Forest River internet and social media food for thought and corrective action

[madmaxmutt]

I will start this by saying that I am actually pretty happy with my unit. I would like to do a few things to understand it better and make it better. My frustrating search for product support has led me to this (not all inclusive list). Yes, I know some of you will try to explain this away and forgive FR for poor internet practice, but this is 2014 and accepting cruddy service is not in my nature.
Note: Some of this may apply to brands other than Surveyor, but my results in finding assistance from the manufacturer/brand on the internet have been substandard, period.
I was told long ago in the military to provide recommendations to problems instead of just complaints, so . . .
1. Forestriverinc.com itself only lists these brands: Coachmen, Dynamax, Palomino, Prime Time and Shasta and the generic Forest River RV. None of the others are listed separately, but you need to go to the second forestriver rv link to get to the others. While, this might make sense to some corporate personnel in their hierarchy, it makes no sense to prospective buyers or just people looking to find all of their brands under a single moniker. Imagine going to GM’s website and finding only Cadillac and GMC while not having direct links to Chevrolet or Buick listed. . . Or possibly Fiat leaving Ram off their corporate site. Simply add all the brands under the recreational vehicles category.

2. Forestriverinc.com “Contact” page has the same issue as the .com root site. Simply add all the brands under the contact category along with the ACTUAL contact information for those brands.

3. “Forest River RV” has NO contact info listed on the main website. The link goes to another Forest River RV site that then breaks out the rest of the brands. This could be solved by the previous recommendation or at the very least, one main customer service contact number and email address.

4. The Forest River RV “Customer Service” link is good for a few things, but customer service is not one of them. There should be a list of group email accounts and phone numbers for each brand on that page. Or at the very least, one main customer service contact number and email address, but that might be cyclical. The best solution is probably to mimic the recommendation from the above contact page.

5. Surveyor Facebook has two posts during the current calendar year. That said, there are a few useful posts on there that should also be available from the website. Update your brand Facebook page regularly.

6. Surveyor Facebook has NO events listed. Do they not participate in things like Goshen . . . Update your brand Facebook page regularly.

7. Surveyor link to Forest River website on Surveyor Facebook does not work. Fix the link to the Surveyor website on the Facebook page.

8. Just adding share links on social media sites does not equal participating in social media. Provide links in that same section to your company social media sites/feeds.

9. Basically, if your company is going to participate in social media, your company needs to keep the page/posts/tweets current and accurate.

10. If no other part of this makes the company change business practices, at least I hope this part helps someone else. Surveyor does have a parts email address (Surveyorparts@forestriverinc.com) and phone number ((574)642-3119 ext 209) and fax number ((574)343-5942), but they are not listed on on the Facebook page, Forest River site, or Surveyor site anywhere that I can find. I assume (and there should be) others, but have not yet discovered them (ie Surveyorsales@, Customerservice@, etc. . . ). Post all of the group email addresses and different department contact information on your contact page.

11. The website should have a sales portion for Forest River products, parts, optional equipment and accessories beyond the marketing apparel that is for sale now. Think Fordparts.com or something similar. Make parts lists of available parts/items available online.

12. The “Dealer Locator” needs to give local options for service, if there is no local brand dealer. My fair city has a several authorized Forest River dealers, but none show up within 80 miles for my brand. Perhaps a “Service Locator” would help

13. Stop the reliance on this forum to have your customers provide their own basic customer service. This company is part of the Berkshire Hathaway global enterprise, but the internet services and customer support are straight out of mom-n-pop university. The only recommendation I can come up with for this is, get your corporate (or parent corporate) IT staff working on current problems and keep up with technology after that.

14. Do not act as if you are doing me a favor when I contact the company for support. Both the comment and the recommendation in one statement.

15. If the company insists on keeping this forum as it’s primary presence for customer support, at least hire a social media group or person for each brand to ensure customers are finding the correct answers. There should be no unanswered threads in many categories. (ie. What does this light switch go to?) At the very least, read the thread and provide point of contact information when needed.

16. Call me does not always work from remote camping sites, even though they may have internet access. Provide the same level of service and support via the website (possible chat support) and email as is available via a phone call.

17. As many others have stated the manual is useless. At the very least, there should be a brand specific manual along with the appliance manuals. One size does not fit all. The current manual could simply have an addendum for each model of the pages necessary to differentiate the issues specific to that model.

I obviously don’t have all the answers, but at least I tried to provide some. That seems more than what the company has done to date. Sad!
Yes, this might be tl;dr for many who will simply accept or put up with substandard service and support.

[TURBS]

http://www.forestriverinc.com/rv/

Looks like there all listed here?

"sabre owners united!"


turbs

[lbrunning]

you make many valid remarks but remember this is an owners forum and the reps that participate do so on their own. forest river as a company has nothing to do with this forum.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

Forest River RV - Recreational Vehicles

Looks like there all listed here?

Seems to be your typical flippant response with no substance to everything that is negative whether it is true or not. And, no as I stated they not listed on the main site http://www.forestriverinc.com. Have a nice day.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by lbrunning

you make many valid remarks but remember this is an owners forum and the reps that participate do so on their own. forest river as a company has nothing to do with this forum.

I totally understand that and appreciate your response. That is why #13 exists. The company points to their customers for customer support. The customers are typically helpful, but should not and in some cases cannot be relied on for correct answers.

I also appreciate those that willingly give of their time to help, but we should not have to rely on volunteers for customer support, either.

[maddogz]

Yikes, how's your blood pressure?


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[Weezer]

Just out of curiosity, have you sent this same information to Forest River?

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by Weezer

Just out of curiosity, have you sent this same information to Forest River?

Ha, just part of the inherent frustration. If there was a Forest River POC listed on their website, I sure would. I figure since they point all of their traffic here, they must look at it sometime. But, based on their other internet action, probably not. . . I would send it to Warren buffet, if I had his email. REDACTED poor wording and punctuation.

I also have read many other posts that may be close to as (or more) frustrated with the company as I am.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by maddogz

Yikes, how's your blood pressure?

Just fine, thanks for the insightful comment.

[Arefbee]

Um, you do realize that this is not an official FR website - It is run by a separate entity:

RV-TravelTrailer | Social Knowledge

It is a Forum - a place for people to get together to, you know, talk.

[Weezer]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Ha, just part of the inherent frustration. If there was a Forest River POC listed on their website, I sure would. I figure since they point all of their traffic here, they must look at it sometime. But, based on their other internet action, probably not. . . I would send it to Warren buffet, if I had his email. I will paraphrase something about he said about not telling the company leader how to run a company, but maybe he should.

I also have read many other posts that may be close to as (or more) frustrated with the company as I am.

you know this for a fact?

[jevanb]

Nice observations, the manuel I received is worth nothing. I used it in the fire

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

I figure since they point all of their traffic here, they must look at it sometime.

That's interesting to know and kind of a feather in our hat. Were you pointed here by a company rep, dealer, etc?

Frustrating as it is, it has been well known to the long timers here on the forums that Forest River's first response it to direct you to their dealer network.

[madmaxmutt]

Asked and answered. Look up the "Customer Service" section on here: Forest River RV Customer Service. See if you can find it.

[TURBS]

this is like a train wreck ..... I just cant keep looking!

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by wmtire

That's interesting to know and kind of a feather in our hat. Were you pointed here by a company rep, dealer, etc?

Frustrating as it is, it has been well known to the long timers here on the forums that Forest River's first response it to direct you to their dealer network.

Yes, and I appreciate the real insight that others provide. I just don't think this is the answer the company should give. FR should act like a billion dollar company on the internet, and IMO they don't.

I get many similar answers from the truck manufacturer, but you can actually find useful information on their website.

[madmaxmutt]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

this is like a train wreck ..... I just cant keep looking!

Great analytics, thanks!

[wmtire]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Asked and answered. Look up the "Customer Service" section on here: Forest River RV Customer Service. See if you can find it.

I'm not sure I understand.

I see links to F.R.O.G. (Forest River Owners Group), which has nothing to do with us here at Forest River Forums....besides many mutual members.

Is this what you are referring to?

FROG is a great social group, who get together for trips and rallies, sponsored by Forest River Inc.

[jevanb]

Originally Posted by madmaxmutt

Asked and answered. Look up the "Customer Service" section on here: Forest River RV Customer Service. See if you can find it.

The picture of the 20k pre delivery garage must of just been built. Because mine missed that step..or the lights must of been out that day

[bikendan]

ya know, you might want to attend the Goshen Rally.
you might be able to get someone from Corporate, to listen to or read what you've posted.

i'm have been a member of other RV forums, for quite a few years, that are NOT brand specific and unfortunately, issues that you describe above and with QC, are an industry-wide issue, not just a FR issue.

if you read through some of the threads like i have, over the years, you'll see the same kind of complaints and issues with every brand, even the high end ones.

changes are needed throughout the Industry and that's a difficult thing to change. look what it took to change the American auto industry. it took companies from outside the country, to challenge and outdo what our auto companies were producing.