Camping World

[daburck]

We purchased our 2016 Jayco NorthPoint in somewhat of a hurry due to our previous Montana being totaled by an errant tree limb. We purchased our NP from the Jayco authorized dealer in a not-to-be-named "major city on I-5 down the road from Redding". On our return from Oregon later that year, we needed warranty work and made an appointment with B&B. In three visits, they have been absolutely super to us, so much so, that if a new RV was needed, I'd drive hundreds of miles to give them a chance. This message is not to knock CW....just sadness in hearing B&B was sold and many of the service-sales folks are gone. If Jayco is "listening out there", you may have done a disservice to future Jayco owners. Just sayin'.

[SloPoke]

I have posted on other threads our experiences with CW too. We found a "technically used" Seneca with 9k miles on it - that was never delivered to the customer. The Salesman we worked with was with the dealership thru the previous owners (Ardell Brown) and knew his way around the business. He was the best part of the entire CW transaction. We got a fair-market price for a used Seneca, and the deal for us was that it was really still new.

Once we left a deposit to hold the rig - things were miserable. We came with our checkbook and were ready to pay cash, but they initiated financing instead. After taking 5 hours to get the paperwork corrected three times - we signed for what we agreed as a selling price in the first place. It wasn't the salesman's fault the paperwork was wrong... but more like the ethical problems the Sales Manager and Finance guys have. As we finished the paperwork - we started the PDI...

This is our 4th RV and I am very familiar with all of the functions of the typical RV, do my own repairs and wanted our PDI to focus on unique features of the Seneca. Right away we noticed that parts of the unit we inspected the day before - were removed. How would you feel about having the Satellite Receiver mounted on the roof - removed? Next we discover the Water Heater Door was gone (sold to a walk in customer who lost theirs) Then the Microwave Turntable is found missing. And they want us to take it "As Is" with these things missing that were not missing the day before when we inspected it to purchase. We refused. I told them we would not even take possession unless they gave us a written "Owe To - ticket" with the items needed and put a water heater cover on immediately - told them to steal one of a lot unit like they did mine.

This was just the start of things to come with CW... and yes, it gets worse yet (look up my thread on our AC unit failing and the warranty nightmare.)

[KCSA75]

You sound like somebody who would complain if you were hung with a new rope.

Originally Posted by OdiN1701

1 - Showed up for delivery, start talking to Finance guy and then they want us to go do walkthrough and such. We didn't want to do that because my wife and two young kids were there and we wanted to get everything signed so she could go home. We could hear the service people complaining on the other end of the phone. We were never told that there was a specific order we had to do this in, otherwise I would have done the service/walkthrough stuff first and then called my wife to come in to sign the finance stuff.

Why would you sign paperwork before the walk-thru. If there is anything wrong you want to put it in writing along with an acceptable solution prior to signing off on the deal. At least I would.

Originally Posted by OdiN1701

2 - The financing people we found out later ran our credit TWICE! This is stupid and unacceptable.

They probably ran your credit when you were shopping and agreeing to buy. Then the finance company ran it again prior to delivery to make sure that you didn't make another big purchase that may affect your creditworthiness in the days in between agreeing to buy and delivery. This is not unusual nor out of line. It also shouldn't have a negative effect on your credit.

Originally Posted by OdiN1701

3 - When we agreed to the deal I told my salesman I wanted a WDH but I wasn't sure which one. Called later that week when I decided. After I was done with the walkthrough, they drive up with my truck and start putting the hitch bars and such on. It's the wrong hitch.

4 - They went to put on the right hitch. This takes forever. They come back and it has the wrong size hitch ball.

5 - They have to take it back to service, now they are complaining because they have to "pay" the service people for more jobs. Uhm...no.

6 - They come back and say that they don't have a hitch ball of the right size that is long enough to get the bolt on properly. I don't know if this is true or not, but if so, how the hell do you sell that hitch with that trailer?

7 - Had to choose a different hitch, which took longer to install. Our pickup was 9AM. I wasn't home until after 1PM. Not happy.

While I understand your frustration, things happen from time to time. I'm sure things don't always go the way you like at your job.

I'll admit I'm a hothead from time to time, and my wife -- on more that one occasion -- has to go back and smooth over some of my outbursts and knee-jerk reactions. This is hardly worth losing any sleep over, IMO. Surely, you didn't think you were going to be in and out of there in 30 minutes.

Originally Posted by OdiN1701

8 - Our temporary tags expired, had gone to DMV to get plates transferred, no title work available. Oh the title department at CW is "backed up". Not my problem.

9 - CW never called me back like they said they would to address temporary tag problem.

See above. If they don't return your call, call back.

Originally Posted by OdiN1701

Now I'll need some warranty work on the screen door (there is a small section where it's not attached to the frame) and I'm sure I won't be happy.

Their after sale service has been horrible so far.

With an attitude like that, you're right. I'm sure you won't be happy.

Sounds like a pretty simple repair. Fix the screen yourself then go camping and relax. That's what you bought the thing for wasn't it?

[OdiN1701]

Originally Posted by KCSA75

You sound like somebody who would complain if you were hung with a new rope.

You sound like you work for Camping World.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

Why would you sign paperwork before the walk-thru. If there is anything wrong you want to put it in writing along with an acceptable solution prior to signing off on the deal. At least I would.

I had already looked at the camper. I knew what I was getting. They could have had me go through the walkthrough while my wife signed and then she could leave. Then I could sign what I needed to. They were inflexible. That's a bad way to be in a customer service oriented business.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

They probably ran your credit when you were shopping and agreeing to buy. Then the finance company ran it again prior to delivery to make sure that you didn't make another big purchase that may affect your creditworthiness in the days in between agreeing to buy and delivery. This is not unusual nor out of line. It also shouldn't have a negative effect on your credit.

I've never had ANY transaction EVER run my credit more than once. Besides, with a score around 830 there is no way I could have screwed it up, nor does it indicate it's something I would do. They did not run it on the day that I agreed to purchase it either. It was run twice on the same day. We get notifications when it's run.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

While I understand your frustration, things happen from time to time. I'm sure things don't always go the way you like at your job.

No, things don't always go perfectly, but then it's not because of my incompetence either. That is the problem here. The service department was completely incompetent.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

I'll admit I'm a hothead from time to time, and my wife -- on more that one occasion -- has to go back and smooth over some of my outbursts and knee-jerk reactions. This is hardly worth losing any sleep over, IMO. Surely, you didn't think you were going to be in and out of there in 30 minutes.

30 minutes no. Over 4 hours? Certainly not. I figured one to two hours max.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

See above. If they don't return your call, call back.

Again this is just incompetence. When you say you are going to do something, you do it. I did have to call them back and I made them overnight new temp tags.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

With an attitude like that, you're right. I'm sure you won't be happy.

I now have an appropriate level of expectations that they set with their lack of service and attention to detail on more than one occasion. Why would I expect any further dealings with them to be any different? It's not my attitude, it's their lack of professionalism.

Originally Posted by KCSA75

Sounds like a pretty simple repair. Fix the screen yourself then go camping and relax. That's what you bought the thing for wasn't it?

I could repair it myself, but I shouldn't have to. It should be in good working condition. If I would have noticed it in the walkthrough I would have had them fix it. But it is a small section and was hard to notice. It needs fixing though and they should be the ones paying to fix it, not me. Although it may be worth it to me to just do it myself so I don't have to deal with their incompetence. I'm waiting for the season to be over should any other issues crop up and I can have any warranty work completed in the off season as it sounds like the wait times are horrendous.

[micp]

In 2013 I purchased a new Jayco Octane Toy Hauler from B&B, I was pleased with my purchase process and my few service issues were resolved quickly. 2015 I purchased a new Class C Motorhome from Camping World as my needs had changed. The purchase went fairly well, I was comfortable with the price paid. There were several problems that were identified during the Walk Through. Camping World had that motorhome for more months than I had it to use and the did not fix most of the problems that had been identified. I sold that motorhome just as soon as I could get out from under it and yes I took a beating. I purchased my 2018 Jayco Alante from B&B hoping for service like I had experienced previously... so far... it is Camping World with a B&B sign. JH

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by micp

In 2013 I purchased a new Jayco Octane Toy Hauler from B&B, I was pleased with my purchase process and my few service issues were resolved quickly. 2015 I purchased a new Class C Motorhome from Camping World as my needs had changed. The purchase went fairly well, I was comfortable with the price paid. There were several problems that were identified during the Walk Through. Camping World had that motorhome for more months than I had it to use and the did not fix most of the problems that had been identified. I sold that motorhome just as soon as I could get out from under it and yes I took a beating. I purchased my 2018 Jayco Alante from B&B hoping for service like I had experienced previously... so far... it is Camping World with a B&B sign. JH

We bought our Jayco from B&B after being unimpressed with the CW sales folks. On the day before our first “real” trip with it, I didn’t hear the converter fan running, even with a draw on the batteries. I called the B&B service dept, which said to bring it down to be checked. This was a Friday afternoon. Sure enough, the converter was toast. They managed to work me in and replaced it, saving our trip.

Meanwhile, I recently called CW to ask a simple question about tire pressure. Sorry, they’d have to have someone call me back. They did — a couple of days later after we were long down the road. The next time I called their store to ask their price on a common item, she said someone would call back. I’m still waiting...

[Stanb]

Originally Posted by campingva

Will never do business with CW again after its CEO said he did not want my business.

I’m just like you, their CEO doesn’t want my business and I will continue to try and make him Happy, learning to love Amazon and have also found a few local small RV stores I didn’t know where around, and they have been wonderful.🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[LuckyDuck]

Apparently it’s not just the CEO, but down to the people who answer the phone, too. Not gonna beg them to pay double prices. Thank goodness for Amazon.

[GRUU]

Originally Posted by KCSA75

I think bashing Camping World is a national pass time for some folks. Most of the complaints I see are much ado about nothing, or unreasonable requests by customers.

I'm a sales guy and people are always thinking we should give stuff away or perform services for no charge because we're nice guys. If most of these people would stop to think for a minute they would realize businesses are not in business to give stuff away.

If CW was as bad as some claim, it would have closed it doors a long time ago not be expanding. And everyone lamenting a local dealer selling out to CW needs to remember that nobody from Camping World held a gun to anybody's head.

We purchased our NTU travel trailer at CW in Kansas City and couldn't be happier. I was able to negotiate a price that we below book value and they let us leave the camper on their lot for three weeks until we could arrange storage. We also received a three-year Good Sam membership and and one-year of Emergency Road Service. Fortunately, we haven't had to use the road service, but we've taken advantage of the Good Sam discount and free shipping to purchase a few items at campingworld.com.

I wouldn't have any problem recommending CW to anybody.

PLEASE recommend CW to all your friends and relatives. THEN let us know how that works out for them.

[Campgirl2000]

We too had a good experience with CW, but I am almost afraid to post it. It's like telling a liberal that you voted for Trump. You become a racist, anti-patriotic, anti-American, a liar and the enemy!
Our issue was with Jayco. It's difficult to say anything about them as well on this forum. I scheduled a time to drop our 5th Wheel off with CW and took it in and gave them the list and they ordered the parts and it took over 4 months for everything to arrive. As soon as the parts arrived they would email me me and let me know and they would do the repair. I called Jayco myself and confirmed the long wait period for a closet (real technical, difficult to duplicate) door. We finally got tired of waiting on Jayco and picked up the camper from CW and told them to call us when the door arrived and we would come and pick it up.
It finally arrived in April, after being ordered on January 12th, CW called us and we picked it up and we installed it because we got tired of waiting on JAYCO!
We have a 2018 Pinnacle and it was warranty work. Everything that we requested was completed, except the door, and should have been completed a lot sooner had all the parts arrived in a timely fashion.
The service department at our CW here in Woodstock, GA was very professional and my Service Advisor, David Carosella emailed me every Friday with an update. We go there and buy parts and really like all of the staff. They are always nice to us.
O.K. I have posted it. Take it easy on me please

[vcbice]

Complaining about CW is like complaining about Dodge (or Chevy, Toyota, VW, etc). Hundreds (thousands?) of dealers and EVERY one is different. Different managers, different staff, different service people.

There are now 4 dodge dealers I'd never take any car to and only one that I would. Does that mean ALL Dodge dealers are crooks? Of course not.

Same with CW. We bought our trailer at a CW and had it serviced under warranty once. Purchase process was good. Scheduled service a week away. Got in and out when promised with the proper work done.

Salesmen and their promises are not due to the dealer in most cases. The salesmen work on commission. Most will say ANYTHING to get you to buy from them. OTOH, the CW we purchased from had a form that we had to sign indicating what our tow vehicle was and it listed the factory tow weights and the trailer weights. That form was probably to protect the dealership from things the salesman might have said to get us in the door.

Yes, some dealers are about as close as you can come to being crooks. Same with many car dealerships. If you don't like the one you visit, then don't buy there. Simple as that.

[ducati3]

Not all CW’s are the same. We had the CW in Fife, Wa. Install tires on our White Hawk. Great service. The service writer kept us informed of the process and it was finished early.

[Murff]

Originally Posted by ducati3

Not all CW’s are the same. We had the CW in Fife, Wa. Install tires on our White Hawk. Great service. The service writer kept us informed of the process and it was finished early.

The Fife store is an early CW built store, not one of their recent acquisitions. This store is only parts and service, no sales.

Good to hear you were treated well, ducati3. I have not had that good an experience there with their parts department. May have to give them another chance as you were treated well.

Murff

[LuckyDuck]

Originally Posted by vcbice

Complaining about CW is like complaining about Dodge (or Chevy, Toyota, VW, etc). Hundreds (thousands?) of dealers and EVERY one is different. Different managers, different staff, different service people.

There are now 4 dodge dealers I'd never take any car to and only one that I would. Does that mean ALL Dodge dealers are crooks? Of course not.

Same with CW. We bought our trailer at a CW and had it serviced under warranty once. Purchase process was good. Scheduled service a week away. Got in and out when promised with the proper work done.

Salesmen and their promises are not due to the dealer in most cases. The salesmen work on commission. Most will say ANYTHING to get you to buy from them. OTOH, the CW we purchased from had a form that we had to sign indicating what our tow vehicle was and it listed the factory tow weights and the trailer weights. That form was probably to protect the dealership from things the salesman might have said to get us in the door.

Yes, some dealers are about as close as you can come to being crooks. Same with many car dealerships. If you don't like the one you visit, then don't buy there. Simple as that.

Kind of sad that they have to have customers sign a form to protect themselves from their own employees. Tells you something. But glad you had a good experience.

[jp_brown]

I have bought 2 Jayco units from the Camping World in Indianapolis and they were relatively good experiences. Both times I had to have hitch work done on my vehicles and both jobs were done quickly and professionally. I have not had to take either camper in for work as of yet. I forsee that could be an issue as this is a very busy store and I think they have long lead times. I plan to take care of any little issues myself, save myself the time and aggravation. If anything major comes up we will see what happens.

I agree each dealership should be looked at uniquely, just because they are under the camping world flag doesn't make them all evil. I have learned to be skeptical of any big ticket purchases and really do my homework. When I haven't then I have usually screwed myself because sales people will tell you anything to make a deal and half of the time they don't know what they are talking about even though they should.

[vcbice]

Originally Posted by LuckyDuck

Kind of sad that they have to have customers sign a form to protect themselves from their own employees. Tells you something. But glad you had a good experience.

Yes, it is, but, it seems to be common with any sales people who work on commission, no matter what they are selling.

As a business person I have had to put controls in place to stop liability due to sales people making false claims. Yes, it also leads to the person being fired, but, have to protect the business as well.

[shrpshtr]

Originally Posted by KCSA75

I think bashing Camping World is a national pass time for some folks. Most of the complaints I see are much ado about nothing, or unreasonable requests by customers.

I'm a sales guy and people are always thinking we should give stuff away or perform services for no charge because we're nice guys. If most of these people would stop to think for a minute they would realize businesses are not in business to give stuff away.

If CW was as bad as some claim, it would have closed it doors a long time ago not be expanding. ...

I wouldn't have any problem recommending CW to anybody.

Spoken like a true salesman.

Originally Posted by vcbice

Complaining about CW is like complaining about Dodge (or Chevy, Toyota, VW, etc). Hundreds (thousands?) of dealers and EVERY one is different. Different managers, different staff, different service people.

…

Salesmen and their promises are not due to the dealer in most cases. The salesmen work on commission. Most will say ANYTHING to get you to buy from them. …

Yes, some dealers are about as close as you can come to being crooks. Same with many car dealerships. If you don't like the one you visit, then don't buy there. Simple as that.

There is one big flaw in your car dealership analogy. Those dealerships are individually-owned selling a brand and have little-to-no impact (relatively speaking) on the brand itself. Camping World Holdings, or Camping World, is a corporation responsible for it's brand. As such, THEY are accountable for the performance of the salespeople and services they provide regardless of their compensation practices of those individuals. Now your analogy would apply if the OT was about satisfaction with Jayco (or another manufacturer). In the end, I agree with you that you have a choice on where to buy and you can chose elsewhere.

The biggest issue with CW is that their company culture is very similar from Columbia, SC to Burlington, WA. They use sales tactics that border ethical boundaries to put it lightly. Their service model DOES NOT enable reasonable communication or timely completion of service request(s). It would be one thing if it was just certain high-volume CW's sporadically throughout their chain but it's clear (through various feedback mechanisms) the folks that have positive experiences with CW end-to-end are few and far between.

I bought from CW due to my own ignorance at the time. I, like many others, believed they were "big enough" they had to be doing things right. The only thing they are doing right is by happening to be positioned in one of the fastest growing recreational consumer markets over the last 2 decades. When the growth pattern in the RV market levels out (and it WILL level out), they'll be hit hard because they won't be able to sustain a customer base with their current business practices. That's fact. My CW debacle started on the sales floor and continues to this day (almost 2 years later). I've had plumping issues that took MONTHS to resolve and had to be escalated to JAYCO. I have cosmetic water damage in the kitchen on the wood fascia due to an improperly installed drain line on the refrigerator. That problem has been going on more than a year and two 100-miles trips to CW from my home and it's still not resolved. Communication is non-existent. They build an environment that the customer has to get frustrated in order to get anything accomplished.

Oh KCS, typically when I hear people say the customer isn't being reasonable it's because they don't want to address their own shortcomings. There is NOTHING unreasonable about a customer expecting to get what they paid for and when issues do arise, they are communicated with and said issues resolved in a timely manner.

Just my .02

shrp

[OdiN1701]

We didn't know CW was as bad as it has been. But the problem is that we had such a great experience working with our sales guy that it seemed like things would be fine. And around here, CW is the only place that had Jayco. I had researched a ton of models and brands and the Jayco really fit the best due to the weight, configuration, 2 year warranty, etc. So I knew what I wanted before even going to a dealer. In searching all the dealers around here, only CW carried what I wanted. We got a great price and a great trade in deal so I can't complain about that. Just everything after. I certainly won't be purchasing anything from them again. Parts or otherwise.

[Colorado]

I've had bas experiences with CW here in Colorado Springs. Tried scheduling service appointment for PU. Bring it in, no record of one being made. So I rescheduled another one...same thing. Sorry we don't have anything under that name. UGH. I fixed it myself. I called about a part, he kept me on the phone for 25 minutes, but they had the part. GREAT, I'm literally 5 minutes away, I be right there. AHH, we're closed now sorry. But I've been on the phone for almost 30 minutes with you? We reopen tomorrow at 9. Forget it, I'll buy it somewhere else. Whatever, click. I can't imagine buying a new camper from them and getting that kind of service.

[rowemi]

One advantage of buying from a large organization (CW) is that one can compare prices at all the CW sites. If one finds a lower price online at any other CW store, it is pretty easy to negotiate down to that price at your local CW. We saved a significant amont by finding a indentical Melbourne model on the other side of the country at a much lower price. The local midwest dealer quickly matched that price. The web is so wonderful when shopping.