Bad Experience at Little Dealer Service Department

[Rimrock_Rob]

Last year, in 2022, I purchased my beautiful Thor Coach on the Mercedes platform. The purchasing experience was seamless and I received a great price on top of the excellent service. Unfortunately, the same can't be said for their service dept. I noticed my rig's water heater leaking last week. I am mechanically inclined and could see that everything appeared intact but it was leaking at the flow sensor flange. I decided to call before taking on a repair project. Chris, the service manager, told me not to touch it and that it was probably under a warranty. So I took it in at the beginning of the week. I planned a trip to California in June, so time was of the essence. After a day, Chris called me and said, "You need a new water heater; it's gonna be about $900." I said that I was told it was under warranty and he said, "This thing isn't under a warranty anymore." That was the first contradiction. I decided to do more research and realized my plumber buddy could probably fix it with less than $100 in parts. Chris had said that if I wanted the heater repaired he would need a deposit, but when I went in to pick up my rig, Chris said that he already ordered the material and would need the deposit. I replied to him, "I think you're trying to strong-arm me into making an unnecessary purchase." Chris lost his temper when I said this and yelled, "You can take your rig and leave! We don't want your business." He yelled at me in front of other customers and his coworkers. I am an academic at a local University, am active in my church, and volunteer for the National Park Service. You don't treat your customers with contempt and blatant disrespect. I will NEVER patronize this dealership again and will urge my fellow RVer's to do the same. This is despite buying my rig there. I still can't believe I was treated like garbage at the dealership where I purchased my RV just a year ago... Unbelievable! But sadly it's true.

[dedmiston]

I’ll never forget the joy of finally being out of warranty and never having to deal with their service center again. I’m so much happier now just using mobile techs. It’s worth it to pay out of pocket.

[Cptnvideo]

We bought our '22 5th wheel last March '22 from Little Dealer in Mesa, AZ.
Just before the first year was up, we needed a few things to get taken care of. But instead of Little Dealer, we went to RV Renovators in Mesa. They took care of all items and sorted out who to bill and/or get parts from. We paid zero out of pocket and everything was fixed. We also stayed on their lot, plugged in and living in the RV while all the work was done.

[LadyRVer]

I worked in the office for 5 plus years in a small RV dealership. Talking to the owner or General Manager should bring the results you want.

[bob_nestor]

It's been my observations over many years and vehicle purchases that in the industry (both automotive and RV) the Sales Dept and the Service Dept are basically run as two completely different companies. Sales makes a big deal out of their Service Dept to aid in making the sale, but once you've signed the papers and driven off you're forgotten - until you're ready for a new purchase. The Service Dept doesn't care about building a dealership-customer relationship with good timely service that could result in another sale down the road.

Second, the RV industry, unlike the auto industry has a completely different warranty setup. In the auto industry the vehicle you buy is typically covered by two warranty policies, one for the tires and one for everything else. And the "everything else" warranty is backed up the the manufacturer to the point that you can go to virtually any dealer in the country and get prompt warranty work done. The RV industry is completely different here - Sales leads you to believe you're getting a warranty similar to what you get in an auto, but in fact you get a library book full of warranties. When you have a problem it's up to you to find out which warranty applies and find someone who will honor that warranty and do the work in a timely fashion. The RV manufacturers are usually no help in getting their dealers to tow the line either, and often you're forced to try and get warranty work done with the dealer you bought it from - no matter how far that may be from where you are when you need service.

Finally, from what I can tell, Thor is more into building and selling units as fast as they can thru as many dealers as possible. For some of their lines they offer virtually identical floor-plans and options under multiple nameplates. They claim this is to give the buyer more choices, but it seems to me it's a way of undercutting their own dealers. A dealer may think he's got quite a large territory in their dealership agreement only to find that it's be cut in half by another dealer selling the same type of units under a different nameplate right down the street from him.

[midnightsadie]

yep hold on a bit that service won,t be there.

[pianotuna]

I need a service department rarely. However, I do bring in a treat for the staff once per year.

[PA12DRVR]

I suppose it might be different in larger cities / more populated areas, but now that I'm at the handshake stage with my '70's, if I were to cross off every service (i.e. provides a service, not "just" service departments) entity who had an employee that crossed the line, I'd be struggling to find anywhere to shop for darn near anything other than groceries...and that's uncertain as well.

I'd have a talk with, as suggested, the owner / manager / president and see what results...if it's not satisfactory, simply move on. It might prove to generate a good result, but if not, you've lost nothing but the time it takes for a short call.

[MFL]

OP...you had a bad experience for sure, but much of it was self inflicted. We all try to be respectful when talking to/dealing with others. However, there is times, when standing up for yourself, maintaining your own self respect is necessary. I would have cut that service guy off at the knees, in front of everyone present. You don't HAVE to let others treat you with blatant disrespect! After putting him in his proper place, you could have discussed what happened, with the GM, or owner, if you wanted to continue to use their dealership.

Coming on a forum to complain, is not going to regain your self respect, which is really what your post is about.

Jerry

[dalej]

Some very good advice above.

[Crowe]

Before you make a hasty decision, take Lantley's advice. It's biting off your nose to spite your face. Talk to the manager/owner and then if you don't get any satisfaction move on. There's no need for everyone here to jump on the "I'm not going to shop there" bandwagon without having the OP make an attempt to rectify the situation.

[Lantley]

I think you need to take a deep breath and talk to the RV Dealer's general manager or owner.
I would not let one poor employee run me off of a place that I otherwise would patronize.

[RetiredRealtorR]

Definitely uncalled for. You need to share the name of the dealership with us.