RVer gets fooled with ‘rotting RV.’ ‘The RV I picked out from the website was not the one I signed the papers for!’

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:

Reader’s true-life warning

Mike M. sent us his true-life warning about both men and women knowing their rig. He wrote, “Can you both drive the RV home? Unrelated to services at RV dealers… BUT in 2018 while in Haines, Alaska, I had heart failure. (It all ended well after getting a pacemaker.) If my wife did not know how to hook up our trailer and drive our rig we would have been in a fix! I cannot emphasize more that your travel partner NEEDS TO KNOW what to do in an emergency. MACHO Man Randy Savage passed away a few years ago and so should the macho attitude many men have of not sharing the driving and knowledge about your rig.”

Sunny day? Forget RVing!

William S. wants to be able to get in his RV! He says, “I have the same issue (door won’t open, close, or lock when exposed to sunlight), which is pathetic! I set up camp and level out (ensuring the door is aligned correctly) when I arrive at night, and the next morning, a mere flash of sunlight makes this thing inoperable?! That leads me to believe that Forest River RVs are truly pieces of crap. These things are supposed to be designed for things like camping in the sun. It’s their primary purpose for being built in the first place, and they’re immediately deemed useless if you cannot enter or exit them.

“Which brands do not have this issue? I would like to be able to access my RV regardless of the outside temperature—especially, when it’s warm and sunny, ya know, camping season, duh.”

Manufacturer fixed everything the dealer destroyed

Charles S. wrote to us about the good and the bad customer service. He said, “We bought a 2018 Arctic Fox 25Y from RV’s Northwest in Spokane Valley, WA. There were some minor issues with it so I took it back to them. Three months later I was informed that I needed to come and pick up my trailer. In addition to only one of my concerns being addressed, the trailer was in worse shape than when I took it in. Things broken, others taken apart and left across the floor, and a hose for the water heater kinked. The employee who brought the trailer out from the back lot literally dropped it on the trailer’s hitch in the middle of the parking lot and left. The batteries were dead. Fortunately, I was able to connect the electrical plug to my pickup and utilize the electric jack to get it just high enough to hitch it up. I was not a happy camper.

“As it happened, we were going by La Grande, OR, later that year and stopped at the Arctic Fox factory. After telling my tale of woe about my local dealer, my trailer was taken in and all the issues were repaired in 30 minutes and at no charge. That’s good customer service!

“As other problems showed up, I found Truline RV in Spokane Valley. What a difference! Courteous people, good turnaround and things were actually fixed the first time.”

Awesome RV repair

Jane E. wrote to us about her great RV repair find. She said, “I have found the BEST RV repair in Texas! Happy Trails Mobile RV Service north of Austin. Certified, knows what he’s doing, stays in contact re parts, shows up, returns calls, and, most importantly, is HONEST. Billy and his wife are awesome!”

Disappointed and degraded

Donna C. wrote to us about her poor experience. She wrote, “I’m disappointed and feel degraded as a first-time RV buyer. After living in a 1999 Citation Supreme for almost three years, I thought it was time to upgrade. Having electrical issues in my last RV, I had told the sales lady at Vision RV that I just wanted a bit of an upgrade with no electrical issues. At first, I thought things we going quite smoothly.

“Then I realized that the RV I had picked out from the website was not the one I signed the papers for! That should have been the first clue that I was in for a HELL of a time. This was corrected and the right RV was delivered. Within hours of receiving this newer trailer, I was in utter shock and despair! This RV was rotting away, electrical issues up the wazoo and a construction post holding up the kitchen sink!

“I cried myself to sleep that night over how I was fooled into this. Within days, the dealership was ‘gonna make it right’ again. We were approved for a ‘new’ showroom 2023 Forest River Cardinal Red. Now they paid for the delivery of this newer one and to take back the other. After a few weeks of feeling like I was the luckiest girl in the world finally, I settled down and started noticing things. Well, I don’t believe that this was just a showroom model. I feel that this RV was used, once or twice, and overpaid by around $20,000.00/CA. I guess you get what you deserve when dealing with this dealership. Overpriced and fooled.”

A total fiasco

Mike F. noticed the tire issue within miles of leaving the dealership. He had to fix it himself. “The wife and I have been lifelong campers, everything from tents, popups, travel trailer, and 5th wheels. We recently purchased a Hybrid travel trailer with all the bells and whistles, which included a tire temp/pressure system. Within miles of leaving the dealership I noticed issues of temperature and pressure between the different tires and alerted the dealership immediately (it had been installed incorrectly at the factory).

“At the end of this entire ordeal the dealership wanted nothing to do with it and I was left dealing with the system manufacturer, TST (as soon as they found out it was more than one sensor they passed me off), their insurance carrier, and doing all the repairs myself. All four bands were installed incorrectly (loose and spinning on the rim) and they left pieces inside the tire. This could have resulted in a catastrophic blowout had I not noticed.

“Needless to say, don’t ever purchase a new RV from the Wisconsin Dells area. (You can figure out who they are. The entire purchase was a fiasco.) This has been a horrible experience with them and I will never return. Thankfully, my background has always allowed me to pay attention to all details and fix anything. Until now I have been able to avoid dealership maintenance shops.”

Saying no to a $2,500 walk-through fee

Ash S. wasn’t going to pay a $2,500 walk-through fee! He wrote, “Camping World does charge a $2,500 walk-through fee. The location in Birch Run did this to me over the summer. I took my business elsewhere.”

Out-the-door price is most important

Mark J. points out that the out-the-door price is the one that matters. He wrote, “A lot of people get all upset when a dealer says ‘dealer prep charge’ or other fees like that. In June of 2018, we bought a new Class C motorhome from Camping World. There was a $1,500 dealer prep and a $750 charge for something else. At the end of the day, we didn’t care. There were four of these Class C’s available within 200 miles and my local dealer was $5,000 higher without the charges. We saved $2,800 by buying at Camping World even with the charges. Also, we saved on tax because the PDI charge and the other charge were not taxable. People need to remember that what you really care about is the out-the-door price, not how they list the cost on a piece of paper.”

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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