Dan Dobecki is no longer with the Cardinal division of Forest River. I recently had a warranty issue which was resolved promptly by Mike Haile. His contact information follows:
Mike Haile
Cardinal/Blue Ridge/WildCat
Customer Service & Warranty Rep
Eastern U.S. and Canada
Forest River Inc.
Elkhart Parts and Service
Plant#41, 55135 C.R. 1
Elkhart IN 46514
Phone- 574-206-7607
Fax - 574-206-2484
mhaile@forestriverinc.com
On a related note, our 2014 3850RL went back to the factory in December 2015 and was returned in April 2016 for a similar problem. Our unit had a piece of aluminum which wrapped the edge of the roof and was painted. I was told that it was a design error which caused the paint to crack and water leaks at the gutter. Our unit had the walls, roof and a significant portion of the interior replaced due to this design defect. When our unit was returned to us, the painted aluminum radius was gone, replaced by the white roof membrane which wrapped over the radius and behind the gutter. I will be happy to discuss with you, if interested. FYI, I copied my post from May 2, 2016 for your information.
Our Cardinal 3850 was at the dealer/factory for more than 6 months. I will be happy to discuss with you if you send me a message. Here is our story:
My Forest River "Rebuild" Experience
On April 23,2015 we purchased a new 2014 Cardinal 3850RL and took delivery in early May 2015. Though it had been sitting on the dealer’s lot for nearly a year, it was perfect for us and the price sealed the deal! We proceeded to enjoy the next five months traveling the East Coast from Acadia, Maine to Ocracoke Island, North Carolina!
On October 5, 2015, I took our Cardinal back to the dealer for warranty work – relatively minor issues, I thought. Two weeks later the dealer informed me that our Cardinal would need to return to the factory for not just repairs but a factory re-build! What is a factory re-build? I still do not know for sure. However, I was told that the roof and walls were coming off.
The factory said it would arrange a pick-up. Then we waited. And waited! Finally, on December 11, 2015, our unit was picked up by the transport company and taken to the factory. We never learned exactly why there was a 6-week delay but apparently Forest River misplaced the paperwork and once found, a spot had to be cleared on the factory line. Our unit was finally put on the factory line on January 4, 2016.
Reconstruction took 6 weeks. Another 2 weeks for painting. After completion of painting, Forest River decided the large slide needed to be replaced – again!!! Then our unit FAILED its final factory inspection (we were not told why). Another 2 weeks went by. Finally, on April Fool’s Day (Friday, April 01, 2016, NO, I AM NOT FOOLING) we received the telephone call that our unit passed its final inspection. On Friday, April 8, 2016 we received a call from the RV transport company that our RV would be delivered the following morning. We received our Cardinal on Saturday, April 9, 2016.
From the time we dropped off our Cardinal at the dealer on October 5 until we received our completed unit on April 9, 2016 was more than 6 months!
So what happened that was so bad our Cardinal had to be re-built? Leaks in the roof radius and at the gutters caused water damage, including delamination in the walls and slides! The the screws holding the gutters literally began to pop-out during our travels.
The unit needed its walls and roof replaced and interior water-damage repaired; basically a “do-over”. The factory seems to have done a great job on the rebuild. We can only hope that this “rebuild” is of better quality than the original “build”.
Other than the poor initial build quality and the loss of use for six months, I have two complaints:
1. Virtually no pro-active assistance from the dealer once they realized the repairs were beyond the dealership capabilities;
2. Virtually no communication from Forest River during the rebuild. Apparently it is Forest River policy not to provide completion dates. Therefore, once they have started work they will have nothing more to say until the unit is ready to be returned. Of course, you can call for status reports, but generally you will only be told that your unit isn’t ready.
Three compliments:
1. Our dealer spotted the problems and communicated them effectively to Forest River.
2. Forest River stepped up to fix everything.
3. FR did a beautiful job of rebuilding our unit and returned our 3850RL looking like a brand new unit. In fact, it looked better than when we bought it in April 2015!
Finally, my advice to anyone that experiences problems with their unit:
1. Do not rely upon the dealer to push the issue to resolution. Engage the dealer and Forest River early and often.
2. Be prepared for the reality of working through the issues with the dealer and Forest River and keep excellent records since documents will be misplaced, personnel will leave and you may have to explain the situation many times.
3. Do not get discouraged. This process can take a LONG time (more than six months for us). Focusing on how “unfair” it is to spend a lot of money for something that you cannot use for an extended period of time does not solve the problem.
4. Be polite and reasonable. No one is happy to have this happen: not you; not the dealer; certainly not the factory.
Summary Observations and Conclusions
• The Cardinal 3850RL is our first RV and we think it is a wonderful unit, despite the need for the repairs;
• Forest River and Dan Dobecki (the Warranty Manager for Cardinal) did everything in their power to make things right and they appear to have done so despite the fact that pro-active communication does not seem to be a strong suit at FR;
• If I were in the market for another RV, the level and quality of factory support after the sale would be the most important consideration in the purchase decision;
• Our dealer was good at “selling” but not so good at “servicing”! Our dealer finally suggested that the process would be simpler and better if I just worked directly with the factory. Our dealer’s inability to address even the simplest of maintenance issues was astounding. An RV is a major purchase and any unit can have problems, sometimes severe. I would want to know that the factory can and will make things right. Forest River did that for me. It just takes some time.
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