AdventureRV

[bandirector]

I post this as a history of my experiences in dealings with AdventureRV and as a warning to others.

I ordered a replacement SureFlo demand pump from AdventureRV that arrived in a plain cardboard box with a broken mounting leg. I immediately contacted them about acquiring a replacement.

AdventureRV told me I had declined shipping insurance and would thus not be eligible for a replacement. AdventureRV offered instead a $20 discount on the return if I wanted to send in the pump on my dime for replacement. The truth is I wanted shipping insurance and when it was offered as part of the on line purchase was happy to see it. In reviewing my purchase and spending a little time on AdventureRV's website later, I found that there is not even an option to decline this insurance. It was however stripped from my invoice which I'd not paid much attention to until this occurred. I won't presume to imply why AdventureRV would be removing shipping insurance from the final sale, however it raises a lot of questions which AdventureRV has not been willing to answer.

When I realized replacing the pump was going to drag on for some time I went to a local RV dealer (Craig Smith RV) and purchased the same pump. It came in a fully labeled box with all the manufacturer's information and the attachment parts in a sealed plastic bag. The pump I received from AdventureRV came in a plain cardboard box similar to the many items I've purchased from manufacturer's when I was buying re-manufactured items with the attachment parts in a stapled plastic bag. This pump from AdventureRV was not advertised as re-manufactured and had water in it when I removed the shipping plugs. When I questioned AdventureRV about this they told me that was just how the manufacturer tests it's pumps. My pump from Craig Smith was dry. I won't presume to blame AdventureRV for the obvious, however there is no denying the fact that the pump they sent me is packaged vastly different from the new pump I purchased from Craig Smith RV.

My credit card company has been little help (HSBC - that's another story) and I'm out the $166 for this item. For everyone else, I post my experience to help you avoid this sort of problem. I had heard many good things about AdventureRV prior to this, however my experience has led me to believe they are operating under a different set of customer "service" standards then what others experienced.

Be careful out there!

[Fossilhog]

I buy EVERYTHING from Lichtsinn. Never a problem and even spoke with techs there to assit in the order.

[Explorer2]

Wow, that is something else..

I just bought an In-Motion Satellite dish from AdvantureRV and didn’t have any problems.

[Duner]

I received my SurFlo 5.7 pump from AdventureRV just last month. It arrived in fine shape in the "plain" box. If it was me, I think would just use the pump with 3 good legs and it should work fine. Or can you just swap out the broken part?

[RV Wizard]

I am thankful that my credit card company will reverse the charges if I am not satified with a purchase. I have only had to do it once or twice but a few months ago I tested it with a complaint on a $3k purchase. No questions beyond the normal as to seller info and it was taken care of. I think having this kind of protection is priceless.

[Dmiles]

I've used AdventureRV a coupls of times, never a hint of a problem. I've also had HSBC credit back a charge that was fraudulent, again with no problem.

I had decided to order a Winegard SK-3005 from them as they have the best price that I've been able to find. I probably will still place the order on Monday, but this does give me pause...

[RVJeeper]

Bandirector, I've used AdventureRV twice for Blue Ox towing products and have nothing but good things to say about them. The ordering process was smooth and I received both orders quicker than I expected. It's a shame that you had shipping damage but that appears to be an issue to take up with the shipping company, not the supplier. It also appears that AdventureRV made a fine effort at resolution by offering you a $20.00 credit on the replacement which would have more than covered your shipping expenses to return the defective unit. I'm sure it was aggravating to get a broken part but I don't agree with your "warning" about AdventureRV.

[bobmac]

I had two good experiences with Adventure RV. On my third, they said they shipped Fedex so had the order sent to a Fedex Customer Centre as "Hold for Pickup". Guess what?? They shipped it UPS, Fedex obviously refiused delivery so spent 1 hour on the phone - fortunately while delivery was refused and had it redirected to the UPS Centre who held it for me.

What I learned is that Adventure use logistic centres or suppliers to ship their orders and have little control over how the order is the shipped. Your problem sounds to me to be with one of their suppliers but in the end, obviously Adventure is responsible.

[bandirector]

To be fair and completely upfront I'd like to let the forum know that after posting my topic on AdventureRv I was contacted about a week later by the president of the company. He told me he wanted to correct the situation that led up to my placing my tale of woe on this and other forums.

At the same time he became angry and told me I should have made a greater effort to contact his company. In response I reminded him that I had sent several emails back to his customer service person that were never answered and that AdventureRv makes a point of emphasizing that we should communicate by email. He planned at that point to go back through the email log to find out what had happened.

We discussed the pump and it's having water in it and being in a plain brown box like most refurbished products look when I've purchased them in the past. He emphasized to me that using water is the way the factory checks the pumps. That makes sense except my pump from Craig Smith RV was dry as a bone. He also told me that they buy their pumps without the advertising to save money. I can't prove this one way or the other then to tell you all that the box the pump came in from Craig Smith RV was in a fully labeled box so he could indeed have a deal with SurFlo to purchase them labeled...

I just found a complete credit for the pump from AdventureRV including shipping from my home back to them and the original shipping. I'm certainly happy with the end result and wish this hadn't taken so much time and energy to arrive here for a relatively inexpensive item (as owning an RV is). In the end I feel I was treated right. I just wish it hadn't taken an airing of dirty laundry to arrive at this point.

[NLOVNIT]

I'm glad the situation was resolved. The combination of the omission of the non-declineable insurance, generic packaging, water inside the pump & a stapled instead of sealed parts bag is all quite odd, but at least the company president stepped up & for goodwill, credited your card.

Off topic, your mention of Craig Smith RV being "local" got my attention. I see you're from Lexington. I'm originally from Shelby. I don't know how I missed welcoming you to iRV2 so please excuse my belated . When you get a chance, please check out the North Central & Pond Piggie Forums for upcoming group campouts. There's a bunch of us from C & NE OH & W PA that rv together during the season & we post our whereabouts in those Forums. Sometimes it's just a few families, other times as many as 8 or 9 families together. We'd love to have you join us.

Hope to see you down the road.

Lori-

[bandirector]

Lori,

Thanks for the invitation! This is my final year of teaching so our hope is to do a lot more weekends out next year. With my job I'm typically doing something either Saturday, Sunday or both during the school year so it's hard to break free. I will certainly be checking out your forum!

Mark

[RV Wizard]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bandirector To be fair and completely upfront I'd like to let the forum know that after posting my topic on AdventureRv I was contacted about a week later by the president of the company. He told me he wanted to correct the situation that led up to my placing my tale of woe on this and other forums. At the same time he became angry and told me I should have made a greater effort to contact his company. In response I reminded him that I had sent several emails back to his customer service person that were never answered and that AdventureRv makes a point of emphasizing that we should communicate by email. He planned at that point to go back through the email log to find out what had happened. We discussed the pump and it's having water in it and being in a plain brown box like most refurbished products look when I've purchased them in the past. He emphasized to me that using water is the way the factory checks the pumps. That makes sense except my pump from Craig Smith RV was dry as a bone. He also told me that they buy their pumps without the advertising to save money. I can't prove this one way or the other then to tell you all that the box the pump came in from Craig Smith RV was in a fully labeled box so he could indeed have a deal with SurFlo to purchase them labeled... I just found a complete credit for the pump from AdventureRV including shipping from my home back to them and the original shipping. I'm certainly happy with the end result and wish this hadn't taken so much time and energy to arrive here for a relatively inexpensive item (as owning an RV is). In the end I feel I was treated right. I just wish it hadn't taken an airing of dirty laundry to arrive at this point.

Glad to hear things have been rectified. When I am not happy with an issue, I will mention that I am a long time member of this forum and usually my situation is looked at a second time!

[Jim A]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bandirector We discussed the pump and it's having water in it and being in a plain brown box like most refurbished products look when I've purchased them in the past.

I had a defective Shurflo water pump, and took it back to Shurflo, which fortunately is very close to me. They replaced the pump with a new one, which was in a plain brown box. And he did test it while I stood there and put plugs back in it and put it back in the box. I don't remember if I could see water come out before he tested it. I was just watching that it worked!

Apparently they ship the pumps to OEM's in plain brown boxes, not the fancy picture boxes we see them in on the shelves at CW, etc. So I would tend to believe him.