Dealer "dropped" my camper

[rconkin]

I had 2 blowouts on the same side back in June and had my 5er at the local dealer I bought it from for repairs. I also had a bent landing gear on the door side where the inner tube that is manually extended would not extend so I had to put that side on a 6x6 when unhooking it. I informed the service manager of this to alert him to the landing gear not being extended evenly so they would know when moving it. I also asked him for a price on replacing that landing gear as well as fixing a creeping slide.

Fast forward about a week and I get a call that my camper is done and that they had replaced both landing gears since they had "dropped" my camper and that my part for the one I asked for a price on was about $400. I was also told that there was no other damage to my camper. Needless to say, I wasn't happy and told them that I would pay their bill but would never be back again. I have bought 3 5er's from them over the past 10 years. I get a call back that they wanted to keep me as a customer and they would knock $50 off my bill. I was told again that nothing else was damaged and I just told them I didn't want to talk about it and would get my camper as soon as I had a day off.

I go to pick up my camper and paid the bill. As I was backing up to hook up, I noticed a crease in the metal under the front storage compartment door. Upon closer examination, I could see the metal was clean at the bottom and the caulking was new. I looked under and the aluminum tube across the bottom had been bent braking the weld at the corner and there was another piece of tubing hammered into a wedge shape screwed in to make it level across the front and the trim reattached. I had the service manager come out and look at it and he had the nerve to suggest that I had damaged it when I bent the landing gear tube which I assured him that wasn't the case that I knew for a fact that it wasn't like that when I dropped it off. All he could do is say sorry. At that point I told him I was tired and just going home as I was coming off 5 night shifts.

When I got home, I opened the compartment with the LP tank on the street side to look at it and where the landing gear extends through the metal gusset it had been bent, torn, and beat back close to the original shape. I was livid at this point and still waiting to calm down to send them an email about the situation. Now I'm wondering what other damage they did by "twisting" it when dropping it. Also, the service manager could not tell me how it was dropped when I asked him.

What should I do at this point? What other damage could be done that I'm not seeing the could cause problems down the road?

Needless to say, I will never buy another camper from them which is really a shame as my dad had bought two campers from them when their father owned the business.

Oh, when I asked about what it would cost to fix the creeping slide when they called me, they said the entire system would have to be replaced instead of "throwing parts at it".

Not a happy camper right now.

[lawrenceb42106]

I would want the under cover removed to see if they broke the pin box frame. I have had this happen to one of mine. They said it couldn't happen but it did. Sounds like a poor dealer. I would take pictures and date it. I would also want to talk to the owner about this.

[DQDick]

My first call would be to a lawyer. These folks need to be talking to someone who scares them. Customer bad will obviously doesn't. When we bought our rig, on the initial walk around I noticed our landing gear was cracked. Having watched dealers move rigs around I have a pretty good idea how this happens. They frequently move them with a forklift operated by the then new kid who isn't skilled enough yet to fix stuff. If you've ever driven a forklift you know how easy it is to get confused by all the levers and the direction they operate in and drop something instead of picking it up or raise it too high and then move the lever to much and too fast and drop something you only wanted to lower a little. I also have never seen them using a forklift that wasn't old and worn (probably purchased used to start with) so controls are also worn.

[WaltBennett]

Another reason why I do all my own maintenance.

[JandC]

It is one thing to get bad service from an RV dealer, but when you get really bad service from a dealer that you have been with for years and have a history of purchases with, that is extremely disappointing! I would hand deliver a complaint letter to the owner.

If they don't make this situation right then post how they treated you on every social media site and RV publication you can find.

[DarMar]

What an ugly situation for you as you have no way of knowing ALL of what they have patched up just to get you out the door.

Contact a lawyer and let the dealership know you have done so and then find a third party to go over and document damage both repaired and not.

Since you have not got their attention, nor their concern and they tried to pass off a patched repair, the gloves are off.

[mazboy]

If you did a credit card dispute the service! they didn't do what they said they would do

[Razrbk]

Start your documentation - pictures and total damage assessment, follow up email to service manager with request for remedy, and contact with owner. Depending on response, I'd contact RV advocacy service like "Trailer Life," ect. , then an attorney.

[1retired06]

Bad experience. Sorry for your troubles. Don't see much recourse other than legal. Dealer has shown his true colors.

[davidaf]

I'd call my insurance agency and start a claim. They have adjusters that can hopefully figure out all the issues. If the total damage turns out to be minor you can always cancel the claim. If it's more than minor let the insurance company go "after" the dealer.

[rconkin]

Thanks for the advice. Working 12 hour shifts and a lot of OT so I will contact them as soon as I get some days off. After I got it home and thinking about concealed damage, I'm not comfortable moving it anywhere again.

[Rondo]

I'm with DQDICK and my first call would be to my lawyer, second to my insurance company, third to the dealership owner to discuss the problem and also find out who their insurance company is and fourth call would be to an independent service tech qualified to check out everything from the pinbox back thru the damaged areas you had fixed also. IF they did that much coverup on your front landing gear and etc they may have done a shabby job on the rest of the repairs also. Keep us up to date on what happens with your unit and any thing that transpires.

[Art-n-Marge]

Isn't there a place in this forum to post about bad dealers? I sure wanna know their name to avoid them. They are bordering on plain, old crooked.

[DQDick]

There's not something like that that I know off, but every time I hear a story like this I put them in a spreadsheet sorted by state and city. I do the same with good reports and mark both good and bad if there are multiple reports. That way as we travel the country I have some idea where and where not to go for service.

[rconkin]

I sent an email to the owners (two brothers) today so we will see what happens, I'm calling my insurance next to put my agent on alert and get her opinion. Hopefully it won't get to the point of having lawyers involved. I will be glad to share the name of the dealership after this is resolved. I want to give them a fair chance of making things right since I have a long term relationship with them and hopefully this is a very rare occurrence and who knows they may not know all of the details.

[rconkin]

Good news, one of the owners called me and is filing a claim on his insurance. I will be taking it to a local 3rd party rv collision shop that we are both familiar with and comfortable with for evaluation and repair after the first of the year since I am working a lot of overtime until then. I'll be sure to post updates and as I posted earlier will be glad to share the dealer name after this is over.

[bshgto]

When I read stories like this it really disappoints me on the state of the RV industry and dealers as a whole. I do all my own maintenance even if I have to pay for the parts, don`t care. Had the fading front cap painted under warranty but that`s it and that was a real trip arguing with keystone about a owner maintenance failure which as we all know was a complete lie on their part. Long story short bought a used camper many many campers ago had to take it to a dealer to have it state inspected for tags, came to pick it up and the front was caved in, went to service to complain and they said they are not responsible for damage on their lot (and points to a sign on the wall)as it was not a fenced in storage lot and therefor out of their control, anybody could have done that he said. Out at the storage lot with the service manager to inspect my complaint JUST BY CHANCE the lot guy was driving by on the farm type tractor they use to move campers in and out of the storage lot. I ran and stopped him. I coned him telling him I need my camper pulled out a little so I could hook it up to my truck (it was a tag along)when he backed up to my camper you could see that the mashed in part of the camper matched perfectly with the 2 large off road tires on the tractor.... BUSTTED... and the service guy still had the gall to tell me they did not do it. Then he said he wanted my camper off the lot today. I told him as soon as my lawyer comes over to take pictures of the damage before it gets moved. They left and a couple of minutes later the owner comes out and says just leave it we`ll fix it. Three months later I got the camper back repaired. They are out of business now. But they were a reputable dealer with many years selling RV`s in town. I trust no dealer to tell the truth when it comes to money.
Sad very sad. Anyway my wife and I love our Montana faults and all. Sorry it was a longer story than I thought.

[ray fischer]

A friend of mine dropped his, ended up with a leaky roof where the gel coat & rubber meet. Also you could have a cracked frame. You need a major inspection. Good luck.

[Twopetes]

Point well put - document, document, document! and pictures! of everything

[Artemus Gordon]

It's not the end of your story. You need to make sure to also consider reporting to your insurance company that RV was dropped. (I know Rondo mentioned this so my repeating his advice)! That's what your insurance is for in the first place. Your insurance carrier will get it completely inspected under all the coverings. They will have it fixed completely by a third party and then go after dealers insurance and you should not be liable for a dime. Insurance company's have great lawyers, you don't pay... Also you may have disclosure requirements when you sell the coach. This will go along way in keeping your liability to a min in the future at resale. Also your insurance will then be required to fix anything they might have missed, that comes up later on..therefore they have reason to get it fixed right! Good luck.