Factory Shipping

[birdman77]

Hello,

I am wondering if others have had a similar experience with the Cedar Creek factory warranty parts department/logistics.

Our 2014 31RK needs a new counter top since it is cracked. We noticed this during purchase inspection in May and the dealer suggested to address it over the winter (off season for us northerners) - we agreed. The first replacement arrived at the dealer damaged. The second one damaged also. We are waiting on #3.

While the dealer has it we also needed a new frameless window since I shattered it while mowing the lawn 2 days before taking it to them. First one arrived damaged. The second one was OK.

So...has anyone had to deal with damaged parts received by their dealer? I understand that these items are large and delicate but to have so many defectives seems odd to me.

Thanks for reading,
Ken

[Hutch333id]

We took possession of our 38fl in April and the counter top was cracked between the back of the stove top and the back splash. Our dealer pointed it out to us and arranged for CC to send a replacement. It took until September before it was finally replaced and according to the dealer this was their third attempt at receiving an un-damaged replacement.


Richard & Diane
2014 Cedar Creek 38FL
With a F350 dually
2014 41 nights and 4620km.......and we're done

[kablair]

Cedar Creek factory and their people are top-notch. Shipping of large items is a tricky business. They are much less stable, and much more flexible, than they appear after being installed.

We experienced this with a new cap being needed last year. The shipping cost was more than the cost of the cap; and the first one didn't arrive correctly due to the shipper - not CC. The second one arrived fine.

Watch one of those 18 wheelers flying past you and look at their load - it will make you wonder how anything arrives undamaged. My family used to be in the trucking business and the thing that scared my father the most was steel - if not perfectly secured it can slide forward into the cab and kill the driver. He much preferred carrying gasoline because it didn't shift.

[birdman77]

An update on this issue: I received a call from my dealer and the forth counter top was received broken in 3 pieces. So I have owned my 5er for 9 months and it has sat on the dealer lot for 4 of those and still counting. Hopefully it is repaired in time for Goshen!

[geotex1]

Have the dealer bypass the normal parts ordering system and get to the FR parts manager for the CC division and apprise them of the situation. The factory does impressive boxing and crating, but brittle and oversized pieces are very tricky in YRC Freight hands. If the PM knows about repeat problem, it will get bubble wrapped, boxed with Styrofoam padding, and then crated. Otherwise, part gets reordered and order picker - packers do the SSDD and you end up with another broken one. Good luck!

[birdman77]

Hi Geotex1,

The Service Manager at my dealer told me that counter top #5 will be drop shipped directly from the manufacture instead of going through Cedar Creek.

As far informing Cedar Creek of the issue, I did just that after counter top #2 and was told by the East Coast Warranty Representative that they would look into it. I guess I contacted the wrong person. Perhaps as you suggested I should have contacted the parts manager - my mistake. I plan to make a few calls this week to get the correct person involved.

Thanks for the suggestion,
Ken

[spock123]

I was told by a dealer that only dealers could order direct from Forest River but I called up Forest River and the part was shipped to me. It cost more to ship the part than the part cost plus a dealer told me it would cost him even more for F/R to ship the part to the dealer, I think the dealer wanted to make some money on the shipping


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[geotex1]

Originally Posted by spock123

I was told by a dealer that only dealers could order direct from Forest River but I called up Forest River and the part was shipped to me. It cost more to ship the part than the part cost plus a dealer told me it would cost him even more for F/R to ship the part to the dealer, I think the dealer wanted to make some money on the shipping


Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

Yep, used to be able to no problem. Unfortunately, and thanks to dealers, that is going away.

[birdman77]

I wanted to close the loop on this issue. Geotex1 was correct. Once the national parts manger for Cedar Creek got involved I am very pleased with the result. Not only did he see to it that an undamaged counter top arrived at my dealer, but he also took the time to explain to me the corrective actions they took and will be taking to attempt to avoid this issue in the future. It is clear to me that this was not a lack of effort on their part but just part of a learning curve they are on.

Thanks to all that commented and hope to see some of you in Goshen.

Ken