Cedar Creek Warranty Process Changing

[NMWildcat]

I guess you are just having a bad day? From the entirety of this thread, it looks like the ability for you to call Orvan, tell him what's wrong so he can order parts before he sees the unit, and have him fix everything w/o pre-approval, and then FR pays, are over. Now he has to prove the work needs to be done, after he inspects the unit, just like everyone else. Yes, sounds like FR is changing how they do business with regards to warranty overall which affects Orvan and his customers in particular.
And you aren't happy about it and started this rant.
And no I don't currently own a CC, have looked at several as we are buying a new RV in the next two years. And after threads like this, CC has slipped further down the list of possibilities. So congrats on that.

Originally Posted by Daycruiser

Sir you have absolutely no idea what your are talking about. Do you even own a CC? They will pay Orvan Fry to do the warranty work and are. What they are doing is trying to intercept the work before somebody goes to Orvan. I've spoken to the service folks at CC just the other day and that's pretty much what they admitted to. I had to insist about taking it to Orvan and they said fine and that was that. CC won't do the non-warranty and Orvan can do both so before you go spouting off about something you nothing about get the rest of the story first.

[BandJCarm]

Scott, and others........there's still misunderstanding flying around. And now apparently emotions are getting into it, for some reason. You said:


From the entirety of this thread, it looks like the ability for you to call Orvan, tell him what's wrong so he can order parts, and have him fix everything w/o pre-approval, and then FR pays, are over.

I said twice in my posts that this process has NEVER been the case. For anyone. Ever. I guess folks aren't reading it.


Now, IF someone contacted Orvan, CC, both, whoever, IN ADVANCE and got this or that agreement, then fine. That's different.

But at no time in the past, current, or any other time.............has Orvan been able to be the deciding factor on warranty repairs. I still almost guarantee that I am the 100% Champion and Top of The List for amount of CC Warranty money they've spent on me. Not one repair was done at CC expense, at Orvan's shop, until Orvan saw it, took pictures, whatever.......and THEN went to CC, to the factory, and got warranty approval FIRST.

So........the thing you say that has changed, has not changed. It never occurred in the first place.

Just wanting to set things straight. I'll be there in August, and will be finding out some more.

[BandJCarm]

And one more thing, just to be Captain Obvious about all this.

Regardless of what the process was, what the process is, or what has changed, I'll challenge any FR Division to have a better record or relation with their customers than Cedar Creek. Maybe Dynamax, just cause of BClemens here. But no other Division, and no other Manufacturer is even close. They've been the best for many, many folks. They have disgruntled customers that will disagree, but no one else has as many that WILL agree, I'm betting.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Scott, and others........there's still misunderstanding flying around. And now apparently emotions are getting into it, for some reason. You said:


From the entirety of this thread, it looks like the ability for you to call Orvan, tell him what's wrong so he can order parts, and have him fix everything w/o pre-approval, and then FR pays, are over.

I said twice in my posts that this process has NEVER been the case. For anyone. Ever. I guess folks aren't reading it.


Now, IF someone contacted Orvan, CC, both, whoever, IN ADVANCE and got this or that agreement, then fine. That's different.

But at no time in the past, current, or any other time.............has Orvan been able to be the deciding factor on warranty repairs. I still almost guarantee that I am the 100% Champion and Top of The List for amount of CC Warranty money they've spent on me. Not one repair was done at CC expense, at Orvan's shop, until Orvan saw it, took pictures, whatever.......and THEN went to CC, to the factory, and got warranty approval FIRST.

So........the thing you say that has changed, has not changed. It never occurred in the first place.

Just wanting to set things straight. I'll be there in August, and will be finding out some more.

Thanks for that explanation BandJCarm. Looks like some of us, including the OP and myself, have interpreted others comments other than what was intended, or read in facts that weren't there. Seems to happen frequently in rant threads.
I've always understood that Orvan is an exceptional resource in CC warranty work and overall repair, fixing things that the owner didn't even know was a problem. I can see where folks used to his support and relationship with CC would be upset if any aspect of that relationship was changed.
It just sounds like to me, that CC is trying to normalize their warranty work and it somehow affected their relationship with Orvan. Is it a good thing or bad thing for the line as a whole? Only time will tell.

[jd4010]

Orvan, Orvan, Orvan I guess is the modern day Marcia, Marcia, Marcia.

Not saying Orvan isn't good or maybe even great. But there are plenty of other good "Orvans" out there. In another post I recently noted how great my warranty work was with (of all places and don't gasp) Camping World. The process took awhile as they had to take pictures, do write ups and submit them to CC where they had to wait, provide more details and pictures and then finally they were approved to order the parts and move forward. Parts alone took WEEKS upon WEEKS. But in the end, it was done. Done right and I'm happy.

Personally, Orvan or anyone else aside, CC could use some process improvements in the warranty process. It shouldn't take weeks for approval and more weeks for parts to arrive. They could learn from the auto industry where the time gaps are measured in hours or maybe a day or 2 at most.

[wayne272]

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Scott, and others........there's still misunderstanding flying around. And now apparently emotions are getting into it, for some reason. You said:


From the entirety of this thread, it looks like the ability for you to call Orvan, tell him what's wrong so he can order parts, and have him fix everything w/o pre-approval, and then FR pays, are over.

I said twice in my posts that this process has NEVER been the case. For anyone. Ever. I guess folks aren't reading it.


Now, IF someone contacted Orvan, CC, both, whoever, IN ADVANCE and got this or that agreement, then fine. That's different.

But at no time in the past, current, or any other time.............has Orvan been able to be the deciding factor on warranty repairs. I still almost guarantee that I am the 100% Champion and Top of The List for amount of CC Warranty money they've spent on me. Not one repair was done at CC expense, at Orvan's shop, until Orvan saw it, took pictures, whatever.......and THEN went to CC, to the factory, and got warranty approval FIRST.

So........the thing you say that has changed, has not changed. It never occurred in the first place.

Just wanting to set things straight. I'll be there in August, and will be finding out some more.

Yes, I was there a few weeks ago and Orvan did alot of work on my rig. The improvements he did on my rig were paid out of pocket. But all the warranty work that was performed, CC received a list from myself months before, Orvan found stuff I didn't know during the walkaround that I added to the list and took it down to cc. But all was preapproved, he doesn't just fix stuff and then submit it to CC for pymnt. I took the factory tour, CC also put an extension onto the building for service work, to be open by summer.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by wayne272

Yes, I was there a few weeks ago and Orvan did alot of work on my rig. The improvements he did on my rig were paid out of pocket. But all the warranty work that was performed, CC received a list from myself months before, Orvan found stuff I didn't know during the walkaround that I added to the list and took it down to cc. But all was preapproved, he doesn't just fix stuff and then submit it to CC for pymnt. I took the factory tour, CC also put an extension onto the building for service work, to be open by summer.

Thanks for the info. Interesting that warranty procedure changes coincide with a new service area being built.
But what do folks who can't, or don't want to travel back to the CC factory or Orvan do? Sounds like the process for warranty is a little more difficult than I'm used to. A major concern for prospective new buyers.

[BandJCarm]

Scott.........what do folks that live a long way away do??? They do exactly what you do. Take it somewhere, get approval, and have it done.

I can't see how anything you're used to, is any easier than this process.


And I still bet that whatever process, CC is easier to get Warranty work done SOMEWHERE, than other Divisions.

[NMWildcat]

I hope you are correct. But from thread comments (which I take with a grain of salt), and friends who have a CC, and the scuttlebutt at the RV service shop I mooch coffee from, it seems as though CC is picky as to who/where they authorize warranty to. And maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I've heard enough to make me worry.
If I can't rely on my excellent local independent RV service shop (who is authorized to do warranty work on just about everything) to be allowed to do warranty work on a CC, I'm not interested in the product.

Originally Posted by BandJCarm

Scott.........what do folks that live a long way away do??? They do exactly what you do. Take it somewhere, get approval, and have it done.

I can't see how anything you're used to, is any easier than this process.


And I still bet that whatever process, CC is easier to get Warranty work done SOMEWHERE, than other Divisions.

[BandJCarm]

Don't blame you. But that's not changing, and if you got from this discussion that it is, I don't know what to say. Buy whatever you want. Best of luck on getting factory help from any of them. But some are dang sure better than others, and this one is the best I've seen or even heard about, changes or no changes.

[wayne272]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

I hope you are correct. But from thread comments (which I take with a grain of salt), and friends who have a CC, and the scuttlebutt at the RV service shop I mooch coffee from, it seems as though CC is picky as to who/where they authorize warranty to. And maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill, but I've heard enough to make me worry.
If I can't rely on my excellent local independent RV service shop (who is authorized to do warranty work on just about everything) to be allowed to do warranty work on a CC, I'm not interested in the product.

You are lucky to have a local service center that is good and trust. Out here on long island there is 1 jayco dealer and 1 or 2 rv service places. Don't know about their reputations and I didn't want to wait months to get my rig back, so to me a trip to Orvans for 2 days to have the work done before warranty was up was worth it.

[mshenygo]

I will make the 8 hour trip out to have Orvan do my work weather it be warranty or just to go over my rig and make sure its 100%. All I can say is once you had your rig worked on by Orvan you will go back to him, HE IS THAT GOOD!

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by mshenygo

I will make the 8 hour trip out to have Orvan do my work weather it be warranty or just to go over my rig and make sure its 100%. All I can say is once you had your rig worked on by Orvan you will go back to him, HE IS THAT GOOD!

From all accounts, I know Orvan is that good.
But one of my points in this thread is that from Tucson AZ, it's at least a 30 hour drive time trip. I would definitely need more incentive, or be extremely desperate, to make that trip worth it. (If CC makes the final cut for our new RV).

[dblr]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

From all accounts, I know Orvan is that good.
But one of my points in this thread is that from Tucson AZ, it's at least a 30 hour drive time trip. I would definitely need more incentive, or be extremely desperate, to make that trip worth it. (If CC makes the final cut for our new RV).

Try to time your trip to also attend the Goshen rally either before or after a visit to Orvan, he is liable to be at the rally as well, plus you get to meet lots of GREAT folks from here

[NMWildcat]

Actually, the Goshen rally is on my list. I have heard so much about it, and it sounds like a great event. I find that it takes us several years after a 'back east' trip, to want to go again

Originally Posted by dblr

Try to time your trip to also attend the Goshen rally either before or after a visit to Orvan, he is liable to be at the rally as well, plus you get to meet lots of GREAT folks from here

[dblr]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Actually, the Goshen rally is on my list. I have heard so much about it, and it sounds like a great event. I find that it takes us several years after a 'back east' trip, to want to go again

Sounds like a plan would love to meet up, or hopefully we will head west again soon, maybe next winter to ski up in Taos but later for a camper trip. So much to see out your way!!!

[Sandbagger]

Picked our 2020 34ik up in May and over summer had 2 gouges on floor from slides and also cabinet damage from kitchen sink coming on during travels. Connected over phone with Orvan and sent pictures to Jolisa and also CC’s warranty department.. Dropped it off at Orvan’s in September when we had a break in camping plans and he confirmed with CC that floor and cabinets needed replaced and they agreed. CC also agreed to change out the tankless hot water heater to gas\electric option because we did not like tankless performance. Good communication took place between all three parties and I am a happy customer of both CC and Amish Family RV. The great thing is that Orvan had a predetermined date as to when work was to be completed and we picked up our unit before next camping trip. Granted it’s only a 4 hour haul for us. We also did a day trip in October for some custom work at Orvan’s and he had it on his rack before we left parking lot to go for lunch. Finished by the time we returned from dining on Amish chicken and cream pie. Hope CC and Orvan get this worked out. - love our 34ik which we have slept in for over 70 nights since May. Two long road trips with first being to UP of Michigan and now on 2+ month journey around Florida and other southwestern states.

[PeteFuller]

You should be able to take it to any Dealership that sells your trailer?

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by PeteFuller

You should be able to take it to any Dealership that sells your trailer?

You don't even have to take it to a CC dealer. You can use an independent RV shops or mobile RV tech. You just have to get pre-approval from FR and be willing to be reimbursed.

[MikeRP]

I think a lot of Orvan as many here do. Service is the issue and timely service. I’ve many warranty items done excellent results by his team and the RV didn’t sit in a dealers lot for months waiting on repairs.

I had a defective grey tank, linoleum that needed replaced and many upgrades done that make this rig the best I’ve ever purchased with 4 other FR units before this one.

I also thank Cedar Creek. Because this is a gorgeous unit and meets our needs very well. But w the problems I’ve had w the grey tank, linoleum that could happen to any manufacturer, Cedar Creek has my vote when I get a new one again. Grand Design or Montana are nice but not any nicer than CC and if you think GD is better now than the others, well as they expanded they have lost the edge also on build quality.

So I get tightening up the process, but now they need to tighten up the PR process and use the business model created by Orvan and/or Others to show the depth of customer satisfaction this can receive and I think that brings CC on top.

So time will tell and by the end of summer we’ll know if this has worked it self out.

Peace