Kudos to Campers Inn for doing the right thing

I bought my first 5th wheel used from Campers Inn in Kingston NH a month ago..

A 2007 Jayco Eagle 325BHS..

Super clean, great condition.. Did the walk through and the only issue
we found was the hot water heater blow off valve had a very slow drip.
They replaced that right on the spot and I took the camper on a weeks vacation a couple days later..

While we were on vacation, I noticed a couple more things.. both of the big windows in the slide
were tight and the trim was coming off one of them.. Also, the front stairs had a bent
hinge at the top so there was a little bit of 'give' to the stairs if you put all
your weight on the bottom step to the left. The front dead bolt needed to be
better aligned as well as it was a bit sticky.

When I got back, I made an appointment to have these things looked at..
When I dropped the camper off Tuesday, I noticed one tire was low on air so
I also asked them to check on that and repair as needed..

They called me this morning to tell me the items on my list were completed no charge,
but that the tire needed to be replaced.. it was going to be $250 as it is
a load range D tire. When I asked if the tire had a nail or something in the sidewall,
the service guy said no, there was some dry cracks between the treads and that
they couldn't find any actual puncture, so the loss must be a very slow leak
due to the tires.. Well, I expressed concern that I was sold a camper that had
such an issue and asked to speak to my sales rep.. Dave listened to what I had to
say, and agreed to talk to the sales manager about replacing the tire at no charge..
I told him that if one tire was in that condition, then the other 3 were not far
behind and what I really wanted was 4 brand new D range tires at no charge to me..
I also said I didn't want some no-name asian tires, but I wanted quality tires..

He just called back to tell me they are replacing all the tires at no cost and that it will
be ready tomorrow morning. I'm glad I didn't need to escalate anything, and
that they did the right thing without a hassle. I did look at the tires when
I bought the camper, but more for ususual wear or tread depth than little cracks
between the treads.. lesson learned there. The tires looked brand new at a glance.

So.. I'm happy to report that they stood behind what they sold, even 7 years old and used,
and took care of all my requests without any major push back or expense to me..

Seeking Advice

21 Replies

othertonka
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
I feel the dealer should have put new tires on it before he offered it for sale after all the old tires were 7 years old. Oh well in the end he got new tires. Good job.
Lantley
Nomad
Sep 25, 2014
The dealer obviously agreed with the OP. If he thought the OP was asking for something outrageous the dealer would have simply declined the OP's request.
Another factor is did the dealer make money on the sale?
Most likely the dealer had enough margin in the sale to put on a set of tires and accommodate the OP without a making a fuss.
Did the dealer have to do it. Of course not but in the end the dealer agreed it was the right thing to do.
nomad297
Explorer
Sep 25, 2014
Crowe, where in this thread have you seen anybody disparage Campers Inn? In fact, I believe just about every post here praises them.

You and some others are missing the whole point of any of the negativity in this thread. It has nothing to do with campers Inn.

It has everyhtning to do with selfish greed.

Bruce
Crowe
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Not only did he demand four tires in replacement of his one bad tire -- he demanded they provide him with "top of the line" tires with a brand name he might recognize. He is out of luck with his non-Asian preference, however, because all ST tires are made in Asia

He didn't DEMAND he ASKED and they obliged. It never hurts to ask. Unfortunately dry cracks are not always visible. I can't believe how critical some of you are of the OP when the thread is about how the dealer came through. To assume he paid too much up front is just plain insulting and unnecessary.

Now let me tell you MY story about Campers Inn in NH. We bought our 2004 Gulfstream Endura from a different much smaller dealer. The threads are long gone but we had HUGE issues with the unit. Word of advice before I continue-NEVER buy a first run production motorhome. One of our biggest issues was we had a bad fuse panel. Gulfstream had been OK with the rest of the issues we had, but balked at replacing the panel. Finally after lots of fighting and bad publicity (done by me, here, that they read) they finally consented to a new panel. Guess who joined our fight? Yup, Camper's Inn even though they didn't sell that unit. The other dealer was fantastic, but it's a small volume dealership which worked to their disadvantage. Not only did CI go to bat for us, they installed the new fuse panel for us-at no charge. We had bought our 5'er from them a number of years prior when they were at their old location in NH and they stood by us when we needed them. We sold the Endura two years ago and occasionally we go in to look at Lance truck campers as eventually we will probably get one. They still know who we are, they still know we aren't sure if/when we are going to by, yet they treat us with the same respect as they do their "big" customers. So before all of you Negative Nellies find fault here, news flash-there isn't any.

I don't know what's happening on the Forum lately, but a lot of you are just not nice any more.
nomad297
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Barbara Atlinburg wrote:
He didn't demand anything from what he has said.

He didn't?

KevSchofield wrote:
what I really wanted was 4 brand new D range tires at no charge to me..I also said I didn't want some no-name asian tires, but I wanted quality tires..

Not only did he demand four tires in replacement of his one bad tire -- he demanded they provide him with "top of the line" tires with a brand name he might recognize. He is out of luck with his non-Asian preference, however, because all ST tires are made in Asia.

By the way, KevSchofield, what brand tires did your trailer come with? You didn't mention that in your original post.

Bruce
NYCgrrl
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Sounds like a great way to do business on both sides:).
rwess
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
I have bough 2 campers from Campers Inn in Byron, Georgia. They have done a lot of warranty work for me. Very little on my 2009 Jayco and a lot on my 2011 Open Range. They have even performed work at no cost to me on my Open Range after my warranty expired due to the quantity of previous issues. I would definitely go back to Campers Inn.
Barbara_Atlinbu
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Hey, I just learned what an OP is. So I am going to use the term.

Not all dealers put money over customer satisfaction and safety. The dealer did the right thing without giving the customer a hard time. What's wrong with doing the right thing?

My husband & I just bought our very first rv. We got a great price on the unit we chose. We pick it up Friday after the dealer has taken care of some things for us. The dealer has gone out of his way to make sure we are happy.

We stopped by the dealership the other day to check on things and everything was going as planned. We were introduced to the owner and he told us he was on his way to lunch and asked if we would join him. We accepted and he took us out to a nice place to eat.

Why do people find it hard to believe there are honest business people out there that really care about their customers? it may be rare but they are out there.

The OP, I like that term, asked about tires. He didn't demand anything from what he has said. The salesman went to his boss and together they made the choice to replace all the tires on their customer's rv free of charge. Why do some people that post on here want to spoil it for the buyer and tell him he paid too much for his rv? That is just mean spirited and uncalled for.
dspencer
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
That dealer went way above and beyond from what most dealers would do. Kudos to them.
KevSchofield
Explorer
Sep 24, 2014
Huh... I'm a little surprised at a couple of the comments that say I
was out of line for asking for tires.. The tires 'appeared' good when the sale was
made, but they were found to be dry rotted after my first trip. Asking the
dealer to take care of that isn't out of line at all. I paid good money and expect
the vehicle I bought to be safe to tow as purchased.. I'm thankful I didn't have
some sort of a blowout on my trip after buying it..

The average dealer retail on the unit I bought was $21,600 and I paid $20K and then
they gave me $4600 for my Coleman Caravan that I bought for $4200 a year earlier.

Maybe I would have paid a little less through a private party, but these guys
are local, they have a good service department, and I buy most of my supplies there.

Everyone there is really friendly and easy to deal with.. when I move on from
this 5th wheeler, I'll be buying there, whether it's another used unit or brand new.

...and yes, if the sales manager had said no to the tires, I would have had
a friendly conversation with the owner of the business and made a case for
replacing them.. There is a certain expectation of safety when you are buying
something this significant and heading out on a trip with your family..
Thankfully, the sales manager agreed with my assessment and had them do the work.

(and who says a used RV is an 'as is' sale? They made it clear that if I found
anything that wasn't working, or needed adjustment to let them know after my
trip and they would take care of it.. that's why it was in for a few little things in the first place)

I was calm throughout, and didn't argue with anyone. I just asked to speak to
my sales rep, expressed my concern over a potential $1000 charge on the rig
I had just purchased less than a month earlier, and they took care of my concerns.

Again, Kudos to them!