advice on camping world

[Alan Wilson]

Tejay,

I looked CW for my mh and to my surprise Marcus sent me an email to ask if there is anything he could do for me and to ask if I had any comments good or bad. I don't think they try to be bad intentionally as that would be a terrible business plan to ensure failure. I have owned my own business and it is not a cakewalk. Try to find people who genuinely care about what they do. It's very difficult. Most people do not care about your business at all. It takes a lot of money and time to build a company and only takes a few unhappy people telling everyone they see to destroy a lifetime of dreams, blood, sweat and tears. There are good people out there but they are few and far between. That's why I say do your homework and don't blame other people for your shortcomings. If my rig breaks down too much then I will get rid of it. I feel good in the knowledge that I researched it as much as I could. Luck of the draw.

Alan

[Alan Wilson]

I forgot to mention that I purchased my first MH from CW and it was a very good experience. I had one thing that the guy drug his feet on complying with and I finally had to get aggressive. I think he just had so many things he was trying to juggle it was getting lost in the shuffle. It was a minor thing that he did take care of. This MH has been absolutely great and trouble free but then I did my homework before I purchased it and found out Phoenix Cruiser is a very good company and that has proven to be true. They are fantastic! Check it out to see if it has been taken care of and go from there.

Alan

[capsfloyd]

The CW in FT. worth is a very good store , and extremely nice employees. They go out of there way to help me . Bought supplies and a new high directors chair.

[Oldme]

I have posted once on this subject now I have something new to add.

When we purchased the RV in November (Class C on E450)
I questioned the brakes.
The salesman, RV tech and manager said all was good.
They even pointed to the Ford Dealer service sticker in the window that did an oil change and tire balance, who supposedly "inspected" the vehicle. I was told that my concerns were only the difference I noticed between stpping 3,400 lbs and stopping 14,000 lbs.

So I drove it two hours home and the then next week from Ga. to Louisiana and back. Only several small trips since, due to a major health problem with DW.

Last week I took it out as we are over the major health hurdles.

I still did not like the brakes.
They were NO worse than when I bought it but I was not happy.

There a an independent Truck shop nearby that has been in business since 1977. His clients include the county ambulance service, school buses, independent truckers and Pepsi corp. So I had him replace all pads and turn all rotors and inspect the system.

The owner call yesterday saying he found a major problem.

On the rear one of the calipers was frozen and need to be replaced.
The brake pad and the metal backing had separated and the backing had rusted into. He had never seen this on a vehicle that was driven into his shop in his 36 years of being in business.

In his professional opinion of working on heavy truck for 36 years the breaks were this way when I bought it. He has only seen this on a vehicle that was stored in a field for years and towed to him to repair.

Because the brakes felt no different last week than when I first bought it, we feel that Campers World sold an unsafe vehicle and they knew it.

I will find out more Monday when I get it back.

[Alan Wilson]

I wish you luck. I had a motor go bad on a GM product that only cost me a little more than a short block. ALL companies have their problems. I would also ask the Ford dealership if they performed the proper service. I would have thought it had been inspected myself. Good luck!

[TeJay]

That's not a good report and we are all glad that nothing more serious happened. Here's the real lesson. Trusting a SALESPERSONS advice on mechanical issues is not good judgement under circumstances like this. My experiences with salespeople is there is a real serious disconnect between them and the service department. We recently bought two used vehicles. I looked over the cars but missed a leaking axle seal. The price was good so I figured that I'd repair whet ever else I found later. If your deal was good consider it a mistake. Our used cars were only in the $5,000 range no a MH range. I would push the issue with the seller and see what happens. Especially since you did get a good opinion from the other repair shop.

TeJay

[Oldme]

Originally Posted by TeJay

That's not a good report and we are all glad that nothing more serious happened. Here's the real lesson. Trusting a SALESPERSONS advice on mechanical issues is not good judgement under circumstances like this. My experiences with salespeople is there is a real serious disconnect between them and the service department. We recently bought two used vehicles. I looked over the cars but missed a leaking axle seal. The price was good so I figured that I'd repair whet ever else I found later. If your deal was good consider it a mistake. Our used cars were only in the $5,000 range no a MH range. I would push the issue with the seller and see what happens. Especially since you did get a good opinion from the other repair shop.

TeJay

I think you missed:

"I questioned the brakes.
The salesman, RV tech and manager said all was good.
They even pointed to the Ford Dealer service sticker in the window that did an oil change and tire balance, who supposedly "inspected" the vehicle".

I trust few people on anything.
AS I said; I questioned the brakes.
The salesman, RV tech and manager said all was good.
They even pointed to the Ford Dealer service sticker in the window that did an oil change and tire balance, who supposedly "inspected" the vehicle.
Maybe the sales person that he would put his 21 year old daughter in it for a cross country trip without hesitation, made him believable.

I am not really looking for CW to do anything.
As I posted earlier, my DW has lost count of the lies.
So far I have a list of 54 items that I have repaired, replaced, change or altered.

The safety issue will be repaired and back on the road tomorrow.

The real lesson here is NOT to deal with CW.
We will never again.

I do want others that may think about dealing with CW to be VERY aware.

[Alan Wilson]

Originally Posted by Oldme

I think you missed:

"I questioned the brakes.
The salesman, RV tech and manager said all was good.
They even pointed to the Ford Dealer service sticker in the window that did an oil change and tire balance, who supposedly "inspected" the vehicle".

I trust few people on anything.
AS I said; I questioned the brakes.
The salesman, RV tech and manager said all was good.
They even pointed to the Ford Dealer service sticker in the window that did an oil change and tire balance, who supposedly "inspected" the vehicle.
Maybe the sales person that he would put his 21 year old daughter in it for a cross country trip without hesitation, made him believable.

I am not really looking for CW to do anything.
As I posted earlier, my DW has lost count of the lies.
So far I have a list of 54 items that I have repaired, replaced, change or altered.

The safety issue will be repaired and back on the road tomorrow.

The real lesson here is NOT to deal with CW.
We will never again.

I do want others that may think about dealing with CW to be VERY aware.

hey oldme,

I totally understand where you are coming from. Now you know how I feel about General Motors. My Deal happened back in 1975 and I have never forgotten. To this day I have never bought another General Motors product but as you can see they are still in business so they must be doing something right. If I were you I would send an email to Marcus letting him know of your displeasure. You always get more flies with honey than vinegar. I would state my case and issues that I've had and then leave it to him to do with as he sees fit. I hope you get positive results. in my ordeal I got nothing. I found out after the fact it cost me $1150 to replace the $25 valve cuz there was the hood to remove, the valve covers, the intake manifold, the head, you know all the stuff it takes to get to the valve was my responsibility.

alan

[wyorancher]

We've RV'd since the 60s. When CW opened they were only competing with the mom and pop RV dealers of the era. Their prices were great. They even had free RV parking with hookups at some of their stores. However, After Marcus took over CW, I believe in the 90s, CW kind of went town hill. I don't contribute it all to Marcus. He had a tough assignment to keep CW going. A lot of competition from the internet. CW has been going in debt. Now Marcus has taken over GS. Seems now there is a lot more complaints about GS service. I haven't been buying things at CW recently. Seems like just about everything I buy gets returned because it either doesn't work or missing parts. If you look on RV net (run by GS) you see lots of complaints about CW. Is it CW's problem? I don't know. Would I be willing to take a chance on buying a new RV from them? I got a price from them on the last two RVs. They weren't even in the ball park on price. I would be hesitant to purchase from them because it is hard enough to get good warranty service. I wouldn't want to be tied to going through CW. JMHO.

[nbounder]

Camping World, as most folks know, is a branch of the Good Sam megalopolis. The big cheese is Marcus Lemonis . .he rules Good Sam, CW, and lord known what else. If I had a CW issue as mentioned above, I'd find his e-mail (somewhere in Good Sams magazine and send a letter. He claims to be super sensitive to consumer problems.

[FatJack]

It is so easy to beat on a large company. No one tells the good things.

[Oldme]

Originally Posted by FatJack

It is so easy to beat on a large company. No one tells the good things.

Not true.

I always say something good about outstanding service/value
or even good service /value. I like to let other know where
they are a valued customer and treated right.

There is nothing good I can say about CW, based on our personal experience.

[Capn_Dave]

That says allot, Call Chicago and they will help. Personally I don't trust anything that comes from Chicago.

[stepside454]

Cap'n Dave said exactly what I was thinking