RVBusiness Magazine has named its 2017 Top 50 RV Dealers. The program is held in conjunction with the Recreation Vehicle Dealers Association (RVDA) and is designed to honor the top dealerships in the U.S. and Canada based on their commitment to professionalism and customer care.
Singled out among the 50 for their exemplary performances were five Blue Ribbon honorees: Colerain Family RV in Dayton and Cincinnati, Ohio; Hartville RV Center in Hartville, Ohio; Veurinks’ RV Center in Grand Rapids, Michigan; Voyager RV Centre in Winfield, British Columbia; and Walnut Ridge Family RV Sales in New Castle, Indiana.
Also, two dealerships – Lazydays RV and Manteca Trailer & Motorhome – earned special recognition during a gala reception and awards presentations held in Las Vegas. Lazydays RV was the recipient of the Arthur J. Decio Humanitarian Award sponsored by Ally Financial Inc., which honors a dealer excelling in charitable endeavors. Manteca Trailer & Motorhome in Manteca, California, was recognized for its creative business strategies with the “Gaylord Maxwell Innovation Award” sponsored by Lippert Components Inc.
In alphabetical order, the award winners were:
-Affinity RV Service, Sales & Rentals – Prescott, Ariz.
-Alliance Coach – Wildwood, Fla.
-Alpin Haus – Amsterdam, N.Y.
-ArrKann Trailer & RV – Edmonton, Alberta
-Big Country RV – Bend, Ore.
-Bill Plemmons RV World – Rural Hall, N.C.
-Bish’s RV – Idaho Falls, Idaho
-Bowling RVs – Ottumwa, Iowa
-Broadmoor RV SuperStore – Pasco, Wash.
-Bucars RV Centre – Balzac, Alberta
-Bullyan RV – Duluth, Minn.
-Burlington RV Superstore – Sturtevant, Wis.
-Byerly RV – St. Louis, Mo.
-Campers Inn RV – Kingston, N.H.
-Coachlight RV Sales – Carthage, Mo.
-Colerain Family RV – Cincinnati, Ohio
-Colonial Airstream & RV – Lakewood, N.J.
-Crestview RV Center – Buda, Texas
-Curtis Trailers – Portland, Ore.
-Dixie RV SuperStores – Hammond, La.
-ExploreUSA RV Supercenter – Plano, Texas
-Fraserway RV – Abbotsford, British Columbia
-General RV Center – Wixom, Mich.
-Giant Recreation World – Winter Garden, Fla.
-Gib’s RV Superstore – Coos Bay, Ore.
-Greeneway RV Sales & Service – Wisconsin Falls, Wis.
-Guaranty RV Super Centers – Junction City, Ore.
-Hartville RV Center – Hartville, Ohio
-Hemlock Hill RV – Southington, Conn.
-Hilltop Camper & RV – Fridley, Minn.
-Lardners Trailer Sales – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
-Lazydays RV – Seffner, Fla.
-Manteca Trailer & Motorhome – Manteca, Calif.
-Modern Trailer Sales – Anderson, Ind.
-Moix RV Supercenter – Conway, Ark.
-Mount Comfort RV – Greenfield, Ind.
-Noble RV – Owatonna, Minn.
-Pan Pacific RV Centers – French Camp, Calif.
-PleasureLand RV Center – St. Cloud, Minn.
-Princess Craft – Round Rock, Texas
-Rich & Sons RV Headquarters – Grand Island, Neb.
-Richardson’s RV Centers – Menifee, Calif.
-Steinbring Motorcoach – Garfield, Minn.
-Tennessee RV Supercenter – Knox, Tenn.
-United RV Center – Ft. Worth, Texas
-Veurinks’ RV Center – Grand Rapids, Mich.
-Vogt RV Centers – Ft. Worth, Texas
-Voyager RV Centre – Winfield, British Columbia
-Walnut Ridge Family RV Sales – New Castle, Ind.
-Wilkins RV – Bath, N.Y.
##RVT824
Is SERVICE part of determining the top 5 dealerships each year?
Great question, Gene. In reply, here is part of the announcement from the RVDA about this award (and we’ll let you decide the answer to your question):
—Diane at RVtravel.com
We cannot believe that Lichtsinn RV in Forest City, Iowa is NOT on the list! They were very professional to deal with and had great customer service after the sale. Also had the best price on the RV we were looking for. We have bought a few RVs over the years and none has compared with the service we had at Lichtsinn.
I guess any dealer with enough money can make the list. I’d suggest a second look at Alliance Coach in Wildwood, FL; surely they’ve bought their spot. When confronted with the looooong list of technical issues and bad repairs performed by “the best techs in the country” (according to owner, Mr. Shapiro), we were told that it was our own fault our 2017 HR Vacationer, purchased THERE, had so many problems. When we complained about having to bring it 44 miles each way for service, multiple times (as in, the first 2000 miles were back and forth to the dealer), and it never being ready when promised, we were told, again, by Mr. Shapiro, that’s just too bad. He bought a Beaver, and he had to bring it all the way from Georgia to get it worked on. And he didn’t like having to wait either, so he bought the dealership, just to make sure he could get his rig worked on in a timely manner. In other words, he really didn’t care. I walked away from our conversation feeling even worse than I had before.
When his techs, remember, these are “the best in the nation,” couldn’t fix our slideout roof issue, the factory actually REQUESTED us to bring it back to Indiana. There, the factory techs found found improper work performed in the initial rebuild. For instance, Alliance forgot to put the bottom roller back on the slide, causing all sorts of misalignment and floor/wall damage. The furniture was put back in in the wrong places, so some drawers became inoperable. There was a bad weld in the brace. The plywood they used to form the roof was 4 inches too short. The headliner wasn’t glued on properly. Remember now, these are “the best techs in the country.”
I cannot begin to count the number of times we had to clean the unit after Alliance Coach techs worked on it. We have had mud and dirt tracked into the shower (took them 5 tries to fix a leak that we knew about on Day 1) stall, gum was brought in on the step grooves (I still haven’t been able to fully remove that), greasy hand prints have been found all over the creamy white vinyl, the radio/console/camera display was replaced (because the unit failed) and was not put back in flush with the dashboard. When I requested the screen door be adjusted so that it would close more securely and easily, they simply enlarged the cutout and somehow made the OUTER door misaligned. When I asked about fixing that, I was told it was “engineered that way – only one door would close properly.” And I should “pick one or the other – the outer or the inner door, but you can’t have them both close fully.” Really. Yup, pick one door to close. And THAT is professionalism? And THAT is concern for the customer. Not in my opinion.
We also had a Holiday Rambler recall on our generator mount. The zip ties had to be replaced with non-flammable ones. When Alliance “fixed” this, they bent the connector pins, causing the generator to shut off unexpectedly while operating, or simply, not start. Onan techs had to figure that one out, but it was at our inconvenience, as we were travelling through 103 degree weather at the time and had to wait until we were in one place long enough to get it serviced.
Thank you, Alliance Coach, for making my dream RV a living nightmare. It’s been a full year now, and I’m sure we’re no longer welcome at the dealership, but it’ll be a cold day in a hot place before I could recommend them to anyone, even my worst enemy.
We spent 3 weeks in Decatur, in the REVGroup parking lot, getting our issues resolved. During that time, we heard the same story over and over…Alliance worked on it, but it’s still not right. Alliance can’t fix it, so we brought it here. It was surprising to see the number of coaches with Alliance plates. Disappointing, too.
We were told that each dealer is totally independent, and as long as they were selling the rigs, the manufacturers would keep supplying them, no matter how bad the technical service or customer treatment. And there was nothing the manufacturer could do or say to a dealership to ensure standards were met or upheld.
Good job Emily,you sure are making Mr.Woodbury proud,perhaps next week we can have a list of the worst,have a few places in my city that are shall we say lacking in customer service!
Thank you, Ron! And yes, having a list of the worst dealers is a great idea, though I have a feeling it may be a bit longer than this one 🙂 –Emily
We have had an excellent experience working with Diamond RV in Massachusetts.
I agree 100% with Jim,that Lamesa isn’t on the kist.They are the absolute worst dealer I’ve ever dealt with.Totally dishonest and untrustworthy.
I am super shocked that MHSRV is not on this list. I wish every business that sells anything could model how MHSRV in Alverado, Tx does it! We researched online for a year before we were able to buy anything, and never even heard of any of those other dealers, but MHSRV is super customer centric and their prices cannot be beat!
This is great! Glad you have a reliable dealer, Troy. Nothing beats great customer service (and good prices!) –Emily
Glad to see that LaMesa RV and Camping World are not on the list. Lends credence to the list.
Stay away from Blue Dog RV.
Stay far, far away from Blue Dog. I will add Kudos for Broadmoor RV. I live just down the road from Broadmoor, and although they don’t sell my brand of RV, they have handled warranty and insurance work on my 5th wheel quickly and always quality work.
I agree Jim. Blue Dog expected us to buy a nonworking RV with the promise they would make it work before we took possession! What person in their right mind would spend that kind of money without trying the rig out to see how it drove, potential problems, etc. People we have spoken with who got their “lifetime warranty” waited months to get their rigs fixed. Definitely stay away.
Greenaway rv sales and service is located in wisconsin Rapids wi.