Warranty Question: who's on the hook for the initial labor?

[rangerbait]

Greetings,

I couldn't find a closer match for this question, so in the general forum it goes...

We purchased a new 2014 Heartland Trailrunner 31QBBH in April of this month from a dealership in Michigan; I am in California. It was a combination of a the excellent price and the fact that we couldn't find a trailer in the floor plan we wanted anywhere near home that led us to a remote, sight-unseen purchase. Even with the $4500 delivery expense, it was still an excellent deal.

I have had two minor issues so far, and since I am a couple thousand miles from the dealership, I have to take the rig to an independent RV shop to officially diagnose problems and interface with the individual manufacturers of the failed components.

The first issue involved the Norcold fridge not working on AC power, only gas. I performed some basic troubleshooting, and narrowed it down to the circuit card which controls the gas/electric operating mode. I took it to the shop, and $95 later, they concluded the same thing.

The owner of the shop contacted Norcold, and they are shipping a new part under warranty which costs about $100-120 retail.

The dealership in MI says that the company honoring the warranty also typically pays the labor cost of diagnosing the problem if it turns out to be a warranty-covered issue...the shop says that my $95 is just gone.

How is this supposed to work? Is the diagnostic labor just the cost of doing business?

Thanks in advance for your guidance on this topic.

[GMandJM]

jwmII wrote:
....The manufacturer and the warranty co. along with the shop or service provider didn't take you to raise.

I WISH Bob Tiffin would adopt me! 😉

[Old-Biscuit]

Normal procedure is to contact MFG. FIRST to get approval/authorization prior to any repairs (diagnostics/repairs/replacements)

Then MFG. can direct you to an authorized repair facility for cost free warranty service.
Mobile repair may be authorized if conditions warrant but YOU pay for service call

Most repair shops waive diagnostic fees when repairs are done at their shop.

[rangerbait]

jwmII wrote:
Normally the customer pays for incidentals such as lubes, oils, shop materials and even diagnosis. The manufacturer and the warranty co. along with the shop or service provider didn't take you to raise.

Not sure what the "manufacturer and the warranty co. along with the shop or service provider didn't take you to raise" means, but is the cost of diagnosing a warranty issue generally viewed as a deductible of sorts in effect?

Just so I am clarifying my question, I really don't know how RV warranty claims usually work. If you buy a rig from your friendly local RV dealership, hit the road for a thousand mile trip, then encounter an issue, you'd be in a similar situation as I am in. FWIW, the RV shop IS an authorized Norcold dealer.

[GMandJM]

With our ViewFinder we had problems with the a/c and stove. In each instance we called the component's maker and talked with their warranty people. They were able to tell us who and where their authorized services places were in our current area.

There were dealerships, repair shops and even a couple mobile RV services on the list. We just called down the list until we found ones that could get our stuff fixed the soonest.

We paid for the service call/appointment and were later reimbursed by the company since we had the repairs pre-authorized. The repair place was paid by the component maker (and to be honest I'm not sure how that end of it worked).

With the MH we take it to the manufacturer in Red Bay or to Freightliner if it's a chassis or engine issue.

I don't recall ever going back to the original dealership for repairs on either RV, now that you mention it.

[jwmII]

Normally the customer pays for incidentals such as lubes, oils, shop materials and even diagnosis. The manufacturer and the warranty co. along with the shop or service provider didn't take you to raise.

[rangerbait]

GMandJM wrote:
Ask for reimbursement from Norcold. They will require proof that you paid the expense out of pocket and they may not pay anything if your repair place was not a Norcold authorized repair facility.

Ask nicely, of course.

Thanks, that's what I was planning...what is the typical protocol in this situation? Surely there are folks who have warranty issues while away from home base and can't take their rig to their original dealership.

[GMandJM]

Ask for reimbursement from Norcold. They will require proof that you paid the expense out of pocket and they may not pay anything if your repair place was not a Norcold authorized repair facility.

Ask nicely, of course.