Warranty "non" Service

[Chief]

Attempted to get warranty service @ Bill Waits RV in Savannah, Ga. Svc Mgr real cooperative until he asked where I purchased my Itasca. Bottom line, since I didn't buy at the dealership he initally wanted to make appt 3 mo out then said "call me" in 3 months. Of course I declined his generous offer. Has anyone else run into this nonsence? Why does Winny allow their dealers to do this? I reported the incident to Whinny cust svc rep- said he will make a note of it. Thanks A Lot. Comments??

[Chief]

Attempted to get warranty service @ Bill Waits RV in Savannah, Ga. Svc Mgr real cooperative until he asked where I purchased my Itasca. Bottom line, since I didn't buy at the dealership he initally wanted to make appt 3 mo out then said "call me" in 3 months. Of course I declined his generous offer. Has anyone else run into this nonsence? Why does Winny allow their dealers to do this? I reported the incident to Whinny cust svc rep- said he will make a note of it. Thanks A Lot. Comments??

[smlranger]

Unfortunate, for sure. Perhaps you should call Winnebago Customer Service again and ask them if there is an independent RV repair shop they can recommend in your area. Some manufacturers will allow independent shops to do repairs. My local RV guy has done warranty repairs for Thor, Monaco, and a couple of others. Or, maybe you should contact your selling dealer and ask him to call a dealer in your area and see if you can get work done more quickly.

[gunny]

I'd call the general manager and have a word with him. I'd surely have another word with Winny's customer service.
Getting treated like that makes a man not want to have any dealings with that dealer and if the company who made the MH can't come up with any help, last time I'd even consider their product.

[rebelsbeach]

Chief, I think you'll find that Winnebago can not "police" what their dealers do, although I know firsthand that Winnebago Customer Service WILL help you find a place to get the work done.
Our own member Warpath had a similar issue to yours and Winnebago Customer Service recommended another nearby dealer that Warpath hadn't recalled being a Winnebago dealer.

[jimandsue60]

What are you trying to get repaired?

Jim

[Tom N]

I had warranty service done at Bill Waits. They even "put me up" for 5 nights in front of thier store with 50 amp, water and sewage while wating for a new water pump to arrive. May have been a slow month for them as it was late January. I'd assume thier regular customers would come first during peak service months but, they treated me great!!

I'll be stopping in 3 weeks for thier 99 cents a gallon propane.

[peter griffin]

i suggest greasing the service mgr next time...

i keep envelopes with me while i travel...

cant afford to have my vacation ruined...

[John_Canfield]

When we were coach shopping I talked to a sales rep for SunCoast RV in Ocala and asked about service if we didn't buy there. This lady was the former service manager, so I valued her response as a qualified statement.

She said customers who buy from SunCoast have first priority in the service queue; after they take care of their customers, then comes everybody else.

We are as I type this at Crestview RV, a Winnie dealer in Buda, Tx to get a couple of little things fixed. They never asked me where I bought the rig - service is strictly first-come first-served.

Try another dealer. Unfortunately getting the rig in for service isn't as easy as a car.

[traveler of california]

Are you a "local" or a traveller?

Nick, Journey '01

[rebelsbeach]

My Newmar/Winnebago dealer has a sign at the service desk that reads something like this....

We service:
[list]1. Customers that bought their unit from us....
2. Customers that didn't buy from us but that are transient in nature....
3. Everyone else...

Howard RV is a consistent winner of both Winnebago AND Newmar's service award for performing a certain number of warranty AND non-warranty repairs on coaches they didn't sell.

Having said that, after experiencing both the Newmar AND the Winnebago factory service, I would opt for an "annual" visit to either location with a laundry list of items to get fixed.
The techs are more knowledgeable and they usually have all the parts too!

[traveler of california]

We stayed at Crestview's RV park while we did the Austin area. I was impressed with the operation as they are a classy outfit. The CG was reasonable.
Nick, Journey '01

[John_Canfield]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by traveler of california:
Are you a "local" or a traveller?

Nick, Journey '01 </div></BLOCKQUOTE>When I called them, they said it was first-come, first-served after I tried to make an appointment. I don't believe I volunteered any personal information or details. We are as a matter of fact transients.

CG is only $18/night with Good Sam.

[Hikerdogs]

I have to agree with those who have suggested calling Winnebago to see if they will allow an independent in your area to perform warranty service work. We had a problem with the AC early on and contacted our selling dealer. They said they didn't do AC but would farm it out to one of the local truck garages and submit the claim to Winnebago.

When I found that out I called Winnebago to see if I could get the work done locally rather than drive 200 miles only to have the dealer take it to someone else. Winnebago suggested I take it to the local Ford truck garage, have them do the work, and submit the claim directly. Since the Ford garage has an excellent reputation and has been in the area almost 75 years I was happy to take it to them. They did excellent work in a timely manner. Everything worked out well so I still take it in for regular maintenance.

Some of the dealers in our area refuse to do any warranty or service work unless they sell the unit. I think it's a shoot yourself in the foot policy, but it's their choice. When we bought our Adventurer we contacted several dealers. The one closest to us wanted about $8,000.00 more than the next highest dealer. We told them what the lower price was and asked if they could come closer to, or even meet that price. They said NO, the price they quoted was the best they would do, and that if we did decide to buy it elsewhere not to bother trying to get warranty, or any other type of service work done at their facility.

When it comes time to replace our current unit (probably late next year) I won't even include them on the list of dealers to contact. In the long run their attitude has already cost them at least 1 sale, a lot of service work, and most likely another sale next year. Had they not tried to intimidate us into buying the first time I would have at least given them another chance. Now I won't even consider them.