Do you feel Forest River stands behind products?

[Mitzi'sMom]

We are thinking of buying a Forest River Cardinal fifth-wheel. Those of you that own Forest River units.....do you feel they service what they sell? We thought this would be a good place to find out!
Thanks for any information you can help us with!

[MRimmer]

Welcome to FRF and I can't be much help on this as I have never had a problem other than self inflected.

I do think that the dealer is the biggest part of what you are asking. Bad unit at a good dealer can be fixed easily with good customer satisfaction. Great unit with one problem at a bad dealer can be very bad experience imo.

I am no expert and just adding my 2 cents here.

Thanks, Mike

[Hokiehall]

I have never had to deal directly with Forest River. I have a very good dealer that stands behind the products he sells and he goes to bat for his customers. That is what you really need is a good dealer that will do that for you if needed.

[HOWIE BEDELL]

Ditto

[wildwood]

I have had good dealers and poor dealers. The dealer can eliminate or amplify/sustain frustration when trying to resolve issues.

If I measure dealer response by email response , FR has been excellent and my dealer has been poor initially, and somewhat improved recently. I havent had to ask either to do much warranty support. I have a couple items currently so I may be able to respond soon regarding warranty support. fortunately we dont have any major issues, just some minor nuisance issues. the camper works well. The main problem we have had on our recent purchase is the dealer made some promises they didnt follow thru on, ladder installation for example. I am working with FR and another dealer now to see if they can coordinate the ladder installation. FR has been helpful so far answering questions, hope it works out.

I agree, check up on the dealer before purchase, confirm in writing what you expect them to provide before purchase, and hopefully you will have a positive experience and get what you expected. Oh well it is just a piece of metal or figerglass and nothing to really worry about, we need to enjoy life and dont worry, and dont let circumstances affect us, life is too short to worry about campers anyway. spending time with our family and friends and investing time with them is much more important.

It is nice to be able to talk with people on FRF , they are really helpful.

Enjoy

[welshman599]

It kinda irritates me how we point fingers at FR for not standing behind their stuff - maybe they do or maybe they don't all the time but name a manufacturer that everyone is satisfied with and I'll buy shares in it. Besides, as said before and as I've pointed out before, a good dealer will take care of you and FR will be a partner in that. That is my experience anyway. On the other hand, a dealer that stands aside and makes you duke it out with the manufacturer should be out of business. The word middleman is supposed to mean more than being in the middle for the sale only.

[wildwood]

Agreed

[rockwood06]

I agree as will, the Dealer should be going after the manufacture in the consumers behalf, after all the dealer is buying from the manufacture direct.

[chaser1217]

i would say yes to forest river standing behind their product, the problem lies in the dealer.if you read my other post in other threads you will find i was p/o at all over the problems .once i got the forest river rep involved. all problems went away.i say buy from your local dealer who should stand up for you

[DXSMac]

I once had to go to a non-authorized dealer (no Forest River dealer where I was at), had to pay up front, Forest River reimbursed within three weeks!

JJ

[MOOCAT]

Winnebago Offers Good Customer Service As Compared To Forrest Rivers. The Service Manuals Are Not The Best, They Are Very Limited In The Information They Offer.
I Found That If You Call The Factory They Will Hook You Up With A Tech That Sometimes Helps You Out.
Example, I Had A Problem With The Emergency Brake, I Could Not Move The Rv. I Called And They Told Me To Take It To The Shop.
I Have Always Been A "hands On" Person And That Didn't Sit Very Well With Me. I Bought The Complete Set Of Manuals For The Rv And A Friend Of Mine Helped Me Repair The Brakes. I Saved About $100.00.
If Your Looking For Good Customer Service, Forrest Rivers Is Not Going To Give It To You.
Good Luck.
Ernest Nunez
Moomoocat@aol,com

[granite]

Dealer said they would send replacement seat back to me on new unit. FR reps called and said they wouldn't send it, had to go back to dealer who is 5 hrs. away. This was a tear on a BRAND NEW unit.

[wildwood]

so far i have had excellent tele response from FR on tech questions. i have talked to some very quality people that were swift to answer tech questions. they also interfaced well with a dealer on my ladder installation to ensure the dealer had drawings and a good understanding of the installation requirements.

regarding replacement on warranty items, i have a table being replaced without hassle currently. I havent had bad dealings with FR. Actually I have had better dealings with them than some dealers.

[Granted]

Are we allowed to have a thread on the Good and bad dealers ?

[Radio]

Originally Posted by Granted

Are we allowed to have a thread on the Good and bad dealers ?

There are forums for good and bad dealers as well as good and bad products. Go to "forums" and scroll down to the bottom of the list. Try to keep your posts as factual as possible to be of the most benifit to others.

[JimChow]

Our experience with FR / dealer was a good one. The dealer missed a tear in the tenting material on our HTT that we caught when we set it up at home. The dealer was able to get it replaced under warraty, but because they had inspected and OK'd the unit when we picked it up we expected a problem. I suppose the influence of the dealer played a big part as they sell a lot of trailers. No matter, we have been happy with both FR and the dealer.