Poor Dealer service

[mbo]

I bought my new, never titled, 2007 Cardinal 37RK2 at Shorewood RV in Anoka Mn in Oct 2010. I put $10,000 down to hold it because after three years, now there were a lot of other people wanting it! I was lied to for two weeks about it being ready for delivery. Found out when I went to pick it up about the power struggle between sales and service. We really like the floor plan and spacious interior. I am 6'3-280# shower is too small for me. Was told on another forum that Cedar Creeks have a bigger shower. Went to the Cedar Creek dealer in Sioux Falls-Goos RV Sioux Falls SD. Dealer, not salesman, thought that buying a new Cedar Creek would solve my problem. After convincing him that I just wanted to pay them to replace my shower with a larger one, he told me that he had 3 new RV's going out today, and his shop guys were working till Midnight every night and that "No rv dealer in the United States work on campers they did not sell" Went from there to Forest River Wildcat dealer in Sioux Falls. Could not find a place to park because of huge inventory of entry-level campers.

Rant over

[TheLazyC]

Whatever happened to customer service. Seems like all RV dealers are just plain butt wipes.

[yvesm]

RV dealers are your best friend until you buy something, after that you are on your own. (my experiences)

[Triguy]

Your best options for installing a bigger shower in your current trailer are:

• Do it yourself.
• Find an independent service center.
• Try Camping World, if one is close by.
• Go back to your original dealer.

I hear your frustration but I don't think you should be surprised or angry that another dealer, who you did not buy from, is unwilling to do this for you. Its fairly common that dealers give preference to those who buy from them and nothing to be surprised about. That's the way the industry works.

[tncruiser]

up to this point my dealer has been there when we needed him
boatnrv rockwood tn
2 new units in 2 years treated well by both sales and service
brianj

[judiejo]

Gist RV was great until we needed immediate service on our Dometic refridgerator and then the run around started. I have a lot of other explatives to use but I will keep them to myself. We found an RV dealer that makes house calls and he is a Dometic certified repair person. Gist insisted that we bring the fifth wheel to them on several occassions, but we live full time in the trailer and that is just not feesible to drag it back and forth to the dealer for repair. WE live full time in it and they do not even have the proper facilities for us to spend any lenght of time there. Gist RV is in Inverness, Florida.

[kappel15]

Found out the hardway that my dealer was one of those that once the check cleared, they didn't want anything to do with you! Never satisfied me on any of my punch list. Even after 4 trips to dealer on my dime. I get into alot of homes in a years time. You can bet what i will be saying about them!

[judiejo]

Thanks. I hope you have conract with a lot of people. Also I put in a call to Forest River Warranty and still have not gotten a call back. IMAGINE THAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[kappel15]

that is odd as usually forest river has been very good to deal with. they helped me more than the dealer did.

[judiejo]

I'll post an outcome. Promiseme, their will be a successful outcome.

[wmtire]

I may be in the un-vocal minority, but my dealer (Bayou Outdoor SuperCenter in Bossier City, LA) has done me well in sales and currently, in service.

They beat my local dealer in price by a few thousand, and never had any kind of "I'm doing you a favor" attitude about anything in the process. Their sales technique was to ask "What did they need to do different to get you to buy from them."

I just had to take it back a few weeks ago for some warranty work, as well as to add some slide toppers to it. When I called their service dept. about the warranty work, they had me email some pics of the problem and within an hour and a half, were calling me back to say that Forest River had approved it. They had to order the parts and told me to keep using the trailer, and they would email me when they arrived.

True to their word, I got the email, set up an appointment, and took the trailer back. They asked when I needed the trailer back, and put it on the work order to have it done by that date (which is this weekend). I'll update this forum if any problems arise.....but I don't expect them to.

So far, I've had good experiences with my dealer and with Forest River.

[Triguy]

Thanks for mentioning it wmtire. Never hear enough of the good dealer experiences.

[frankm]

Originally Posted by wmtire

So far, I've had good experiences with my dealer and with Forest River.

x3!

Good deeds (or dealers) seldom get written about but there are plenty of good ones. Tropical RV in Ft. Pierce Florida is one of them. I've dealt with them for over three years now (and two campers) and I can say that they have been great, pre, during and post sale.

[craig_mac]

We are also having trouble getting a call back from Forest River. We are dealing with a delamination issue that was repaired once but by an auto body shop at Forest River's? recommendation. Now I am fighting for it to be fixed properly as repairs have now cracked. I don't feel the dealer (Paradise RV in Red Deer, Alberta) is fighting for us as much as they should and FR won't return calls. Not giving up.

[j2detroit]

we bought our 06 cherrokee from shorewood in anoka back in 06 i have had nothing but good things to say about them great camper great sales person great service dept

[Big bird]

Our dealer has always done a good job and taken care of us. They no longer are a FR franchise and we have moved to an independent RV service company closer to home with a great reputation including that from FR. My only complaint with the dealer is that they kept changing personnel. But, I think that is more a factor of the economy than anything else. Can you imagine trying to make money selling RV's today!

[kappel15]

Dealers around here, have had the best two years in a row! Go figure.