Hostage Situation....

[rvfigs]

My latest hostage situation:

RV.Net Open Roads Forum: RV Under Warranty Held Hostage?

[JamieGeek]

Wow, hope you get some satisfactory resolution out of the Good Sam Care team there.

I'd bet that CW is miffed at you for "doing their job" (contacting Thor, getting everything approved, greasing the wheels) and are just punishing you..! (Given the stories I've read about CW on here it wouldn't surprise me in the least.)

[Larry]

Rvfigs...Sorry you're having to deal with this unfortunate situation. I had a previous unhappy experience with Camping World while mine was under warranty. Haven't been back since and they will never see me again.

[Chance]

Glad these issues are reported occasionally. It's a reminder that things outside an owner's control can go south.

[rvfigs]

Thanks for the support.

It's very hard dealing with this ordeal. I don't like to yell or to disrespect folks. In fact, I even felt bad about airing my ordeal online. Unfortunately, I felt like I had absolutely no choice but to go public.

Thanks again fellow Tinkers for all your support. Everyone on the Thor Forums has been terrific since the day I joined.

Keep Tinkering...

[martinek.steve]

I believe the only appropriate action is to air those grievances and problems. Otherwise the dealers and the manufacturers have absolutely no incentive to do the right thing. Somehow the Customer Satisfaction has been taken out of the equation in the RV business. Only the Customers can force the dealers and manufacturers to reinstate it. Dealers and manufacturers also have to start realizing that eventually people will start looking to others that have a good reputation for being Customer centric.

THOR seems to do a decent job, after the sale. That's if you are lucky enough to be close enough to take advantage of their Customer Service facility. But that still leaves people in a bind, like you rvfigs, who have to deal with sub-par dealerships (companies). If the quality went in, before the name went on (where have I heard that before ?) dealers would not be attempting to profit off of others bad experiences.

[SuperD]

I would also contact the local Better Business agency, businesses take it seriously when they get involved!!! I've had to do this a couple of times in past and it worked.

[bevedfelker]

Rvfigs -- I'm sorry you are getting the run around from your CW dealer. If it were me, I'd go there and demand to see the General Manager and the Service Manager for a conference. If they do not give you satisfaction, I'd ask for the address of the CW CEO and send him a letter.

Not to pour salt in this open wound, but let me describe my dealer (General RV of Tampa) in handling my windshield stress crack. I went to my dealer to get my chassis oil changed, and also to change the oil in my generator. My dealer has a drive up service for about the first 10 customers in line at the service center when they open. They take about the first 10 people if the repairs/service can be completed within 2 hours -- no appointment necessary.

When my service rep came out to check my Vegas, he pointed out to me that my windshield was cracked. It cracked while I was inside getting the service written up and the Vegas was parked under their service canopy. This was last year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The service rep took pictures of the crack and forwarded them to Thor while my Vegas was getting the oil change. The service rep said I should drive the RV home and they should have an answer from Thor about the windshield the following day. I drove the RV home after the oil service.

The next day, Wednesday before Thanksgiving the service rep called me and said Thor agreed this was a stress crack and they authorized warranty replacement. Thor said they would ship the new windshield the Friday after Thanksgiving. On Saturday after Thanksgiving my dealer called and told me the windshield was shipped and as soon as it arrived they would call me to schedule the replacement.

The following Tuesday the dealer called and said the windshield had arrived and they were expecting their glass contractor to be in the shop the following Thursday (one week after Thanksgiving). He said I should bring the Vegas in then.

I took it back to the dealer that Thursday morning and their glass guy began the replacement the same day. Left the RV there overnight and got a call the following day saying the RV was ready for pickup.

To me that is how warranty work should operate. No months waiting for repair authorization. No months having your RV be a hostage to your dealer. No months waiting for the dealer to talk to Thor. My dealer had no difficulty getting Thor's warranty repair approval, shipping the part, receiving the part, and the dealer scheduling the work.

[Ag&Au]

Originally Posted by SuperD

I would also contact the local Better Business agency, businesses take it seriously when they get involved!!! I've had to do this a couple of times in past and it worked.

Ditto on this, They have gotten resolution for me twice when I was being bullied by large corporations. One being Sprint, and the other Comcast.

Ken

[EA37TS]

The warranty is clear on what an owner should do if a single repair that impacts the use or value of the vehicle takes over 20 days.

Those that have followed the procedure in the warranty have found Thor to be very responsive in their assistance.

[rvfigs]

Originally Posted by dstankov

The warranty is clear on what an owner should do if a single repair that impacts the use or value of the vehicle takes over 20 days.

Those that have followed the procedure in the warranty have found Thor to be very responsive in their assistance.

What can I do in this situation regarding the warranty? I didn't get to use my coach for 3 months?

Can these three months be added back to my one year warranty?

My one year warranty does start on the day of delivery correct?

[rvfigs]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

Rvfigs -- I'm sorry you are getting the run around from your CW dealer. If it were me, I'd go there and demand to see the General Manager and the Service Manager for a conference. If they do not give you satisfaction, I'd ask for the address of the CW CEO and send him a letter.

Not to pour salt in this open wound, but let me describe my dealer (General RV of Tampa) in handling my windshield stress crack. I went to my dealer to get my chassis oil changed, and also to change the oil in my generator. My dealer has a drive up service for about the first 10 customers in line at the service center when they open. They take about the first 10 people if the repairs/service can be completed within 2 hours -- no appointment necessary.

When my service rep came out to check my Vegas, he pointed out to me that my windshield was cracked. It cracked while I was inside getting the service written up and the Vegas was parked under their service canopy. This was last year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. The service rep took pictures of the crack and forwarded them to Thor while my Vegas was getting the oil change. The service rep said I should drive the RV home and they should have an answer from Thor about the windshield the following day. I drove the RV home after the oil service.

The next day, Wednesday before Thanksgiving the service rep called me and said Thor agreed this was a stress crack and they authorized warranty replacement. Thor said they would ship the new windshield the Friday after Thanksgiving. On Saturday after Thanksgiving my dealer called and told me the windshield was shipped and as soon as it arrived they would call me to schedule the replacement.

The following Tuesday the dealer called and said the windshield had arrived and they were expecting their glass contractor to be in the shop the following Thursday (one week after Thanksgiving). He said I should bring the Vegas in then.

I took it back to the dealer that Thursday morning and their glass guy began the replacement the same day. Left the RV there overnight and got a call the following day saying the RV was ready for pickup.

To me that is how warranty work should operate. No months waiting for repair authorization. No months having your RV be a hostage to your dealer. No months waiting for the dealer to talk to Thor. My dealer had no difficulty getting Thor's warranty repair approval, shipping the part, receiving the part, and the dealer scheduling the work.

As always, thank you Ed for your insight.

[rvfigs]

Can anyone add insight to the following:

What can I do in this situation regarding the warranty? I didn't get to use my coach for 3 months?

Can these three months be added back to my one year warranty?

My one year warranty does start on the day of delivery correct?

[Joe-FL]

Originally Posted by rvfigs

Can anyone add insight to the following:

What can I do in this situation regarding the warranty? I didn't get to use my coach for 3 months?

Can these three months be added back to my one year warranty?

My one year warranty does start on the day of delivery correct?

That certainly would be something worth taking up with someone at Thor. As far as CW goes, there are probably hundreds of stories like yours out there when it comes to some of their repair facility blunders.

It sounds like you need to climb to the top of the food chain of the CW store you are dealing with. To me it sounds like there is a service manager that is not doing his job and should be fired.

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by rvfigs

Can anyone add insight to the following:

What can I do in this situation regarding the warranty? I didn't get to use my coach for 3 months?

Can these three months be added back to my one year warranty?

My one year warranty does start on the day of delivery correct?

Read your warranty. The warranty states that if any single repair takes over 20 days you are to write Thor at the address provided. Once Thor receives the letter they are allowed one final attempt to make it right.

Thor tells you how to handle these issues, however, whether or not you want to comply is up to you.

[bevedfelker]

rvfigs -- follow Dave's advice. Find the 20 day provision paragraph in the warranty paperwork that Thor provided with their manual and appliance manuals. Read the provision carefully and write the letter to Thor exactly as specified.

I'm sure Thor will respond to you. At the least I would hope that Thor would 1) insist that the uncompliant CW complete the repair NOW since they have the replacement window, or 2) make arrangements and direct you to another service facility for the windshield replacement. I would also hope Thor would readjust the time period on your warranty to cover the time lost. That three months was just your RV sitting unused at the dealership. You should not have to pay the price as a result of the negligence of this authorized Thor CW.

That's my opinion and hope this gets resolved in your favor. But I go back to what Dave suggested -- you are not doing yourself any good by not writing that 20 day letter to Thor. It is awfully difficult to push that rope up a hill, but it doesn't seem that talking to your CW dealer is going to get them to budge. Get Thor involved, and once they contact that CW dealer, then call CW and ask for an appointment with the general manager.

There is something else about this saga that makes no sense to me -- how did the dealer get the replacement windshield? Wouldn't Thor have to had agreed that the crack was a stress crack and then send CW the replacement windshield? Doesn't that represent Thor's acknowledgement that the windshield was replaceable under warranty? Isn't that what Thor did in my case? In your case why does CW need a separate authorization for the installation from Thor when Thor sent them the replacement in the first place? As we used to say when I was still on active duty, " It sounds like CW is peeing on your leg and tryin to convince you it's raining."

[EA37TS]

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

...

There is something else about this saga that makes no sense to me -- how did the dealer get the replacement windshield? Wouldn't Thor have to had agreed that the crack was a stress crack and then send CW the replacement windshield? Doesn't that represent Thor's acknowledgement that the windshield was replaceable under warranty? Isn't that what Thor did in my case? In your case why does CW need a separate authorization for the installation from Thor when Thor sent them the replacement in the first place? As we used to say when I was still on active duty, " It sounds like CW is peeing on your leg and tryin to convince you it's raining."

When I read the post at the earlier link it sounds to me like CW is not happy with the hours that Thor is allowing for the repair and they want the hours they think it will take them for the repair.

The way my warranty work has been accomplished is:

The dealer verified the fault to include the estimated time to repair
Thor authorized or declined the repair and for repairs authorized also provided the time allowed for repair under warranty
Thor shipped the parts
Dealer performed the repair

In my case, with 13 items on my warranty punch list, there were a couple of items where the dealer's time estimate was lower than the hours authorized by Thor and a couple of items where the dealer's estimate was higher than the hours authorized by Thor. The actual hours charged on the invoice always matched the Thor authorized hours.

[rvfigs]

[QUOTE=dstankov;51224]When I read the post at the earlier link it sounds to me like CW is not happy with the hours that Thor is allowing for the repair and they want the hours they think it will take them for the repair.

You got it Dave!

[rvfigs]

I'm happy to report that all the major issues were repaired by CW.

Now it's time to move on and enjoy the camping lifestyle.

[Oneilkeys]

I'm glad to hear that. Hope you enjoy your Axis as much as we have enjoyed ours.