Hey there express vets. I've got a newish Mercedes sprinter. A/C has been dead for months. Mechanic keeps refusing to fix it, claiming he doesn't have time. Management can't or won't make him budge on it. Do I have any recourse? Who can I push this up to for action to be taken? The ventilation in the sprinter is awful, and the broken a/c is a genuine safety concern, in addition to a quality of life problem.
Express: truck repair issue
- Thread starter FedUpMac
- Start date
Not a safety issue. Open windows and drive.
dezguy
Well-Known Member
Just keep putting in your VIR. Issues reported on the VIR must be looked at and eventually fixed, although A/C is not required for the vehicle to run safely.
If anything, the mechanic might just get sick of seeing your VIR come in day after day as having a problem and him/her having to sign off on it as safe to operate.
If anything, the mechanic might just get sick of seeing your VIR come in day after day as having a problem and him/her having to sign off on it as safe to operate.
Mechanics have enough to worry about without caring about AC on a VIR.
Send an email to your ops manager/senior manager. If they don't do anything about it in 5 days - send an email to your MD and copy your ops and senior manager just to show them you sent it to your MD
Wow! Someone actually gave a reply that wasn't shot out of their sphincter! I'd like to thank you both. Excellent advice. You two are definitely a higher class of courier than the majority of this board's members.
To the rest of you, I can't say I'm surprised. Lurking on here for so long has shown that most of this 'community' is a group of jackasses, and you certainly lived up to expectations. Well done on reinforcing that impression!
I Am Jacks Damaged Box
***** Club Member (can't talk about it)
OrioN
double tap o da horn dooshbag
U don't have a R134a charging kit for your own vehicles???
Buy a can with one, preferably with a gauge, hook it up to the low side port of the ac system, turn on vehicle and turn on ac. So it can "suck in" that can's contents. If the system finally sees pressure, you will hear the compressor clutch engaging
Save receipt & get reimbursed for the DIY
PS that quick-connect is idiot proof, a local auto parts person can show u how to do it
Buy a can with one, preferably with a gauge, hook it up to the low side port of the ac system, turn on vehicle and turn on ac. So it can "suck in" that can's contents. If the system finally sees pressure, you will hear the compressor clutch engaging
Save receipt & get reimbursed for the DIY
PS that quick-connect is idiot proof, a local auto parts person can show u how to do it
You could find your local DOT officer and see if he's more sympathetic to your itchy swamp butt.
dezguy
Well-Known Member
Doesn't matter. If it is on the VIR it must be looked at regardless of whether the mechanic has better things to do or not. For all the op knows, it could be a short in the wiring somewhere that could pose a fire risk. Any defect on a vehicle must be noted.
If it makes the OP happy, fine. Will probably be more a nuisance for the OP than the mechanic.
dezguy
Well-Known Member
It's not about it being a nuisance or the op being a nuisance to get it fixed. It's about covering your butt so it won't come back to bite you.
As I said above, the op doesn't know if it is a short in the electrical system; He/she is not a mechanic. If a fire were to happen and the cause is found to be a short in the cooling system, who gets the blame? If the op doesn't put it on their VIR, not the mechanic because they weren't alerted to the issue. That leaves one person whom the company can blame, the last person who used the truck.
I've done A/C refills before on personal vehicles. I considered doing it on my truck, save for two things:
1: I believe express has a policy explicitly forbidding anyone who is not part of vehicle maintenance messing with our trucks, since they are FedEx property
2: FedEx would never reimburse me
They have these things called fuses. Very unlikely a short in electrical of the AC will cause a fire.
It will be fine
Well-Known Member
Marking it on the VIR would be like entering that the radio doesn't work. It has nothing to do with the safe operation of the vehicle. Mark it once so you document that you've informed maintenance. Mark it everyday until it's fixed just makes you an annoying child.
dezguy
Well-Known Member
Unlikely but not impossible which is why you mark it.
dezguy
Well-Known Member
So then please tell me why we had a dm tell us to mark everything on your VIR, whether it be a flat tire or a radio not working.
GetTacosOrDieTrying
What's in the box!!!!!?
Because DMs are silly like that.
