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Are there 5th wheel dealers who do "mobile" warranty repairs in Houston/Beaumont, Texas or Lake Charles, LA area? I purchased a 5th wheel and it is under warranty, but to get warranty repairs I have to take it 3.5 hours away to the dealer (Toppers RV, Waller TX).... and I signed a paper that said I understood that "never dreaming" that 3 DAYS after the power was turned on the AC would shutdown and not work!! When I first contacted the salesman (Zach Randall) he was so helpful and understood I could not bring the unit to him, but now he will not return my calls or texts! So..... do I have any recourse or am I just SOL?? What do I do now?

 

 

I recently purchased a 2016 Forest River Sandpiper 389RD from Toppers RV in Waller, TX. It was delivered 02/29/2016 and the power turned on about 12:00 pm 3/16/2016. On 3/17/2016, the AC unit would cycle off and on quickly several times, but then it was fine. I had been trying to figure out how to use the Dometic Dual Controller and I thought this was caused by something I had done or a setting I unknowingly changed.

 

About 5:00 pm on 3/18/2016, the AC unit shutdown and the controller light went out! So Saturday I contacted my salesman, Zach Randall, and told him what was going on. He told me that my thermostat had gone out and I needed a new one. He also told me they are cheap so just find one locally and it will be easy to install. So I called around locally and found one for $120.00 and contacted him to find out if that was cheap for a thermostat. When I called him back he said they are ripping you off because they sold them for $40.00 and he would just send me one. He also gave me the name of the Forest River area representative (Wayne Bigler) and told me that he would even probably even come out to install it if I needed to call him Monday.

 

On Monday, 3/21/2016, I contacted the forest river rep (Wayne Bigler) who was not really excited to hear from me and told me to call the local Forest River dealer. The local dealer does not do any "mobile" repairs. So I was called my salesman (Zach Randall) back who basically told me "Welcome to the RV world.... I know your situation and it sucks!" My situation is that I do not have a truck big enough to haul the RV yet!

 

He is no longer returning my calls or texts....

 

 

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Most mobile service techs will do Dometic warranty repairs. Tell us where you are located and maybe someone can recommend a mobile tech to you. Houston to Lake Charles covers a lot of ground.

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

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Welcome to the Escapee forums. I do hope that we will be able to help, and promise to do the best that we can.

 

I'm wondering if you have checked things like the circuit breaker that supplies the air conditioner? Also, have you used a meter to verify that you have proper voltage to the RV? Is there a dealer for Sandpiper that is closer to you as you might get help from them but they are not likely to come to you. Just as with an automobile, dealer service people do expect that the buyer will bring the unit back for service work when needed but if you aren't close to the selling dealer then one that is closer will nearly always help. There may very well be an experienced RV owner in the park where you are who could help you or there might even be a member of these forums who is near enough to be of some help. It sounds as though you may have lost power to the air conditioner.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Stop whatever you are doing right now. Open your fuse panel and breaker panel. Turn off the ac breaker. Pull the 12 volt fuse for the thermostat. It may be easier to disconnect the batteries. Reinstall the fuse ( or reconnect the battery ) and turn on the breaker for the ac. Check and see if it now works. Sometimes you have to reboot the system. Probably running a small version of Windows.

Ron C.

2013 Dynamax Trilogy 3850 D3

2000 Kenworth T2000 Optimus Prime

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I have check the breaker box and reset all. Put a meter also and everything checked out okay. A friend who does AC work and happens to also own a 5th wheel is coming out tomorrow (saturday) to try and help me. He had similar issues and thinks he knows what the problem is.

 

I am located on private property near beaumont texas.

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Let us know what your friend finds for you. An air conditioner is not the simplest of appliances to learn trouble shooting on. It might also be helpful to us if we knew a bit more about your technical & electrical knowledge as it can be a language of it's own,

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Great to see what good service Toppers RV provides as soon as you leave the lot !!!

 

I would speak to the Forest River rep. and see if they will cover Mobile Repair service under their warranty. They certainly should if you are unable to move the unit.

 

We had great service from AC RV Repair ( Rockport area ), a few years ago, but that may be a little too far south of where you are.

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Bryon"s RV Repair. They provide mobile service and are good. We have used them. We bought a new Dometic unit and had problems with it. He ended up replacing it all under warranty. http://byronsrvrepairtx.com/home/2082529

2003 Teton Grand Freedom towed with 2006 Freightliner Century 120 across the beautiful USA welding pipe.https://photos.app.goo.gl/O32ZjgzSzgK7LAyt1

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The air conditioner should be under warranty by its manufacturer. Contact Dometic or check their website for authorized service centers. Many mobile repair services can do warranty work on appliances. You may have to pay the service call fee, but the manufacturer will cover the parts and labor for repairs under warranty. A few years ago, I have had a couple of warranty repairs to a Dometic refrigerator done by two different mobile techs in two different areas of the country.

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The air conditioner should be under warranty by its manufacturer. Contact Dometic or check their website for authorized service centers. Many mobile repair services can do warranty work on appliances. You may have to pay the service call fee, but the manufacturer will cover the parts and labor for repairs under warranty. A few years ago, I have had a couple of warranty repairs to a Dometic refrigerator done by two different mobile techs in two different areas of the country.

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Thanks I will contact them.... I just would have thought the dealer would help me instead of stop returning my calls or texts!

 

One of my air cons went out last year. I pulled out the air con owners manual and read it. It said if I needed warranty repair, there is a web site to look up authorized repair facilities. Forget about the dealer unless it is something specifically to do with the coach, not a component covered by another manufacturer..

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Your AC, furnace, HWH, Inverter, converter, stove, microwave, tires, wheels, brakes, frame, propane tank, air vents, skylight, roof membrane and on and on ...none of those are made by Forest River. All are made by vendor companies and purchased by FR and assembled into the 5ver that they call a FR product. All the items are warrantied by the individual manufacturers. What little (?) is actually manufactured by FR in your 5ver is warrantied by FR. Not really anything warrantied by your selling dealer. If you actually have a FR warranty issue and a local FR dealer won't fix it under warranty, all you need to do is call the company that warrantied it - FR - and tell them to find someone else locally to fix the problem. It's their problem to deal with THEIR warranty. If it is a component part warrantied by a component mfr, you can contact that mfr and request that they find a local repair facility and authorize a direct paid factory warranty repair.

 

In all probability all your repairs will be done faster and more competently by local mom & pop authorized repair centers than by a dealer. And you've learned a few other valuable lessons. One, your selling dealer's service after the sale sucks. Something to remember when you are back in the market. Two, FR has a crappy area Rep. Again something to remember when you want to spend your money next time. Third, your local FR dealer has an absolutely stupid business model - rather than impressing you with their stellar service and attentiveness with the hope of getting your money next time you buy, instead they did all they could to see to it you never buy accessories, service or another RV from them. Finally, next time you do buy and you hear a local dealer tell you that you should buy locally so that you can get good service, ask the dealer if they can provide a performance bond from an insurer, insuring that they will provide good service when you need it and that the dealer will still be in business when you need service. If they can't assure you with an independent bond, then their promise of good local service is worth about as much as their promise that you 1/2 ton pick up is a safe tow vehicle for your 22,000# fiver. Zip. Time to take control of your situation!

Then
The puller - Wiers Towmaster (Int'l 4700LP)
and pusher - 40' Travel Supreme

Now

30' Winnebago Aspect TS
Signs of my new life

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Your selling dealer's service may indeed suck, but good luck finding a dealer who will travel 7 hours to service your vehicle/RV, especially when they don't have a mobile service unit.

Everybody wanna hear the truth, but everybody tell a lie.  Everybody wanna go to Heaven, but nobody want to die.  Albert King

 

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Thanks I will contact them.... I just would have thought the dealer would help me instead of stop returning my calls or texts!

It would be very unusual for a dealer to travel beyond the local community to do service work. I do know of a few cases where a selling dealer sent their service people to the location for warranty work on an RV that was parked in an RV park just a few miles away, but since you are about 140 miles from the dealer, I have never heard of one who would travel that far. There is a possibility that an RV manufacturer would consider it if the warranty problem was one preventing moving the RV, but that would be about the only case that I can think of where they would. RVs are considered to be portable and manufacturers of most things that can be moved will expect the buyer to return an item to the dealer for warranty repairs when that is possible. Even new car/truck dealers have that same expectation unless the vehicle is disabled. In reading what it says about service on the Topper's RV webpage, it states that they are licensed in "Houston & Harris County" so it may be concluded that they don't travel beyond that and it makes no mention of any mobile service. One thing that you have not told us is who delivered the RV from Topper's RV to your present location? Did the dealer pull it out to you and set it up, or did delivery take place at the dealership and someone else then pulled to out there for you?

 

I really don't believe that you would find much different response from most dealers if you were to request them to travel more than 100 miles to do warranty service work. It would truly be an exceptional dealer that was willing to do that. If one buys an RV or most anything else with the expectation of warranty support at long distance, it would be a good idea to get that warranty support written into the purchase contract. What most of us do in a situation like yours is to contact mobile service companies and ask if they are able to do warranty work on the appliance in question. Many, if not most of them can do warranty work.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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I didn't think Toppers would come out and do mobile repairs but I do think they should have provided more support for me trying to get a repair done. Basically, the salesman just stopped returning my calls and texts.

 

His last response to me was Welcome to the RV world.... I know it sucks!

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I look at this a little different. Many, if not most, of the folks here are very hands on. We like to work on our equipment. That does not absolve the dealer or manufacturer from their warranty obligation. Explaining what steps to take and how to diagnose the problem is great but not necessary. The warranty covers this. The new owner should only have to call up and explain they have a problem. The dealer should take it from there.


I suggest you contact the manager of Topper's and discuss the situation. They need to be aware of the salesman's attitude.


As others have stated, FR is not responsible for the repairs on the specific components but I sure would hold them and the dealer's feet to the fire for some assistance. For crying out loud, it's barely been two months after the purchase!


I'd share this thread with the manager too. Let him know that over 700 viewers have seen this and growing. There is absolutely no excuse for that kind of no-service. The power of the internet is amazing. If he is any kind of businessman, he will want to know about 700+ negative consumers.


On the other hand - Vern - you are a stand up guy!!


Good luck - let us know what happens.

The richest are not those who have the most, but those who need the least.

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