We purchased our new 2015 Forester Class C in October 2014 from Alpin Haus in Port Jervis, NY with the promise of outstanding service and limited down time as per the salesman "We own all our units on the lot outright and can take parts, if necessary, off one of our in stock units to limit your off road time." Unfortunately, the service department is everything but outstanding. Due to our unit being struck by lightning and requiring major repairs we tried to be as patient and understanding as we could possibly be. The entire experience was a nightmare that included the insurance company that we have been customers of for 15 years, which will be in another thread. The short version of our story is very simple: unit was delivered to Alpin Haus on Monday, July 13 and was out of service until Saturday, October 24. We missed over half of the summer and all of the fall season here in the Northeast. The repair work once the parts were received by Alpin Haus took one and a half days at best. The delays, lack of communication, unresponsiveness to phone calls and the lack of concern by the Main Office in Amsterdam has led us to submit this review. Also, my husband was told by the manager of the Service Department that we were not there only customer so she couldn't always be returning phone calls. While there picking up our unit, we could hear another customer who was very unhappy about his experience at Alpin Haus. Buyer Bewarefrom this Dealer, they preach great customer service, etc. but we never saw it. However, when a less than favorable review was submitted on a survey sent to us, they suddenly had a phone number and could call within 90 minutes of opening on a Monday morning, if we only could have had that response while our unit was there, asking what they could do to get a better review. Sorry but too little, too late. We are trading our unit in at another dealer and hoping for a better experience.....................Stay tuned.

This forum is littered with comments related to poor turn-around times at RV service departments. Every time I read them, I wonder why is it/how is it that this industry finds this kind of service to be acceptable. It isn't like this to have your car worked on, or any other type of similar service.The time it took to fix the OP's problem is enough time to build dozens of brand new RV's. Its enough time to remodel your house, or heck, build a spec house. Yet RV service dept's have been allowed to take their sweet time...???

Why should we stay tuned?You had a bad experience and are probably here just to trash the dealer.But the dealer will not be able to present his side of the story.You had a choice and relied on a SALESMAN'S PROMISES at the time of buying. There is a term for that it is called puffery.Now you have traded in hoping for a better experience. Good luck on that because most dealers are about the same when it comes to service.One question what kind of research did you do on the dealers (both) before buying?

I sat on my hands for 3 minutes before I finally started typing. I don't want to jinx myself... We have had exemplary service from our local dealer. I know partly because we purchased several motorhomes from them but we have seen others get good service as well. I'll mention their name, FLAGG RV in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. There probably are some that have had other experiences with then, just not us. I like to think bad service is in the minority, that doesn't minimize a person's frustration and anger. I too don't understand why RV dealers are not as good as car dealers with service. My local service manager comes from a car dealer service manager background; maybe that helps? Again, sorry for your pain. Hopeful for a good resolution for you.

3pomsmom wrote:Due to our unit being struck by lightning and requiring major repairs I can understand being upset over a several month "normal" RV issue repair, but the above is not "normal." Enough said!

Unfortunately the entire industry is short on qualified and adequately trained service personnel. You could insert the name of a hundred dealers and the story would be the same. It seems to be the state of the industry.

Alpin Haus, Port Jervis, NY - Please think twice

3pomsmom
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
Coolerman wrote:
3pomsmom,
Don't let all the negative comments get to you. You are entitle to complain as much as anyone else here.

Most RV dealers do not employ "mechanics" that know how to properly work on RV's. It's that simple. Having a motor home for months to repair a lightning strike is a bit long and they absolutely should have kept you in the loop as to the progress. But... as complicated as a motor home can be trying to repair lightning damage is hard. If I were the insurance company I would have totaled it and moved on. You did the right thing trading it off.

Thank you for your kind words, we are looking forward to many happy trips in our new unit :)
3pomsmom
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
jfkmk wrote:
3pomsmom wrote:
Our hope is no one on the forum ever goes through what we had happen to us in a split second and if it should happen may you have better luck with your rv dealer and your insurance company.

This kind of highlights a good point. So many people shop for insurance solely by price. They don't realize the problems they could have if they actually submit a claim. We have all our insurance with one company....house, three cars, rv. We've put in a couple of auto claims (mostly comprehensive) and have been completely satisfied. In fact, I've had one accident that was truly my fault. When I called my insurance company I admitted it was my fault. The fixed my vehicle and the other vehicle, plus I still got a dividend that year! Sounds like they operate a little differently than your insurance company.

Absolutely and with our new unit, comes a new insurance company that I have found nothing but positive reviews about from others in the RV world. Hopefully, our future is going to be much brighter with a new motorhome and new insurance that hopefully will not need to be contacted any time soon!!
3pomsmom
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
allen8106 wrote:
Coolerman wrote:

Most RV dealers do not employ "mechanics" that know how to properly work on RV's. It's that simple.

This precisely why I don`t take my rig to an "RV Dealer". I fortunaley have an RV repair shop near me that only does repairs and has an excellent parts & supplies showroom.

We have found that out the hard way but have found a dealer who does indeed have a large staff of qualified mechanics, repair people and even a body shop on the premises. We are looking forward to many happy outings in our new unit and feel much more confident about the new dealer that we have just purchased from, they have been in business 60 years and no one stays in business that long without reliable help.
3pomsmom
Explorer
Nov 02, 2015
Chris Bryant wrote:
A couple of comments- the 6 hours of diagnostic work they did will be basically for free- insurance does not pay for that. Virtually every problem, other than communications, sounds like issues with the insurance company. Honestly, on a job that extensive with that many unknown but possible faults, that time frame, during the height of the season, doesn't sound unreasonable- more so given the chassis problems you have had. IMHO, it should have been totaled to begin with.

Just an FYI, the insurance company did pay them for the diagnostic work to the tune of nearly $1,000 and the diagnostic work didn't show all the damage so I don't think it was that thorough because it didn't even show all the issues that we told them we knew about. Our unit sat there for a total of 3 weeks with nothing done to it and no explanation as to why nothing was being done to determine the issues and get a parts list done for the insurance company. I am not being as unreasonable as some people seem to think. The insurance company told us upfront, they wouldn't total it because it was brand new. It is no longer our issue, it was traded in at another dealer, who was given the background on it directly from us, we would not trade something in without being totally honest. I hope whoever ends up with that unit has only good luck with it but it symbolizes nothing but misery for us and we just knew it was time to move on.
allen8106
Explorer
Nov 01, 2015
Coolerman wrote:

Most RV dealers do not employ "mechanics" that know how to properly work on RV's. It's that simple.

This precisely why I don`t take my rig to an "RV Dealer". I fortunaley have an RV repair shop near me that only does repairs and has an excellent parts & supplies showroom.
jfkmk
Explorer
Oct 30, 2015
3pomsmom wrote:
Our hope is no one on the forum ever goes through what we had happen to us in a split second and if it should happen may you have better luck with your rv dealer and your insurance company.

This kind of highlights a good point. So many people shop for insurance solely by price. They don't realize the problems they could have if they actually submit a claim. We have all our insurance with one company....house, three cars, rv. We've put in a couple of auto claims (mostly comprehensive) and have been completely satisfied. In fact, I've had one accident that was truly my fault. When I called my insurance company I admitted it was my fault. The fixed my vehicle and the other vehicle, plus I still got a dividend that year! Sounds like they operate a little differently than your insurance company.
Chris_Bryant
Explorer II
Oct 30, 2015
A couple of comments- the 6 hours of diagnostic work they did will be basically for free- insurance does not pay for that. Virtually every problem, other than communications, sounds like issues with the insurance company. Honestly, on a job that extensive with that many unknown but possible faults, that time frame, during the height of the season, doesn't sound unreasonable- more so given the chassis problems you have had. IMHO, it should have been totaled to begin with.
Coolerman
Explorer
Oct 30, 2015
3pomsmom,
Don't let all the negative comments get to you. You are entitle to complain as much as anyone else here.

Most RV dealers do not employ "mechanics" that know how to properly work on RV's. It's that simple. Having a motor home for months to repair a lightning strike is a bit long and they absolutely should have kept you in the loop as to the progress. But... as complicated as a motor home can be trying to repair lightning damage is hard. If I were the insurance company I would have totaled it and moved on. You did the right thing trading it off.
3pomsmom
Explorer
Oct 30, 2015
The lightning strike did cause extensive damage and honestly I do not believe we will ever know exactly how extensive which really is our issue. Our unit spent most of the time at the dealer just sitting there. They spent a total of 6 hours doing diagnostic work between July 13 and September 10. We did not expect them to take parts off of other units as the things that needed to be replaced were major items. A 40" TV, the leveling system, the outside stereo, the backup camera and wiring harness. During their diagnostic work they never found that the heat pump was inoperable, even though we had told them upon delivery in July what items we knew had been damaged. They spent over a week trying to find that the heat pump was not functioning. We are not unreasonable people and we were not looking for miracles but we would have appreciated information and more timely attention to our problem. We are not bashing anyone, we are making people aware of our experience. We also realize that there are many good and bad dealers out there but due to our experience there is no way we could recommend this dealer. As far as ..............STAY TUNED, we are hoping to remain on the forum with better experiences in our new unit. We do not have any faith in the motor home that was hit by lightning regardless of what the dealer has told us. It was also repaired at the Ford dealer three times, twice to get us home from Florida and again after we returned from Florida. Our hope is no one on the forum ever goes through what we had happen to us in a split second and if it should happen may you have better luck with your rv dealer and your insurance company.
NJRVer
Explorer
Oct 28, 2015
jfkmk wrote:
janstey58 wrote:
3pomsmom wrote:
Due to our unit being struck by lightning and requiring major repairs

I can understand being upset over a several month "normal" RV issue repair, but the above is not "normal." Enough said!

Based on what was posted, I agree with this comment. Taking a part here or there from another unit is one thing, major damage from lightning is something else altogether. Also sounds like there was a delay with the insurance company. That wouldn't be the fault of the rv dealer.

Couldn't be that "major". Once they started the work it only took a day and a half to do.