RV Wholesalers and Forest River Warranty

pmahoney · 04-15-2012, 05:45 PM

Anyone have recent RVW warranty experience this year?

We purchased our first TT from them last June and have some minor warrenty work that needs to be completed and to me (and perhaps I'm too anxious), having to "wait" for progress and response for over a month is grinding, especially when RVW has been lathargic in returning messages and emails into them.

During the sales process, the warranty questions were answered with the typical responses- touting their independant network and stating all I had to do was to obtain an estimate, list the problems and send them some photos and RV Wholesalers would do the rest. I've done that and been "on hold" ever since. Phone calls go directly to Voice Mail and I only get an occaisional "still working / holding / waiting on Forest River" as a response.

Is this typical? Again, it's been over a month since we originally sent in the required documentation to them.

Maybe an issue with Forest River?

Feedback appreciated.

Thanks.

pmahoney · 04-20-2012, 06:51 PM

UPDATE TO POSTING: This week, I called 2 more times to RV Wholesalers "Warranty Department", left messages, no response. Send emails- no response.

Finally called RVW Business Manager who stated that he had (again) forwarded my emails to both the owner of the business (David Durnell) and Warrenty Department for some help.

Holding Breath....turning purple

greti · 04-20-2012, 07:33 PM

Bought my tt from them last year. Had warranty issues last fall. After going through rvw website to schedule warranty work and not getting satisfactory feedback, I just did it on my own. I called several service places locally and found one that was an authorized forest river warranty centers. Also called forest river directly and got information and approval from them. It all worked out fine. Rvw is not good for when you need someone to answer the phone or return calls. They just don't make or have the time.

annamarie · 04-21-2012, 03:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pmahoney

Anyone have recent RVW warranty experience this year?

We purchased our first TT from them last June and have some minor warrenty work that needs to be completed and to me (and perhaps I'm too anxious), having to "wait" for progress and response for over a month is grinding, especially when RVW has been lathargic in returning messages and emails into them.

During the sales process, the warranty questions were answered with the typical responses- touting their independant network and stating all I had to do was to obtain an estimate, list the problems and send them some photos and RV Wholesalers would do the rest. I've done that and been "on hold" ever since. Phone calls go directly to Voice Mail and I only get an occaisional "still working / holding / waiting on Forest River" as a response.

Is this typical? Again, it's been over a month since we originally sent in the required documentation to them.

Maybe an issue with Forest River?

Feedback appreciated.

Thanks.

We also purchased our TT from RVWholesalers. We also had warranty work that needed to be taken care of. We dealt with FR directly, and all our work was completed satisfactory. I would contact FR directly about your warranty issues. Don't wait too long, unless you have the 2 year warranty, your time is almost at the 1 year anniversary. Good luck with everything!

VacaBill · 04-24-2012, 08:46 PM

I am in a similar boat! I was thinking of purchasing from RV Wholesalers but we decided to purchase close to home in California for dealer support. We also wanted to support local business. We purchased our 2012 Rockwood 2703SS for Best RV in Turlock Ca. We have not even had a phone call returned by Best RV. Boy do my wife and I feel foolish. I am willing to fix the small items myself, however the large slide that contains the sofa, fridge and range did not work from the day we brought it home. We purchased the trailer on the first Saturday in February, returned to Best Rv on Sunday. The service guys worked on the trailer on Sunday to my surprise and pleasure, however they did not repair it and I could never arrange repair with them. On March 6th I contacted Greg at Rockwood and he assisted us. The trailer has been in the shop at Nelson's RV near our home. They have been great however getting assistance and parts has been difficult. I understand this is a new slide system from Lippert Components. As of today if Nelsons's did not receive parts they are pulling our trailer out of the shop. When parts arrive,they will return us to the bottom of the to be repaired pile. Since this is becoming the busy season I am quickly becoming dis heartened! I wish you well, we are not alone. Good Luck.

Bill and Rosie Hall Vacaville Ca.

tncruiser · 04-25-2012, 08:29 AM

when it comes to price
you pay now.or you pay later
dealer has to make profit somewhere and after sales nonsupport is the easiest place to cut
we bought close to home for just that reason and our after the sale service has been great
purchased 2009 holiday rambler and current unit from boatnrv in rockwood tn 20 miles down the road.
briaanj

crocus · 04-25-2012, 09:01 AM

I always wonder why people buy from outfits like RVW.
There are lots of great dealerships that offer similar prices on the campers, but also treat the buyer with respect.
Sure, it is "easy" to buy from the ones who advertise the most, but 'easy' isn't always the way to go.
When we bought ours, it took a bit of searching on the internet to find a good dealer with a good price, but that was part of the fun of buying a new camper.

Lifetimer · 04-25-2012, 09:06 AM

I had no problems with getting a fix thru RVW. I did the online ticket thing, sent the quote, got permission to procede, had it fixed and was reimbursed. No problem.

**bikendan** · 04-25-2012, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocus

I always wonder why people buy from outfits like RVW.
There are lots of great dealerships that offer similar prices on the campers, but also treat the buyer with respect.

this is not true on the West Coast. no dealer out here has similar prices to RVW or RVDirect, not even close.
why else are many of us willing to drive a couple of thousand miles to get those prices. it's because there is a huge difference in prices between here and the Midwest.
i did not buy from either of them but i did buy from a dealer in Chicago and FR got me hooked up with local dealers for warranty work.
never had an issue.

crocus · 04-25-2012, 11:44 AM

bikendan, I suppose it is because you are so far away from the discounters. The dealers in the midwest know people have the option, so they are more flexible on price.
I guess my reference to the dealer treating the buyer with respect was more a general comment than specifically to do with warranty.
Even if I had bought my fifth from the nearest dealer, I would have fixed all of my minor warranty issues myself. Dealing directly with FR is light years faster than getting any dealer to fix things.

**Terier** · 04-25-2012, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VacaBill

As of today if Nelsons's did not receive parts they are pulling our trailer out of the shop. When parts arrive,they will return us to the bottom of the to be repaired pile. Since this is becoming the busy season I am quickly becoming dis heartened!

Bill and Rosie Hall Vacaville Ca.

VavaBill - Are you saying that once the parts arrives your trailer will be added to the bottom of the list? If so I think the parts should arrive with a fast forward pass to front of the line. Might be worth a try inquiring about the fast forward pass.

Hope your trailer will be up and out camping soon.

rlocicero · 04-25-2012, 08:59 PM

We have always had good luck dealing with local dealers both on proce of the unit and warranty repairs. Loyalty usually pays off in the long run. Our Flagstaff dealer, Family RV in Newark/Palmyra is great. Ballantyne is also good. Meyers/Marks RV also good. Colton in Niagara Falls was good to us but had issues with the manufacturer of our HR trailer.

carsonizik3 · 04-26-2012, 10:10 AM

I was 99% sure i was going to buy from rv wholesalers after months of research and talking with my local dealer on price. Once I told him I was going to go to Ohio and purchase a new camper he quickly started to negotiate on price. I simply walked in with a build sheet and quoted price from Rv wholesalers and told him I was byuing a camper from him or them. He originally was $15,000 higher than rv wholesalers on price. We ended up buying from him at $2500 more than rv wholesalers. With fuel costs,food,lodging,etc I don't think it was worth it to go and buy from RV wholsalers. Plus now I have the warranty support from my local dealer which I have already used once. I called them, they said bring it down and we will take care of it. Glad I bought local.

**bikendan** · 04-26-2012, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by carsonizik3

I was 99% sure i was going to buy from rv wholesalers after months of research and talking with my local dealer on price. Once I told him I was going to go to Ohio and purchase a new camper he quickly started to negotiate on price. I simply walked in with a build sheet and quoted price from Rv wholesalers and told him I was byuing a camper from him or them. He originally was $15,000 higher than rv wholesalers on price. We ended up buying from him at $2500 more than rv wholesalers. With fuel costs,food,lodging,etc I don't think it was worth it to go and buy from RV wholsalers. Plus now I have the warranty support from my local dealer which I have already used once. I called them, they said bring it down and we will take care of it. Glad I bought local.

i think all of us would be happy to buy local if it worked out for us, like it did you.
my 3 local Rockwood Roo dealers laughed at me and dared me to drive to the Midwest, if i wanted prices like that.
and they all stated that they wouldn't budge on their prices, which were $4500-$6000 above what RVW, RVD and House of Camping were quoting me.
i even told them that i would be willing to pay a couple of thousand more to buy from them. still wouldn't budge.
they refused to believe i was serious about doing the drive and thought i would cave and pay their inflated prices.

NOT!!

carsonizik3 · 04-26-2012, 08:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikendan

i think all of us would be happy to buy local if it worked out for us, like it did you.
my 3 local Rockwood Roo dealers laughed at me and dared me to drive to the Midwest, if i wanted prices like that.
and they all stated that they wouldn't budge on their prices, which were $4500-$6000 above what RVW, RVD and House of Camping were quoting me.
i even told them that i would be willing to pay a couple of thousand more to buy from them. still wouldn't budge.
they refused to believe i was serious about doing the drive and thought i would cave and pay their inflated prices.

NOT!!

I can't blame you for traveling and buying. If my dealer hadn't worked with us like he did we were ready and prepared to leave the next morning to travel to RV wholesalers. It amazes me how prices vary from place to place. I had quotes on a 2012 Sandpiper 365 saq anywhere from $57,900 to $33,500 with RV wholesalers being the cheapest.

Cowracer · 05-01-2012, 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crocus

I always wonder why people buy from outfits like RVW.

Well. Its like this. I went to local dealer (only FR dealer that carries Roo's near STL that I could find).

MSRP. 26K and change. His price: nearly 23K

Called RVW. Their quote just over 19K. Took RVW quote to dealer and gave him a chance to meet it. Dealer refused to budge even a dollar off their 23K price. I bid him good day and started to leave, and he took the attitude of "if you dont buy from me, good luck getting any warranty work done" I asked him if he really thought that was the best approach to try to make a sale, and he got kinda uppity with me right there in his showroom.

I would have preferred to keep my money local, and I would have paid a grand or so more from a local dealer than from RVW, but after the response I got from this guy, I would have bought it from RVW no matter what price this clown offered.

Moral of the story: Local dealers are not automatically better than off the Internet.

tim

crocus · 05-01-2012, 10:36 AM

Cowracer, the dealer I bought from was just as cheap, and a lot closer to you than RVW. And they are a high-quality, family-run business. In my mind, far superior to RVW, especially considering some of the stories we have heard.
I will admit that I had to spend a bit of time searching, but it was all worth it.

Smitty75 · 05-01-2012, 12:20 PM

I'm headed to RVW Saturday morning to pick up my new 2109s. Best price I could find within 5 hours of Greenville, SC was 17,000. At 14,200, RVW was a no-brainer for me. The way I look at it, even a local dealer is only going to be your friend for 1 year (or 2 if you pay the warranty). And if you beat him up on price to get to RVW pricing, it's doubtful he's going to be any better on service anyway. I would like nothing more than to support my local dealers, but that's a hell of a gap between pricing.

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