Warranty work and dealer services

TheBelchers · 08-08-2015, 08:44 AM

Good morning, just returned from lake George which was fantastic! Had a problem with the outside shower on my 2015 2318g leaking. I called my local dealer and explained to him it is still under warranty and could he take a look at it and how long to repair etc. he asked me 4 times in my 5 minute conversation if I bought the pop up from his dealership. I told him ,no but he is my closest FR dealer (1hr) and asked if he could take care of it. He told me he would not do warranty work on my pup cuz I didn't buy it there but he would fix it for $250. By installing a new one. I contacted FR and they told me they cannot control the dealership who sell their products to do warranty work. He also told me that the price for the repair depending on shop costs was reasonable. Long story short, I ordered a new shower kit for $12.95 and replaced it myself in about 20 min........I can't imagine if I had a real warranty or major issue with my pup. I was disappointed in the lack of service provided by the dealership but more so by the lack of support I got from FR. I hope the people with the crinkled roof have a better experience.

I also agree that FR and pop ups etc are not just a starter or should be of lesser quality than the big rigs. With families and the cost of things in the world today, for the purpose of which we use our camper (to get away from society) it is wonderful but I pay hard earned dollars for it and I would expect they manuf would put the same hard work and quality into their products

MrDan · 08-08-2015, 09:10 AM

Why not publish the name of that dealer so we can avoid him?
As for quality, I think all RV's share the same quality issues. Glad you were able to fix it yourself.
I've noticed a lot of dealers aren't even carrying popups. What is discouraging to me is that the character of the campgrounds are changing. By that I mean the parks i used to enjoy are becoming unpleasant because everyone there has a monster rig jammed into a little spot that was designed for tenting or popup camping many years ago. Worse, the park workers allow multiple vehicles, boats, etc alongside the big-foot trailers so that all the space in the campsite is completely covered. As a result, the campgrounds have lost their charm, and look more like RV shows. Guess I should have put this rant in its own post!!

TheBelchers · 08-08-2015, 10:35 AM

Name of the dealer is Longview RV in CT. They were rude and inconsiderate. I would never buy an rv from them

TheBelchers · 08-08-2015, 10:42 AM

As for the campgrounds I'd agree.... Lot more rv peeps. But what disturbs me are the seasonal campers who just pile their garbage and other crap around their sites. Living like hobo's letting stuff rot on their campsites

f5moab · 08-08-2015, 10:48 AM

It is more common than not with any trailer. FR does not have the same type of contracts as car/truck dealers do with their dealers.

However, I will say that FR is quick to reimburse.

I purchased my Flagstaff in Denver and had to have a new winch motor installed after the first use. So, I took it to a FR dealer in Grand Junction CO, who no longer sold popups but still serviced popups and they replaced the power winch.

I scanned in the paid bill from the GJ dealer, emailed it to FR and had a check in a week or two.

Just the way it works....

gskill · 08-08-2015, 11:46 AM

I also had warrantee issues with my 2015 TT and when I attempted to get service from a dealer I received the same response. "we didn't sell the vehicle so we won't work on it" I made the assumption that since the auto industry honors their products at their dealerships that the RV manufacturer would be the same. Well, I received an education after my purchase. The closest dealership was 150 miles away who would perform the work. You can imagine how cumbersome it was to drive 150 miles twice, once to diagnose the problem and again to do the repairs after approval and parts were obtained. Recently I spoke to FR warrantee department and was informed that they had repair facilities through out the country ( non-dealerships) and found eight in my area.

My suggestion to all is to call FR first to find out where repairs can be made.

mgmalm · 08-08-2015, 11:55 AM

We've been having same problem with warranty work. Only had our 5th wheel 4 Mos and the tv antenna quit and there have been some other minor but irritating issues with water leaks on the exterior latch doors. Purchased from a dealer 5 hrs away because no one sold what we wanted local. Now local FR dealer has told us same story. Didn't buy from them they can't help. There needs to be changes in the RV industry because they aren't cheap and then you can't get repairs. We've been trying for over a month to get FR to help and so far we're still without service options. Ridiculous.

lckeehne · 08-08-2015, 12:00 PM

I purchase my FR 5'er from discount Rv in banning CA. Had several warranty issues. Even though they were a FR dealer the work was terrible. I found J&L RV REPAIR in Fontana CA. TOP NOTCH repairs. They did a walk-through and found more warranty items. Called FR and got authorization to repair. I will never go back to dealership ever, especially to buy another rig from them.

JLeising · 08-08-2015, 12:21 PM

My experience, now three years dated, was similar to that of Ickeehne. I found a local RV repair shop which seemed much more skilled and responsive than the dealer. Forest River reimbursed me for the repairs, and for parts I bought and installed myself for other minor warranty issues.
My thoughts on this - dealers are focused on sales, and see service as a necessary evil and an expense to be minimized. As a result, their (typically understaffed and minimally trained/experienced) service departments are mediocre or worse. Independent repair facilities are dependent on their service work for all of their income. If they don't hire, train and retain qualified and knowledgeable personnel they go out of business. Internet and social media reports identify their strengths and weaknesses quickly.
I'm sure there are some good dealer service facilities out there - but, I found, not near me!

strat56 · 08-08-2015, 12:24 PM

I'm not defending the dealers, just presenting a different POV on this.

Is a camper like a car or a house?

I think it's much more like a house than a car. If you buy a new house and you have issues you have to go the builder that built your house and sold it to you to have them solved. I wouldn't expect builder B who has no relationship with builder A to take care of builder A's warranty issues, even if they sold the exact same house with the exact same materials in it. Would you?

Just sharing a thought, don't really expect to change anyone's mind about anything.

f5moab · 08-08-2015, 12:38 PM

Well, if compared to a house and a builder, I would expect FR to come out to my driveway and fix it!

Never owned one, but I would assume mobile homes are fixed onsite vs. being towed back to a dealer.

But I will say, the dealer I purchased from in Denver; Roberts Sales, told me I might have to pay for warranty work performed unless brought back to him. I accepted that. However, he did understand I was driving over from SE UT and that is pretty much a day drive to Denver. An honest dealer, should note the warranty work problem to anyone, unless they are local.

However, in my case for the winch motor, it was a Flagstaff dealer who no longer sold popups. I originally called a Rockwood dealer in GJ, and he flat out refused to work on my trailer; even though I was to pay cash for the repair.

gfritz1939 · 08-08-2015, 12:48 PM

We bought a 2014 FR3 30 DS last year from Lewis RV in Dayton, OH and they have been great at handling problems with the RV. I was on the forum a couple of months ago with our problem of the motorhome losing RPMs and how Ford couldnt fiind the problem. Long story short, it's fixed now but while it was in the Ford trucking repair shop, our dealer called and kept tabs on what was going on with it. We had to have one of the slides repaired at a different dealer and had no problems getting the work completed. Travis Bird from Forest River customer service has been very helpful in our dealings with Ford and even got Ford to reimburse us for some of the gas we used in our many trips to the repair shop over a two month period. So no complaints from us re the dealer.

Rvdixie · 08-08-2015, 02:09 PM

IMHO the reason FR was so quick and willing to reimburse for the parts and work you performed is that they didn't have to pay for the parts mark-up to the dealer nor more importantly the $80.00 to $100.00 labor rate. It is far less expensive for them to do it this way. Always follow the money.

txredfish · 08-08-2015, 02:31 PM

A few years ago, I owned a Newmar motorhome at a dealer in Indiana. Drove down to Rockport, TX and needed some warranty work. Went to Hoover RV which is a Newmar dealer, but did not purchase from them. They got the approval from Newmar, no problem. They fixed the problems. I had a couple more warranty items after that and was repaired by Hoover. I remembered that. A few months ago, I purchased a Forest River travel trailer from Hoover RV because of the good service they gave me before. I wish that Newmar build a travel trailer. Much, much better quality than the TT. I think that it depends on the reimbursement amount provided by the manufacturer to the dealer. Some manufacturers reimburse very little and some reimburse the dealer a fair amount.

Tiggerdad · 08-08-2015, 03:43 PM

Dealers have no incentive to perform warranty work. The vast majority of posts about warranty work is about dealers not wanting to do work on units not bought from them. One can only imagine how many units are not returned to the selling dealer because of distance. This forces many to perform the work themselves or hire a RV repair service. Dealers win. Many don't return to selling dealers because of distance. RV manufacturers win because they can't force the dealers to do anything. IMO, they don't want to force dealers to do anything.. Manufacturers save money by not repairing and dealer doesn't have to hire more to perform the work. Owners are stuck with this problem.

**bikendan** · 08-08-2015, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gskill

I made the assumption that since the auto industry honors their products at their dealerships that the RV manufacturer would be the same. Well, I received an education after my purchase.

^^^THIS!
many RV buyers make this assumption and the two industries couldn't be more different.
the only thing they have in common, is that they sell things on wheels, at dealerships.

we bought our HTT from a dealer 2000 miles away. i had found out from the 3 local Rockwood Roo dealers that they would not do the warranty work if i bought from someone else.
before we purchased it, i contacted the Roo rep for what my options were for warranty work.
he gave a number of other dealers that WOULD do the warranty work, even if i didn't buy from them.
he also said, that as long as i got pre-approval, i could take it to an independent RV shop and get reimbursed.
never had any issues getting warranty work done locally, during the two years of the factory warranty.

jking46 · 08-08-2015, 04:06 PM

Another take on this warranty thing. Put yourself in the dealers position. A customer bypasses their dealership and buys a unit from a store 500 miles away because they saved a grand , then takes it to the "local" guy for warranty work. Seems to me the dealer has a right to deny work. Should be his choice. On the other hand, his decision to deny service could very well alienate a potential future customer. Again, his choice.

jeffrapp · 08-08-2015, 05:36 PM

All these dealer complaints are par for the course. The RV industry is not like the auto industry. Dealers are not obligated to provide service.
The interesting thing to me is that Forest River provides a warranty, then depends on dealers to provide the service, but finding a dealer who will do it is problematic. Someone with more time and interest than I should look into this obvious disconnect.
Regarding the comparison to the housing industry, I think it is illogical. The dealer didn't build the RV, Forest River did. Not the same analogy as asking home builder A to fix home builder B's problems.
Lastly, I don't necessarily agree with the statement that dealers don't like to provide service. If they didn't, why are there so many that do, and so many independent service centers? They must make some money from their business.
Perhaps the reason is that FR (and other manufacturers) don't pay enough for warranty work. Any ideas out there about this?

magpi26 · 08-08-2015, 06:09 PM

strat, So, if you contract to have a house built and it is damaged or problems develop and you file aninsurance claim, are you saying one would have to use the original builder or do the repairs yourself?

magpi26 · 08-08-2015, 06:19 PM

This is just one more example of how screwed-up the U.S. RV industry is today. They are operating in a 1960s mode like many U.S. industries that are now gone and the jobs went overseas. In my opinion, there is a tremendous opportunity for someone to create a business that sells subscriptions for surveys of RV manufacturers and dealers in terms of consumer satisfaction and quality control.

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