This week: Stories of dealers and service centers taking advantage of, belittling, and cheating customers

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:

An observation on why vehicle service centers quit working on RVs

Robert G. comments on the reasons some vehicle service centers won’t work on RVs, even smaller ones. He wrote, “So here is what I have observed as the underlying cause of RV motorhome service refusal. 1. Many vehicle dealers do not have lifts big enough to handle Class C or A motorhomes. 2. Working on motorhomes includes additional liability due to ‘collateral damage’ to RV systems unrelated to the chassis repair. Case in point is the damage to entrance steps that hang low, several reports of owners with this issue, which then has to be fixed by an automotive dealer or service location that has no familiarity with steps at all. Lots more incidents like this have been reported and pretty soon the service location quits working on RVs in favor of their very busy commercial vehicle service business.”

Ultimate father and son bonding purchase goes belly up

Buddy W. writes to us about their high hopes dashed. He says, “In December of 2022, my son and I purchased a 2022 Heartland F260. It was to be used for traveling around for an ultimate bonding experience and to visit family and see our beautiful country. Since our purchase, the unit has either been in a repair facility or waiting for an ‘appointment’! We have used it for approximately 2.5 weeks, which is when we discovered the A/C was improperly installed. The heat ducts were crushed so the unit almost caught fire with us in it.

“The generator and the power distribution panel were bad and the battery was no good. It’s on its 4th trip to Camping World and third trip to Cummins for generator repairs. My son and I have been stuck at home for almost a year waiting for repairs.

“I hired a lawyer but we have to allow Heartland and Camping World due process to make the unit. To this date, we still don’t know when we will be able to go or even when it will be returned to us. To be fair, Heartland has offered us a whopping $10k to go away. However, we have lost over $20k and counting. Something really needs to be done soon. Florida AG blew it off.”

Mobile tech said, “Good luck finding anyone to take Good Sam”

Loretta T. feels so taken advantage of. She tells us, “I bought my 2018 Passport Ultra Lite in March of 2023. I am on a lower fixed income due to disability and the financial lady pushed the Good Sam warranty saying it will help me since money is tight. She gave so many scenarios and made it all look so fluffy, so I added an extra $4,000 to the financial agreement.

“During the first freeze of the year, my sail switch went out so, while researching my model, I bought two from Amazon. Due to my furnace being on the inside, the whole thing had to be pulled out to fix it. I called several places and was going to add a couple of other issues to take care of, like a leaking vent area, and a black tank valve issue, but no one would touch Good Sam. All said, ‘Good luck finding anyone who will.’ Even Camping World, who sold me the trailer, told me they wouldn’t accept it for any of my repairs and I’d have to leave my trailer while they ‘get to it.’ None of the lodging in the warranty applied. I didn’t take it, as it’s my home and can’t do repairs at a high cost.

“I called another mobile service in a town over and he came out the next day, fixed my sail switch using what I bought, checked out the vent, which wasn’t leaking after all, just had some condensation, and explained how to stop it and only charged me $100 total giving me a break as a senior. He told me good luck finding anyone to accept Good Sam. There should be a class action against Camping World for telling people it’s accepted all over when, in fact, they know it’s not. I wish I didn’t add that huge amount to my loan. It turns my stomach they will do this to people like me or anyone taking advantage.”

Charged to reconnect battery cables that were connected when RV was driven to the repair facility!

David P. tells us about an erroneous charge from the repair shop. He wrote, “I recently had an experience where a repair facility contacted me and told me that my coach would not start. I subsequently received a bill for slightly more than $100 and the explanation was, ‘reconnect battery cables.’ My question to the dealer was, ‘The cables had to have been connected when I drove it to the facility, so how, and who disconnected the cables? It certainly was not me.'”

Call the plumber!

Noah N. has some really good advice. He wrote about his experience: “I had a broken water fixture under my sink. Camping World was backed up for a month. I called my local plumber and they fixed it the next day for $150. Lesson learned: Except for the RV-specific items like pump and water heater, all the RV plumbing is standard and can be fixed quicker and cheaper by your local plumber.”

Outstanding service in an emergency

Bob R. says this RV service center saved the trip. He wrote, “Stoltzfus RV in Adamstown, PA, helped me out in two emergency-type situations. Each one was on the day I was to start my long trips. They dropped what they were doing and helped me out. My last one was a failed brake control system needing to be replaced.

“I may add, I did not buy my Winnebago from them only because they do not carry these models. Their prices are reasonable and, needless to say, outstanding service.”

Laughed at, belittled and treated outrageously rude

Karin M. was treated horribly at this RV service center. She wrote, “I purchased my 2020 Coachmen Apex Nano (new) from Chesapeake RV Solutions in Virginia. I also purchased an additional $1,500 insurance package.

“After using the camper for six months, I brought it back for a few repairs. My plumbing had seven minor leaks—all documented with photos and Tupperware containers full of water. When I dropped the camper off I asked if I could use hose clamps as an emergency repair should the camper develop any future leaks. The manager openly laughed at me and told me that it was a ‘ridiculous question’.

“They then supposedly did a pressure test and told me they couldn’t find a single leak. When I later crawled in back and looked at my plumbing I discovered:
1) That they had used two hose clamps where I had marked leaks.
2) That all seven spots were still leaking.

“My awning motor always stopped when the awning was still 18″ out. They told me they had replaced the motor. The ‘new’ motor stopped when the awning was 18” out. My water pump stopped pumping water when the tank was still 1/3 full. One of their employees rapped his knuckles on the tank, smirked, and said, ‘It’s empty, lady’. The next time the pump ran endlessly I manually drained the remaining water. The 50-gallon tank still had 22 gallons in it. The water pump failed completely two months later.

“I asked them to show me how to manually retract the bump-out in case I ever had an electrical failure. They said, ‘You should have asked that when you first bought the camper.’ I apologized and asked them to show me anyway, but they said, ‘Look it up on the internet.’ I said I hadn’t been able to find anything online and asked for a URL. They refused to give me one. Turns out there is no way to manually retract the bump-out on this model camper (and therefore no URL). Although all the appliances came with manuals, the camper itself did not have one so there was no way to look it up.

“My insurance contract said there was a $50 fee if I brought the camper back to the place that sold it to me. They tried to charge me $200. When I pointed out the clause in the contract, they tried to charge me $100. They also charged me a $150 ‘inspection’ fee.

“Most of all, they were incredibly rude and belittling—repeatedly implying that someone of my age (56) and gender (female) couldn’t possibly know anything about camper repair. This was right at the end of the pandemic and they had a lot of camper sales and repair jobs. When I called them to schedule an appointment for the repair they gave me a date over three months away and made it clear that they were doing me a huge favor not making me wait six months.”

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:

• Reader says of ‘inferior plastic masquerading as leather’: ‘Every upholstered piece in all RVs sold in the last 5-6 years is going to have to be reupholstered’

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