quote]Believe it or not, the purpose of these forums is to be primarily "owner driven". SO, we are thrilled when you guys answer each other's questions. Why? Because some of you guys have more experience camping and in your LL product than we here at Corporate could only dream of having (It's true!). When someone asks a factory specific question, we are going to try to be better about posting a response, but many times, you guys beat us to it and provide a perfect answer. We rely and appreciate those of you who jump in to answer- that is exactly how this is supposed to work! Thank you for being so involved! 

[pinstriper]

[quote source="/post/14417/thread" timestamp="1440164822" author="@tinkeringtechie"][quote timestamp="1440035248" source="/post/14375/thread" author="@pinstriper"]But people have been posting things in this and other sections that leave the "factory" response to a bunch of us bozos on the internet. You really ought to be jumping in with the official response, or whatever it is us jokers make up will be taken as the final word, and most of the time we're guessing.[/quote]Are you calling me a bozo?   Seriously though, I do feel like a bozo posting replies in the factory section, but I'd rather they get a response from a bozo than no response at all. Many of those questions I have no idea on though, so those questions went completely unanswered and they probably moved on to other manufacturers.[/quote][p]Well, still waiting on your redesign of the stairs. Or was it the awning supports ?[/p][p]
[/p][p]I won't say you're a bozo, but I can't say you're not.[/p][p]
[/p][p]Honestly, when the yahoo group was such a mess, and Scott referred everyone here, a lot of people had the natural expectation that LL would be an active participant and this forum would be a hemi-demi-semi-quasi official channel to the factory, at least in the Ask The Factory section. That hasn't happened yet.[/p][p]
[/p]

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/14420/thread" timestamp="1440166745" author="@christianm"]Believe it or not, the purpose of these forums is to be primarily "owner driven". SO, we are thrilled when you guys answer each other's questions. Why? Because some of you guys have more experience camping and in your LL product than we here at Corporate could only dream of having (It's true!). When someone asks a factory specific question, we are going to try to be better about posting a response, but many times, you guys beat us to it and provide a perfect answer. We rely and appreciate those of you who jump in to answer- that is exactly how this is supposed to work! Thank you for being so involved! [/quote][font size="3"]Christianm and LL Paul,

I am very glad you guys are here and participating in our forum. Christian was all over the forum this morning, addressing various questions and offering contact info or additional help. All well and very good, but there is one aspect not yet addressed.

A great strength of this format is the dissemination of information. As such, answers to commonly asked questions need to be posted publicly. We find the same questions being asked repeatedly by new owners or old hands encountering new problems. Frequently the issue has been addressed previously and can be found by searching. That saves time for the questioner, you guys, and your factory consultants. A private response from the factory bypasses this important step.

I'm not sure of the best solution. [/font][font size="3"]If the problem can quickly be answered by Pinstriper's "Bozos" it will be. However, if the factory is involved their answer should be posted to the public forum. [/font][font size="3"]I wouldn't expect the original poster to come back and summarize the factory response. Lots of opportunity for miscommunication and errors there. So I'm looking for a practical alternative to customer service referrals. Somebody jump in here.


[/font]

[admin]

If we continue to have a positive interaction between LL and the forum I could see having a dedicated FAQ page/thread. This would allow for a centralized area that could be kept up to date by whomever wants to keep it up. If done by an individual, they could simply keep editing their original post so that the newest information is always in the first post on the thread. If a group of users want to moderate a FAQ thread we could have it restricted to allow anyone access to view it, but only those approved to add information...

Just spit-balling here

[pinstriper]

Some customer service issues are best handled by PM, but there's probably a lot of information that could be put into a public post.

Such posts that become particularly informative or repetitive could be stickie'd. This has to be done with care, or we'll have a whole page of stickies to ignore. From time to time an enterprising bozo with too much time on their hands could collect links to a series of posts and make a summary that could be stickie'd instead.

[whoofit]

[quote source="/post/14432/thread" timestamp="1440180669" author="@admin"]If we continue to have a positive interaction between LL and the forum I could see having a dedicated FAQ page/thread. This would allow for a centralized area that could be kept up to date by whomever wants to keep it up. If done by an individual, they could simply keep editing their original post so that the newest information is always in the first post on the thread. If a group of users want to moderate a FAQ thread we could have it restricted to allow anyone access to view it, but only those approved to add information...

Just spit-balling here[/quote][p]As I said above I think an interactive FAQ is an excellent idea. On it's own page so there is no saturating another with Stickies. I can see it in the Ask the Factory area. This would allow the factory folks to voice their official position with the most efficiency. Most questions are common to most members.[/p][p]
[/p][p]TBD is what are we all going to talk about when all the questions are answered? Some other forums read like a card catalog with pointers to links in a FAQ. Gets quite boring as their are always multiple ways to approach a problem and these ways, sometime ill-conceived and flat out wrong, are interesting to say the least. Some are brilliant....like mine!... [/p][p]
[/p][p]Of course a huge problem for the factory is telling someone to "go it alone" in repair mode. They just don't know the individuals credentials to be futzing around with plumbing, electrical, heights, LP and such so most official answers will be "take it to your nearest dealer" for liability reasons.
[/p]

[christianm]

I think having a FAQ thread/portion is a great idea. I am happy to chip in wherever it is appropriate/needed, as in LL paul! 

I think you guys have a really good point in talking about how some answers would be very helpful to have posted publicly, and how some answers are better for private messages. We have devised a pretty good system on the CrossRoads and Redwood forums that I also monitor and contribute to.

When an owner has a technical/lifestyle/general question, the official Livin Lite answer (mine or LL Paul's) is posted publicly so that other owners can benefit. However, when there is customer service related issue (parts need to be obtained, a dealer has dropped the ball, Owner has a specific warranty-related request, etc) I post that I have contacted the owner privately to help them further. Once I have contacted them privately, we can exchange personal/contact information and I can help them get the help they need. That way, FAQs are given lots of press, while people that need help in more extreme cases can be contacted by me personally :-) If it's acceptable, I would like to implement the same sort of system on this forum. 

[admin]

So I'll throw together a FAQ section under the Ask the factory board. It will be a separate section, but from a moderation standpoint I think we should have it as a semi-restricted board. Otherwise I think it will become just another Q&A section to weed through. I can set it up so that only certain members/moderators have the ability to create a thread, but then anyone can reply to it. In essence, this would allow it to stay limited to anything that is a frequent topic, but also allow everyone to respond to any of the questions.

If there are existing threads that we think should be considered as an FAQ thread we can also have it moved as needed.

Do we have any volunteers?

[admin]

New section created.
Any current moderator or LL staff can create a thread in the FAQ section at this time.
Any member can reply/post to a thread in the section.

Moderators can move any threads from their respective sections, into the FAQ section if they see fit.

[charliem]

New section created.
Any current moderator or LL staff can create a thread in the FAQ section at this time.
Any member can reply/post to a thread in the section.

Moderators can move any threads from their respective sections, into the FAQ section if they see fit.

[font size="3"]Good news, Sean. Thanks. [/font]

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/14517/thread" timestamp="1440435856" author="@admin"]
If there are existing threads that we think should be considered as an FAQ thread we can also have it moved as needed.

[/quote][font size="3"]Sean and Christian: [/font][font size="3"]I'm really glad to see this development with LL support and the FAQ section.

[/font][font size="3"]A first candidate for treatment should be the gray water tank vent problem. Lots of posts about this since several of us had this problem. For Christian: Verify that Production is aware of this issue and has corrected it in future builds so prospective buyers know it's been fixed. This confirmation should be in the public section. A couple of enterprising owners detailed how they fixed their CLs, but it was a job.

Same sort of attention to the bent coupler problem. Some response from the factory would be nice. I think the simple addition of two side bolts would be sufficient.


[/font]

[pinstriper]

I would also like something definitive from the factory about the whole "brakeaway brake battery doesn't get recharged by....anything" issue.

[charliem]

[quote source="/post/14535/thread" timestamp="1440454718" author="@pinstriper"]I would also like something definitive from the factory about the whole "brakeaway brake battery doesn't get recharged by....anything" issue.[/quote][font size="3"]Good point. As you can see, Christian, you've got some homework and catching up to do. Shoot me some posts or PMs if you need some help clarifying the issues.[/font]

[tinkeringtechie]

[quote source="/post/14535/thread" timestamp="1440454718" author="@pinstriper"]I would also like something definitive from the factory about the whole "brakeaway brake battery doesn't get recharged by....anything" issue.[/quote]Or where mine went to... Either the dealer removed it, or LL removed it because there are holes where it used to be.