warranty support problem...you too?

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Mr Havercamp

Lots of people on this forum are quick to point out just how all these dealers suck. By the amount of posts concerning that, and most of the mods here are in agreement about the dealers just the same as everyone else, the F.R. dealer network is composed of at least 75% to 80% bums. How can that not be a F.R. issue?

Uhhh, the only things I will say here is it's like the old joke: 65.38% of all statistics are made up on the spot, and please do not claim to speak for anyone but yourself.

I am also going to put a reminder about venting again, as it seems that several members keep seizing on many threads to do such:

http://www.forestriverforums.com/for...ork&page=rules

• Trolling and cyberstalking are NOT allowed and are grounds for account restriction or banishment. Trolling on this board includes posting controversial and often irrelevant or off-topic messages with the intention of (or anticipated result of) baiting other users into an emotional response or to generally disrupt normal, harmonious on-topic discussion, especially when a pattern of such posting is apparent.

Dealer/Vendor and Customer Disputes: This forum is not intended to be a mechanism for people to vent frustrations about vendors or sales from private parties. Please settle your differences with sellers, manufacturers and dealers through the long-established legal or arbitration systems or the Better Business Bureau but not through our community.

Let's try to keep this thread on topic and help the member with their question(s), which is:

Originally Posted by Kirk-AK

have any of you dealt directly with Forest River on warranty claims? how how they? any advice?

[Kirk-AK]

Thanks everyone for leaning in so quickly to help me understand what I'm looking at here.

1) I'm disappointed that my local Alaska Forest River dealer had such a bad attitude. It seems like he's been burned by FR reimbursements in the past.

2) I'll talk to Salem or FR directly and see what they can do. I'll also be clear that they need to work on their AK dealer relations.

3) I'm going to keep my TT for a while and do the simple stuff myself. It's a pretty straightforward starter trailer, so hopefully it just needs routine maintenance and won't need much more warranty support going forward. We've put it to the test this Summer exploring Alaska and otherwise it's held up great.

safe travels out there!
Kirk

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by Kirk-AK

Thanks everyone for leaning in so quickly to help me understand what I'm looking at here.

1) I'm disappointed that my local Alaska Forest River dealer had such a bad attitude. It seems like he's been burned by FR reimbursements in the past.

2) I'll talk to Salem or FR directly and see what they can do. I'll also be clear that they need to work on their AK dealer relations.

3) I'm going to keep my TT for a while and do the simple stuff myself. It's a pretty straightforward starter trailer, so hopefully it just needs routine maintenance and won't need much more warranty support going forward. We've put it to the test this Summer exploring Alaska and otherwise it's held up great.

safe travels out there!
Kirk

Sounds great Kirk, although you have been registered here for several months, let me belatedly say welcome aboard.

[texasbuckeye]

A lot of times, the factory gets a black eye and it doesn't even know it's in a fight. We had a service adviser at the dealership where we bought out motorhome tell us the factory rejected our warranty work because we were out of the time limit. He went on vacation while our unit was in the shop so we had to deal with his boss. We were told to call the factory and explain our situation. The factory was surprised and had no record that they rejected our warranty request. So you need to be aware that the "go between" may or may not be telling you the truth. But this is an RV wide problem, not just Forest River. Had a good friend by a Heartland 5th wheel and the selling dealership would not do proper warranty work.

[BigPoppy]

Originally Posted by texasbuckeye

A lot of times, the factory gets a black eye and it doesn't even know it's in a fight. We had a service adviser at the dealership where we bought out motorhome tell us the factory rejected our warranty work because we were out of the time limit. He went on vacation while our unit was in the shop so we had to deal with his boss. We were told to call the factory and explain our situation. The factory was surprised and had no record that they rejected our warranty request. So you need to be aware that the "go between" may or may not be telling you the truth. But this is an RV wide problem, not just Forest River. Had a good friend by a Heartland 5th wheel and the selling dealership would not do proper warranty work.

Not that it's a valid excuse but the OEM's typically have a lousy warranty rate and then the dealer needs to wait forever to get paid and even then they often pay the invoice short. Un-reimbursed warranty is a huge concern for all dealerships of anything with wheels ... I'm a heavy equipment dealer and it's a big P&L line item for me. OEM's often pay a low "national average hourly rate" which is less than you need to pay a tech in many cities. If they pay your posted shop rate they will squeeze you on hours for the job ... no win.
So not only do you have a tech working in the red you're not billing your asset out to full pay customers ... a double hit.
An OEM with bad warranty policy is often behind a dealers bad warranty actions. All you can do is be vigilant, persistent and ask a lot of questions.