RVer’s long list of problems would scare anyone away from RV ownership!

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:

One service center recommendation and one to stay away from

H H. writes, “I find that reliable RV service is all too rare. My go-to service center is 3R RV in Union, Missouri. I have used them for years for repairs, advice, and troubleshooting. They have consistently been accurate and thorough in their repairs and reasonable prices.

“I also have significant experience with Travers St. Louis RV, which has been extremely frustrating. Our first experience with them was for the sale of our 2008 Class A in September 2020. We found our contacts there to be very knowledgeable and fair. Not long after that transaction, we decided on a Highland Ridge Open Range. Travers was the only dealer in the area who sold them so we looked forward to working with them and their familiar staff.

“The purchase went smoothly, except for the timing. We contacted them in September 2020 with expectations of receiving the unit around March 2021. At the time, Travers had 3 5th wheels on order, and they were able to get our specs to fit into the manufacturing process. We received the unit late November 2020. With the delays resulting from COVID, we chose to take the unit early knowing the additional cost of ownership well before our first possible use. Then came the service issues.

“We took the unit in a couple of weeks before the end of the warranty with the following results. Note that the competent staff we had been working with had been fired by this time and new service personnel were unfamiliar to us.

“Our experience for those first few visits follows: 

• I brought my RV in for manufacturer warranty and winterization work mid-November of 2021. It was not ready until mid-March 2022—4 months.
• I ordered a winterization that was not completed—around $170 charge. When I got it back, it had 10-20 gallons of fresh water in the holding tank, the lines had water in them, and the water heater had burst. I had to return the RV to Travers to have a tankless water heater installed, but I still paid $170 for a winterization service that was not done.
• While the unit was with Travers, a ladder fell and broke a window, requiring a new one to be ordered and installed. Mistakes happen, but we noticed after some time that a piece of trim above the theater seats was missing. It is still missing.
• I was called at least three times to come pick up the RV, only to discover after reviewing the list of service items, that it was not ready.
• On two separate pick-ups (one before the Nov 2021 – Mar 2022 visit), the batteries were dead. The first required a battery jump to get it on the truck and two jumps to get it parked at my house. The second situation, I specifically called to ensure the batteries were charged. They were not, and Travers replaced the batteries so I could leave with the unit.
• When I called in December of 2021 to check on status, I was told that the manufacturer had not responded to my request for coverage of the issues I had. I got the impression that the items were not submitted timely after I dropped it off, causing a 2-week additional delay while the manufacturer was closed for the holidays.
• I requested the front awning arm to be adjusted since it was sticking and not deploying.  That was not fixed and resulted in the awning pulling out from the unit on the front end.
• I requested the dump-out tanks to be checked as I was getting a leak. The issue was not duplicated then, but has been now and is being fixed.
• The refrigerator doors were not staying locked during travel. This required >1 visit to get the doors to lock correctly. I also reported that the freezer was accumulating significant frost-up. That issue has not been fixed and it must be defrosted every 2-3 months.
• Auto-leveling was not working, was getting fault errors, and required me to reset it. I was told it was all working properly, but the problem remains.

“I had the unit in again this last summer for work that I deemed to be a follow-up to the warranty work:

• The awning issue was again submitted. The current diagnosis is that the awning fabric was sticking. I never witnessed this. The awning would readily unroll when the stuck arm was freed. As I understand the cost, this will probably cost me $1,100 – $1,200 to replace the fabric.
• The leveling issue persists. I received suggestions about setting the front pads before leveling, but that did not correct the problem. I’ve been told the sensors and system have no issues, yet the unit may level 1-2 times, and then get a stroke error. I have also been told that the issue may be the height needed to get the unit on and off my Ram 3500 with a goose-neck configuration. That configuration was sold to me by Travers, but I now understand that they should have sold me a 5th wheel button that would connect to the gooseneck ball in the bed.  
• The dump-out tanks were still leaking. Travers did get this fixed at no cost.
• The ladder on the back of the unit broke at the bottom rung. It is rated at 250 lbs. I weighed 220 at the time. I submitted it for extended warranty, only to be told that it is ‘not a functional feature’ on the rig.  
• After two months, they were finally able to replace the trim lost when the window was broken (see above).
• And, during this time we started working with a service representative who helped us as much as could possibly be expected, researching our extended service contract when no one else could, and following up on issues regularly to keep me updated. She worked with me to get their tech’s to dig in after the initial ‘there is no problem’ response. I learned that she was scheduled to be reassigned to a lesser position. I wrote a letter to her supervisor expressing my strong satisfaction with working with her. She was let go while my rig was in service. Her replacement, again, was scattered, uninformed, and did not return calls.

“I can only recommend staying away from Travers. And I recommend 3R RV to anyone needing service.”

Reader tired of comments about trailer quality

Mike L. wrote that all trailers will have problems. “I get people have problems with their trailers. We all do. But to publish comments from people about the trailer quality is getting old. Complaining about buying a ‘high-end’ trailer is laughable. If she did her research and felt she was buying a high-end trailer, then her homework also let her know that you can’t expect nothing to go wrong when you pull these down the road at 65 mph. As far as the wind, yeah, 95 mph is going to do damage to trailers! What are these people wanting out of the trailers when 95 mph winds hit them?”

RVing becoming like a cheap cruise line

Captain G. compares RVing to cheap cruise lines. He wrote, “The more I read this RV newsletter, the more I think about selling my rig and moving away from ‘RVing’. It has become a joke. Another ‘Walmart’ or cheap cruise line experience. Oh, well. It was good for a while 5-10 years ago. Glad I enjoyed it back then!”

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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