Dealership totals new RV during delivery, offers new RV but ‘disgruntled’ electrician apparently intentionally miswires it

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:

Was it a skilled but disgruntled electrician who did the wiring?

Jim J. has been doing his RV repair work himself rather than dealing with a 600-mile round trip to the dealer. He tells us, “Yes, based on reports in this column and my own experience, 2022 models are a risky purchase unless you are a reasonably well-tooled and inventive DIY person. We bought a 2021 Gulf Stream 189DD on an end-of-year close-out unseen from another location in a chain dealership (not CW) and paid to have it delivered at a closer dealer. The chain did the transport themselves—following an ice storm—and totaled the 2021. It came close to a lawsuit and the chain ‘gave’ us a 2022, same model, for the same price, but I had to drive 300 miles to take delivery.

“If 50 pin staples could be used to cosmetically ‘secure’ something rather than a half-dozen screws driven into the structural members, that is what was done. There was obviously a skilled but disgruntled electrician on the assembly team. I found four instances of ingeniously reversed wiring. For example, you had to turn on the ceiling lights before the sensor panel had power; the sensor wiring reversed to alternate tanks; and antenna/cable lines reversed at the 12v switch. The screws at the bottom of the front cap went into nothing. The list goes on and on. I spent several weeks finding and fixing these as it was far better than multiple 600-mile tows forth and back from the dealership.”

Don’t let the service department destroy your dreams

Kevin S. is not happy with this service department and he writes, “I know there are good service departments, but Unlimited RV in KC is the worst. We bought new through them, and it has been a nightmare from day one of picking it up. After several trips up there, they had it for about four months total, and we still have issues. Now they want me to take it all the way back to manufacturing! They destroyed our summer and this is the service we get. Don’t let them destroy your dreams!”

Kudos to this Camping World

Amid all of the complaints about Camping World, this one stands out for its great service. Fran E. wrote, “I am happy to report my wonderful experience with Camping World! I ran into a low overhang and destroyed my A/C unit on top of my Class C. On the advice of a friend, I called Camping World. The closest one didn’t have the A/C unit I needed, but the nice lady located one in Ocala and transferred my call. They booked an appointment for 2 days out to give me time to get there. They were thorough, efficient, friendly, and I wasn’t overcharged. Two hours and I was back on the road. It was truly the best outcome I could have imagined. Kudos to Ocala Camping World!”

Short and sweet: fabulous service!

Dennis S. Wrote to us about great service too: “Beckley’s RVs in Thurmont, Maryland. Fabulous service!”

Service was fair and professional, but the warranty… not so much

Ken N. tells us about how well the service center handled the problem while the warranty company denied it. “While on a trip my Arctic Fox camper had a cord that got pinched and burned up my electrical system and some of my plumbing. My service person, Cascade Custom Coach, took care of the problem with fairness and professionalism for a fair price. That was the good news.

“The bad news was he tried to help me with my insurance claim through National General Insurance issued by Good Sam. These Crooks denied my claim saying they didn’t cover electrical problems. I said if you don’t cover that, what do you cover? They said sudden events like running into a wall. I told him their insurance was worthless. On top of that, when I signed up with them they didn’t even send me a policy. Only after I had a claim they told me it was not covered and then sent me a policy. That is getting to be another scam in the RV World is the insurance when you have a problem. I would stay away from this company at all costs.”

Finance manager refused the sale unless using their financing, saying “We owed it to him”!

Gary G. walked out of the deal when pressured to use dealer financing. He wrote, “We had bought, we thought, a used 2020 5th wheel Solitude Reflection. It was at Camping World in Wichita, KS. The paperwork was completed and the price was agreed on. We placed one half down on the unit and had the other half financed through our credit union. The pickup date for the camper was set for three days.

“When we arrived to sign the papers and hook up to the unit we found out that the finance manager refused to sell the unit unless we went through the financial institution that he told us to use. He told us that WE ‘OWED IT TO HIM.’ We took our half-down deposit back and walked away from the deal. The salesman was rather unhappy about losing the commission. So much for doing business with Camping World. We only buy lightly used campers since no manufacturing company honors the warranty anyway. The backlog dealers have waiting on parts and approvals to repair the warranty is useless.”

Buyers stood their ground and dealer removed “junk” fees

Curtis P. wanted a specific RV but not the additional fees. He wrote, “Craping World tried to upcharge us, as well, but I told them we would not pay anything other than the price of the RV and taxes. I was told they had to charge these other fees from delivery fees, walk-through fees, inspection fees, dock fees, and a few other fees. I simply told them to remove the fees and we’ll come back and purchase the new RV and we walked out and guess what? The next day we received a phone call asking us to come back and the fees would be removed.

“They knew I was not bluffing because I walked out for the same reason a few months earlier and I made sure they knew this. The only reason we purchased from Craping World is they were the only ones with the RV we wanted and when we had issues with the leveling system, as you know from my last comment, more Craping World lies after another as Craping World does. Had to go elsewhere after five tries and lies from Craping World. Turns out it was a very easy fix by simply cutting the wires and cinching them back together. It was that simple of a fix… Stay away from Craping World unless you like upcharges and lies.”

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 Service Centers and Repairs Report:

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