‘Bad work, lost deposits, and even RVs held hostage over inflated bills!’

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:

It’s your money; don’t waste it

Ronald B. sent this to us about doing your research before hiring anyone to work on your RV. He wrote, “Nanci is so very right about being careful when you are thinking of having your RV repairs done by a mobile tech or independent repair shop. If it isn’t an emergency, do some research first.

“We have seen cases where bad work or no work was done, where deposits were kept, where even the RV was held hostage for bills that exceed the estimate. Do your research (look for BBB complaints too—the existence of several, whether resolved or not, is a warning sign for others), always get a written estimate, and monitor the repair process when it seems to be taking too long. Watch out for any stalls or delays. It’s your RV, so be careful; and it’s your money, so don’t waste it.”

Techs can’t recreate problems

Lori S. supplied videos to the RV service shop to demonstrate their RV’s problems, but the techs couldn’t recreate them, so she asks our advice. She wrote, “I bought a brand-new Alta East to West from Optimum RV in Florida. It has been to two of their repair locations longer than I have had it to use. They say they cannot recreate a problem with the tankless water heater even though we have videos of the water heater showing error codes and not working every time we use it. They say we must be doing something wrong. We turn it on and it does not work.

“This is just one of many issues we have that they say they cannot recreate. We have provided videos of every issue from leaking black water to the leaking A/C unit. They tell us the warranty will not cover it because the techs cannot determine the problem. This has been going on since February 2024. The staff has changed several times so we have to keep starting over. Is there anything you could suggest?”

New trailer joys

Richard K. writes excitedly about their next RV purchase. “My wife and I have had two older pop-up campers since we got married six years ago.

“We decided that we are tired of dealing with canvas issues and setting up and taking down the camper and our gear in the rain, crawling over each other to get to the bathroom in the middle of the night, not even HAVING a bathroom and therefore having to walk to and from the bathhouse in the middle of the night, in all kinds of weather, practically no storage, a tiny fridge… the list goes on.

“The pop-ups were a step up from a tent. We’ve looked at campers that fit our requirements and were laid out in a way that we liked. We wanted air conditioning (neither of our pop-ups had that), a refrigerator with a freezer, a full bathroom, walk-around queen bed, and it all had to fit in a package that weighed under 3,000 pounds.

“We looked at things like the Coachmen Clipper Cadet 17CFQ, Forest River Cherokee Wolf Den/Wolf Pup 17EV, Rockwood Forest River Mini Lite 2104S, and Gulf Stream Vintage Cruiser 19RBS. They had the features we liked but all seemed to be a tad cramped in their layouts or had other things that we didn’t like. The last one we checked out was the Sunset Park RV Sun Lite 19RB LTD, and it turned out to be EXACTLY what we wanted, so we’ll be getting one in the spring. It’s a model that apparently just came out in the last year or so, so getting an ‘older’ one isn’t really an option. But to us, it’s a HUGE step up from the ancient pop-ups!”

I’ll just do it myself then!

Kyle R. got the runaround from the dealer so he fixed the problem himself. He wrote, “I purchased a new 2023 Forest River IBEX 19QTH from Happy Camper RV out of Garden City, ID, sight unseen, in April of 2024. I worked with their sales guy, Monte, on pricing remotely, and had the unit shipped to me from Idaho to my home in Reno, NV. When I talked to Monte about any issues I may find once I received the RV, he noted there was the potential for a mobile RV service to take a look at anything I might find.

“I am a first-time RV trailer owner, so I went through a few of the systems like power, leveling jacks, upgraded to dual propane tanks, etc. I did not get a chance to test the fresh water system before I took the trailer out for a two-week hunting period. My mistake, as the fresh water pump seemed to have a clogged inlet or outlet, and would only intermittently pump water, rendering that system useless.

“When I texted Monte about the issue and a video of what was happening, he promptly advised he would have Angie give me a call. Since I was intermittently in cell service in the backcountry, I waited around for a call where I could get service. I waited for a few hours, and then tried calling Monte to check the status. No answer. Left a voicemail. I texted him back and said that nobody from Happy Camper had called me back for six hours, and he referred me to the local IBEX dealer in Reno. No advice on what to try, no callback, no offer for travel service. Pretty lame response from Happy Camper after spending over $30K on a trailer just six months prior.

“I did attempt to get warranty service on the issue, but the local Camping World dealer was about seven weeks out on service. While researching ‘winterizing’ my unit online, I discovered how to access the fresh water pump and bypass valves, and while winterizing, found the inlet coupling to the fresh water pump was about four turns too loose, leading to the pump alternately sucking air and a little water. Tightened it up, winterized the RV, and waiting to take it out again in the spring.”

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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