Dealings with Camping World

[Barrier2]

Hello All, A while back I posted a description of my Dealings with Indianapolis Camping World Service, regarding Lube Oil and Filter performed, Actually Not Performed.
I felt that the many RVers who had service done at this facility and were not able to check the Service received deserved to hear about this.
I sent an Email to Marcus A. Lemonis CEO of Camping World. Here is what I sent:
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 13:57:02 -050
.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-fa
.ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P {padding:0px;} .ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage {font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;} On October 14, 2009 I brought my 2001 Monaco Dynasty Motor Home into your Indianapolis Camping World service facility for service. My Motor Home needed an Oil Change with Filter and Lubrication ( it has an 8.3 liter Cummins Diesel) as well as an Oil and filter Change on the 7.5 Diesel Genset.
The day before I had called from your Bowling Green facility which was booked up and spoke with Mark the Service Manager.
Mark told that he would be able to fit me in. When I arrived I spoke with Mo the Service Writer, we went over the service order and my Coach was taken in. Work did not start until 1:00 that day.
I arrived back about 4:00 and Mark asked if anyone had called me regarding a problem with the oil drain plug I said no, he walked me back to the Motorhome where I spoke with Ron the Service Tech. Ron explained that he had a difficult time removing the drain plug.
He said that he had one and had already replaced it. Ron was adding oil to the generator at that time. Ron also checked the coolant concentration. As a side note when the Coach was checked the next day the Radiator cap was missing.
I inquired about the Lubrication and he said yes it was done particularly the U joints and slide shaft at the differential. He also said that he does not over grease the other fittings to insure that the grease seals don't split. I asked if the other fluids were checked, he said they were OK.
I returned to the front desk. A few minutes later my Motorhome was driven out. I paid the Bill and drove it to Coach Waiting Area. I checked the Engine Oil level, I found the oil to be Black and Dirty.
I then slide out the generator and checked the oil it was also Black and Dirty as well as a Quart Low. I understand that Diesel Oil gets Dirty rather quickly but the Vehicle was driven a total of 100 yards and the Generator was cold.
On a whim I crawled under the Genset and opened the Oil Filter Service Door the outside of the oil filter was dirty and no finger marks were on it to disturb the dirt.
I immediately walked back inside the facility and spoke with Mark. Mark and Mo returned to my Motor Home.
I showed them the engine oil, Mark had no answer, Mo said he thought the oil that was used was Grey in color to begin with ( I was told that Castrol Synthetic Blend was to be used, that is Golden not Grey). They both ageed that the filter was not touched. Mark said he would send out the Tech. A driver was sent out to return the Motorhome to the service bay. When the Driver moved the Generator back in the open filter door bent in half. I picked it up and he drove the Motor Home back to Ron the Tech was there and looked at it, inspected the filter an said "it must have slipped his mind". He replaced the filter with a new one and added a Quart and 1/2 of oil and started the Genset to check for leaks. When he turned off the the Genset and checked the oil level the oil was somewhat lighter in color although only a small amount of oil had been added. Ron looked for a new Filter Door, and could not find one he then straightened out the damaged one.
The front office was closed by now so when my Motor Home
was brought out I drove back to the overnight parking location.
I was not happy at this time, Oil should not be dirty that quickly, certainly an oil filter should not be forgotten, and levels left low. I went to the front of my Motor Home and crawled under. The grease fittings had not been touched, I went to the rear the U-joints and slide shaft were also not touched.
I was Furious, the office was closed there was nothing to do but wait til morning.
At 8:00 in the morning I returned to the office intending to speak with Mark. I saw Mo and he asked if everything was OK I said no and mentioned the Grease fittings. Mark arrived and we went to the side and I related all to him.
He asked me what he could do. I told him this was Fraud and in effect Theft. He asked if I wanted a Refund and I said yes.
A refund was given.
On October 19th I brought my Motor Home to a Cummins Facility. They Re-did the work and verified that the Oil and Filter was never changed, the Genset did have a new Filter but the oil was dirty. None of the Grease Fittings had been touched. Other fluids needed topping up.
I have been thinking about this and I decided to contact Camping World.
This is the kind of deceit that the Auto Service Industry has been guilty of in the past. I recall the Scandal that took place with the Sears Service departments a few years ago when Service was charged for but Never Given. I always felt that RV Service was on a different level, at least I thought so.
Before I went further I felt I should contact you and am awaiting your response. I am a Presidents Club Member.
Marcus A Lemonis emailed me and said I would hear from them.
I received a phone call from the Service Manager Mark. He told me that this kind of thing would never happen again, and the Service Tech had been spoken to. He stressed that the Tech was "very busy that day" and he was their "only Diesel Tech an OVERLOOKED FILTER OK, Not changing the oil, not Lubricating the Chassis? Those of you who know how Flat Rate Manuals work, where a service Tech gets paid for the Time a procedure is listed at , not what it actually takes understands how an 8 hour day may yield 16 hours or more of pay. As for the OIL FILTERS and Lube charged for and not used??? This is THEFT and FRAUD. Camping World should be chastised for.
I have not heard back from Marcus A.Lemonis
I am presenting this to this Forum as a "Heads Up" to the readers. I am personally happy that all I ended up with was an inconvenience. I am very concerned with all others who are not able to check the work that they have had done. I wonder how many did not learn of this until damage was done to their Coach. I also hope this is not the norm at Camping World.
Comments welcome.
I do hope this is the proper section of 1rv2, if not Mods please move it.
Barrier

[electricks]

my heart goes out to you i have been in the same boat.The indianapolis store is very decieving and in my humble opinion dishonest at the very least.I could write pages after pages of similar things that we have gone through.
Rick and julie

[Our Time]

The store in Council Bluffs, Iowa is no better. I had them work on a King Dome problem. To make a long story short, they said it was defective and needed to be replaced. They never removed the dome or they would have seen the cable had become disconnected! For sure my last trip to Camping World Service, not to mention most items in the store are drastically over priced.

[jaywhy]

This Camping World used to be Stout's RV and did a very professional job, however, since they have change over to camping world I have not been satisfied with their work are the way they treat some customers.

[CorsairIIAT]

I have never liked Camping World. They never seem to have what I want in stock. And when I have to order it it takes months to get it. Our local guy here does great work and if I order a part it is in a couple of days. Plus the dollars I spend with local guy stays local. I spend a few dollars more but it keeps my neighbors employed. Also I don't shop at Wally World, Costco, Home Depot( don't go there with their lumber it is so wet it will warp like you have never seen), Lowes isn't as bad as Home Depot. But lumber almost as bad.

[Wayne M]

I had good dealings with the Camping World in Savannah, GA for warranty work on my Winnebago. The washer was leaking. I was also very fortunate to have a call in tech because they were so busy and he had 33 years in mobile rv repair business, so it really has to do with the tech you get. As for parts, well everytime I go into CW I drop some $$$. And those have been CW's on my travels, not just one place.

I also believe that if you go in with an attitude that something is "owed" to you, you are probably going to get an attitude back at you.

[EngineerMike]

This thread should be renamed FRAUD @ Camping World!!!
Nuff said.

[Tom and Patty]

Wow. Sorry to hear how you might have been bamboozled.

That is why I do all of my oil (Fumoto Valve is a big help)and lube, not just my MH but my cars, truck and motorcycle. I know when I'm done I've done it right and no one is to blame for a loose filter etc. but ME. Plus while I'm under the vehicle I can poke around all the nooks and crannies. Don't know what I'll do when we hit the road.

Camping World is only as good as it's employees and managers. It is all about service, correct service. I preach this all the time in my business, but sometimes "S" still happens.

[ernieh]

Although I have had mostly good experiences with CW, I have serious concerns about their ability to service a MH chassis properly. I was recently in their store near Springfield, MO. This is supposed to be one of their "full service" shops.

I do most of my own service now because I got tired of driving 50 miles to Freightliner, only to find zerk fittings that had not been touched.

Anyhow, to make a long story longer, I asked if they had any strips to test the SCA level in my coolent and no one in the shop had a clue what I was talking about. Yet these people are "servicing" diesel MHs on a regular basis.

One of their techs actually told me "Don't measure this place by the size of our sign".

That should be a clue.

[justimagination]

What a shame, and you paid good $$$$$$$ for that kind of service, and yet to some extent they even defended what had happened, totally unacceptable.
You would think with their resources they would have compedent employee's.........NOT. We had a RV service center in the Atlanta area that had three (3) locations. Well as fate would have it, Camping World bought them out, updated the whole place, and in less than two (2) years they are gone, but I think they still have one location open, though not sure for how long. I could go on and on about what their entire operation was like, but I just don't have time for it. At least they did refund your money and should have paid you more for your troubles. Good Luck & travel safe.
David G.

[melvonnar]

My experance:
long story short:
generator would start but not keep running
camping world est. cost to repair $1500
took to other place $!5 parts $40 dollars labor.
enough said.

[Noelj]

My quick one. Generator would start but not keep running, MH would run, but studdered. Added fuel treatment, filled tank with no-alcohol high test, problems solved.

[melvonnar]

Originally Posted by Noelj

My quick one. Generator would start but not keep running, MH would run, but studdered. Added fuel treatment, filled tank with no-alcohol high test, problems solved.

Question:
where did you get no-alcohol gas?.
can't get it around here.

[deaton]

Few months back I went to Camping World in Katy, Texas. Got there late. They close at 5:00. Pulled in at 5:30. Here we have a $20 million dollar (at least) facility, but all the parking and hook-ups are locked up at 5:00 PM. What a waste.

Well OK, the front lot is large and the generator works. It's hot outside (this is Houston) and the wife and I decide to spend the night.

Next morning, they open at 8:00. I leave my wife with the coach to get some new house batteries installed. I head to town for a business meeting. About 10:30, I get a call from my wife. She says I need to talk to the service manager guy about the batteries.

He gets on the phone and says, "Yep, you need four new batteries".

That was no surprise since I had recently bought the coach used and the original owner had NEVER serviced the batteries and they had just about gone dry. So I asked him how much and he quoted a price that was about $30 each over what I knew I could buy them for at Sam's Club but I said, "Well, that price is installed, right?"

The service guy responds, "Oh, no, installation is extra." "OK, how much extra?" I asked. "Well, it takes 2.2 hours at $110 and hour so that will be about $242."

I said, "I've never changed batteries in this coach but I'm pretty familiar with my battery compartment and I'm pretty sure I could do the job myself in twenty minutes or less."

Just then, the wife comes back on the phone. She says she's been talking to an old guy (a customer) while I was on the phone and he asked if we were members of the President's Club. My wife told him we were, having dropped a few grand on a tow bar and such the previous month, we had signed up. The guy said, "If you're members of the PC, you get a 10% discount on the batteries and the installation is free." A bit of wisdom that the Camping World guy had failed to provide.

My wife then asks the service guy if this was correct. That since we were members of the PC, we would get the discount and the installation would be free. He confirmed that to be true, but then he goes on to tell her that if we want "FREE" installation, he could not fit us into his busy schedule that day and we would have to come back.

We left and we haven't been back. I wrote a letter to the VP of Sales for CW, some woman back east and got no reply. Sad state of affairs for an outfit that wants to be the go-to folks for RV'ers.

I did replace my batteries. It took twenty minutes.