Wth

[kblast523]

Originally Posted by Jim Smyth

I bought our first RV new and quickly found out that dealerships of same brand wont work on them if you didnt buy it directly from them. Lesson learned ...Fortunately I am very handy and can fix (almost) anything.

While at Texas Motor Speedway earlier this month, A/C got sick. Would hardly maintain outside temp inside TT. Took it home, called a couple of places, they both referred me to Jayco, as unit is only seven months old. So I called Jayco CS...why don't you take it back to your dealer? My dealer is 240 miles away and I never want to see them again. Jayco: well, I see your closest dealer is Jack Sisemore in Amarillo...when can you have it there? Me: When Hell freezes over, they didn't sell it, they will work on it after EVERYBODY in the Texas Panhandle gets theirs fixed. Jayco: Sorry to hear that, what about mobile repair? Me: I called one he said he'd be here Thursday (two weeks ago). ((And he was a no-show)). So h'ere I am in Scottsdale, Arizona...so I called Camping World in Meza. They advised I could bring it in and LEAVE IT and they might be able to diagnose the problem by about December 10th to the 12th. I told them I was leaving Monday (11-26) and thanks, but that will not help, as I live 880 miles from here. The person on the phone then recommended four mobile repair people in the area. 'Eric' with Eric's mobile RV talked with me at length and after climbing on the roof, feeling the coils and reporting only three or four as 'warm' his diagnosis was 'the cooling pack had gone out , jayco will just replace the unit if it is under warranty'. He then called his suppliers in the area, called me back in about 20 minutes and reported that there are no 15k Dometic A/Cs in Arizona, only 13.5s and he could have one here by next Friday. Sorry, thanks for your time have a Happy Thanksgiving, but I'm leaving Monday.
So Friday after Thanksgiving at 450pm I called Pharr RV of Lubbock. I have an appointment for 12/10 (110 miles from home), and I am making a list. Laking shower door, dead A/C, can't plug in gas to outside grill, drawers coming loose, and look at the roof while we are at it...seems the edges are wrinkling. I can hardly wait...

[Chet & Marie]

I am really sorry to hear these horror stories. We are fortunate that we have 3 very good Jayco dealers within 45 miles of our home that all do quality work, get it done without a long wait, and will work on your unit even if they were not the selling dealers. We also have an excellent independent service shop and a competitive dealers with an excellent reputation that will work on anything you drag in. If we get it home it will get fixed right and in a timely fashio.

[berwin]

When needing repairs at home, I always start off with "We just moved here and are looking for a good dealer" (even though we were living here when we bought the unit). Not really a lie, I've lived places where you were still the "new people" even 10 years later. When traveling and need a repair, it pays to ask the campground manager for a referral to a mobile repair guy and then play that up to the max.

[2nOZ]

I’m also sad to hear about the shoddy workmanship and delays. I guess we are very fortunate to have a dealership that has been in operation since Jayco started. The RV techs, owner and salesman have been there for a long time. We’ve never had to wait longer than a week to have anything done and most work is accomplished in a day while we wait. Yes, we did buy our unit from them as they came highly recommended when we started the search for a camper. Hopefully we won’t run out of young people that enter the trade professions in the future.

[PlayersZ28]

I have no issue whatsoever with dealer service work.

That's because I've only ever bought used RV's and the warranty isn't transferable so I do any repairs myself. There is an RV repair place near me. They only sell parts and do service. No new sales. If I need something quick I can get it from them. I've seen RV's show up, get worked on and then leave in short order so it looks like they are good for service too.

[NHstuckinGA]

Every time I read these types of horror repair stories, I thank my lucky stars for Southland Motorhome in Buford, GA.
I had the Service Center where we purchase (3) TT's do season start work. Three quarters thru the camping season, my brake boost was at 8.5. Took it to Sourhland and they adjusted my brakes with a comment that they had never been adjusted before! Boost was now at 6.0. I paid a great deal of money for bearing grease, brake adjustment, slide lube etc....to the local "dealer".
Secondly, when you make an appointment with Southland, they meet their commitments!
Unfortunately we misguidedly purchased the 5 yr Bumper-to-Bumper Warrentee from the dealer. So anything major, back to CW. But all normal repair, maintenance etc...goes to Southland!

[bankr63]

If it's not warranty, take a look around for an independent RV repair.

I do most work on the RV myself, but when I need a repair I use a small country RV repair; they don't sell new RV's (some used ones on consignment from customers) and they do a lot of complex body repairs for some of the bigger super RV stores in the city. Father and son operation with a couple of long term technicians - same faces every time I go in. No long waits for service; can drop the unit on the way home from camping Sunday, and have it back ready to go for Friday usually.

I think the key is that there is no "dealer" loyalty issue here as every unit they service was bought somewhere else. My little hybrid gets the same service priority as the shiny new(ish) 45' 5er I parked it next to.

[MadJoker TX]

Not only dealers, I had Jayco factory repair a flickering light in the bathroom when ever the fan is on. In the bathroom we have 3 switches

1) Bathroom light
2) Fan
3) Accent lights.

They fixed the flickering in the bathroom but now when you turn off the accent lights from the bedroom switch, the bathroom light goes off.

[jasum]

Originally Posted by MadJoker TX

Not only dealers, I had Jayco factory repair a flickering light in the bathroom when ever the fan is on. In the bathroom we have 3 switches

1) Bathroom light
2) Fan
3) Accent lights.

They fixed the flickering in the bathroom but now when you turn off the accent lights from the bedroom switch, the bathroom light goes off.

That's usually what seems to happen at dealers.........they 'might' fix what you took it in for, but will damage or destroy something in the process.

[jtrhodes99]

Hey The Meeker, I am Laughing loudly. Will keep this in my jokes.

[chas111]

I’m very lucky. My locally owned dealer is just a few miles away. They usually fix things in just a couple days. Particularly if I help diagnose, they order parts ahead of my appointment time.

[artoo93]

Knock on wood that I haven't had any serious repairs save one on our 35' but that was over the winter so it just meant I didn't have the camper in my driveway. We were using a dealer in Nashville but they got to the point that they were only doing "sales" work so we went looking for a new shop. We found Stone's RV/Auto/Truck repair in Oak Grove, KY. Best find ever and only 2 minutes from my work! Their lead RV tech is out of this world! Had an issue with our landing gear on the 35' and he diagnosed it over the phone with me. I try to fix as much as I can myself. They handled everything with our repairs with the extended service plan (slide issue and blown converter) and made our lives so easy. If you are traveling thru, you become THE priority! Fingers crossed that we won't need anything on our NP for a while!!

[mia389]

Our dealer only accepts customers that bought RVs from them. We usually are booked out 2 months in advanced.

Scheduling is a nightmare! We have customers on the schedule for A/C not working. When they bring in RV they have a 20 item warranty list on top of A/C not working. That kind messes up a weekly schedule.

If customers have issues that keep them from camping we try to get them in right way. Jayco customers that are traveling through with campablity issues we also try to help. Sorry, A piece of trim falling off is not a campablity item. You can still go camping.

Warranty work is usually done in two appointments. First we run though and fix what we can. We get parts ordered. Second appointment we get parts installed that were ordered from first. We have limited space and can't have Pinnacles, Northpoints and Seismic waves sitting out back waiting on parts.

Our techs have all been here 3 plus years and do great work! We are lucky that they take pride in what they do. I know from the the tech schools I have gone too, that this is not a common thing. I have been to KZ and Jayco factory for training events. I am fortunate to have great techs! I know this is not the norm.

Techs really only learn from experience and takes a special person that can do carpentry, plumbing, electrical, propane, HVAC, and chasis work. They are usually paid pretty low at first. There are no RV tech classes other than what manufactures and the RVDA put on. Its a hard spot to fill.

Things I have learned.
1. Because you have a Jayco, does not mean that any Jayco will work on it. In fact, most wont except your selling dealer.
2. Customers know their RV better than the service department.
3. 75% of complaints from customers, are customer induced.
4. All RVs are junk! I still love mine though..
5. Every trailer is different. When buying a new one, your are playing Russian roulette. You might get a good one. You might get a bad one.
6. Used RVs just out of warranty are usually the best ones for buyers. (most flaws have already been worked out)
7. Getting warranty work done in winter time is usally a bit slower. Parts from Jayco come out slower. As I write this I have 4 Jaycos that have been here over two weeks waiting on parts.
8. Dealers are geared towards sales not service. Our customer base is way larger than what the service department can handle. I need more techs. I need more bays, I need more parts. Instead we get more RVs to sell :-(

Just my 2 cents from the other side. I am a Service Manager at a dealer.

[Rock]

Thanks for the insight.
Rock

[PlayersZ28]

Originally Posted by mia389

[snip]

Just my 2 cents from the other side. I am a Service Manager at a dealer.

We bought used (1yr old) which means no warranty. Definitely agree with #4 & #5. I just do the service myself and so far nothing I can't handle although I have a service-only RV place about 1/4mi from home.

[Scott_Trailer_Newbe]

We are on out 2nd White Hawk Jayco trailer. White Hawks come with some higher quality trim and components but the reality is, they are put together no better than a Jay Flight, Jay Feather, or other models. Basically, slightly better trim and components put together like crap.

We bought both from Camping World. They are good people, but come with a list of 20 items then expect your trailer to be gone for two months. Even though mine is under warranty, I try to take care of issues myself simply because it’s such a pain getting warranty work done.

The only stuff I will bring my trailer in for is something major like the AC, furnace, oven, fridge, or microwave, and their needs to be something major wrong with it. For trim falling off, get yourself a brad nailer and fix it yourself. I went through my trailer when it was new and basically doubled the amount of brad nails holding the trim down. 10 camping trips later (with bumpy roads), nothing has even loosened up.

[mia389]

I have found White Hawks to be pretty good trailers. Same with the Jayfeathers. The JayFlights and SLXs have been coming back quite a bit from our customers. Mostly small stuff, but still a nuisance for customers.

We also sell KZ's. They dont have the "bling" of Jayco's but are pretty comparable. From a service side, the factory is much harder to deal with than Jayco. Jayco kind of puts it on the dealer. We offer a solution to a problem, Jayco usually says ok. I get a lot more push back from KZ when I need something from them.

You guys are right, that the dealer kindof makes or breaks what a customer thinks about Jayco. Jayco gives us dealers the tools and backing to make you guys happy. If we don't succeed at that, its our fault not Jaycos.

Jayco could help us by slowing down and put these things together a bit better so the dealer doesn't have to. I have seen furnaces not hooked up. Water heaters not hooked up. Air ducts not hooked up. A/Cs not wired to thermostats. Loose wheels. Loose A/Cs. Wires loose at converter. Jacks Loose. Switches hooked up wrong. Monitors hooked up wrong. And many more. All this stuff should be caught by the time it gets to you! I try to have my guys check as much as they can but it gets hard when we are pumping out so many trailers. Jayco should not be putting the dealers in this position IMHO. I have one tech that just works on new trailers.

I will say the stuff coming from Jayco has been better than 12 months ago.

Bottom line: Its not a bad product once all the bugs are out. Dealers need to be the exterminators not the customers

[Joan617]

Originally Posted by jasum

Why is it that anytime you have something done to your RV they can always screw it up??

Who is your dealer?

[mikegray]

Sounds like where I bought my TT last month. Used 2014 Flight 26BH. It was supposed to be detailed and everything working. Got it home and it was still dirty on the inside. 2 lights not working. Black tank has a small leak. "new" battery won't hold a charge. Took it back a couple weeks later. Left it for 3 weeks. Got it home and the black tank had not been touched. They can't get me back in until Jan. 29 next year then no guarantee it will be fixed in the week period I gave them. They are 60 miles from me also.