Not a happy customer

[TowPro]

Originally Posted by ppe115

We had many issues and Camping World was useless.

I refuse to deal with Camping World for anything.
In fact I used to go to Gander Mountain all the time but have not been in the place since Camping World bought them.

[Steve08]

Originally Posted by Arnie M

rwj0205 you unfortunately have to join the crowd,
Forest River and suspect other makers need to give their head a shake to keep happy customers.
Our new Forest River RV we waited until the end of camping season last fall to take it in for all the repairs needed.
I made a few repairs myself in the meantime (it was a battle to get the parts, i.e. control module for hot water tank).
We booked a date for other repairs at the dealership but when dropping our RV off saw their sign..."your RV will be looked at 2 weeks of your appointment date"...looked at...no work.
It was a head shake, why make an appointment? Told the 2 week window was due to Forest River approval for work. Short of very explicit terms, it's broke, fix it.
A dozen items needed repair, found one done even though they said all complete. Could not check other repairs due to weather.
Winter months suck here. Can't test things out.
Not sure the short of repairs done was due to Forest River or Dealership. Did not get communication either way. I blame Dealership because they said all done. Did some repairs in the spring on my own and obtained help with the other repairs.
Have found owning an RV you have to be handy and deal with stuff on your own.
To me, RV service now a day's is nonexistent.
Sell at a mass and don't give a crap what goes out the gate.
Forest River is huge and probably will not change...shame...my next purchase will be well researched.
On that note, shouldn't RV manufacturing be more regulated than what it is?...
After all, it's a home away from home...something I'm going to ask my MLA

Someone in another forum suggested that we get together and start a petition to send to Congress about adding a lemon law for RVs like auto's have. Take to each campground we go to and pass them around to sign and send to Congress. Wether it will work or not who knows but something needs to change

[Hawkester]

Some good insight in this thread, never thought about an independant authorized repair facility but I know one small dealer (mom & pop shop) in town recently moved to a larger warehouse type building and quit selling RV's. They only do maintenance now, I had wondered why but it seems there is good money in repairs...I need to reach out to them.

Originally Posted by Walholler

The very first thing I did after purchase was to find myself a independent repair facility that did not sell RV's of any type or kind. This repair facility only does repairs and will do warranty work authorized by the manufacture.

We bought our '18 Roo at CW because it was the last one on the lot (Dec '18) and they made a deal we couldn't refuse. i have done all my own repairs to date (1 year in) but have had nothing significant other than the fresh water tank support bending. No way I was going to let them repair that, they would just repeat the poor design.

I plan on leaving the C.W. to McCall....

[Robert Wagner]

Yes, from general observation of the industry it seems as with the Forest River purchase of the Dynamax Line of products many people have experienced many quality control issues on their coaches starting at 150k and up.
This shouldn’t be.
You can blame it on Corporate greed!!

[Herk7769]

Please be sure to let us know how your issues resolve.

Herk

[Rob L]

I am new to the RV world. We acquired a used Forest River toy hauler which needed some replacement parts and we so far have found trying to deal with people from Forest River is like talking to the wall. I needed to replace a wall hanging bench and cushions and got nowhere with a rep who contacted me on this forum. After 10 days General RV was able to get a price on collapsible leg supports for the wall hanging bench... Unbelievable. Fifty some dollars plus shipping for these little things just set me off. I built my own wall hanging bench, replaced the collapsible leg supports with maple legs: even reinforced the one bench that I had that is simply made of 2X2 wood framing.
I am not sure how our traveling experiences will be but my first taste of RV'ing has put a sour taste in my mouth for Forest River. All the dealers want to do is insult you with low trade values and not budge on their prices on new units. So different from car or truck shopping, at least for us it is. I'm just glad I was handy enough to bring my RV up to its fully usable self.
I am not sure how people can invest their hard earned dollars into an RV and accept being treated like we are treated. JMO

[Herk7769]

You should investigate how "Just in time" inventory works for the RV INDUSTRY (not just Forest River). https://www.thebalancesmb.com/just-i...agement-393301

The factory (regardless of manufacturer) orders just what they need for the current year and model they are making at the time. There are no warehouses of old model spare parts from any manufacturer. (and there certainly is NO ROOM at the plant for useless stuff).

Although there is a thriving overrun/junk micro industry in the area where RV junk and unused parts accumulate. If they have what you need, expect to pay quite a bit for it (just like at a junk yard) because you are paying for them to store all that other stuff they may never sell.

Warranty (within two model years max) parts MIGHT be available if the current production uses a similar part. Remember they are finishing up building the 2020 model year and will be starting the 2021 models soon (if they have not already started at some plants).

When you call the factory looking for repair parts for an old model, it is a crap shoot whether they can even be made at the factory and getting a matching color will most likely be impossible.

If you are willing to wait, the parts can most likely be special ordered by the plant. Expect to pay a lot here too. Some currently running process will need to be halted so the manufacturer can retool for your special part. Then they need to re-setup for what they were doing before the special order came in.

The BEST price is if you can wait for a model change on the line. That way they can slip your part in while retooling for the new production run.

Remember that colors and stains are not repeated. What they ship will most likely be close, but not exact.

Herk

[Rob L]

Originally Posted by Herk7769

You should investigate how "Just in time" inventory works for the RV INDUSTRY (not just Forest River). [url]https://www.thebalancesmb.com/just-in-time-jit-inventory-management-393301

I am quite aware of how JIT inventory for auto manufactures work, being in the trucking industry for over 40 years. It must be similar to that.
If what I have read on this forum and my experiences so far continue I will not invest my money in another unit, but will in my time of need "rent" or lease a unit for my RV. In the event we only use our RV 3 times a year we would still be way ahead of the game and not have to deal with a company who does not care about its customers after the sale.