This is story about excellent customer service.
I spent the last 18 years of my career working with companies to improve their customer satisfaction. The biggest problem I faced was the fact that most companies do not truly believe that outstanding customer service builds consumer loyalty and retains their current customers. Nor do they truly believe outstanding customer service attracts new customers.
Most companies pay lip service to customer service and simply pretend they take care of their customers. I know this for a fact. I spent 18 years working to convince companies that great customer service is the road to success and company growth. Too many companies just don’t get it.
Ultra-Fab gets it!!
The Back Story
We had an Ultra-Fab model 3502 electric Tongue Jack on our 2006 Fleetwood Niagara that I installed in 2009 when we upgraded our suspension system.
I was so happy with this tongue jack that I purchased an Ultra-Fab Odyssey 4000 tongue jack before we took delivery on our 2014 Milan Travel Trailer. When we go the trailer home from the dealer I immediately replaced the manual crank jack with the Odyssey 4000.
Then in 2020 the Odyssey 4000 had a problem. Partly my fault as I had over extended the jack a few times despite the warning not to do so in the User Manual. Anyway, the jack was 7 years old and we camp a lot; plus the jack was warrantied for 5 years. We were out of warranty.
I could have fixed the jack, but decided to upgrade to an Ultra-Fab Phoenix 5500 as I explained in this post back in 2020. In that post I mentioned how impressed I was with Ultra-Fab’s customer service. I also shared my one concern about the Ultra-Fab Phoenix 5500:
There is one thing I don’t like about the jack. Instead of mechanical switches, it has membrane switches, similar to what are used on appliances. I suspect that will fail before anything else.
Ultra-Fab advertises a 10 Year Warranty if you register it online within 90 days of purchase, which is something I did.
Our Ultra-Fab Phoenix Tongue Jack Broke on Our Last Trip
On our last trip we were packing up to leave our campground in the southern Sierra Nevada. Everything was put away and I backed the truck up to hitch up the trailer. I pushed the button on the tongue jack and nothing happened. The tongue jack’s work light didn’t work either. The jack appeared to be dead.
The jack came with a 9/16″ deep socket to manually operate the jack in case of failure. It takes a lot of turns, especially when one is dealing with a weight distribution hitch. But it worked and we were off to our next campground.
I had to manually operate the jack to set up at the next campsite. The next day, before I went out to diagnose the problem, I remembered the jack had come with a remote control that I had set up but never used. I quickly found it at the bottom of the center console of the truck. But it didn’t work.
I removed the battery from the remote and tested it with a voltmeter. It was good. Hmm. . . maybe I don’t know (or remember) how to use the remote control. I opened my iPad to see if I had the operating instructions. Anytime we buy anything for the camper I save a PDF file of any important paperwork. Ah, ha!!
The instructions said to press the ON/OFF button three times and the blue light on the remote should stay on. Yep, it did. And the jack worked with the remote. My concern about the membrane keypad came true.
A Call to Ultra-Fab
When we got home I called the 800 number. The voice recording said to “Press 3 for Warranty.” I pressed 3 and a nice lady answered right away. She asked for my Name and date of purchase. After confirming our address and phone number, she said the jack was covered under warranty and they would ship us a brand new jack.
Problem solved in less than two minutes!!
A few days later the new jack was delivered by UPS and I quickly installed it. Zero cost to us.
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Ultra-Fab Products 149.1075Ultra-Fab 38-944017 Ulta Fab Ultra 3502 Electric Tongue Jack
$202.09 (as of November 12, 2024 12:51 GMT -08:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Ultra-Fab Products 38-944014 – Ultra 4000 Electric Tongue Jack, 2¼” Tube, 4,000 lb. Capacity
$323.75 $323.25 (as of November 12, 2024 12:51 GMT -08:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
UF Ultra-Fab Products 38-944055 Electric Tongue Jack 5500Lb
$508.41 (as of November 12, 2024 12:51 GMT -08:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Ultra-Fab Products 38-944026 – Tongue Jack Cover XL
$22.72 $22.44 (as of November 12, 2024 12:51 GMT -08:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)