Archive for August 2011
Where You Can Buy English Books When You Go Overseas Country
August 31, 2011 | 
Author I love reading. I probably read more than the average person. I spend hours reading both computer technical books and books for entertainment. When I first came to Thailand, one thing I had to really get used to is the lack of reading paper books. There are many bookstores but few have a large selection of English print titles. Back home in the States, I had a fairly large library of technical books…mostly Cisco Press and Sybex books on networking. My fiction reading was mostly quenched by going to a Barnes & Noble or Boarders book store…or to the Chicago Public library off of State and Congress when I lived there.
Now I have just a handful of paper books and the bookstores/libraries here are limited as to any English language books. Fortunately, we live in a digital media age where most books can be found online either for free, for a fee per-book or through a book club membership where you can “checkout” virtual books for a monthly fee.
I use Amazon’s Kindle applications for my recreational reading. I tried both the Kindle and Barnes & Noble iPhone apps and found that the Kindle app was a bit more user friendly. Using Amazon or any other online bookstore for recreational reading can be expensive if you want to read all the latest books. Considering I typically wait until a book comes out on paperback before I purchase it, E-books are fairly expensive at -20 each. Fortunately, Amazon offers many books for free. Many of these books are “classics”. For years I’ve said I want to go back and read many of the classic books that I missed growing up. Now I’m able to do so in a digital format. For example, I recently finished reading “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne. It didn’t cost me a cent. I have purchased several books through the Kindle app such as the new Dan Brown book “The Lost Symbol”.
Just a day before the Apple iPad was announced along with the iTunes bookstore, Amazon released a Kindle application for Windows and Mac OS X which lets you read kindle books on your PC or MAC. This is a nice addition and comes in handy for extended readings. The Kindle application is available for other mobile platforms including Android and Blackberry and even the iPad itself.
I have considered buying both the Kindle E-Reader and iPad but honestly, they’re too big for me. I like the ability of having books in my pocket. The fewer gadgets I carry around, the better. The screen size of the iPhone really isn’t that bad at all and the Kindle app options gives you the opportunity to customize the text size, text color and background colors to suit your preference and lighting conditions. I do much of my recreational reading in the dark before bed and find that white text on a black background is the least straining for my eyes.
For my technical needs, I use Safari Books Online. This is an online book “club” where you pay a monthly fee (annual fees also available) and can checkout technical books from most of the major publishers including Cisco Press, Sybex, O’Reilly and Prentice Hall. All the big players in the IT field are represented here.
My particular subscription costs .99 a month for “10 slot” bookshelf and 5 download tokens a month. A download token lets you download the PDF of a single chapter or section of the book that is in your bookshelf. Here’s a screen capture of My CCNA Voice Study Guide in my bookshelf:
One can purchase additional tokens… for 5 tokens but I’ve never needed to buy any more as the tokens accumulate for up to 3 months and I typically only download 2-3 chapters a months.
For a very brief time, Safari had an iPhone app on the iTunes store but it’s no longer available. The app was available before Apple had their own book store so it probably was removed due to a conflict with Apple’s book store or some copy-write issues with one or more publishers.
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RV Manufacturer Warranty
I can not stress enough how important it is to read your owners manual that comes with your RV. It looks like a generic book, but it has information in there that you need to know. Things that may not be relayed to you during your initial walk through after purchasing a new pop up, travel trailer, fifth wheel or motor home can be found in this manual. If one is not included with your paperwork mark that down on the paperwork that goes back to the RV manufacturer from the dealership. The paperwork I am referring to is the one that proves your warranty start date with the manufacturer or your PDI Checklist. Request the dealership give you a we owe slip for an owners manual.
The first section you need to read is maintenance. Even if you have a 1 or 2 year warranty you are still responsible for maintenance. This is one of the main fights that develop between customer, RV dealership and manufacturer. Most owners manuals will go over what the manufacture considers the customer to maintain and how often it is recommended. It doesn’t go into this next piece of advice, but any maintenance you do should be recorded on a maintenance log and any products purchased to do the maintenance receipts should be kept. If you had an RV dealership do the work for you keep that work order as proof also even if it is the RV dealership you bought your RV from. This way if you do have a problem you can prove you followed the maintenance they consider to be your responsibility. If you can not show you have maintained your RV chances of them helping you with repairs will be slim to none. It is your responsibility to show proof not your RV dealership.
Some forms of maintenance and customer responsibility are listed here, but this is not in any way a complete list.
*Sealant on roof, windows, seams, around vents, lights, shower, tub, drains, etc are your responsibility. They should be checked on a regular basis to make sure there are no gaps, voids or cracks in the sealant. If there are then new sealant needs to be applied so water intrusion does not happen.
*Lugs are your responsibility to check. They should be checked before you make a trip and if you are on a long trip they should be checked during the trip also.
*Adjusting drawers, cabinets doors etc. RV Manufacturers only cover adjustments for the first 30-90 days of ownership. Each manufacture is different on this. This is something you need to verify with your dealership before you leave. The warranty administrator should be able to answer this question. ***Adjustments are not warranty***
If you are out on the road and have a problem it’s OK to call the RV dealership that you purchased your trailer from, but chances are they can’t help you if you are in another state. You should call the customer service line to the manufacturer. They know where their dealers are located through out the United States. They can help arrange getting you into another dealership for an appointment. They also are alerted of the problem you are having should you mutually decide it’s not something that needs to be looked at right then and it can wait until you can get back to your selling dealer.
Most manufacturers these days are using the same rule. If it is their component then they cover it, but if they use something from another supplier then it holds their warranty. This becomes a nightmare for customers at times. If you have a problem with your microwave and you have a Forest River travel trailer Forest River is not responsible for the warranty on that microwave. It goes straight back to the manufacturer of that appliance. This can also be a plus for a customer, because if they are out on the road or a distance from their selling dealer just about any RV dealership can work on that appliance. So when you get that package from your dealership after the purchase of your new RV send in all the warranty cards for each appliance or register them online. If your trailer has a 2 year warranty, but your microwave has 1 then after that first year you have no warranty on your microwave, but you will still have warranty on your trailer.
Tires are another pain for both customer and RV dealership. This is an important one to know. RV manufactures do not hold a tire warranty. Problems with tires have to go back through the tire manufacture and this is something that is unfortunately the customer’s responsibility. This is another piece of information you will find in the package of papers you are handed from your dealership after the purchase. This is something I would say 95% of the time will not be relayed to a new customer. Make sure you read the pamphlet on your tires. It gives specific instructions should a problem arise. If not followed the customer is out a lot of money. You will also see they note that they are not responsible for damage caused due to tire failure. I will tell you I have seen them take this case by case. I’ve seen them pay and I’ve seen them stand to a firm no.
All the papers you receive when you purchase a new RV is worth reading. It may seem tedious and time consuming, but can save you many headaches, tears and frustration in the long run. Customer’s have to take responsibility for their new RV. RV dealerships do not build them and are only allowed to make the repair the manufacture tells them. If you don’t like the answer the manufacturer is giving your dealership never be afraid to call the manufacture and voice your opinion.