Furious at dealer

[jely38]

We have a 2017 Seismic 4113 we purchased new from a Jayco dealer in South Central PA...not sure is I am allowed to call them out on here. Warranty was set to expire this month so I contacted the dealer in the fall of 18 and provided them with a list of issues I would like to have corrected. Most of the issues are minor with the exception of the main slide hanging up and the most serious one being a safety issue...rear axle tires making contact with the trailer floor during travel. This has ruined 2 tires already. Trailer is not overloaded and all we haul in the garage is my son's wheelchair. I feel it is a manufacturer defect/poor design. Anyway, dealer said drop it off and it will go in for repair on March 4th, 2019. I dropped trailer off on February 21st, 2019.

I have called of 5 separate occasions since then requesting status updates. I was initially told in mid April that "All items on your list you provided were repaired with the exception of the tire/axle issue. We are waiting on gas tank bolts to arrive for the recall that was issued." In early May I was told "bolts arrived and we just have to replace them", still no answer on the tire/axle issue. I called Tuesday, was told I would get a call back with an update...no call back. Same Wednesday. Today, 12 weeks after I dropped it off...trailer HAS NOT MOVED from where I dropped it!!!

I was told that LIPPERT has to come out and look at the trailer, but "we don't know when that will be". I requested to be notified so I can be present when they look at it. I figure they will say it has to go back to the factory. I then learned that I was lied to during the April conversation and NONE OF THE REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE. Haven't even touched it. So I am making monthly payments on a trailer sitting in their lot. I requested a phone call from the owner to discuss my displeasure. If I don't get a call today I will be at his door in the morning when they open. Very unhappy with the service after the sale and extremely unhappy with the quality/lack there of with this unit. This trailer was not cheap.

What options do I have here? Ive given them 12 weeks to address these issues and they obviously haven't lifted a finger yet. If it has to go back to the factory as I suspect we will likely lose the entire camping season. At this point I would be happy to let them buy it back for what I owe and cut my losses but I know that won't happen. Very frustrated here. Advise on how to address this moving forward is welcome.

[hboy]

I think your options are to confront the owner, or pull out and go somewhere else. Call Jayco and ask them if they have a recommendation?

I've shared this video in the past. Not that I like it, but this guy has a point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP_u2JR51_Y

I get your frustration. I would be HOT about this too. I'm a believer in getting more bees with honey than vinegar. I recommend taking a big step back. Asking to meet with the owner is reasonable. Demanding he/she see you or threatening action will not help you. They don't care that you have been making payments. It's normal for warranty work to take weeks/months. They don't care.

Document the facts about your experience. Communicate that you strategically planned this service visit based off your warranty expiring and wanting to use the trailer during the upcoming season. Show the facts about what you were told by the service department. Ask if being lied to is a normal part of their service protocol. Ask the reason you were lied to. Tell them you would have been fine waiting longer for the repairs if that's what was required. Tell them your expectations are based off the timeline the service department initially communicated and also reinforced throughout the service process. Show how you have been playing by their rules.

After that it's up to them to correct this problem. Hopefully the owner can make action happen. You can demand action or threaten to sue, or buy back. I honestly don't think that will help you get this issue resolved. Lying is not against the law. Keeping your trailer for months during repairs is not against the law (in their world it's normal). They just have given you crappy service. I don't agree with treating people like that, but that is how some companies work.

I truly hope this gets resolved quickly for you.

[RAurand]

Originally Posted by jely38

We have a 2017 Seismic 4113 we purchased new from a Jayco dealer in South Central PA...not sure is I am allowed to call them out on here. Warranty was set to expire this month so I contacted the dealer in the fall of 18 and provided them with a list of issues I would like to have corrected. Most of the issues are minor with the exception of the main slide hanging up and the most serious one being a safety issue...rear axle tires making contact with the trailer floor during travel. This has ruined 2 tires already. Trailer is not overloaded and all we haul in the garage is my son's wheelchair. I feel it is a manufacturer defect/poor design. Anyway, dealer said drop it off and it will go in for repair on March 4th, 2019. I dropped trailer off on February 21st, 2019.

I have called of 5 separate occasions since then requesting status updates. I was initially told in mid April that "All items on your list you provided were repaired with the exception of the tire/axle issue. We are waiting on gas tank bolts to arrive for the recall that was issued." In early May I was told "bolts arrived and we just have to replace them", still no answer on the tire/axle issue. I called Tuesday, was told I would get a call back with an update...no call back. Same Wednesday. Today, 12 weeks after I dropped it off...trailer HAS NOT MOVED from where I dropped it!!!

I was told that LIPPERT has to come out and look at the trailer, but "we don't know when that will be". I requested to be notified so I can be present when they look at it. I figure they will say it has to go back to the factory. I then learned that I was lied to during the April conversation and NONE OF THE REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE. Haven't even touched it. So I am making monthly payments on a trailer sitting in their lot. I requested a phone call from the owner to discuss my displeasure. If I don't get a call today I will be at his door in the morning when they open. Very unhappy with the service after the sale and extremely unhappy with the quality/lack there of with this unit. This trailer was not cheap.

What options do I have here? Ive given them 12 weeks to address these issues and they obviously haven't lifted a finger yet. If it has to go back to the factory as I suspect we will likely lose the entire camping season. At this point I would be happy to let them buy it back for what I owe and cut my losses but I know that won't happen. Very frustrated here. Advise on how to address this moving forward is welcome.

They wouldn't happen to be located here would they? Mountville, PA

Also, Per Jayco, You do not have to take the trailer back to the dealer for warranty work. I live here in Harrisburg and got the ok from Jayco to take my trailer to Camping World (They sold StarCraft trailers) and besides, the CW was only 6 minutes from my house. Don't highly recommend them though. I had my hassels with them as well.

However, I would highly recommend Meyers RV 1/2 mile down the road from Camping World. I talked with them and they said they can do Jayco warranty work. My trailer is out of warranty though.

[Rustic Eagle]

Jely38,

Time to pull together a detailed/dated documentation and contact conversation trail.

I would contact Jayco customer service directly and confirm what official service warranty requests are open/pending/closed at Jayco from your RV dealership (have VIN handy). Get the name of the Jayco customer service representative you speak to and a "ticket number" for future correspondence. Might be good to know before meeting with your RV dealership what Jayco has in their system.

I would then forward any detailed information (pics if available) to your Jayco contact......, always good to have a 'dated' paper trail within Jayco.

Do you have a copy of the dealership's service warranty write-up list when you dropped your TH off? I would ask your dealership to see any service warranty related documentation they have sent/received from Jayco and/or Lippert. If you get your eyes on any documentation make note of the subject/dates (copies if you can).

Just food for thought.

Bob

[jely38]

Thank you all for the replies. Great advice and insight. After much thought I think I will get in touch with Jayco and Lippert tomorrow and see what documentation/correspondence has been created with each company from the dealer (yeah they are in Mountville). Once I have that information in hand, I will take a ride down Monday morning and ask to speak with the owner. Thank you everyone. I will certainly keep you posted on how/when this gets resolved as well as what the dealer has to say for their action/inaction.

[Siamese]

I'm no help here. But, sorry to hear about your problems.

That video, Lehto's Law was very interesting. Anyone buying an RV should see it. Before!

The RV industry is stacked heavily against the consumer, and Lehto relates this brilliantly. When prisons get too full, they move the worst offenders to RV dealerships and make them managers, salesmen, and service people. This is a great program, however, many of the prisoners balk at being engaged in such disreputable work and opt to be returned to prison.

When we got our RV, we had a pretty good understanding of what we were up against, which is why we got a fairly inexpensive trailer, a 26BH out the door with equalizer hitch for about 18k. We put about twice that into our tow vehicle, which doubles as a daily driver. The trailer is reasonably simple, and I can fix most things. If an appliance fails and there's a warranty problem, we can absorb it financially.

The only thing that surprises me about the RV industry, particularly in the age of information, is that they're still able to sell the things.

[Octane2Go]

I believe the best process is to communicate everything in two directions. Talk to the dealer but also email everything to Service at Jayco dot com. Jayco has always replied, saying they are updating my file with all the issues so that there are no surprises. If I go to the dealer and say I have these issues. I also send an email to Jayco and say, I have these issues. Jayco usually responds inside 48 hours and says we have updated your file. I always use the same email as well so the whole history is right there in the email.

I do this because our previous trailer had the same issue. Sat at a Camping World for 3 months with no activity.

Jayco did get involved though and was able to rectify. They also gave me the choice to take it somewhere else.

I took it to the Top Dealer (award winner from Jayco) and had issues there as well.

This is really about the dealers and I am sure this is due to Jayco's business model. By that I mean, Jayco isn't the problem but I think Jayco is indirectly causing the problem.

[DocBrown]

It's been a week. I wonder what happened?

Interesting video. Being that most people say they've had good success with Jayco in general, what this video, and this thread reemphasize for me is that having a good dealer is more than half the battle.

[jely38]

So I spoke with the dealership owner last week. After hearing several pathetic excuses and expressing my displeasure with the lack of service provided, the owner assured me that my unit would go into the shop this past Monday. I called down yesterday and spoke with a helpful gentleman in service who confirmed that the camper did in-fact go in and parts were on order. Still no update on what will be done to fix the axle issue but at least we have made progress.

On a side note, I did get Jayco involved last week and they have been great to work with. Jayco has reached out to me throughout the week and kept me posted on parts being ordered and claims being submitted. They also called me yesterday and asked if I was satisfied with the progress the dealer has made thus far. They said if not, they would take care of getting it somewhere else for me for repairs. I told them while I am still mad at the fact it sat for so long, we are moving forward and I will give the dealer the opportunity to redeem themselves.

[Brooksb]

Seems like a fair approach. In a world of instant gratification. We all seem to forget humans are still involved and make mistakes. Keeping this I'm mind can help to calm yourself and keep forward progression in fixing said issues. This is why I love this group over the FB bashing groups.

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by DocBrown

It's been a week. I wonder what happened?

Interesting video. Being that most people say they've had good success with Jayco in general, what this video, and this thread reemphasize for me is that having a good dealer is more than half the battle.

It is. How many times have members said "I contacted JAYCO and they have no record of the dealer making a request". Yet the dealer said theire waiting on JAYCO or JAYCO won't cover it.

[DavePRossi]

Originally Posted by jely38

We have a 2017 Seismic 4113 we purchased new from a Jayco dealer in South Central PA...not sure is I am allowed to call them out on here. Warranty was set to expire this month so I contacted the dealer in the fall of 18 and provided them with a list of issues I would like to have corrected. Most of the issues are minor with the exception of the main slide hanging up and the most serious one being a safety issue...rear axle tires making contact with the trailer floor during travel. This has ruined 2 tires already. Trailer is not overloaded and all we haul in the garage is my son's wheelchair. I feel it is a manufacturer defect/poor design. Anyway, dealer said drop it off and it will go in for repair on March 4th, 2019. I dropped trailer off on February 21st, 2019.

I have called of 5 separate occasions since then requesting status updates. I was initially told in mid April that "All items on your list you provided were repaired with the exception of the tire/axle issue. We are waiting on gas tank bolts to arrive for the recall that was issued." In early May I was told "bolts arrived and we just have to replace them", still no answer on the tire/axle issue. I called Tuesday, was told I would get a call back with an update...no call back. Same Wednesday. Today, 12 weeks after I dropped it off...trailer HAS NOT MOVED from where I dropped it!!!

I was told that LIPPERT has to come out and look at the trailer, but "we don't know when that will be". I requested to be notified so I can be present when they look at it. I figure they will say it has to go back to the factory. I then learned that I was lied to during the April conversation and NONE OF THE REPAIRS HAVE BEEN MADE. Haven't even touched it. So I am making monthly payments on a trailer sitting in their lot. I requested a phone call from the owner to discuss my displeasure. If I don't get a call today I will be at his door in the morning when they open. Very unhappy with the service after the sale and extremely unhappy with the quality/lack there of with this unit. This trailer was not cheap.

What options do I have here? Ive given them 12 weeks to address these issues and they obviously haven't lifted a finger yet. If it has to go back to the factory as I suspect we will likely lose the entire camping season. At this point I would be happy to let them buy it back for what I owe and cut my losses but I know that won't happen. Very frustrated here. Advise on how to address this moving forward is welcome.

I also have an Axle issue. Not only 1 time, but 2.
This is a brand new 2019 Jayco White Hawk. I have been out on 2 trips, both ended up with bent axles. 1 trip was to Virginia, when I got back, axle, and tires were replaced. The TT sat for a few months through the winter, then I went to Dover, Delaware for the Nascar race. Upon return, the axle was bent again. Now, I was told I either overloaded the camper, or hit a pothole. I live in New England, where can you drive here without encountering a pothole in the spring?
So back to the Dealer, Forrest Marine & RV in Tyngsboro, Ma. (I could not be any happier with their service and customer support, and would reccomend them for anyone in the area.) They contacted Jayco, Lippert, and the frame manufacturer, (Mitchell I believe)? Weight came in at 6800 pounds, the camper weight is 6165. Due to the first issue we had, we put most of our other gear in the TV. For the life of me, I do not understand what causes this issue, I did not "hit" anything, and did nothing extraordinary other than pull the camper, pretty much straight for 800+ miles.
The dealer is in the process of talking and negotiating with the individual vendors, but, it of course drags along. Total so far? In less than 1 years ownership, the TT has been at the dealers lot for about 3 months. Of course I was there today and noticed a brand new 28RBS with the same axles and same issue.
As a note:
I LOVE the camper, hate the issue.

[txauditr-ret.]

First thing I would do is document, document and document again. Beginning with the day you took delivery and started having problems. You will eventually Need it
2 check you state laws concerning RV lemon laws. If applicable I would be pinching buttons at this point in time s you may have a case. Also check with the state bureau of commerce and licensing and report your case. They may choose to get involved and resolve the issue quickly
3 contact the mfg and relay your disgust Send them your documents and tell them you expect an extended warranty and additional remuneration for your inconvenience
4 tel the dealer and mfg that you are going to social media and post your problems. Don’t only do it on Facebook but also whatever others are available
5 contact an attny regarding remuneration, inconvenience, lack of use while making payments etc.
6 picket the dealership
7 trade it in at another dealer or sell it as is and disclose the problems with no stated warranties

[DavePRossi]

@txauditr-ret.
I have absolutely no issues with the dealer, they have been awesome.
The issue is with Jayco, Lippert, and the chassis manufacturer.
Now the chassis manufacturer builds things to a specification provided by Jayco, and the axle manufacturer supplies the axle to the specifications of Jayco. I do not expect the dealer, chassis manufacturer, or axle manufacturer to accept blame for anything, especially when they build to specifications provided by a Jayco engineer.
This is entirely on Jayco.

[Jenny Darlington]

Hboy - thanks for the Lehto video. Wish I had seen it before buying my Jayco Melbourne 26A. The dealership I got it from in Kelowna Canada won’t even talk to me because the motorhome has many issues. Terrible experience and will never buy from a dealership again without thoroughly checking them out first. Live and learn!

[Carlos & Ranae]

We own the 2017 Seismic 4212. The repair list is 22 items long, including both axels and six new tires. It took six months to get Lippert and Jayco on the same page for repairs.

Let me know and I will send you the list of items.

[Johnynorthland]

As a last ditch effort call the finance company up tell him you’re thinking about having them repossess it tell them your problem. I work for a car dealership when I was younger we had a few people do that. The finance company would call the car dealership and put a fire under her butt!

[RetiredLEO]

A few more ideas. None of which guaranteed to work but can't hurt:
File a complaint with The Better Business Bureau or another State Consumer advocacy group.
Contact your State Attorney Generals Office and file a complaint.
With the axle problem I would file a incident with NTSB as this is clearly a safety issue.
Last and hard to believe: Contact your locals State Senator or Representative's Office. Some really are dedicated to help their Constituents with problems. A phone call from a Senator or Representative's Office to a dealer can go a long way. My son's best friend works for a State Rep. and this is what he does all day.

[Sassy Lassy]

Originally Posted by hboy

I think your options are to confront the owner, or pull out and go somewhere else. Call Jayco and ask them if they have a recommendation?

I've shared this video in the past. Not that I like it, but this guy has a point.

I get your frustration. I would be HOT about this too. I'm a believer in getting more bees with honey than vinegar. I recommend taking a big step back. Asking to meet with the owner is reasonable. Demanding he/she see you or threatening action will not help you. They don't care that you have been making payments. It's normal for warranty work to take weeks/months. They don't care.

Document the facts about your experience. Communicate that you strategically planned this service visit based off your warranty expiring and wanting to use the trailer during the upcoming season. Show the facts about what you were told by the service department. Ask if being lied to is a normal part of their service protocol. Ask the reason you were lied to. Tell them you would have been fine waiting longer for the repairs if that's what was required. Tell them your expectations are based off the timeline the service department initially communicated and also reinforced throughout the service process. Show how you have been playing by their rules.

After that it's up to them to correct this problem. Hopefully the owner can make action happen. You can demand action or threaten to sue, or buy back. I honestly don't think that will help you get this issue resolved. Lying is not against the law. Keeping your trailer for months during repairs is not against the law (in their world it's normal). They just have given you crappy service. I don't agree with treating people like that, but that is how some companies work.

I truly hope this gets resolved quickly for you.

WOW!!! I wish I had seen this before. It probably wouldn’t have stopped me from buying our RV but my expectations of the quality would have been less. I also equated the quality of the RV to the quality of a house or car....until the problems started....

[RAurand]

Maybe someone that knows how to start polls should start one on bent axels?

When I had my 26BH, after the first year, I saw abnormal tire wear and looked into it. Bent axel. Would not be covered under warranty as (like everyone else was told) overweight trailer or hit a pot hole.

I have never overloaded any trailer. (I know because went to CAT scales) and do everything I can to avoid pot holes.

Maybe for just a little bit more in cost, Jayco should put on heavier axels instead of just barely make it axels.