Who's responsible? Help settle a disagreement.

[PAylor]

Hi all,

The hubby and I have a difference of opinion and I would love input.

We have a new fifth wheel that is still under warranty.  I don't want to say it's a lemon but we have had it in the shop several times.  The manufacturer has taken care of everything but it's still a hassle.  

Anyhow the A/C quit working.  We took it to the service center and of course they couldn't find anything wrong.  So we had to pay the bill.  Got it home, packed to leave on a trip and turned on the A/C.  After letting it run for two days the A/C cut out again.  Took it back (after canceling our vacation-grrrr!) and they were able to find that the Dometic thermostat was bad.  Of course we didn't pay for that repair.

I think the repair shop is responsible for the first bill.  I feel like they didn't do enough to find the problem.  Hubby thinks Dometic is.  He contacted the dealer requesting they contact Dometic.  

One thing I am sure of is that we're not responsible!

[Yarome]

Without knowing exactly what caused the fault, it's difficult to say definitively... but the repair shop may or may not really have any liability in the game. Some issues may be intermittent. It sounds as if it was either out and out faulty equipment from Dometic, or simply faulty installation by the manufacturer.

The repair shop... unable to determine the issue the first go around... again... with possibly an intermittent issue...  was entitled to receive payment for their time.

Now that the issue has been correctly identified/resolved, the responsibility falls under the manufacturers warranty (or whomever you may have as a warranty provider). It would certainly be reasonable to submit a warranty request for reimbursement for your initial out of pocket expenses, but that's as far as you and your repair shop need to take it.

Just from the information you provided... you both are correct to a degree. It very likely sounds like faulty equipment from Dometic. They have the ultimate responsibility... although... you likely could not receive any remedy directly from them. It's your warranty providers job to deal with dometic, so I would say... don't waste your breath.

On the flip side.. when you say, "the repair shop is responsible for the first bill", is partially correct. They are resonsible for helping you file a warranty request for reimbursement, and it would be good customer service just to handle it "in-house" and seek reimbursement from your warranty provider themselves, but it's not a requirement.

The shop, manufacturer or Dometic... who bears the fault? Doesn't really matter. Your warranty provider is the only one that is responsible for making you "whole". For you or the shop to get into the mix with dometic just over complicates the whole process... IMHO. 

[Mr. Camper]

What exactly are the Lemon Laws in your state or the State of Purchase?  This might be the way to go on the larger issue that you mentioned, ie; maybe it's a lemon.

[Kirk W]

The only way to be sure of the legal answer is to contact an attorney familiar with your state laws related to such. Since I don't believe any of us have law degrees, we are mostly giving opinions, and I'll share mine as well. I believe that to do the right thing the dealer should take care of the problem and then it would be up to him to settle with Dometic since we have no idea what sort of dealer agreement he signed. 

[Ray,IN]

I'll try to explain "Warranty" to the best of my knowledge, as it pertains to appliances in a new RV that also has a factory warranty. Each appliance has its own warranty from the manufacturer of that appliance. The selling dealer becomes the middle-man, working for you with the appliance mfgr., to have your appliance repaired, the dealers service dept. gets reimbursed by the appliance mfgr. for warranty work, at a rate set by the appliance mfgr. for covered expenses. That rate can reimburse the service dept. less than the cost of repairs in some instances. Of course this can tend to cause the service dept. to put warranty repairs behind cash paying customers.

If I'm incorrect, I hope someone will jump in and offer the correct information.

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, Ray,IN said:

If I'm incorrect, I hope someone will jump in and offer the correct information.

That's pretty much the way that I understand it also. As to the reimbursement, most dealer agreements address that and in some cases, a dealer might be paid a lower rate than he normally charges. In the case of most appliances and third party supplied things like the air conditioner, the item has it's own warranty and can be repaired by any authorized service department, not just the dealer you bought the RV from or even one selling the brand of RV that you have. Nearly all RV service suppliers & mobile techs become authorized service providers for pretty much all of the major suppliers of appliances and devices to the RV manufacturing industry. 

It can get a little bit touchy in a case like PAylor's since the issue can be improper installation of an item, rather than the item failing so then it could be helpful to return to the selling dealer, but most appliance repairs can be done by nearly any RV shop and be covered by manufacturer's warranty. With the first call finding nothing, but the second call did resolve it I would expect the selling dealer to be more sympathetic. 

[Devilishjim]

Seems like all the new RVs have bugs in them that need fixin ! You opened a can of worms in which case it's time to go fishing with a 12 pack

[ALLOY]

If service center means the dealer that you bought it from then even if it took 3 or more visits for the repair to be done you should not be paying anything.

I'm surprised a dealer would charge for the time they spent and didn't find anything.

 

 

 

 

 

[noteven]

I'll explain warranty to the best of my knowledge.  Note the first 3 letters in warranty.