Not happy with FR warranty service

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by youroo

These are Travel Trailers,buying from a local dealer does not help when you are on a long trip.Like you said they are not required to work on any unit. I am glad truck dealers dont have this policy. Youroo!!

We were several hundred miles away from RVD or from local dealers with the water heater/propane system.

[caper]

I have found that when traveling dealers have been very helpful and have pushed me to the front. I have only come across one dealer that would not and they were a dealer associated with Leisure Days. This year when my converter stopped working in Thunder Bay the dealer not only put me first but pulled a converter from a new TT to install in mine because they did not have one in stock. The problem with dealers start when you purchase from a RV wholesaler and then take your unit to your local dealer for repairs.

[ResQMoore]

Contacted FR about an hour ago and talked to Mark x124. Was informed I would have to supply my own hardware and figure out how to assemble it myself

The old table was so poorly put together and damaged I guess i'll have to take my own measurements and figure it out- unless someone has access to measurements/directions?

Thanks for all your input everyone.

[gatogonow]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

Contacted FR about an hour ago and talked to Mark x124. Was informed I would have to supply my own hardware and figure out how to assemble it myself

The old table was so poorly put together and damaged I guess i'll have to take my own measurements and figure it out- unless someone has access to measurements/directions?

Thanks for all your input everyone.

That says a lot about how much Forest River cares about their customers. We got your money "now kiss off"!

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

Contacted FR about an hour ago and talked to Mark x124. Was informed I would have to supply my own hardware and figure out how to assemble it myself

The old table was so poorly put together and damaged I guess i'll have to take my own measurements and figure it out- unless someone has access to measurements/directions?

Thanks for all your input everyone.

Shouldn't be too much of a challenge, do you not have the old table with the hardware? Just measure the old one, remove hardware and re-install.

[OldCoot]

Originally Posted by gatogonow

That says a lot about how much Forest River cares about their customers. We got your money "now kiss off"!

What would you have them do? The instructions are the old table and the hardware is on the old table. That's about all FR can do. If the OP had a decent dealer, they would have repaired it.

[Herk7769]

Originally Posted by gatogonow

That says a lot about how much Forest River cares about their customers. We got your money "now kiss off"!

This is a tad unfair. FR has gone the extra mile in more than one case here and reported by our members.

There are somethings they can't do because of the contracts they have with their "independent" dealers. Not the best system for sure; but it is an industry standard.

We can rail all we want about how it should be the same as buying a new car, but you are not buying a car.

The dealer/manufacturer relationship in the RV industry is very different.

[jfguyer]

My two cents- was not happy with the edge lamination on the counter top in our ROO19 on PDI in February. FR replaced and local dealer installed. After getting trailer home and doing some cleaning we spilled some water on the triangle shaped counter by the door, but did not notice it until the next day. The water seeped under the t-molded edge and caused the counter to severly delaminate. I contacted FR (copy dealer)and they sent me a new piece, at no charge, even though I offered to pay since it was clearly not a factory defect. They even offered to install if I brought the unit to their factory in Millersburg, IN. This would have been a two hour drive and at $4.00/gallon I decided to just install myself after making sure that this would not cause any future warranty issues. All in all I have been satisfied with the local dealer and FR service/responsiveness. Hopefully will not require it anymore in the future, just keep the standing water off the counters and edging.

[DonG]

From my experience, you get the best results from treating others the way you would like to be treated. I only had minor issues, but I approached the FR warranty people with a friendly and open-minded phone call, and they responded with more than I asked for.
I also made sure that I told them that I liked our camper very much, rather than yelling at them that it was a pos. It seems that that was a refreshing change for them!

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by DonG

From my experience, you get the best results from treating others the way you would like to be treated. I only had minor issues, but I approached the FR warranty people with a friendly and open-minded phone call, and they responded with more than I asked for.
I also made sure that I told them that I liked our camper very much, rather than yelling at them that it was a pos. It seems that that was a refreshing change for them!

Sort of like yelling at the cashier at Rotten Ronnies when your burger is raw and there is a hair in the mustard. When the manager is not willing to assist or can not assist (there is a difference) then corporate head office wears the distainment of the consumer. Starting out with a logical and evidence backed complaint presented in a manner in which the other person on the phone or email reciever will most times be more incliined to assist if treated with the availability of problem resolution and saving face... but if there is an impass or it takes repeated (my case 23 emails diplomatically stating facts and situations) failed to get resolutional decisions where does the consumer go?

Remember the old saying that the customer is always correct - misinformed, mislead, and sometimes beligerant but always correct.

I hated it when I would stop motorvehicle drivers for infractions and they would state "I pay your wages" BUT they in part were correct - they did! Same goes with the RV industry those who purchase from that particular company either like the product and or service (which can make a bad product right) or they will never be back.

And word of mouth for -VE product and service can kill a product & company faster than a Bernie Madoff scandle. For every +ve customer interaction passed along with there are 9 interactions shared.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by MilCop4523

For every +ve customer interaction passed along with there are 9 interactions shared.

Actually, that's true but no longer has the same meaning we used to place on it. It may have been that when the negative feedback came from a neighbor or co-worker with whom we have a trusted relationship, that you or I were willing to, not just listen, but take it as gospel as to the quality of an item.

The Internet has changed the significance of complaints because of the anonymity. It has given a greater voice to those who are dissatisfied but it has also caused readers to put less import on their complaints.

This is not directed at your complaints with regard to your table MilCop. It's a comment on the whole 9 neg to 1 pos ratio.

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by dunnnc

Shouldn't be too much of a challenge, do you not have the old table with the hardware? Just measure the old one, remove hardware and re-install.

Originally Posted by dunnnc

What would you have them do? The instructions are the old table and the hardware is on the old table. That's about all FR can do. If the OP had a decent dealer, they would have repaired it.

As I previously mentioned the old table was not put together correctly and the measurements are wrong. (the base does not sit square on the tabletop and the tabletop is warped in both directions.)

Now I just returned from a 4-day camping trip with even more problems.

-Slide will not extend or retract without someone pushing on it (front end). Trailer was stabilized, leveled, and no excess weight was on the slide out. teeth also appeared to be biting into the gear track, and there did not appeared to be nor any felt obstructions to the extension/retraction system or around the slide out it self. The manual crank that was provided to me does not fit the manual crankshaft on the trailer.

-Hot water heater exploded again (this time with water not propane). The hot water heater bypass valve let go spraying water into its compartment after approximately 1 day of use (unit was properly winterized and de-winterized according to the manual). Installed a coupling that I received from the local RV repair as a temporary fix. Unit has trouble firing up after the water exposure. Looks as if the ECU was not properly secured and was exposed to the water.

Will be trying to get these problems solved this week.

[ResQMoore]

Forrest River said they would cover the cost of the repairs (been working with Mike- hes been helpful). Brought to a local dealer and had them check out the trailer from hitch to bumper. Repairs are going to be in the $600 range. Apparently the trailer was missing parts from the factory (slide-out sprocket and hardware) and we were lucky that 1. the slide-out functioned as it did for as long as it did and 2. we didn't damage the trailer by trying to run the slide-out with out the forward sprocket. I am really not happy to find out that it was missing parts from the factory and had nothing to do with the dealer we purchased from. Local dealer is going to take care of all our other problems. Hopefully this is it and we experience no more problems.

[Alisa06]

I can feel your pain and sympathize with you regarding being not happy with Forest River. We just returned from a 4 day trip to Tennessee and will be taking our 233S in for the 3rd time with more warranty work. How much is too much? How many times do we need to return to our local dealer for factory errors? So tired of being without the camper or not having it on hand because it is in for more repairs. I think it has been in for repairs more than we have been able to use it since purchasing at the end of March.

[MilCop4523]

this will be our second FR product.
Our first and our last...

My drain for the galley was off by a full drain pipe width and crammed into the elbows. second trip it broke causing a huge mess.
I called FR warranty and asked for a new adaptor to be sent out since the dealers don't have the pieces...
Not to worry I'll get right on it.
3 weeks later into the camping season and no parts.
Called back and ... I thanks for reminding me because I forgot.

If I did my traffic tickets and or case files like this - I'd be taken to court for not doing my job.

[ResQMoore]

Finally almost a week later after phone calls placed to FR every day we have been given the go-ahead to get all the repairs done except for the slide out. They are trying to "locate" a part for us.

We've contacted the consumer protection bureaus in both our state and in Indiana and have been recommended to go ahead with a formal complaint from both entities.

While there is some lemon law coverage what it currently boils down to is violation of the federal warranty act (Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act). Parts were covered under warranty- Forrest River has been refusing to service our trailer covered under their warranty and has failed to do so in a timely manner.

We've given FR an ultimatum- Get our trailer repaired and in usable condition in a timely manner or give us a full refund because we were sold a trailer that was defective from the factory.

We'll take our business elsewhere next time. It is unacceptable to have our trailer out of service for so long.

[Len & Cheri]

You're saying it's a violation because they are refusing to service your trailer. Which problem are you saying they won't fix? Your post on 14 Jun said they were going to cover everything. Your post today said the only problem was they're looking for a part.

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by Len & Cheri

You're saying it's a violation because they are refusing to service your trailer. Which problem are you saying they won't fix? Your post on 14 Jun said they were going to cover everything. Your post today said the only problem was they're looking for a part.

I stated that they had been refusing to service our trailer and giving us the run around for weeks. Finally they agreed to service it but it took them a week to tell us to service all the components except for the slide-out- which still does not give us a working trailer.

[Len & Cheri]

So is "they" a local dealer refusing to service it or FR? I really hope they get all this straightened out for you.

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by Len & Cheri

So is "they" a local dealer refusing to service it or FR? I really hope they get all this straightened out for you.

A local dealer is all set to repair our trailer. It's in their yard waiting for the go ahead. It is Forest River that is causing the delays. We should not have to pay a cent for the repairs that our trailer needs because the repairs are covered under warranty- but FR is not fully complying (taking an unnecessary amount of time).

I hope it gets straightened out too because we have a camping trip scheduled for the week of the 4th of July and we may not get to go because we don't have an operational trailer. And we may not get a refund for the site.

I will say this though- We did speak to a Greg I think it was in the complaints department and he got the ball rolling today.