Updated Forest River Contacts Please?

[GPs37FLH]

I've done an initial search of the forums this morning for an updated phone and email list for Forest River contacts. The only posts I've found so far include a 16-page PDF list of contact information, but it appears to be several years old. The contact names, numbers and email addresses are likely no longer valid. Can anyone please point me to where a more current list can be had?

Specifically, I'm trying to get help from the Sabre Parts Department. Eight months ago to the day my rig was involved in a minor accident. The resulting damage requires the entire back cap of my RV to be replaced with a new one. One was ordered by a FR Authorized Dealer, but after continuous attempts are not getting any responses from FR Parts on when, or if the back cap will be shipping anytime soon.

I understand the RV demand and parts shortages are still continuing, but I also know inventories are either catching up or have caught up to demand, and parts shortages are not what they were last year. Consequently, I feel waiting patiently for 8 months is long enough and believe I now need to get involved to get answers from them, good or bad, in order to move this repair along to conclusion.

Anyone with an updated list, or names, numbers, email addresses of current contacts that they can share with me would be much appreciated.

[GPs37FLH]

Ok, so I was able to get through to Forest River Sabre Parts yesterday. I'm currently working with Stacey who's contact info is below. I was pleasantly surprised how quickly she responded to my inquiries and emails.

Thought I would pass this along to anyone needing such a contact for help with parts on their Sabre's.


Stacey Greene
Forest River Sabre Parts & Owner Relations Rep
PHONE:260-499-2100
sgreene@forestriverinc.com

[Capacitor]

Did she give you an answer to your question?

[GPs37FLH]

She's been very responsive so far, but I'm trying to get her a parts order number from the dealership that's getting the part. She's been very willing to help me track down where the part order is at in their queue and when its scheduled to ship.

[Larry-NC]

Maybe find one here.

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by Larry-NC

Maybe find one here.

Many thanks for that, Larry! Definitely something I didn't think about, nor did the place that's doing the repairs for me. Although my unit is newer than most, it's still possible it could be sourced this way. Good thing with my RV is an exterior rear cap from a 2021 or 2022 model would work too, as they've not changed that part of the RV since it was first introduced in 2020.

[Larry-NC]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

Many thanks for that, Larry! Definitely something I didn't think about, nor did the place that's doing the repairs for me. Although my unit is newer than most, it's still possible it could be sourced this way. Good thing with my RV is an exterior rear cap from a 2021 or 2022 model would work too, as they've not changed that part of the RV since it was first introduced in 2020.

The link I sent was the first one I found. There are many more salvage yards than it leads to. Just put RV Salvage yard into your search engine and start calling/emailing. May need to find someone with a flatbed to help transport it though.

[GPs37FLH]

Just another follow-up on this. Below is yet another person which has been so helpful and very responsive to the frustration I've been experiencing with trying to get this camper repaired. Highly recommend her for any help with Sabre RV's.

Between her and Stacey Greene, they've been more than helpful in moving this issue along to resolution over the last few days. Nice to know Forest River has some good folks willing to help owners no matter what.


Cheyenne Clark
Owner Relations Representative
Forest River, Inc.,
Sabre Division
PHONE:260-499-2100

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by Capacitor

Did she give you an answer to your question?

So, after lots of emails from both Stacey and Cheyenne offering their assistance, today we finally had a break through on this, with both of their help.

It appears the problem all along was not with Forest River, nor my repair shop, but instead with the dealership (like I should be surprised by this). Turns out Campers Inn took the order and money from the repair shop doing my work, but never bothered to order the part from Forest River.

For the last 8 months, my RV repair guy's been regularly calling Campers Inn about shipping status of the part, but getting no other response but "its on order and we have no update on when it will be shipping". Stacey and Cheyenne proactively contacted the dealership's Parts Manager on my behalf to get to the bottom of this today. Only after this all went down did I find out the order was never placed.

My repair guy also kept getting a response from the dealership that it was a 10 to 12 week delivery lead time to get this back cap from Forest River. He got this same response when he called them again earlier today.

Cheyenne emailed me not too long ago that they were in direct contact with Campers Inn's Parts Manager and said the part order would be expedited and shipping by next week.

For all the horror stories I've read on this forum about Forest River's non-existent customer service and support, they really stepped up to the plate and surprised the hell outta me!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

It appears the problem all along was not with Forest River, nor my repair shop, but instead with the dealership (like I should be surprised by this). Turns out Campers Inn took the order and money from the repair shop doing my work, but never bothered to order the part from Forest River.

This is usually the problem, not the manufacturer. RV dealers love to put the blame on the manufacturer, to deflect the customer's anger. It a very common tactic to cover their incompetence.
RV manufacturers do deserve some blame for quality issues but for this type of scenario, the dealer is usually at fault.
The number of posts I've seen, where the dealer never ordered the part or submitted a warranty repair authorization, are in the hundreds, maybe thousands.

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by bikendan

This is usually the problem, not the manufacturer. RV dealers love to put the blame on the manufacturer, to deflect the customer's anger. It a very common tactic to cover their incompetence.
RV manufacturers do deserve some blame for quality issues but for this type of scenario, the dealer is usually at fault.
The number of posts I've seen, where the dealer never ordered the part or submitted a warranty repair authorization, are in the hundreds, maybe thousands.

I hate dealerships.....more than anything, their service and parts departments. It seems the incompetence level sinks to levels you'd think were impossible.

In 2020 I took my RV in to CampingWorld to fix stuff under warranty because that's where I bought it. More than half of what they "repaired" wasn't done right after two trips back and forth. Frustrated, I ended up doing the remaining repair work myself and haven't any problems since. In the inimitable words of Bill Engvall, "here's yer sign".

According to my repair shop owner, they told him on three occasions when he called to get order status for the part that the person he dealt with before quit. Had to explain to the replacement what was ordered all over again each time, and then they had no idea what to do to find the order. "We'll have the Parts Manager call you back" was their answer.....Nope!

I'm totally kicking myself for not seeing these warning signs months or weeks ago that this was likely the source of the problem. Could've had my RV repaired and back a long, long time ago.

[rracer5]

Usually once you get in contact with the manufacturer, that's when you find out that they know nothing about an issue because the dealership never contacted/ordered anything. Either the dealership waits to submit a "bulk" order to save on shipping cost or the parts person just simply drops the ball. Apparently this is a VERY common problem from dealership to dealership for reasons that escape comprehension. How can that be?

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by rracer5

Usually once you get in contact with the manufacturer, that's when you find out that they know nothing about an issue because the dealership never contacted/ordered anything. Either the dealership waits to submit a "bulk" order to save on shipping cost or the parts person just simply drops the ball. Apparently this is a VERY common problem from dealership to dealership for reasons that escape comprehension. How can that be?

It very well could've been they waited to order to save some on the shipping cost. I know to ship an external back cap that's probably an 8ft x 10ft single fiberglass piece, it'd have to be special shipped by large truck and probably cost several hundred to do it. But, it took 'em 8 months to build a bulk part order? I don't buy that excuse. The more likely explanation is they initially did hold the order to save on shipping and make more profit on the sale, but then the Parts Manager just forgot to place the order.

[rracer5]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

It very well could've been they waited to order to save some on the shipping cost. I know to ship an external back cap that's probably an 8ft x 10ft single fiberglass piece, it'd have to be special shipped by large truck and probably cost several hundred to do it. But, it took 'em 8 months to build a bulk part order? I don't buy that excuse. The more likely explanation is they initially did hold the order to save on shipping and make more profit on the sale, but then the Parts Manager just forgot to place the order.

[lazyjj]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

So, after lots of emails from both Stacey and Cheyenne offering their assistance, today we finally had a break through on this, with both of their help.

It appears the problem all along was not with Forest River, nor my repair shop, but instead with the dealership (like I should be surprised by this). Turns out Campers Inn took the order and money from the repair shop doing my work, but never bothered to order the part from Forest River.

For the last 8 months, my RV repair guy's been regularly calling Campers Inn about shipping status of the part, but getting no other response but "its on order and we have no update on when it will be shipping". Stacey and Cheyenne proactively contacted the dealership's Parts Manager on my behalf to get to the bottom of this today. Only after this all went down did I find out the order was never placed.


My repair guy also kept getting a response from the dealership that it was a 10 to 12 week delivery lead time to get this back cap from Forest River. He got this same response when he called them again earlier today.

Cheyenne emailed me not too long ago that they were in direct contact with Campers Inn's Parts Manager and said the part order would be expedited and shipping by next week.

For all the horror stories I've read on this forum about Forest River's non-existent customer service and support, they really stepped up to the plate and surprised the hell outta me!

I feel your pain. I noticed a couple of blisters near the top and ripples along the bottom of the rear exterior wall on our 5ver that we purchased new January of last year. The defect did not show until late August of 21. I immediately emailed Forest River had a response very quickly. Took to dealer in September for them to evaluate, and they decided the back wall should be replaced. So the saga began. Our new wall finally arrived at the Dealership late January but they couldn't get me in until February 22. This Monday will be 3 weeks to replace the back wall. However, I learned that the back wall and the rear interior wall are built together as one. They have the wall removed but they are moving slow getting the job competed. I don't want to rush them as this needs to be done correctly, but the factory rep told me the other day that he has watched two guys complete this same job in two to four hours at the plant.

[GPs37FLH]

For as much as this has been a negative and frustrating experience, I'm glad my back cap is being replaced. When the accident occurred, we were examining the damage to the RV and could see inside the passenger side wall since it was peeled back several inches. At the very bottom corner of the wall we found some of the wood wall supports black with mold and wet. Those corner pieces were wrapped with some type of weather shield, but it was soaked too.

We did pull the damaged wall back a little further to examine other nearby areas for evidence of water intrusion. Didn't see anything indicating water affected areas higher up on that side of the wall. My guess is when its rains, the water drips down the exterior of the back wall to the bottom and corners of the RV, then the water is wicking backwards over that weather shield wrap and then into the wood in that corner.

The repair shop and I are eager to remove the damaged cap and see if any other interior water damage is there. When he goes to repair the water damaged wood, he told me he's going to use pressure treated lumber to rebuild the back cap wall supports.