What does it take to get warranty work done?

[sam2424]

I bought a 2015 3675 5th wheel Cardinal in March. I have had problems from day 1, but I (and my wife) worked on it ourselves for a week and a half to enable for us to actually use it last summer. On October 19th we were finally done with our trips for the season so we took it to Camping World to get 6 thing repaired that we hadn't got to yet. I figured there wasn't a need for me to fix everything myself when I was promised "bumper to bumper warrenty for 1st year (with tires and battery being the exception)", It is now November 30th, and Camping World claims they are still waiting on the "OK" to do the work. So how long does it take to fix things like ceiling molding coming down, or sewage valve stuck open, awning not working, refrigerader door wont close completely? I have decided one thing. Maybe all RV distributers make "junk" now a days, but this will be my last RV made by Forest River.

[RSchleder]

After buying and owning 12 different RV's during the past 25 years I recommend you need to spend as much, or more, time finding your next DEALER as you spend finding your next RV! Your always going to have a "punch list" when you purchase a new RV from ANY manufacturer. The real prove of the pudding in buying a new RV is how does the dealer take care of you both during and after the warranty period. From everything you commented on, you have a dealer issue, not a manufacturer problem. It's easy to pass the buck and say "we don't have approval". Sure it's easy to say that when they've probably never even asked for it!!!

[Bama Rambler]

Did you buy the unit from that Camping World?

Search for the contact list posted on here and contact the person at the Cardinal division and see if you can find out what's going on.

I agree with RSchleder, you have a dealer problem.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by RSchleder

After buying and owning 12 different RV's during the past 25 years I recommend you need to spend as much, or more, time finding your next DEALER as you spend finding your next RV! Your always going to have a "punch list" when you purchase a new RV from ANY manufacturer. The real prove of the pudding in buying a new RV is how does the dealer take care of you both during and after the warranty period. From everything you commented on, you have a dealer issue, not a manufacturer problem. It's easy to pass the buck and say "we don't have approval". Sure it's easy to say that what they've probably never even asked for it!!!

I agree. I was highly frustrated with Forest River when I bought my first new trailer 18 months ago (I'd had 3 used trailers). Long story to short, I determined that my dealership service department personnel, while very likable, were entirely inefficient. I got some FR people involved and things got better BUT the dealership still didn't fix everything... they made excuses about some, I fixed some, and FR technicians at the 2015 Goshen rally fixed some. When I got home, Elkhart Parts and Service paid a closer/better dealership to install slide-out toppers for me.

[sam2424]

I bought the unit from Tom Rapers in Richmand, Indiana (which is the biggest RV dealerships in mid-west) Then Camping World bought Tom Raper's after Tom died. But never the less, I had same problem with a Chevy I bought from one dealer and wanted work done at a different dealer. The second dealer told me to take it back to where I bought it. Final result was 2nd dealer fixed it and service manager was fired on the spot for refusing warrenty work. So you might be right, dealer being the problem. My question is how do I finally get it fixed?

[RSchleder]

Contact the RV manufacturer's warranty/customer service dept. Explain the situation and ask them to get in involved? Perhaps they can find a more reliable dealer for you to work with to get your issues promptly and correctly fixed! Although it is frustrating, getting some help from the manufacturer and the right dealer and before you know it, "the sun will come out"! Best of luck.

[whj77372]

I got a new Wildcat 327 ck in February 2015 and when I called Camping World, Houston,
Texas, for some minor warranty work they set an appointment to bring it in thirty days and when I did they asked when I needed it and I told the three weeks from then they said OK. I bought it from this Camping World and they had it ready one day before I needed it. Good Luck

[jeffrapp]

I have a Coachmen Prism 24G. I have no complaints with overall construction, but, like everyone else, I have had a few problems during the warranty period.
My experience with Coachmen dealers has been awful. The one closest to me actually told me they couldn't do warranty work on my unit because the City Council wouldn't let them work on units they didn't sell!
In order to get anything done, I have had to get Coachmen Customer Service involved, usually by having them authorize me to take it to an independent service center, pay for the repairs myself, then get reimbursed by FR. It's time consuming, awkward, and, I imagine, expensive for FR.
My question is why does this work like this? Why don't the dealers want to do warranty work? I expect it has something to do with money. Any ideas?

[B and B]

Sounds like the same old story told here many times. I buy from dealer XXX because they saved me $1500 or $3000. Now the trailer has issues and I go to the local dealer expecting them to fix my good deal cause the selling dealer is 12 hr drive away. Let the buyer beware. The Forest River site say there to Buy Local.

[Philly]

I had the same problem with my dealer on my new 2016 Avenger. They took care of a couple minor problems but then said they had to charge me for the repairs because they didn't use any parts and they needed to get paid for their time. After contacting Forest River they reimbursed my money. The manufacturer must not pay the same rate as the dealer would normally charge. When I spoke with Forest River they said my dealer never turned in any warranty claims for my TT.

[Renderspud]

We've been in a similar dilemma. My wife and I bought a 2016 Surveyor 240RBS in August and after a couple shake down trips we found a few problems. Some we fixed ourselves, some were issues that needed new parts from Forest River. All were relatively minor.

What we discovered is that the dealer we bought from (Camping World Meridian) is a disorganized mess.

Forest River, on the other hand, has been punctual and efficient.

It took us awhile to figure out where the bottle neck was. We now know that it's imperative to get the REAL information from Forest River concerning actual authorizations and submission dates. The information that Camping World had been giving us was a complete fabrication. I think they just made up dates to not look inept.

I've also found that peppering the service reps at our dealer with voice mails (because you NEVER get an actual person) and with lots of impromptu visits can help to keep them somewhat on target. I try to stay nice and polite...even tho that's been a challenge sometimes.

Anyway, it has definitely been an eye opening experience. We are getting things resolved, slowly but surely. I'm sure you will too! Hang in there and good luck.

[Camper John]

I'm not sure that all of this problem with warranty is dealer related. I blame the mfg. also. If you call/email the mfg. and get no response it all falls back on the mfg. In my case the dealer (Happy Trails RV) told me I would have to transport the RV to Sierra to get my slide fixed. After talking to another dealer I found a FR Authorized repair shop. They agreed to fix it locally. After over 30 days they called to tell me it was ready and asked for my credit card number to process the charges ($4800.00). It took 9 calls to Sierra to get them to call the dealer with payment arrangements. I now have additional issues and the dealer wants no part of my "Nit picking" as he calls it. I personally wouldn't call an unstable patio deck, furniture coming unstitched and a loose center island in the kitchen area "nit picking". The FR rep has done nothing but restock this dealer with more product. It's a joint venture not a one sided venture.

[poorbuthappy]

Originally Posted by B and B

Sounds like the same old story told here many times. I buy from dealer XXX because they saved me $1500 or $3000. Now the trailer has issues and I go to the local dealer expecting them to fix my good deal cause the selling dealer is 12 hr drive away. Let the buyer beware. The Forest River site say there to Buy Local.

I bought from the closest dealer to me, five hours away. I looked at every review I could find on the Internet , not a single dealer in western Washington has better than three stars on yelp, pissed consumer, has a handful of rants for every dealer as well.

It must be nice to have one of these mythical "good dealers". I think it's more of an issue with the industry, saying f u to the consumers, where else you going to go?

I get the feeling most "loyal customers" are some way connected financially to one of the involved companies.

[Murph69]

Camping World island Lake, IL is terrible also. They have had my trailer for a month and still not ready. But the real sad part is the total lack of quality control at forest river. They slap these things together so fast with very little regard for quality. When my trailer falls apart, we are just going to buy a vacation home.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by B and B

Sounds like the same old story told here many times. I buy from dealer XXX because they saved me $1500 or $3000. Now the trailer has issues and I go to the local dealer expecting them to fix my good deal cause the selling dealer is 12 hr drive away. Let the buyer beware. The Forest River site say there to Buy Local.

I agree!

[jeffrapp]

Originally Posted by TURBS

I agree!

TURBS, I notice that you have thousands of posts on this forum. I assume you therefore have more than a casual interest in these subjects.
I also note that you are a vigilant defender of FR.
I assume you know a lot more about these issues than us civilians.
It seems obvious to me that there is a real problem with obtaining warranty work on RV's, and not only on FR products. There is often a disconnect between what the manufacturers offer, and what the dealers provide. This isn't imaginary, nor limited to a few "complainers".
My experience has been that I love my Prism, and I can't say enough good things about Ron Ross, and previously Dan, at Coachmen Customer Service. My issue is why do I and others have to go to special lengths to get warranty work done and paid for, rather than it just being a routine transaction?
You would do all of us FR owners a great service by simply explaining this in simple terms, rather than always reflexively defending FR.
I write these posts in hope that FR (and other RV manufacturers) will do something to improve their warranty service, not to win an argument. My unit is now out of warranty, so the issue is no longer personal for me.

[TURBS]

Any warranty work I have had done on three seperate forest river units has been handled promptly and to my satisfaction @ my local dealer from which I purchased all three units from.

I have been befriended by my contacts @ forest river through phone calls, emails, this forum and by person to person meetings which have all helped resolve any issues I've ever had.
I've had work done @ the goshen rally several times and met wonderful people that readily hand out contact info and was told to call if I needed help.
Loudly bitching and threatening lawsuits rarely helps.
There's a fairly large forest river employee presence on this forum, some make it known some remain in the shadows.
Every forest river representative I've came in contact with has made me feel good about my continued "vigilant defense" for forest river.

We've seen or heard many times that dealers blame forest river for wrong parts or no contact , which is funny because I can order obsolete brackets for my unit and have them in three days.

I think establishing contacts with your brand helps tremendously!

I just had a contact @ columbus call me to see how I was getting along with my new unit which doesn't surprise me since I've started a good relationship with many people there already.

"You can catch more flys with honey then vinegar"

[KMP44]

Originally Posted by jeffrapp

It seems obvious to me that there is a real problem with obtaining warranty work on RV's, and not only on FR products. There is often a disconnect between what the manufacturers offer, and what the dealers provide. This isn't imaginary, nor limited to a few "complainers".
My experience has been that I love my Prism, and I can't say enough good things about Ron Ross, and previously Dan, at Coachmen Customer Service. My issue is why do I and others have to go to special lengths to get warranty work done and paid for, rather than it just being a routine transaction?

Based on the shear volume of complaints, there does indeed seem to be issues - but wouldn't say that is always the case. Before our warranty expired, I took our trailer in 3 times for warranty issues. 1st time was at the end of season one. I made a list of 14 items, all of which were minor things, then geared up for a battle when I was accused of "nit-picking." The service writer wrote it all down said they'd look at it. I asked if I could actually show the tech what I was talking about and she said sure. I went through it all, he said OK, and I left it there. 2 weeks later everything fixed, no questions, no charge. Went back 2 more times the next year, same result and the dealer went out of their way to make sure we didn't miss any trips.

With some of the issues the OP listed, like loose trim, my experience is when the dealer submits these they get approved within a day. Routine transaction. Major issues is probably a different story, and I'm sure there are delays sometimes, but based on my experience at 2 dealers - one excellent one horrible - I think a lot of these issues are dealer related. The dealer might not like the reimbursement rate from FR, but every item we submitted with the current trailer was approved in 1-2 days.

And why the manufacturer's don't tighten up their dealer network is another topic, but if you rip a car dealer on a satisfaction survey its a big deal to the manufacturer. RV manufacturer's don't even ask your opinion of the dealer you bought from much less do anything about poor customer service by dealers.

[markb5900]

I can only say that I have two FR trailers. Had issues with both.
Same dealer, fixed them ALL with no issues.
It is the DEALER that causes the problems.
I have an FR dealer within 5 miles, and he was honest and told me he would NOT do warranty work if it wasn't bought from his dealership because he couldn't get paid from FR for it.
The ONLY manufacturer that REQUIRES their dealers to work on trailers that are not purchased from them is Jayco.
So I take my trailer 80 miles for the warranty work, they do a GREAT job.
But it comes back to buyer beware and understanding that dealers have to make money also.

[dieselguy]

I fear some of you beating the drum to buy local are somewhat resisting changing with the times. My local dealer seems to think he has a captive audience of RV'ers and it's his price or the highway. I as well as others have taken the highway. Now days it's just too easy to surf the web, contact multiple dealers, and get a better deal started long distance. Buying out of town and having saved $8658 with trade on my current unit, I can easily drive several hundred miles a few times to get warranty work done on it and still be way ahead.
As for warranty work itself ... my current experience is FR has sent the wrong color or damaged wood to repair my cabinets 3 separate times ... I've seen the pile grow at the dealer so I'm not just quoting what the dealers runs by me. One cabinet door that was shipped had a knot hole in it that the knot fell out and you could almost pass a pencil thru it ... why would the factory blow shipping costs on this sad example?