Forest River has been repairing my 3850 for 2 months with no updates

[fryro02]

My 2013 Cardinal 3850RL has been with the manufacturer since Feb 23rd being repaired. The issue: The door side living room slide out has caused a DENT from inside the camper to outside camper. Meaning the slide has put so much pressure on the wall, its going to come through the wall.

According to FR, they do not communicate with customers when RV is back at factory. They have told me it could be months before I get my camper back...

Anybody else dealt with the manufacturer directly in a similiar situation?

Would love some advice.

[asquared]

I call BS on them not communicating with you. My fiver has been back to the factory twice. I was in constant communication. The key is to stay nice but stay on them. First trip the trailer was gone for a few weeks for major repairs. Second trip took about a week. Try using the contact info found here. did you hear that from your dealer or someone at forest river? Go above their head if necessary

[trbomax]

Ours has been there since feb 6 with no real finish date. We had a 24 item punch list,the dealer told us(and FR) that most of them "could not be resolved at the dealer lever". The dealer arranged for me to take it back.Ive had 2 personal coversations and several e-mails re it (all cordial) I really prefer e mails.When I send them one I cc it to me, that wat everything includeing thier responces are documented.

[AquaMan]

Emails are nice and documented, but they're not personal. Make a phone call, make a friend at the factory level, then find out how your camper is doing! The key here is, make a friend! Too many people make the mistake of coming off harsh and alienating their contact. The key is to be positive, yet affirmative. People appreciate being respected and its countered in return. I'm not accusing anyone here, I'm just posting for those who may read it in the future. I've always had luck and results in this approach.


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[Stetay]

my new evo has been at the dealer for 1 1/2 months for some minor fixes of things wrong from new. I guess FR was arguing back and forth on how to fix the backsplash that was cut short in one spot. Friday I told them to just put trim around it instead of replacing the panel. Prob end up a two month ordeal, and I have a month long trip coming up in june

[trbomax]

Originally Posted by AquaMan

Emails are nice and documented, but they're not personal. Make a phone call, make a friend at the factory level, then find out how your camper is doing! The key here is, make a friend! Too many people make the mistake of coming off harsh and alienating their contact. The key is to be positive, yet affirmative. People appreciate being respected and its countered in return. I'm not accusing anyone here, I'm just posting for those who may read it in the future. I've always had luck and results in this approach.


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

That aproach doesnt work very well with Cherokee division.Since I dropped the trailer off they have changed Warranty supervisors a total of 4 times.When they change personell the phones and e mail adresses vaporize. I was getting no responce around march 1, so we just drove down there.The person to talk to changed 3 times since we started all this and we still didnt get to talk to the "new guy" because he was "busy".We had to settle for someone else hwo was not supervisory personell.He was very nice however,and we did look at the trailer and go over some things.Week before last I called and emailed 5 times with no responce.I finally e mailed the person on this site who is listed as the warranty dep manager and vented.The next day I got an e mail from the person I had been trying to reach and was told he wasnt sure exactly where the trailer was or what was done sisce our visit because the repair crew" had "been on the road all week and he couldnt get a hold of them and get back to me". That was last tuesday and I will sell you the mackinac bridge for $100 if you bring me cash too.I guess i will have to make the third 600 mile road trip next week to find the trailer.

[reddiver]

Now this is the kind of thing that makes me feel 'spooky'!! I'm glad I have the bugs ironed out of my rig and I don't feel the need to trade up what with the notices I read on this site. Sorry you are getting run around.

[CT3850]

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.

[28Bunkhouse]

We lost whole summer due too waitingfor parts, good luck

[sameee]

....our 2016 cherokee 274rk started to have both sides of the aluminum pop off the walls 2 weeks after purchase last summer rendering a real disaster.
The dealer we bought from here closed up shop basically that month, the next closest dealer was sketchy and this was a major repair. I was basically on my own 6 plus hours across the boarder emailing - calling with FR since October 2015..They did promise a March 18 2016 pickup back then... ...they did pickup a week late which is understandable....I am glad now that it is back and it looks to be totally repaired. I wont ever forget my feeling of being handcuffed to what seemed to be a lemon picked freshly from the tree and the odd week of unanswered voice - emails and there were times I was pondering the drive. Once the repair started after it being there a month the lines of communication opened right up and within no time they brought it back. No matter how good or bad the experience was I never lost my cool which Im sure helped the process...Hope you all have the luck I did

[F.R.O.G.]

Please call Dan Dobecki at Cardinal.
Dan Dobecki
Phone: (574) 206-7609
Email: ddobecki@forestriverinc.com

[trbomax]

Who has a working phone # at Cherokee?

[fryro02]

I have both engaged in a two conversations with Dan B and emailed him. I will continue to try and reach out to Dan.

All I am asking for is communication on where it is in the process. Im just not getting any....

We love our camper. This is our 2nd FR product and I have been happy thus far.

It sounds like this is a familiar challenge with other people.

Kill'em with Kindness

[D. J. Schuler]

FR (W. B.) and the dealer got paid, you got the mortgage. Check the dealer/service provider, make sure they have insurance to fully cover your RV, get a copy. Some RV insurance providers will suspend your policy when your not on the road. Think about that travel program you bought for discounts at campgrounds. We all paid too much to spend time cleaning and fixing factory/dealer miscues. Just read the blogs (any manufacturer), solutions to problems not caused by you, anytime there's more than 5 it should be called a "manufactures defect" and any dealer/service should be able to get weird parts in 2 weeks.

[F.R.O.G.]

Originally Posted by trbomax

Who has a working phone # at Cherokee?

Mark Palmer
Phone: (260) 593-4001
Email: cherokeewarranty@forestriverinc.com

[trbomax]

Thank you!I just sent my latest"contact" an email stateing that I want to pick up the unit next week.The original pu date was mid april which was agreed on when I dropped it off.Maybe I wont have to call Mark,we will see!

[Jakieboy]

Many of these responses echo our same experience with our new 2016 Cardinal 3250RL. Delivered to Denis Dillon RV in Westminster, CA in December 2015. There have been warranty issues unresolved since we first took delivery. This is now our third trip to the dealership, where the trailer now awaits warranty fixes. This kind of treatment is what gives the RV Industry a "black eye".

Has anyone tried contacting the Action Line at Trailer Life magazine to get results??

[Joshua Cavitt]

Yesterday, I forwarded Rob's name, number, and this thread over to warranty and their National Sales Manager.

[cruisinhwy66]

Just completed reading the returns for warranty adjustments on the Cardinals and Cherokees, plus other brands that carry the Forest River name, has made me rethink the purchase of a new Fifth Wheel from anyone. There is no day I can accept the length of time being without my RV, our second home, for repairs while making payments. If Ford, GM, or Ram handled their warranty repairs this way no one will buy their product and the stock would be worthless. Small adjustments are acceptable, but a rebuild, come on FR. Does Brookshire Hathaway read this forum?

View this scenario; You bring your new diesel truck in for warranty work and the dealer tells you their shipping your $70,000 truck back to Mexico for a rebuilt and don't know how long it will take for repairs. Don't call, we know nothing. Yes you still have to make payments to the Loaner and you can rent a vehicle from them while your New Truck is being repaired. This is not a good story with a happy ending for a retirement purchase that was planed for years.

Now where will we live while our new shelter (RV) is being rebuilt? We sold our house and were going to live and travel in our new RV! We have some emergency money but will it be enough?

Enough Said,
cruisin

[trbomax]

Originally Posted by trbomax

Thank you!I just sent my latest"contact" an email stateing that I want to pick up the unit next week.The original pu date was mid april which was agreed on when I dropped it off.Maybe I wont have to call Mark,we will see!

I got a reply today telling me any day next wee is fine,just let them know a day ahead so they can bring itt up for a walk thru.
I replied asking if there would be time for a tour.

He replied about 15 minutes later saying it would take an hour and they would be happy to do it!

I guess we are going down on tuesday so I will update when we get back wed night.