Forest River Let Down

[forstonc]

Well I just wanted to post some frustration on here. I'm sure you all get tired of hearing it, but here goes.
We purchased our Forest River Wildwood in August 2008 (less than a year ago). When it began getting cooler, we tried using the heater for the first time. It did not work. We noticed the small fuse was blown. I replaced the fuse and turned electric back on, only to see a flash and the same fuse blown again. I tried one more time (as if anything different would happen) and yep, surprise it happened again.

We made calls to the dealership we bought it from, about 1 1/2 hours away. They had closed down, due to the current economy. Now the closest one is about 2 1/2 hours away. We were told when we bought it that anyone local Forest River service place could do repairs through warranty. We were also told that the repairs would be billed directly through the warranty, we would not have to pay first and then submit claim. Now we have been told that we have to pay the bill first, and then submit the claim to be reinbursed. They said this is because the dealerships have all complained that service people are taking money out of the dealerships pockets and that this is to try to put money back in the dealers pockets. So now the sales pitch we were given is just changed at the discression of the dealers. I wonder what ever happened to customer service. If they want their repair people to do the work, then they should do the driving. It would be cheaper for them. We were told so many lies. We were even told that they would tow our camper if we were in the middle of a trip and something happened. What a crock.

I'll be sure and spread the news of Forest Rivers dissappointments.

Don't count on dealers being honest these days. No wonder they have gone out of business.

[blamkin86]

>> Now we have been told that we have to pay the bill first, and then submit the claim to be reinbursed.

I don't know the dealer, but I can say, in my experience, that Forest River caused this heartache for me.

In fact, my dealer was quite up front and honest, saying FR finds interesting ways to deny warranty claims - and that if they did, I'd have to pay the bill.

See my thread a few below this for details. In short, FR has lost my business.

[NWJeeper]

Don't know how much experience either of you have with RV warranty issues but this is not isolated to just FR. You will find this of almost all RV manufacturers. If you hang out over at RV.net at all you will see the same gripes about any brand out there.

In the world of RVs you pay your money you take your chances. If you get authorization from FR to take your rig to a non-FR shop for work then expect to pay the bill up front, that's the way it works.

As far as I am concerned I don't want anyone messing with my rig even under warranty, thank you very much but I do not trust any dealer or shop in the RV industry to know how to fix these rigs.

The few warranty issues we have had in the first 8 months of ownership with our Georgetown have been handled without our rig ever leaving my garage. The gentleman at FR was more than happy to send me the parts (in this case a new TV and a wood grate over the furnace intake) and let me install them myself.

Also realize that if it is a component item such as a refrigerator, furnace, AC unit, microwave, etc. fails to work then those items are covered by their own warranties and have nothing to do with the RV manufacturer regardless of make. Any shop that is a warranty repair facility for your furnace should be able to do the work under warranty. In our case our Amana Microwave quit working after the 1st 3 months. I didn't get mad at FR they didn't make the microwave. I called the local Amana repair shop, they sent out a technician and he fixed the oven right there in my garage, no hassle.

RVs and their warranties do not work like cars do and most RV owners would do well to learn this fact preferably before they buy an RV.

Sorry to hear of your problems and frustrations but I think your beef is with Suburban the maker of the furnace not FR unless FR did something wrong in the installation which doesn't sound like the case from what you have described.

[KyDan]

Originally Posted by NWJeeper

Also realize that if it is a component item such as a refrigerator, furnace, AC unit, microwave, etc. fails to work then those items are covered by their own warranties... I think your beef is with Suburban the maker of the furnace not FR unless FR did something wrong in the installation which doesn't sound like the case from what you have described.

What he said!! Don't let this ruin your enjoyment of your new camper/motorhome!! Get out your pack of manuals and find the one
for your heater. Look up the 800 number for tech support or warranty
work and call them. Let them tell you where to take it.
It's also possible you have something as simple as a pinched wire in
the furnace.
Another forum member had your exact same problem last winter as I recall.
He took it in for service and they found a pinched igniter wire or something
easy and he was back in business.

If you go around bad mouthing your new motorhome what good is that
going to do you?? Get it fixed and enjoy it!!
I've had 4 trailers over the years. 3 of them new. There were minor
bugs in all of them.
Dealers and manufacturers are going belly up every day.

Sheesh, GM is on the brink.

The dealer that says "sure, bring it in and we'll fix it and it won't cost
you a penny" is going to become like the passenger pigeon very soon.....

Happy Camping!!!!!!!!!

[dredger]

Call Johnathan , FR customer service@ 574-642-5166

[blamkin86]

Honestly I wish I'd known that calling FR and getting parts sent was an option -I'm certainly capable of replacing the busted converter.

Just to be clear, not kicking anyone when they're down - FR broke the converter when they installed it before it left the factory. They denied my claim, because they say the original dealer should have caught the problem - which I suppose would have saved them what the repair shop wanted for the claim.

Additionally, my furnace was installed incorrectly. That I did fix myself. The furnace box was jammed into its housing, and torqued over... causing the sail switch to get caught on an internal surface. Easy to fix with a couple shims in the right place.

Both of these problems were clearly caused by FR.

I know this is the internet, and it's mainly complaining and I'm doing some.

I also am enjoying my trailer and not dumb enough to dump it just to buy another one.

But, in this case, FR actually caused both my issues and did not stand by me when they had the chance to.

Luckily for everyone I'm out of warranty now and will likely fix any new issues that come up on my own.

I do appreciate the sentiment of enjoying the thing - and I do. But it's equally inaccurate to say FR has no part in the problem, when they certainly were the only problem.

[KyDan]

Nice screen name. Hope you change that one day.

Is your "cedar creek product" a new or used unit.
What type parts are you ordering and are you staying in contact with them???
Are you having trouble getting the parts because they aren't sure what you need
or is the bottle neck on their end. Are you SURE they know exactly what you need.
What are they saying about the delay?
Have you been in contact with them lately?? By phone?

Glad you got a chance to vent but the squeaky hinge gets the oil AND you'll catch
more flies with honey than vinegar.
2 sayings from my dear old granny that apply here and lots of places in life.
In other words keep after them and if one person on the other end seems to be
a problem ask to speak to someone else!