Thursday, December 6, 2007
Frustrated RV buyer airs his case on TV
A Sacramento, Calif., RVer who bought a fifth wheel trailer to serve as a mobile "mining cabin" didn't strike gold when it came to the RV's workmanship and how its problems were being fixed by his dealership. Finally, at wit's end, he took his complaint to a local TV consumer reporter, who did some research and then filed this report. What happened to this RVer illustrates a point: check out everything you can on an RV before buying it. This RVer didn't.
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I can relate to this gentleman's problems with Dan Gamel RV. We bought a used Bounder from Gamel in 2003. We could not get delivery for almost 2 months because it was a "gross polluter" and would not pass smog. Gamel owned the business at that time, advertised "hands on" with problems, yet never responded to our calls or mail. When we bought a new class A in 2004, we went elsewhere. Thankfully, I do not have to deal with Gamel any more.
ReplyDeleteThere, I feel better getting rid of some of my frustration, thank you!
I own a 5ver made by Fleetwood. Earlier this year my rear axle hanger broke lose and caused major tire damage. The malfunction was a manufacturer defect. The axle was hung "out of true" by almost 3 inches! Fleetwood would NOT cover the repair because it was out of warranty by 6 months. My extended warranty covered most of the costs but I still had to pay about $1200 out of pocket as well as the inconvenience of having to live with my daughter for 3 weeks while waiting for the work to be completed. (I'm a fulltimer with no stick home any longer!)
ReplyDeleteThere are some minor things wrong with the interior that I had decided to just live with but the axle failure could have cost lives. I filed a complaint with a government agency but have never heard from them. How can these manufacturer's get away with this?
Fleetwood is now manufacturing RV's south of the USA. That alone would cause me to pick a different unit. I read a ton of magazines and books on RV'ing before I narrowed my choice of name product. That's not counting all the people I spoke with about RV's they have. Now comes the dealer. I may have lucked out because I live in a rurual area with dealerships that realize how important it is to be straight with their customers. Went with a Four Winds trailer that has a good response by owners. Now I know why... No complaints. It's a good unit and can't wait for warmer weather to get here to NE Wisconsin. I'm retired and knew how important my choice would, and could be to my wife and I. This is our first RV and I feel all the research I went though before our purchase was well worth it.
ReplyDeleteFleetwood is now manufacturing RV's south of the USA. That alone would cause me to pick a different unit. I read a ton of magazines and books on RV'ing before I narrowed my choice of name product. That's not counting all the people I spoke with about RV's they have. Now comes the dealer. I may have lucked out because I live in a rurual area with dealerships that realize how important it is to be straight with their customers. Went with a Four Winds trailer that has a good response by owners. Now I know why... No complaints. It's a good unit and can't wait for warmer weather to get here to NE Wisconsin. I'm retired and knew how important my choice would, and could be to my wife and I. This is our first RV and I feel all the research I went though before our purchase was well worth it.
ReplyDeleteI hear Gamel just closed a BUNCH of their dealerships, leaving customers and employees with alot of questions and very few answers.
ReplyDeleteI have yet to find an RV dealer I like, the one I bought my 5er from was in my opinion Nefarious to say the least.
Just because a mfr builds below the border does not make him any worse than one this side of the border. Yes labor is cheaper, and they can operate cheaper, but the worker in a lot of cases is the same.
I loved alfa but that builder was located in Southern California, and the demographics would have to suggest to you that a large amount of the workforce shared the same heritage.
I have not heard of alot of happy customers in the RV world, but I have heard alot more good stories from people who buy mid to high line RV's. You buy a stick built RV haul it all over the country on crappy roads, and wonder why something that the mfr builds to be used a few weeks a year for several years then traded in, falls apart?
You GET what you PAY for, in RVs and everything else.
I bought a 30' Fleetwood brand new that was a sad dog. After getiingi it financed and spending about 3 months trying to get them to fix it I made an aggreement with my back to cancel the financing and I pulled the big piece up junk right in the lot by the showroom and gave the keys and left.I won't ever buy anything from Fleetwook
ReplyDelete