Warrenty Work

[tolley31]

My husband called the dealership (where we bought it) to see about bringing our NEW bought 3/17 23SS in to get the leak around the water filter looked at as well the issue with the furnance not working correctly. He has called a few times asking questions but not overly so. Just trying to see if we can save ourselves the trip by correcting the issue ourselves kind of thing (we live over an hour away one way). Each time he has spoken with the service manager (we think). The man is just plain rude! Today he asked my husband where we winterized the trailer at. When he informed him THEY did it because it was new he basically told my husband it was impossible it has a leak unless he caused it himself. Now I would believe this as a possiblity but the filter was leaking as soon as we flushed the anti-freeze out and I am the one who noticed before my husband ever touched it (still didn't have removable/replaceable filter piece in it). We used the water pressure regulator supplied by the dealership on our hose. We did them attempt to put the filter in and reattach the canister to the fitting. It still leaked - even more. We did not over tighten. It was on increadibly tight to begin with. I couldn't get it to budge my husband had to do it. I think they may have over-tightened or it is just a factory defect. No biggie - just fix it. What I am not happy with is this guy rudely accusing us of doing it! My questions is can another dealer that sells Flagstaff (we have a Shamrock) do the warrenty work? Or do I have to put up with this A**hole? The sales and office people at this dealership were wonderful I might add.

[Triguy]

You can ask the other dealer. They are not required to do the work and may put you at the end of the line but maybe they'd be fine with picking up a new service customer. Can't hurt to check it out.

That is really poor service so please let us know who the dealer is to let others know.

You could also go back to your sales guy and have him hook you up with the owner. I'm sure he or she wants this feedback as well.

Good luck.

[Witch Doctor]

I have been told that I can use any Forest River dealer for warranty work. That make's sense to me being if I'm traveling and something breaks what am I suppose to do? Same as a car, you can take your Ford to any dealer and get it repaired under warranty.

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

I have been told that I can use any Forest River dealer for warranty work. That make's sense to me being if I'm traveling and something breaks what am I suppose to do? Same as a car, you can take your Ford to any dealer and get it repaired under warranty.

True, but whether any other dealership WANTS to service your TT is another story. It's not like a car dealership; these independent dealers do NOT have to accept your warranty work. And a lot of times, if you don't buy from them they'll put you at the very bottom of the list and work on your unit whenever they please.

[bob34787]

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

I have been told that I can use any Forest River dealer for warranty work. That make's sense to me being if I'm traveling and something breaks what am I suppose to do? Same as a car, you can take your Ford to any dealer and get it repaired under warranty.

Yes you can go to any Forest River dealer, but they do not have to work on it. They are not like an auto dealer that is a franchise of the mfg, each RV dealer is an independent company from the Mfg, and as such they can choose who and what they wish to work on.

[Bttravel]

Hopefully, they will realize they have a great opportunity to win over a new customer that will brag on them. I just don't get some of these dealers. This is where the term Happy Campers really has some meaning. We don't get on these forums to practice typing!!

[Witch Doctor]

Above statements are all true, If you are refused service from any FR dealer, all you can do is call FR, pay for the repair and get the payment your out of pocket from FR. I would suggest that you call the warranty dept @ Fr first and let them know the problem and have it approved. If you have a major problem they will tow you to the nearest Rv repair place and it might not be a dealer. This is very common, just make the call !!!!!!!

[mark239]

Had problems with my dealer also, had list of problems for them,they fixed 2 of 8 things while tt was @ dealer for 4 weeks.Called FR got no help there either,just told to take it back to dealer.After 4 weeks out of service already excuse me I wanted to use it,fixed most problems myself....................

[tolley31]

The other dealer said they would gladly do any warrenty work for us. Since I have to pick up the outdoor grill they forgot to put in the camper when we picked it up (told it was inside in a box when I asked about it). We are going to let the dealer we bought it from fix the few issues we have at this and anything going forward will go to the other dealer. Hopefully it goes smoothly and everthing gets fixed the first time around. Thanks to all who replied.

[biken201]

I purchased my trailer from a dealer that is almost 1,800 miles from where I live. The few warranty issues have been handled (or facilitated) by the dealer I purchased from, and the one repair I needed to bring it in for was handled by a local shop that FR recommended. So far my experience has been great! The local shop never questioned whether I purchased from them, and the turnaround was two weeks (acceptable to me).

[tolley31]

The service manager was very pleasant in person, when we dropped our camper off about two weeks ago. It might be possible he comes off as a rude individual on the phone or just had a bad experience with another customer right before my DH called. The actually mechanic was very nice and sounded like he knew exactly what the problems were and simply said he would just replace anything not working right. We were on vacation last weekend to TN and planned on picking the TT up this Saturday. We got in with enough time on Monday to drive the additional hour to the dealer to pick our TT up early (they already called and said it was done middle of week before). We get there they bring it around to us we hook up and the electric brakes wouldn't come on. Naturally this is the mechanics day off. So we had to leave it there drive another hour home. Yesterday they called and said a wire was crossed when they replaced the plug for light & brakes (original plug was too big & tight for our Tahoe). So last night we wasted another two hours picking it up. Thank goodness it worked fine this time. Can't wait to test it out this weekend.

[Triguy]

Glad to hear everything worked out!

Some people are just very poor communicators on the phone or by email but can be great when in person. Still, a service manager needs to be more well-rounded.

I wish you all the best on your first trip. Let us know how it goes!

[tolley31]

Thank you. I can't wait. We took it once before but had to come home to shower since we didn't have water due to the leaking filter. This will be the first real trip trying out the shower, toilet and dump station. The campground does not have water hookup just electric. How long will the water tank last 2 adults and 2 small children? We are only staying 2 nights so I don't anticipate any problems with supply but just curious how long it lasts with showers, using the bathroom and washing dishes. I know it will need to be used sparingly.

[Triguy]

Originally Posted by tolley31

How long will the water tank last 2 adults and 2 small children? We are only staying 2 nights so I don't anticipate any problems with supply but just curious how long it lasts with showers, using the bathroom and washing dishes. I know it will need to be used sparingly.

You should be fine over 2 days.

You've got a 30gl fresh water tank and a 6gl water heater (total 36gls). Make sure that you top off the FW tank to replace the six that went into the heater.

Now that you have full water and are at your site, you are going to learn how long it takes to go through your water. Its really personal.

Our first trip years ago didn't take long to run out of water and that was just the DW and me. We quickly learned to conserve but don't take it to extremes.

We don't use the shower often and prefer to use the camp showers if they are clean. If not, then navy showers in the trailer work well for us. You will have to teach the kids how to do this.

If you run low, its easy to fill a 5 gallon container from a nearby CG faucet for more water.

Since this is just 2 days its not that applicable but the biggest issue for us over longer trips is the gray water tank. You will find that this limits you more. There are ways to extend the GW capacity as well but that's a different topic.

[TURBS]

AS POSTED fill hw tank before you leave so you can top off what went into the hw heater .
I fill my hw heater while I fill my fw tank .