Reader says, ‘I would never let Camping World touch my RV’

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:

Upfront about costs

Joseph W. praises this repair shop. He writes, “I highly recommend Wayne’s Mobile RV Repair in Portland, Oregon. Our heater went out on a Thursday. Brought the trailer in on Friday. They were upfront about costs. They pulled and replaced the heater, but the new board was also defective. They stayed after closing to get us back on the road! Would have been a huge issue because it was day four of a 55-day trip.”

More damage than he thought…

Joe A. did more damage than he suspected when he backed into his carport. He wrote, “A few months ago, I backed the right rear corner of my travel trailer into my carport. Redwood Empire RV (Ukiah, CA) recommended NCD Painting [Yelp or Facebook] (also in Ukiah) for repairs. Dropped the trailer off with Pete at NCD. There was more damage than was originally evident. It required the replacement of the entire rear panel as well as fiberglass repair to the side panel.

“Pete worked well with the insurance adjuster. Once the required parts arrived, the work was completed in a timely manner. Quality of work is EXCELLENT. The trailer was cleaned inside and out (even the vent screens). I highly recommend NCD Painting for RV repairs.”

Excellent work

Gary M. is happy with the service he received in Indiana. He wrote, “Since we purchased our first RV about four years ago, we have only taken it to Alexander’s RV & Trailer Parts & Service in Bloomington, Indiana (1126 Air Dr, Bloomington, IN 47404, 812-332-7442). They do excellent work at a reasonable price and time frame.

“We just traded to a slightly larger motorhome and they have done extensive upgrades this spring. When I have a question, their techs will answer, explain, and show me on my RV.”

Refusal of RV manufacturers to pay warranty claims affects dealers, too

Gary B. tells us about an RV he bought in 1987 and how the refusal of the manufacturer to pay for warranty claims forced the dealer to close. “In 1987, we bought a new Fleetwood Bounder, the second year after its introduction. The northern California dealer we bought it from was excellent in taking care of warranty problems and even found some that I had not identified with them. Fleetwood objected to the dealer’s warranty requests for payment for mine and other RVs that they sold. I was told that no matter what, they didn’t pay enough to defray the actual cost of repairs. The end result was that Fleetwood (not the same Fleetwood that exists now) refused to pay and caused the dealer to go out of business.

“That is the opposite story of the 2000 Bounder we bought from Dan Gamel in Morgan Hill, California. They kept my motorhome for months and did nothing.”

Consistently incompetent

Jay A. writes to us about Camping World service, “I have had the unfortunate experience of using Camping World to do warranty work on my camper twice. They are consistently incompetent. Now that my camper is out of warranty I would never let them touch it.”

“50 years of RVing, never had a company treat me better than Tiffin”

Randy H. is a fan of Tiffin Motorhome service centers. He wrote, “Two rigs ago I owned an Allegro motorhome and had dragged a holding tank over a tree root and ripped all the insulation off of it; I thought I had punctured the tank. I lived in Georgia at the time and nobody in the Atlanta market wanted to take on repairing it. So I drove over to North Alabama to the Tiffin factory.

“The folks there are incredible. I arrived late the day before and hooked up to one of the free campsites they offered. They came by around 7:00 the next morning to get information and understand what help was needed, then issued a rental car for me to use during the day while they worked on the rig. When I returned, the motorhome was back on the same lot I had left it, hooked up with the A/C running, the holding tank was repaired, and looked brand-new.

“But, get this. They didn’t charge me a penny for working on it, for the day-use car, or for the campsite. Does it ever get any better than that?? In my nearly 50 years of camping, I’ve never had any company treat me any better than Tiffin and I think they will always be the reigning champs of service after the sale. And I will always be grateful for them.”

A happy shoutout

Richard B. is glad he didn’t need to deal with a dealer for this repair. He wrote, “A shoutout to Blue Wrench in Meridian, Idaho. My ’04 Adventurer on W24 Workhorse chassis had a major malfunction of the automatic parking brake and the entire assembly needed to be replaced. They were able to diagnose and source the part within a week. I drove to the KOA, only several blocks away, and then took it back once the part was delivered. Expensive, yes, but didn’t have to deal with an RV dealer.”

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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