Camping World will no longer do Forest River warranty work

[jeffrapp]

Bclemens, your points are well taken, and I believe well meaning. I did, after all, say that I believed you and the other reps were honestly trying to do your jobs.
Unfortunately, I still don't think you get it. To compare the RV industry in general, and FR in particular, to the auto industry is ridiculous. Can you imagine an auto industry where a substantial number of customers have to take their brand new product into a shop several times in the first year for warranty work, and have to search through web sites and make numerous phone calls to national customer service reps to find a place willing to do it? How many auto makers would survive with that kind of track record?
Regarding complaints, it is obviously true that more people with complaints will go on line than satisfied customers. However, it seems to me that RV forums have more complaints than most others. I used to own a very complicated cruising boat that has an on line forum (I still read it) Almost all the threads are simply owners helping other owners. Rarely are there complaints about workmanship, service, etc. although cruising boats are way more complicated, and travel further in much more challenging environments than RV's. By the way, as I have said before, I love my Coachmen Prism, and have had very few problems. However, the problems I did have were clearly related to quality control, and getting them fixed under warranty was often challenging, even comically so at times. As I have said before, I do appreciate the efforts of the gentlemen at Coachmen customer service, but I wonder why I have even had to talk to them at all. In fact, I am on first name basis with Dan.
As far as crocks, the real one is any assertion that the RV industry in general, or FR in particular, produces, sells and warranties a product in a first rate fashion. I don't think anyone is blaming individuals such as yourself. It's the whole industry that needs a major face lift.
Thanks for your efforts on our behalf.

[bclemens]

Just to clarify. I've never compared the RV industry to automotive. Posters do. I have always asserted that is is its own industry somewhere between housing and automotive.

[ourflat]

I appreciate Brian and Josh coming in the forum and lending a helping hand as needed. I didn't see this kind of support from the other Class C motorhome manufactures that I've purchased from days past. As for one who believe they purchased a lemon, I feel your pain, but you must stay engaged until the job is done! It also helps to be a little handy and fix the small stuff yourself...yep I said it! Just like buying a new home, some things you just want to fix yourself! Buy an extended warranty within your first 12-months of ownership but make sure all preexisting condition items are fully repaired since your ESP won't cover it.

Frank
KM4FVI

[Boso]

Bclemmens sure helped me out went out of his way to help me but when I bought my first motorhome I did think it was like the car industry and was I in for a rude awakening but it is what it is and you deal with it or get out of it good times as well as bad

[LSwesey]

Attached is a copy of what the yellow sticker says

[AquaMan]

Originally Posted by LSwesey

Attached is a copy of what the yellow sticker says

No attachment


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[GL1800Rider]

I can't say enough good things about Brian and Josh. Both of them volunteering to be "active" members of this forum was a major decision in our recent purchase of our 2nd FR product. They have been a tremendous asset to hundreds of members on this forum and I will bet this has had an impact on sales. Keep up the good work guys!!

[benagi]

x2

[Beach Bums]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

Next year, schedule the PDI facility tour.

After the FACTORY does their own PDI, the PDI Facility Inspectors (with no notice) randomly pull 5-10% of the production units from every factory and do a 100% inspection of the product that was going out to the dealers.

If any defects are noted that indicate a problem in employee training, unit design, or vendor shortcomings, the line is shut down until the trending defect is identified and corrected.

For example, if there are air leaks on the right side windows but not the left, an employee may need additional training on the proper sealing technique.

AWESOME FACILITY. Just wish they could do all of them but even the Navy does not do 100% Article inspection except for life critical components and even then they drop the inspection percentage schedule when there are no
defects found and they become "proven vendors".

Well.....let me be vividly clear....a blind person without the assistance of his/her service dog would have seen many/most of the defects on our FRF 2401 W MBS...in fact....they, literally, would have had to forced themselves 'not' to see the issues. Sad...and really, no excuse justifies it. I even offered to bring it back to the factory for the corrections as so they could learn from it and was denied...... When your name is on it, "you own it"....the nonsense about what the dealers will or will not do and/or are or are not obligated is just that....non-sense....FR is the name that receives the most damage. And like with most such damage, the early correction is a fraction of the effort to repair all of the down stream damage when delayed.

[Joshua Cavitt]

How about you send me your information and I'll check and see what the issue is. Your unit is under warranty and should be corrected. We won't be able to get anything going until Monday.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

[n-e-d]

Originally Posted by GL1800Rider

I can't say enough good things about Brian and Josh. Both of them volunteering to be "active" members of this forum was a major decision in our recent purchase of our 2nd FR product. They have been a tremendous asset to hundreds of members on this forum and I will bet this has had an impact on sales. Keep up the good work guys!!

X3 I had originally put money down on a Jayco and after reading thru their forum and comparing it to this cancelled the jayco and got my 2650s. Is it perfect - no. I worked for a Home builder and next to the framers the warranty dept was the most overloaded with work and these were manisons

[Garrette]

A word on dealers. Anybody have a dealer that sent a letter offering a free inspection before the warranty expired? I did, The inspection really turned into another PDI. A couple of problems were identified and repaired. Notes made and pictures taken. We discussed a possible problem found by the dealer and after close inspection, we decided to just keep an eye on it.
I sincerely hope that everyone who has issues gets them resolved to satisfaction.

A BIG thank you to Brian and Joshau for taking the time to participate in this forum of which I have learned much.




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[ORvideoguy]

We love our 2015 Forester for the design, quality and the direct connection to the factory through Brian and Josh on this forum. I don't think I would have gotten all that from another brand.

We had one or two things that needed attention when we took delivery of our Forester but after asking a few questions on here it was easy for me to correct and it kept me from having to take it to the shop. I also have a short list of things to have addressed under warranty at the end of our camping season but I know if I have any issues getting them taken care of that I have a way to contact the factory and get things done.

I give a huge thank you to Brian and Josh for being on this forum. I appreciate you addressing the questions and concerns from all of us FR owners. If it weren't for you I would have continued to consider other brands but once I saw the level of support you offer here it made our decision to buy FR an easy one.

[RooVader]

I find this whole dealership refusal situation so confusing if the goal is running a successful business. If a dealership went above and beyond to service my camper, I would go above and beyond to purchase my next camper at that dealership...even if it meant paying slightly higher prices.

[captainperry]

x2 RooVader!!! I don't understand it either. You would think that warranty work would pay the bills. The few times I visited my dealer, (and he explained this refusal to work on other Rv 's ) It was a ghost town. Eight bays and seven were empty

[vinmaker]

Originally Posted by LSwesey

Hi..I have a 2012 Rockwood ultra light 26' travel trailer.. I have had nothing but problems with this trailer! a real Lemon! The dealer we bought from was HORRIBLE! did very little to take care of warranty work.. Santa Rosa RV in Santa Rosa, CA.. I am surprised that they can keep their "franchise" through Forest River! I even had to go to Channel 7 on your side to get work done! Even the Forest River warranty agent to get him to respond! Our band new trailer was in the shop for 14 months the first 2 years we had it! What a nightmare! We still have major problems with this new trailer.. The axle system is way under capacity for the weight of the trailer! each axle is 3000 pounds.. equals 6000 pounds. DRY WEIGHT OF TRAILER IS 5784#'s... by the time you add the batteries, propane and water.. we are over 6200#'s.. we are already over capacity and have not even loaded our personal items.. We are experiencing horrible swaying with this independent suspension that is way under rated! So dangerous and horrible safety issue!! We are trying to get some kind of resolve with FR.. These axles should be at least 4500#'s each! or more?! I am no expert, but this is a hell of a safety issue! Not sure that CW is a problem.. Know FR is..

Hmmm. Interesting. My pop up has dual 3,500lbs axles. Yours do sound a bit light.

Vin.

[ourflat]

The problem as told to me by several RV shop owners is what happens to a shop when they accept warrant repair work. The struggles come into play what a RV manufacturer allocates new parts for repair when the demand is initiated by the repair center. The factory has complete control on who will get repair parts and when. A shop owner starts to loose control of the repair process and slowly has a shop full of broke RVs and no parts to fix them. Moreover, the repair shops start to feel like the factory is pushing out low quality units and expecting the shop owners to clean up their mess; sound familiar? So a shop would prefer to strike a balance of warranty and non warranty repair work but it's a guessing game. A shop's reputation is everything so no owner wants to get tangled up in a mess as mentioned above. A factory will always keep parts flowing on the production line and seldom considers supplying spare parts to repair shops (to prevent a shutdown on the factory floor) so everything becomes a double edge sword; cutting in both directions! I'm not suggesting that a factory doesn't plan for these shortfalls because that simply is not true! Factory supply chain mangers do a great job of planning the flow of work but they have very little control over the parts supplied to them! Certifying suppliers is a good step forward along with a financial reward for maintaining the highest levels of quality. A manufacture has complete control of workmanship in their factory but QC cannot be at the end of the production line; it must be at critical steps throughout the production sequence. This is where we consumers get left carrying the ball and the factory has their moment of truth!


Frank
KM4FVI

[Beach Bums]

Originally Posted by Joshua Cavitt

How about you send me your information and I'll check and see what the issue is. Your unit is under warranty and should be corrected. We won't be able to get anything going until Monday.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Thank you Joshua. I will send you the list that I sent to another at FR later today along with our history as so you have full contextual appreciation of our frustrations.

[Ozeek]

I'm brand new here--my husband and I are in the serious stages of looking at a Forest River Class C--either the Sunseeker or Forester but this post raised a big question--if we buy a slightly used one (5 months left on warranty) does that mean we can only get it serviced where it was originally purchased? In the case of the coach we are looking at, it was purchased in a different state so this could be a deal breaker!

[ourflat]

It does but don't let that scare you off! I bought my FR 3051s from the original owner when it was 7-months old and saved thousands of $$$$! I worked with FR on warranty repairs and purchased a ESP through Wholesale Warranties and still saved a bunch of money!

Frank
KM4FVI


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