Warranty Department has no customer service

[my18]

I own a 293REX. My problem is the hidden hinges on the doors are not set deep enough to hold in the door. I have several doors that fall off when opened. I talked with the warranty department and they told me this wasn't a wide spread problem but they could send me all new doors and I could install myself. After several emails with them over a 4 month period they finally decided not to respond anymore. I need help getting thru to someone over the warranty departments head to get this situation solved.

[jonrjen]

Are you speaking of cabinet doors or actual interior doors as going into the bedroom and bathroom?


Who have you been speaking with at Wildcat?


Lastly, have you been dealing direct with Wildcat or going through your selling dealer?

[my18]

It's the cabinet doors. They told me that all the wildcats hidden hinges are this way. I own a cabinet shop and use these same type of hinges and the way they are installing them are completely wrong. They have acknowledged this but basically are telling me oh well there's nothing we can do but send out new doors just like the old ones. They know how to fix it right but don't want to as it might take some time and money on there end. I know I can't be the only person with this problem. I have been dealing directly with Terry Milarczyk the warranty manager. After several emails he has basically blown me off and will not respond back anymore.

[jonrjen]

Do you have a Wildcat or a Wildcat Maxx?

[vinmaker]

I am wondering if the problem is even bigger. Why would only that FR factory be installing them wrong to save money. Wouldn't the installation be standard practice in all the factories?

Can you post a pic? I would like to know what to look for.

Vin.

[my18]

Just a wildcat

[my18]

You would think it would be standard practice in all FR but I haven't looked at any other trailer but a wildcat.

[my18]

[my18]

The picture in the middle shows how the plate of the hinge isn't pressed firmly against the door. If the dowels are not fully inserted they cannot hold . This is also because the door isn't thick enough for the manufacture to drill deep enough. They know this which makes me mad but wildcat says it's not there problem because this is how the door manufacture sends it to them.

[bruane]

A very typical warranty response from FR. All I have ever had from them is that its your problem and fix it yourself and that includes the dealers who when they see this kind of problem they don't want to be involved. Talked to a fellow Rockwood 5th wheel owner YTD and he reiterated this kind of experience with an A/C unit. Warranty is not a strong suite with FR.

[Safe man]

Me too. I bought my last camper from FR and Susquhanna RV in selinsgrove pa.

[my18]

I've been looking for a number or email of someone higher up than warranty manager to see if they would help me out.

[billg]

I also have had issues with warranty work. The contact I had with Blue Ridge is no longer there. A gentleman from the Wildcat division did help me however. His name is Bryan Knight. You may try to reach him.

[my18]

I tried Bryan and he sent me to terry who is supposedly the warranty manager. He isn't returning my calls or emails anymore.

[gthomp10]

Warranties from the manufacturer are worthless. I bought my 2015.5 282RKX new a year ago last November. After many fights and lots of frustration and having missed half of the camping season last summer, I finally gave up. I will never buy another new RV; especially from FR. Buy one a year or two old and hopefully all of the problems with it will have been taken care of by the original owner.

[lgray]

All RV manufactures are not created equal. I made that assumption, purchasing three FR products before recently buying a Class C Winnebago. World of difference in quality, but what really got me is their commitment to service. From what I can tell Jayco, Tiffan, and other manufactures have a similar commitment to quality and more importantly, customer service. Forest River is in this game to manufacture as many, as quickly but most importantly, at the cheapest price as possible.

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by gthomp10

Warranties from the manufacturer are worthless. I bought my 2015.5 282RKX new a year ago last November. After many fights and lots of frustration and having missed half of the camping season last summer, I finally gave up. I will never buy another new RV; especially from FR. Buy one a year or two old and hopefully all of the problems with it will have been taken care of by the original owner.

well, my factory warranty was definitely NOT worthless.
i had a number of things that were covered and fixed under warranty.
some were fixed after the 2 years expired.
and i had a number of dealers fix them, even though i hadn't bought from them.

[Platokidd]

I have had the best results with warranty issues by dealing with the dealer first. And if needed the dealer and or mfg at the same time. Phone calls followed up with emails and carbon copies. Keeping them both in the loop and saving that record of emails in a file for reference.
Several times the dealer cant get thing approved or cant get parts. This is a great time to call the mfg to try to achieve good results.
Hope that helps some.

[ependydad]

Originally Posted by bikendan

well, my factory warranty was definitely NOT worthless.

i had a number of things that were covered and fixed under warranty.

some were fixed after the 2 years expired.

and i had a number of dealers fix them, even though i hadn't bought from them.

Same here.

[KenHwy61]

Originally Posted by my18

It's the cabinet doors. They told me that all the wildcats hidden hinges are this way. I own a cabinet shop and use these same type of hinges and the way they are installing them are completely wrong. They have acknowledged this but basically are telling me oh well there's nothing we can do but send out new doors just like the old ones. They know how to fix it right but don't want to as it might take some time and money on there end. I know I can't be the only person with this problem. I have been dealing directly with Terry Milarczyk the warranty manager. After several emails he has basically blown me off and will not respond back anymore.

Honestly, if you are a cabinet maker I would fix the cabinets myself. You will do a much better job. No dealer will care as much as you do. I have spent well over 40 hours but less than $100 fixing all the little things that should of been done better. I actually found the quiet time working on my camper quite relaxing.