RV At Dealer for 90 Days Now for An Awning Replacement!!!!!

[bowler1]

I had my awning torn off in a windstorm. In about October I made an appointment to drop my trailer off at a dealer to have it replaced. The appointment was for the end of DEC. After waiting 60 days for my appointment I dropped it off.

When I did so I asked how long it would take and told them I had bad luck in the past with extended waits. They told me....10 days.

Here we are 3 months later and it's not done yet.

Same thing happened to me last year but it was about 60 days.

Had the same thing happen at another dealer the year before where I made an appointment months in advance and they had the trailer for 60 days and had not touched it.

Is this standard for the RV industry? I means this is ridiculous. And it's in the winter months when I would think they would be able to get things done pretty quick.

What the heck would happen if I had a real issue in the summer or during a period when I needed to actually live out of my trailer (like I am doing this summer when I move)?

Dealers: Chesaco RV in Edgewood MD and Petes RV (formerly Gayle Kline in PA).

Does it really take 6 months in the off season to get a simple repair (from the time you call to make an appointment to the time you get the rig back)? What kind of industry can operate like this? What if fixing your car took this long? How could someone possible full-time RV when it takes this long to get a repair done?


thanks
Matt

[goducks10]

My awning's 21' long. That would be a bear to do. But I'd call my sons to come and help. The issue with dealerships is they really aren't totally competent and the guy just ahead of you that might have a 2 day fix then turns into a 4 day fix and you get a ripple effect. Thats why they want you to bring it in and it sits for weeks to a month. It's not like a car dealer where you schedule an appointment on thursday and you pick it up thur or friday.
When you think of all the issues that ca arise with an RV it's impossible to have enough help train in all aspects or RV repair.

[MitchF150]

Replacing an awning is a pretty big thing.. I try to do most of my own DIY stuff too, but that would be something I'd farm out too...

But, I would have waited until they got the part in stock and told me to bring my rig in when it was scheduled..

Sure, easy to say sitting at my keyboard...

Good luck! Mitch

[monkey44]

We do a lot of the minor repairs ourselves ... anything we can't do, we call a local mobile RV service tech. He always comes out on appointment, and he orders parts ahead of time if he does not stock it.

[12th_Man_Fan]

If the stealer has ordered the new awning you will probably be on the hook for some charges. Unfortunately having an appointment with one of these jokers only means they will make someone available to accept your rig and they have a place to park it, nothing more.

I asked my stealer on warranty work to order the parts and I would bring it in when they arrived and they had time to do the work. They refused to order the parts unless the rig was on the lot.

This is a one way street right now. I will use a mobile tech if I need something I can't do myself.

Good luck.

[Reader1]

We bought a new travel trailer last year. We took it out for a weekend and we discovered water on the floor in the bathroom. DH guessed it was a fitting somewhere underneath that had not been tightened when it was built. When I called the dealership they told me it would be two months before they could get to it. I was upset and told him our vacation was 2 weeks away and didn't know what to do. He was very kind, looked at his schedule and got it in that same week and it was a loose fitting. There was no water damage. I know we got very lucky on the quick fix and no damage. By the way our vacation was really two months away...shhhhh don't tell anyone.

[smarty]

This is why most of us don't use RV dealerships for repairs

[fj12ryder]

I try to avoid using dealers, and try to find independent shops that depend on work to make a living, not selling RV's. They tend to be better at it. And not just for RV's, I do the same with all my vehicles...except my bikes, those nobody touches but me.

OTOH, I've had excellent service when I took the toyhauler in to a local dealer for warranty work. Took it in one day and picked it up a day later, and I didn't even buy it from them. So there are some good dealers, but it's a crapshoot.

[valhalla360]

Unless it's warranty work, stop using them.

If it is warranty work, stop buying new units from them.

Of course, at around day 11, I would have been on the phone or gone down to find out where my rig with repaired awning is. No way would I have let it ride for 60 days.

[ken56]

Learn anything? Getting new units out the door is their bread and butter, not servicing the units they've sold. You could have ordered what you needed online yourself and had it in 3 days. Warranty or not it's usually not worth taking it back to the selling dealer unless it's a MAJOR issue, like a cracked frame or rotten roof.

[Hammerboy]

I don't get why you need to leave your unit there for so long for something like that. I had my awning replaced (warranty) in a day a couple years ago. After they received the awning which took a couple weeks I set up a day with the dealer and dropped it off in the morning and picked it up in the evening. In fact I emailed my dealer photos of the awning that needed to be replaced so I didn't need to bring my unit down for them to look at. Easy peasey.

Dan

[azdryheat]

I've seen many awnings repaired/replaced in RV parks.

[BB_TX]

Reading these stories over and over it seems a dealer is the last place you want to go for repairs.

I nearly ripped the rear cap off my 5er on a steel column because of tail swing. Significant fiberglass damage. Took it to an independent RV repair/refurbish/upgrade shop with great google reviews. Got it back 3 weeks later looking new. And that spanned a July 4th holiday weekend!

[jdc1]

Why are letting them do that to you?

[bgum]

They are preying on your good nature. Go get your rig and ask someone to show you how its done.

[pennysmom09]

We always use a mobile tech. Dealers are useless. We made the mistake twice of leaving it with them . One repair they lied about doing. Kept it for weeks. The second time we waited weeks and finally just told them to give. It back. Got a mobile tech from then on with no problems.