‘If you let the folks fix your RV who were responsible for the terrible quality to begin with, you are setting yourself up for an expensive, disappointing lesson.’

In this column, we summarize some of your emails and comments regarding RV service centers and repairs (we asked you to submit your stories here). We’ll tell you all: the best, the good, the bad and the ugly. At the end of this article, you’ll find a place to submit your own comments. I encourage you to do so.

Keep in mind, we typically only present one side of the story in most of these. Also, any remarks about service centers and mobile techs mentioned are the opinions of our readers and not necessarily RVtravel.com. 

Here’s what you had to say:

Regretted purchase one week after bringing RV home

Curt M. bought an extended bumper-to-bumper warranty and got a three-year nightmare. He writes, “I spent over $80k on a Forest River 42’ 383FB in the summer of 2018. Part of that was spent on top to bottom extended warranty and service. It was a big unit and I wanted as much coverage and insurance against breakdowns and malfunctions as I could get. What I got was a 3-year nightmare of horribly shoddy and disgustingly cheap quality parts and workmanship.

“I’ve regretted the purchase since one week after we brought it home. We encountered the first major problems one week after getting it home with a complete failure in the plumbing —both gray and black tanks. The entire bottom cover was filled with so much water that it bellied out to the ground, damaging the bottom skin, insulation, and any wood flooring it touched. I thought, ‘No problem. It happens.’ I had bought all this extended bumper-to-bumper insurance plus the warranty, so I felt confident we would be taken care of.

“This was not at all the case. It took three years and finally the threat of a lawsuit against the selling RV dealer and manufacturer to finally get the numerous ‘out-of-the-box’ system failures corrected. It was a nightmare and a very sharp learning curve on just how embarrassingly poor quality and workmanship goes into these units as well as the complete and total lack of customer service and warranted maintenance you think you might get when you spend that much on a unit.

“This story has so many terrible twists I cannot even begin to describe everything here. We still own the RV but I have become my own RV maintenance technician and repair service. If you let the folks fix your RV who were responsible for the terrible quality to begin with, you are setting yourself up for an expensive, disappointing lesson.’ Of course, during all these troubles, we have been paying for the nightmare every month on time and without any late payments since the very first month of purchase. Hard lessons learned.”

Reader asks “How to deal with Forest River?”

Mike Y.’s RV furniture is peeling and it is not from wear. He says, “I own a 2019 Alpha Wolf 27RK. We like it a lot but the Thomas Payne Collection furniture is junk. The fake leather covering is literally peeling off all three pieces on our couch and two recliners. I am trying to deal with Forest River but so far no success. We only use the camper three weeks a year, so wear is not an issue. I would invite comments on how to deal with these people at Forest River. Thomas Payne Collection is junk.” [Note: Thomas Payne^® is a furniture brand of Lippert.]

Door damaged while in service and now no return phone calls

Roberta G. had their RV in for service and not only was the issue not fixed, but the bathroom door was destroyed. She writes, “We took our RV to have the entry steps fixed or replaced. Over a month later, we were told it was ready to be picked up. So we drove an hour-and-a-half to Camping World in Gadsden, AL. When we arrived, the steps still weren’t fixed, so we waited another hour or so, making sure we could pull the steps out.

“It never occurred to us to look inside our camper at the time. We got it home and didn’t look inside until the following weekend. We discovered our bathroom door was destroyed, so we called the service department to report it and also sent pictures in an email, per their request. This happened in June. To date, we still cannot get anyone to return our call. The door alone costs about $300.”

Generator didn’t work on the purchase walkthrough and took two weeks to cancel the deal

Duey B. was glad he checked everything on his RV walkthrough and glad he finally could get out of the deal. He writes, “I, too, had a horrible experience with Camping World of Hope Mills, NC. I went there to purchase a Class C. After quite a few years with a pull-behind, we decided to upgrade. We looked around and found what we thought would be perfect for us and our three puppies. We went through all the paperwork and decided to buy. I was scheduled for neck surgery that Thursday, so set the following Wednesday as our pickup day.

“Showed up on time and started our walk-around demo. At the very end, I asked if the tech could start the generator. He said no, it doesn’t work. It didn’t work when we took the unit in on trade.

“I went back to the front and told the sales manager the deal was off. After two days of bickering back and forth we decided to proceed. Then it got really interesting. They told us that it was fixed, then they told us it had to be taken somewhere else for repair. Then they said it had a part on order. At that point, I called the corporate complaint line and it took two weeks to get my deal canceled. Needless to say, Camping World of Hope Mills needs a complete employee cleansing. I wouldn’t recommend them to anyone.”

This Camping World goes above and beyond

Michael M. gives this Camping World a thumbs up. He writes, “We bought a slightly used 2014 Winnebago Vista 35F. It has extremely low mileage and it’s in like-new condition in and out. We purchased it from Camping World in Lakewood, New Jersey. They have been totally awesome in sales and the service department—they go above the need every time.”

Not sure when we will get it back

Susan B. really liked their trailer and then stuff started to break. She emailed, “We bought a Forest River trailer, 22 feet, in June 2023. It was brand-new in 2022. We really liked it. We parked it at a campground and then, it happened… When we went to play the radio, the button fell inside and didn’t work anymore. Then the bench collapsed. It was lucky no one was hurt and my husband was able to fix it.

“When we looked at how it was put together, it was done with a staple gun—the wood was not even attached. Then, a month later, I was washing the dishes and the spout broke off and I got water all over. Luckily, my husband was outside and quickly turned the water off. Also, the shower head would spray water out of the side of the spout. We had to hook the trailer back up and take it to the dealer to replace parts. Not sure when we will get it back.”

Editor’s note

Note from RVtravel.com: If hiring a mobile tech, a small or mega service center, make sure that they are experienced in the issue and have insurance in case something goes wrong. Also, check their warranty policy on the work they perform. Check reviews too and read between the lines—if the review sounds way too good to be true it might be. Compare with several reviews and not just the ones on their website.

Questions for you about RV service

We’ll continue to share stories of your RV service experiences. We want to know:

• Have you had good luck with great service or not so much?
• Did you get good service from knowledgeable technicians?
• Are you waiting to get into a service center or have a mobile tech come out?
• What has been the average time to get an appointment?
• Has your RV been in a service center for a while?
• Are you able to get any mobile techs to come out?
• Are the service centers able to get parts?
• When you do get the repairs done, is the price reasonable?

Please fill out the form below and tell us what your experiences have been like. It can be a horror story, an opinion about what’s going on, a positive experience, or anything else related to the topic. We want to know the great, the good, the bad, and the ugly!

Check back next week for more on RV service centers. See you then.

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Last week’s RV Service Centers and Repairs Report:

• RV tech writes: ‘Of all the dealerships I’ve worked for, not one was honest’

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