Terrible Experience - EZ Living RV Braidwood, IL

[gjdy]

Just bought our 4th RV. We live in central IL and up until now always believed in buying local.

Our first RV, Dutchman TT, from Pontiac RV in Pontiac IL was a good unit, only took it back to dealer 1 time for a 1 hour repair, under warranty. We would buy from them again. (Slide issue)

Second RV, Salem TT, from EZ Living RV Braidwood IL, no problems - never had to take it in or even call the dealership back after taking delivery. (Minor issues, fixed ourselves)

Third RV, Jayco TT, from Four Winds in East Peoria IL, in twice for a couple weeks each time for warranty repairs, would buy from them again. (Slide issues, plumbing issues)

Now the bad news. After visiting these three dealerships again while looking for our next RV, we decided on a Forest River Vengeance Toy Hauler at EZ Living RV. Got an OK price, several thousand higher than internet pricing, but local. Got the TH home and found multiple problems, the worst being the condition of the roof. We were not allowed to climb on the roof at the PDI - "due to liability issues." EZ Living sent "their best tech" out to look at the unit. Tech says "this should have never left the factory or our lot like this, and its (the roof) not gonna last a year going down the road." He gave us a tube of self-leveling caulk, to apply as soon as it stopped raining, and said to get it back to the dealerhip as soon as possible. (Un-caulked holes, popped nails, misaligned/buckling decking)

We took the unit back to the dealership and that's when we finally met the owner of EZ Living RV, Mark Hadley. We were berated and ridiculed and told we were overreacting. Their "best tech" was no longer their best tech and didn't know what he was talking about, according to Hadley. Hadley told us there was nothing wrong with the roof, while admitting he had not inspected it, and further said, "it's not a warranty issue until the nails make a hole in it (the roof membrane)." It was downhill from there. In an email to Forest River, EZ Living requested reimbursement for 6 hours of labor to repair the roof. The roof repair appears to consist of hammering down protruding nails with a rubber mallet without first removing the roof membrane. In another email to Forest River, EZ Living complains about the quality of roofs on the Vengeance models.

(Other issues with our unit involve the heating and plumbing systems)

Most RV's come with some problems, so our happiness with this unit remains to be seen, but the quality of this dealership is blatantly apparent and sorely lacking.

Results:

1 We will not buy from a dealer that won't let us inspect the roof prior to purchase.

2 WE WILL NEVER BUY FROM EZ LIVING RV BRAIDWOOD IL AGAIN.

[Roy_Lynne]

Our RV man told us he is sending his children to college thanks to Forest River products Aut one of our friends had a FR and it came with multiple problems and the dealer wouldn't help, so they called FR directly and were given the name of another dealer who would and did help and fixed the unit.

[bailer6334]

While watching a TV show last week they mentioned the RV industry and how 2016 was the best year since 2008 and that 2017 was expected to be a record year, and they were selling everything they are making.

So there is NO incentive to build quality into RV's now or in the future. That being said a very few manufactures still do make a quality unit. But they cost more than most people want to pay.

[3oaks]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
The RV industry is ripe for a quality manufacturer to build products correctly and RV dealerships that understand customer service.

It is the American automobile industry in the 1970's!

Exactly my sentiments too.

Unfortunately, we will not see foreign competition moving in and force better quality built U.S. RVs like the foreign competition did to the auto industry. 😞

Sure we could say, let's just stop buying RVs until the quality improves. However, many of us, particularly retirees, just can't afford to put our lives on hold until then. :R

[colliehauler]

gjdy wrote:

colliehauler wrote:
I would get Forest River involved, agreed the dealer sucks. I found one such dealer I bought from in East Iowa that treated me about the same. I bought mine used so there was no recourse. Hope you can get the issues resolved.

Thanks, so far Forest River is polite and concerned, exactly the opposite of EZ Living.

In my experience I have found Forest River to be very responsive if you are polite, not so with Keystone.

[Raymond1943]

I formerly owned a 2006 5th wheel manufactured by Forest River. It was a pretty good unit and served us well. This past summer I stopped at the dealership from whom I purchased the 5th wheel. They are still a Forest River dealer. I must say that I was appalled and disappointed in the poor workmanship of the Forest River products. You did not have to be a quality control professional to see all the defects; seemed like every unit had multiple defects. There are no justifiable reasons to put out units with obviously quality issues.

Personally, I don't think many RV manufactures put out good quality products. Reminds me of the auto industry back in the 60's and 70's. Not until the Japanese vehicles arrived did the US auto makers have to improve their quality.

I don't think I would buy another Forest River product. I think there are better quality units being made by other manufacturers. JMHO

[ScottG]

Like others, I would not buy if I cannot look at the roof. OTOH, I probably wold have climbed up the ladder anyway while the dealer was telling me not to.

[westend]

Just give Mark what he wants, leave him alone.

[gjdy]

Thanks for the responses.

The purpose of my original post wasn't to focus on the problems with the new rv. I will eventually post regarding those after using it in a few weeks and working with Forest River to get any problems resolved.

The purpose wasn't even to point out problems with the service department at EZ Living. They have made some repairs, under warranty, in a timely manner, allegedly in the proper manner. Time will tell.

The purpose of the original post, in this location, which I hope was proper, was in warning potential RV buyers of our experience with Mark Hadley, of EZ Living RV Braidwood IL, which could not have been worse.

In our experience he wants your money and then wants you to leave him alone.

So if you are considering buying from him, you could do better and cheaper with a low price internet dealer.

[mdcamping]

gjdy wrote:

Snowman9000 wrote:
I live very close to that dealership. In 3 hours I could be at the FR plant in the Elkhart area. That's where I would go. I know it is a big PITA to do that, and will cost a good bit in round trip (probably two trips) tow fuel and maybe an overnight hotel and meals, but you should sleep better if you do so.

We are communicating with Forest River. So far they have been much more helpful and respectful than EZ Living. They seem very interested in our experience with EZ Living.

I agree with snowman9000, Take lots of Piks and "communicate" with both forest river and EZ Living. Unit is new and under warranty. If a deal can be make with FR directly so much the better. You have time at least with it being off season.

Sorry about this, hope this gets resolved.

Mike

[spoon059]

What a pain in the neck. It just goes to show that some of these places want to cut ties with you as soon as you sign on the dotted line. Issues like this are why I don't necessarily worry about buying local.

Price and dealer reputation are far more important to me. Any dealer that refuses to allow me to inspect an expensive item prior to signing would NOT get my sale. Sounds like a crappy dealer, but honestly it sounds like you didn't do your due diligence inspecting the unit.

Sounds like you live relatively close to the manufacturer, I would contact them and arrange to bring it back there for repairs. Pain in the neck for sure, I hope it gets worked out satisfactorily for you.

[gjdy]

colliehauler wrote:
I would get Forest River involved, agreed the dealer sucks. I found one such dealer I bought from in East Iowa that treated me about the same. I bought mine used so there was no recourse. Hope you can get the issues resolved.

Thanks, so far Forest River is polite and concerned, exactly the opposite of EZ Living.

[gjdy]

DownTheAvenue wrote:
The RV industry is ripe for a quality manufacturer to build products correctly and RV dealerships that understand customer service.

It is the American automobile industry in the 1970's!

I agree. The build quality is poor. I always remove all access panels as soon as I can to clean up the leftover debris. This time I actually found leftovers behind the furnace - A GNAWED ON RIB BONE. The tech who came out wasn't surprised as he use to work in one of the factories, said cigarette butts in ductwork very common too.

So far, however, Forest River is being much more responsive than the dealer. Build quality on our unit will hopefully be the same low quality as all other RV manufacturers. It's EZ Living that needs to be avoided like the plague.

Warren Buffett owns Forest River for a reason, and it's not due to build quality.

[jfkmk]

gbopp wrote:

gjdy wrote:
We were not allowed to climb on the roof at the PDI - "due to liability issues."

I understand the liability issues but, if I could not inspect the roof I would have walked away from the deal.
It would have been a red flag for me.

Did you post this on RV Service Reviews?

I agree. Any shop working on tall vehicles is bound to have a rolling ladder. Especially those whose customers might want to inspect the roof.

I got lucky. When we purchased our TT, it was the first new one through a dealer. I did not inspect the roof, but had no problems. The dealer did a thorough pdi with me other than that.

Thanks for the link to the reviews! Understanding they may be biased, as a lot of folks don't post reviews unless they're having problems, I just posted a very positive review for the dealer, as I did have some work performed there.

[colliehauler]

I would get Forest River involved, agreed the dealer sucks. I found one such dealer I bought from in East Iowa that treated me about the same. I bought mine used so there was no recourse. Hope you can get the issues resolved.