Just needed to vent somewhere!! We bought our camper last August - Used it through the 3rd week of October. Put it in the shop for warranty repairs, and it is still there!!! We have owned the camper for 6 months now, and 4 of it has been sitting in the shop!!! Im pretty miffed about it!! They keep blaming the manufacturer, saying they have not been sent the parts yet!! Hoping to get it this week or next!!! Just intime for nice weather! Just sucks!!
Hi KentuckyCampin: My first RV gave me fits with a warranty. I had a 24 foot Fleetwood Jamboree. It was a "camping" rv, tough little thing, drove like a tank! Well, my furnace conked out. Fortunately, it was September, and not that cold. I lived with it, took in in for warranty, dealer said "loose wire" and I got it back. Took it out again in October. Conked out again. Loose wire my a**! Still wasn't that cold, Ilived with it, then took it back for warranty. Dealer said, "[some other cock a mammie excuse, I forgot....]" Took it out in November, and IT WAS REALLY COLD! Furnace conked out AGAIN! I had to borrow a space heater! I was FUMING! Dealer kept the RV a week, and they finally figured it out. Other units of this model only had THREE furnace vents. For some reason, mine had four vents. The fourth vent was causing a 10 amp furnace to draw 12 amps. So, the dealer picked one vent and plugged it. Problem solved, furnace drew 8 amps. It's a wonder I didn't get soured on that experience. Sometimes the problem isn't obvious. But I hope you get yours fixed soon! If the dealer is having a problem, tell them to think out of the box. JJ
Trailer Life Magazine has a section where people with problems like you write in. The magazine then contacts the dealer, the manufacturer, all parties involved. Not wanting bad press, they usually get things fixed up pretty quickly.
Thanks guys!! I may write in if they dont get my unit to me by tomorrow!! They are blaming Gulfstrem, saying they have had problems with authorizing work, sending wrong parts, etc, etc, etc...... On top of that, now I find out the battery has gone dead because they didnt disconnect it!! And I am not paying for that! The carbon monoxide detector was blamed. Well If they knew that there was a tendency to drain the battery, it should have been disconnected!!
The first motorhome we bought was used, but still under warranty. We constantly had to take it in until they finally got out most of the kinks. They never kept it for long periods--just a lot of short periods. Then we traded for a new coach, and again we had it in for warranty work several times. In two of the cases they had to order parts and one of those times took especially long; seven months if you can believe it. At first we let the coach sit on their lot, but when we realized the repair was taking a long time we picked it up and kept it until the part actually came in. Once the part arrived they were able to fix the problem within a day. We were also lucky that the unit was drivable and usable so we went on trips while we waited for the part to come in. When it was in the shop it was extremely frustrating to have them say they were waiting on the manufacturer to ship the part, and it should arrive very soon. I even spoke to the manufacturer and the problem is just too complicated to go into here, but we were not very happy campers during this time. I guess what I’m wondering is if your coach is drivable/usable and if you could pick it up and use it while you wait on the parts.
The same thing was happening to me and we had a trip to Disney planned and 6 weeks it was there without being touched.. we called the place and told them we would be picking it up as is ..not finished. they blamed the manufacturer,we called the manufacturer ourselves and found out the part was already there!!!! after we said we would take it as is and NEVER be back they had it ready 3 days later...
Yep, I am calling Gulf Stream tomorrow and getting to the bottom of it. This is just nuts!! Owned the camper for almost 7 months, and its been in the shop for 5!! Not to mention I have been making insurance and loan payments on it while we cant even use it!!! Not a happy camper :angry:
Go straight to the Customer Service Manager at GulfStream and don't take no or delays of any kind. Be assertive but nice! On our original Gulfstream BT crusier the back of the outside fiberglass cracked wide open in serveral places. The unit was only 18 months old but we were the 2nd owners! One dealer I had called told us there was nothing to be done about it, we just would not accept that kind of quality for $70K! Called Gulfstream, after several phone conversations with GS they replaced the entire back panels totaling over $4K in repairs. We took it to a dealer in NM (we were traveling there anyway) and dealership was GREAT! We purchased a second BT cruiser 3 yrs ago--had some minor problems. When the local dealer started jerking us around, we immediately called GS again. Within hours the replacement radio was shipped to the local dealer, had an apt and we took the unit in and waited for the repairs. GS followed up to make sure we were satisfied with the repairs and our unit. We have found that some dealers just want to make the sale--to heck with customer service. Be persistent and good luck!
Well I called Gulfstream twice yesterday, and the guy there "promised" he would call me back. Well today came and went and no phone call!!! I called the dealership and got pretty hot under the collar. They called me back this afternoon and said the camper is ready. Im going to pick it up tomorrow. Oh, believe you me, I am going over it with a fine toothed comb!! Angry, you bet I am!! :angry:
I hate to say it - but there are still bunch of RV makers & dealers that deserve to go out of business. They are finally starting to reap the crap that has been sown. This post is a "classic" example of dealers blaming manufacturers instead of owning the problem(s) and taking care of the customer. The bottom line? I don't care who's fault it is. I paid you (the dealer) for the rig; you made the profit; calls were promptly returned before the sale - fix it!
Glad you FOUGHT it. YAY!!!! I hope the experience doesn't dampen your enthusiasm for having an RV. JJ
Well I finally got the camper out of the shop. I got down there and there were a couple of items that were not completed!! Almost 5 months and still didnt have the things done!! They put the battery on a trickle charge and it tested out good. So atleast I wasnt out the battery! Anyways, I just took the camper and brought it home. I can finish the other things that need to be corrected, just that when something is under warranty, one would expect items to be completed. The unit wasnt cleaned out, still has wood particles and sawdust in the floor and on the couch. So I guess that will be the last time that I ever use that dealer again!! No wonder they have such a bad reputation with everyone I talk to about them. While I was there, an elderly gentleman was waiting on his RV. They were performing a service on it and his bill was up to $900!!!!! He was pretty upset, and stated he could have bought a new generator for $500 or $600!! Whew, man you talking about a screwed up place!! I had to pay $73, because the warranty did not cover the roof sealant nor the outside shower head. But do you think they called me and told me that before they did the work?? Nope. If I would have known that, I would have done that myself!! I needed to get my propane tanks refilled, but I think I will just go to the local gas station and pay the extra money than have to deal with them anymore!! Glad that is all behind me! No wonder places are going out of business!! With that kind of customer service, one cant stay in operation long!!
