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My apologies for the length of this post. Our story is nothing compared to some I’ve read here. The same issues are happening over and over, and it's time this is stopped - class action lawsuit maybe would get some attention.
We traded a Keystone Raptor Toy Hauler for our 2022 271ML Forest River Wildcat in December 2022. We identified issues before we took delivery and have had more issues since the day we brought it home from Camping World. The front rock guard was gone when we arrived home, and wires were hanging down from all under the front end. A mobile tech came to install a new rock guard but did not bring screws and scrounged from his toolbox. We made a list of other items we found and took it back for warranty work in January 2023. The quality and workmanship of the coach is on the manufacturer, but the Camping World employees should have found a lot of this during their “make ready”.
On our first weekend trip out, a couple of hours after setting up water started leaking from under the couch across the floor and underneath the camper. When the RV was in the shop, my husband had a taller toilet installed for us as we both have had knee replacements and that shares a common wall with the couch. We also found a hole under the sink that was hidden behind a piece of false wall to separate it from the other part under the sink. No insulation was around the vent, and you could see down to the rock guard. Did the Service Department mess something up when they did the toilet install?
Our weekend ended abruptly taking the unit back to the dealer the next morning after being up all night (February 16th). My husband wanted to see what things looked like when they dropped the rock guards. He drove down Monday, two days after we dropped it off, and walked the unit with a service manager. Camping World told him they found no water leaks, but noticed a large section of the floor was now buckled.
There are additional packages we purchased, and feel like this was a pressure sales tactics, at the time of signing papers at the end of December. We were told we had 30 days to cancel, and we opted to cancel these as we can purchase directly from Good Sam's for less than half the price they charged. The written request was sent and acknowledged at the end of December 2022, and we were told it would take up to 8-12 weeks for the refunds to be applied to the loan. As of now (late April) we are getting ready to enter into the 5th month and only 1 refund has been applied. Emails to Camping World go unanswered. Emails to Marcus's VIP Team put the responsibility back on the dealership. My husband did get a call after my last email and the finance department at the dealership told him they had reached out to Corporate for assistance. I have it in writing we are due monies, and I understand this comes from the company that provides the product, but if this is what Camping World and Good Sam's (both under Marcus Lemonis oversight) I am not sure we will ever get out money back, but I'm not giving up.
Lastly, we got our RV back almost 2 months to the day from dropping it off after our maiden camping trip was interrupted. The flooring was not replaced, it was repaired. The pantry doorknob had a problem, and now the door hinges are bent, and the door is not fitting into the frame straight. It wouldn't close when my husband got there to pick it up, and they "fixed" it. The door was fine when we dropped it off 2 months ago. A drawer in the kitchen was broken, and again, the Camping World Service Department "fixed" it and now the drawer will not go back into the slides and close. They glued it out of the grooves, and the drawer is now useless. It's almost like they do this on purpose. There are still things that were not done because parts have been ordered and will be sent to us when they come in. I don't expect to see anything.
The Service Department filed a claim with Forest River to replace the flooring and the work was authorized under warranty. What could be a reason to have to replace flooring in a new camper that has no leaks according to the dealer? I sent an email to Forest River's Service Department at the home office to inform them the flooring they approved and shipped to Camping World for our warranty work was not used since the dealer repaired and did not replace. I imagine the RV manufacturers get billed from dealerships all over the country for warranty work they never actually do, and Camping World may get away with the flooring replacement claim, but I hope not if anyone reads that email.
I am preparing to write a scathing BBB complaint against Camping World, and name Mr. Lemonis in the complaint as well. Besides sharing stories here, everyone should also file a complaint with BBB and be persistent. Good luck to everyone in getting resolution.
Name: Gwynne Pelton