General RV

[TheTynman]

I bought a new Keystone Alpine at the Camping World in Chattanooga, TN last spring (on my way home from wintering in Florida).
When I got home to Illinois, I began my search for local RV Dealers that service Keystone 5th Wheels. General RV in Huntley, IL sells Keystone and is an authorized Keystone Dealer. I called them and they told me "If you didn't buy your Keystone from us, we won't service it." Their policy on this cost them any future business I would have done with them. Note: I did inform Keystone, as I thought they should know.

[notanlines]

Regretfully, you have come across one of the more irritating aspects of RV ownership. You didn't buy a new truck, you bought an RV and most dealerships are exactly as you describe. Not only that, at least your guy told you up front how the cow ate the cabbage. A number of dealerships would simply put you on the back burner and let your RV sit until you became fed up and took it elsewhere. This isn't solely a Keystone problem, it is a problem across the industry. :(

[Javi]

The warranty from Keystone is mostly useless anyway.. Except for the walls of the trailer pretty much anything else is a pass-through warranty back to the manufacturer of the specific item or appliance...

A good many of us, myself included don't even bother with the RV dealer beyond buying the trailer... We use a local independent RV tech to do any repairs or warranty on the specific appliances and fixtures..

I actually have a really good dealer a couple of hundred miles from my home, and I'll most likely buy my next trailer from him... But beyond making my present trailer ready for me to pickup... he has never touched the trailer.. And if he does his job in getting the next one in as good of shape for me to pickup, he won't touch that one either..

[ctbruce]

Everything that's already said X2. You might as well save your dime calling Keystone, it won't change things. The advice to use an independent RV tech that does warranty work is solid.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[chuckster57]

X3.. to my knowledge Tiffen is the only manufacturer that requires dealers to work on ANYONES unit. We are allowed to limit the list to 3 items though.

[JRTJH]

Camping World is the only RV dealership that seems to have a consistent policy of making appointments and doing warranty work on RV's that were purchased at other locations/dealerships.

Then again, there are some RV owners who, after recent statements made by the CW CEO, won't "walk through the front door at CW".

So, if you have a Camping World near you, depending on your feelings about the CEO, you might find that they will work on your RV. Otherwise, what you're facing, dealership refusal, is an accepted "way of doing business" throughout the RV industry. There are a few (very few) exceptions, but I wouldn't count on getting any help from Keystone. Even if they do "demand that dealership work on your RV" chances are they will make you an appointment for 6 months from now and after sitting on it as long as they can, they'll likely document most problems as "Could not duplicate" or "Parts required" and depending on how they document the problems, Keystone may well not approve the repairs. Comments like, "No evidence of owner maintenance" will kill most approvals. Yes, dealerships can be "nasty" to people who force the issue and try to "strongarm them into changing a policy"....

Do you really want to be in that position? Only you know for sure......

For me, I'd just move on down the road and find another way to get the warranty work done.

[Barbell]

We have no use for the CW CEO and some of his other business interests such as the rip-off time share type RV "Resorts" now being pushed. However, we have never had a problem getting prompt service from Camping World stores in South Carolina, Missouri, Georgia and several in Arizona even tho our rig was purchased from a non-CW store in Indiana. We have made a list of dealers that asked if we bought from them and will never call them again. Wish everyone would do so.

[busterbrown]

I wouldn't do business with General RV even though they have at least 4 locations closer to me than the dealer I actually purchased from. When looking at new coaches last year, I was in negotiations with 1 General RV store for a Passport. Had a lower price from an out-of-state dealer and he wouldn't budge on his price. Game me a bad taste in my mouth then and now.

Last year, I had an issue with my AC thermostat. Spoke with my selling dealer (250 miles away) and they recommended I call my General RV dealer first so I wouldn't have to trailer my coach back to the other side of the state. I took his advice and made one phone call to the closest General store. Service gave me the same answer, "we don't service units not purchased from us". Called my selling dealer back and they ended up mailing me the new thermostat after I returned the old one. 5 minute change out and my thermostat hasn't glitched since.

Would rather deal with a respectable dealer further away than a local dealer with a business model like General RVs.

[CrazyCain]

I wouldn't do business with General RV even though they have at least 4 locations closer to me.

Would rather deal with a respectable dealer further away than a local dealer with a business model like General RVs.

Agreed, have one 3 miles from the house, bought my trailer from a greatn dealer out in Grand Rapids..

:rolleyes::nonono:

[Colorado]

I had the same problem @ Camping World. Did not buy my Alpine from then and although they said they would service it, it just set on the lot for 4 months. I am sure they serviced the units they sold first. As more and more RV's are produced, this is going to be a bigger problem.

[CaptnJohn]

I had the same problem @ Camping World. Did not buy my Alpine from then and although they said they would service it, it just set on the lot for 4 months. I am sure they serviced the units they sold first. As more and more RV's are produced, this is going to be a bigger problem.

You are correct. I had a service manager at CW tell me the rotation priorities most usually followed by all dealers is new purchases prepped 1st, customer units next~ warranty or not in order of arrival or appointment, non-warranty by those purchased elsewhere, and finally warranty work by those purchased elsewhere. Many CW locations view a purchase at any CW as a location purchase.
My last 3 campers have been purchased at CW. I've been happy with sales and service. I realize all locations are not the same...