Camping World - Oakwood, GA - Caution!

Georgia_Biker

Well-known member
- Company name of service provider : CampingWorld
- Location (city and state or province): Oakwood, GA
- Service Date (month and year): Friday Jan. 23, 2015
- Rating on a 1 to 5 basis with 1 being very bad and 5 being very good: 1
- Would you recommend them to others: NO!
- *Your own free-form comments about the work done and how they did:

We bought our first 5th Wheel here in April 2013 - a Heartland Big Horn Model3610RE. We really love the Big Horn but from day one dealing with this dealerhas been a trying experience. I could literary write a book about theirincompetent service and parts department and to include a Sales Group and SalesManager totally devoid of any customer needs or desire to o business.

This is my
LAST experience withthem and I thought I would share:

I took the Big Horn up to Camping World at Oakwood, GA to have oneof the Slide Out Topper Covers replaced and repair a leaking Black Water Tankvalve. They had actually installed the wrong topper and I caught it whiletesting it.
I had talked with the service manager while we were on the road tomake sure the part had come in ( I had called Natalie on 4 occasions with nocall return). He confirmed it was there and if I would be there by 8:00 onFriday they would get me in and out!
( you can start laughing now)
Sure enough I was sitting in the parking lot at 8:00 AM. Went inand got my paperwork, Lamont came out and inspected and tagged the Big Horn andstamped the work order with a big red stamp "Customer Waiting". Theyasked if I was going to stay there and wait - I said I was going to eat somebreakfast, make some sales calls and errands and would be back after lunch.They confirmed my cell phone number and I left.
I returned at about 1:00 and the Big Horn was sitting in theparking lot - oh boy it's ready!

But wait a minute - it looks strangely like it was in the same spotI left it. I went inside and asked what was going on - they paged Natalie andshe came up front. I asked about my Rig and she said they were working on it -I asked her to step over to the window and look in the parking lot and theresat my Big Horn where I dropped it. She ran to the back and came back and saidthey didn't know I was here - I reminded her that my work order had"Customer Waiting" stamped on it. She apologized and said their bestman Philip was going to get right on it and he was fast.

I went around to the customer lounge and there were two othercouples sitting there waiting on items. The lounge used to be much larger but,now there is barely enough room for three couples. There was a couple fromKnoxville that had purchased a used RV a week ago and now they were there topick it up first thing on Friday ( it's now about 1:30 PM). There was anothercouple that had recently bought a Motorhome and the rear jacks were not workingproperly and CW had said bring it in it would only take about an hour to repair- they had been there since 8:00 AM. While I am sitting there the servicemanager brings a technician named Phillip to go through their orientation ontheir new RV. ( now isn't that the guy that is supposed to be working on myrig?). I did step out to the parking lot and my rig was gone.

On two occasions Natalie stepped out and said it would be just a fewmore minutes - these were about 45 minutes apart. By now it is approaching 5:00PM and I was worried about getting that thing up the driveway in the dark.

Around 5:15 here comes Natalie - we are ready for you to inspectit. I went back and ran out the slides a couple times and the replaced oneworked great and I was happy.

I asked about the Black Water Valve and she told me nothing waswrong with it. ( I had previously paid them $275. to repair it which they neverdid). I said great let's pull the drain cap off and see what happens. One ofthe technicians asked me what I thought was going to happen and I told him theywere going to get a floor full of black water. He said wait a minute! We allwalked over to the black water valve and I slowly explained that when it isclosed black water is leaking by the valve and filling up the tube to the draincap and it is embarrassing, unclean, etc. I had my bill with me showing where Ihad paid previously to repair the valve and they charged me $275. labor.

The technician said he could have it fixed in 2 - 4 hours but, itwas getting close to closing time I would have to leave it. ( Mind you I havekept my composure all day). I reminded everyone that I had the rig sitting hereat 8:00 AM in the morning so they would have ample time to fix everything.

In very slow speech I explained that I would leave the rig and comeback tomorrow if only they would guarantee they would have it fixed or I wanteda check for $275. and I would fix it myself. Natalie went to see the servicemanager and after about 15 minutes she came back with a check for $275. Shesaid they could not guarantee repair because they couldn't confirm they had allof the parts needed.

They were very prompt in bringing the Big Horn around and I went tohook it up and leave - it's about 6:00 PM and already getting dark. On my wayout the couple with the Motorhome and jack problem were just getting ready toleave also and the couple waiting on getting their new purchase were stillwaiting.

I am sorry this was such a long story but, I figure you might enjoyanother episode in the wonders of Camping World - Oakwood, GA. The onlysatisfaction I really have is I will never darken their doors again and theywill never get another penny from me or me lose any of my time with them.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

danemayer

Well-known member
So if I'm following -

On the plus side:
- they accommodated your request to fix it while you wait
- they fixed the slide topper problem (if I'm understanding, they caused that problem on a prior visit)
- they granted your request to refund your money from the prior attempt to fix the black tank slow leak.

On the negative side:
- they wasted half your day by not doing what they said they would do, when they said they would do it.
- they didn't fix the black tank leak, and possibly didn't even look at it.

Comparing to the very common posts about waiting for weeks and months to get things repaired, how long the dealers take to order parts, damage to RVs in the dealer care, and other very aggravating problems, this seems like a pretty mild bad experience.

I hope you can find a better service location.
 

Georgia_Biker

Well-known member
Hey Dan-
Thanks for your quick reply!
I understand you are trying to minimize my frustration and make itlook like I am unreasonable with unrealistic expectations. You are arepresentative for Heartland and I understand you must try to put a positive twiston things involving Heartland.
Yes "technically" they did what they said they would doin one day less the black water valve for which I received a refund but, Istill have to have repaired.
I have been in heavy forklift sales for over 35 years, worked forseveral dealers over the years, and I understand the need for good customerrelations extending not only from the Sales dept. but Parts and Service aswell. I always have said SALES will sell the first machine but Parts &Service will get repeat sales.
This was not my first episode with CW of Oakwood - as a matter offact in two years I have never had a good experience with them.
That being said I have had several really good experiences with otherCW's while on the road and they have received my praise in thank you lettersand word of mouth.
We love our Big Horn - we'll just never do business at Camping Worldof Oakwood, GA and I will do my best to warn anyone else to stay away.
Hope to see ya'll on the road somewhere.

Thanks

 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Larry and Sharon,

Sorry to hear about the issues you had with this dealer. I will pass this up the chain at Heartland so they know how you feel about this dealer.

Note that I did tweak the title of your thread. I don't want to change how you feel about your experience, but we need to follow the forum rules of no dealer bashing. Thanks for understanding.
 

jbeletti

Well-known member
Hey Dan-
Thanks for your quick reply!
I understand you are trying to minimize my frustration and make itlook like I am unreasonable with unrealistic expectations. You are arepresentative for Heartland and I understand you must try to put a positive twiston things involving Heartland.

Larry and Sharon,

Dan is a forum moderator - an unpaid volunteer role. Dan's views are his own, not Heartland's. That said, Dan works very hard for the ownership community, helping all who want to be helped with their issues. He's a very good problem solver and has helped hundreds on this forum.

My take on his comment to you is that he was trying to break the entire matter down to better understand what the issues were, what issues remain and perhaps where the breakdowns may have been. He is truly trying to help you and all readers wrap their head around the matter.

Please go easy on the helpers - thanks :)
 

danemayer

Well-known member

You are arepresentative for Heartland and I understand you must try to put a positive twiston things involving Heartland.

Actually, if you were on the forum to read my posts from before being a Moderator, you'd know I would have told you the same thing back then.

I also have lots of experience with providing service (not in RVs) and agree with you on the importance of good customer service. But I also know that it's a rare thing to find excellent service; especially in the RV industry.

Anyway, you apparently see this as an epic failure. I calibrated it differently and am just trying to share a different viewpoint.
 

TravelTiger

Founding Texas-West Chapter Leaders-Retired
Sounds like that CW is working in "crisis mode" all the time. I worked at a place that was in this mode. Short staffed, over-worked, over-promised, under-delivered, stressed-out, "running around like a chicken with it's head cut off" atmosphere. Best to find another repair location.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

JanAndBill

Well-known member
I've always found the moderators on this site to be fair, and extremely helpful. Dealers however are like snowflakes, no two alike. I've dealt with some really good ones, and some really bad ones. The RV industry in general doesn't seem to have much dealer oversight. After putting up with the black tank valve problem you're experiencing for a year, and numerous trips to the dealer, I fixed it myself in about 3 hrs.
 

FiremanBill

Well-known member
5 hours to change a tire... 1 tire, at the CW in Roanoke VA... Never again will I step in the door of a CW dealer. Sorry to hear of your poor experience.
 

Westwind

Well-known member
Unfortunately as organizations grow in size the attention to customer detail begins to slide the wrong direction. The comments made on a previous post about the overworked, overscheduled etc. are true you can see it as you sit there wasting a day of your life which can't be replaced. The reason customers like you and myself waste the day and wait is because we have no confidence in management doing that job for us. Sadly it always seems to prove true. When a firm of any type accepts money for work that isn't done or doesn't correct he problem to me that's a crime.
The dealer/service area is a firm specific item, small dealerships have a better record but they are disappearing, being bought up by one larger corporation. Best to give the work to a proven independent if you can, one that you can establish a relationship with if you are in the area.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Two weeks ago (Jan. 19, 2015) I pulled in to the Camping World in Flagstaff, AZ as I noticed that I lost a hub cap on the trailer while on the road.

I walked in to the store and I was the one and only customer in there.

The guy at the service desk walked out . . . got down on his knees and inspected the wheels to make sure we got the right hub cap.

Here is a shot of the trailer in the Flagstaff, AZ Camping World parking lot, and then a crop of the wheels from the same photo:

CamperAt CWFlagstaffAZ.jpg CamperAt CWFlagstaffAZwheels.jpg

I bought the hub cap and a few other items, put the hub cap on in the CW parking lot, then went down the street to a tire shop that he sent me to to get my spare swapped with another tire (Flagstaff CW doesn't do tires), then went up to the Grand Canyon for two days.

Two days later as we rolled through Phoenix on our way to the AZ HOC Rally at Quartzsite, a passing motorist drove up and pointed at his eyes . . . then at the trailer!

I got off at the next exit, and as I rounded the curve, I saw smoke rolling out from that very wheel that lost the hub cap!

Apparently, when we lost the hub cap, there also was supposed to be an axle end cap (not sure what it is called) that blew off, which is probably what blew off the hub cap!

Well, to make this short as I am on my way out the door . . . the wheel bearing burned out . . . took the brake assembly with it . . . lost two days at the rally as we had to wait to get the trailer repaired (front axle had to be removed from the trailer and sent out to an axle shop) . . . the extended warranty that we purchased for the trailer refused coverage, so we paid the $1000+ repair bill to get back on the road!

Anyway, I still can't believe that the service counter guy didn't catch that we shouldn't have been driving with that hub missing . . . and Sun City RV in Phoenix (who are awesome, by the way) were shocked and amazed when I showed them the photo that I posted above.

More later . . . gotta go!
 

jayc

Texas-South Chapter Leaders
I wonder if anyone has reported their stories to Marcus Lemonis, the president of Camping World. On their forum, there is a tab for Ask Marcus and then a sub forum to report on everything from Good Sam Roadside Assistance to the Good Sam club. I feel certain that he would be very interested in how his stores are viewed and their reputation with the community. I have nothing to do with CW and my own problems with them are old news, but in fairness, someone with the power to change should be notified.
 

FiremanBill

Well-known member
I wonder if anyone has reported their stories to Marcus Lemonis, the president of Camping World. On their forum, there is a tab for Ask Marcus and then a sub forum to report on everything from Good Sam Roadside Assistance to the Good Sam club. I feel certain that he would be very interested in how his stores are viewed and their reputation with the community. I have nothing to do with CW and my own problems with them are old news, but in fairness, someone with the power to change should be notified.

I sent a message through their "contact us" tab on the main website, never heard a word back.
 

branson4020

Icantre Member
I wonder if anyone has reported their stories to Marcus Lemonis, the president of Camping World. On their forum, there is a tab for Ask Marcus and then a sub forum to report on everything from Good Sam Roadside Assistance to the Good Sam club. I feel certain that he would be very interested in how his stores are viewed and their reputation with the community. I have nothing to do with CW and my own problems with them are old news, but in fairness, someone with the power to change should be notified.

If you read that Camping World Service subforum you will see that its thread after thread of complaints, soothing replies from the admin, and absolutely no resolution. IMHO its a joke.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Apparently, when we lost the hub cap, there also was supposed to be an axle end cap (not sure what it is called) that blew off, which is probably what blew off the hub cap!

Well, to make this short as I am on my way out the door . . . the wheel bearing burned out . . . took the brake assembly with it . . . lost two days at the rally as we had to wait to get the trailer repaired (front axle had to be removed from the trailer and sent out to an axle shop) . . . the extended warranty that we purchased for the trailer refused coverage, so we paid the $1000+ repair bill to get back on the road!

Anyway, I still can't believe that the service counter guy didn't catch that we shouldn't have been driving with that hub missing . . . and Sun City RV in Phoenix (who are awesome, by the way) were shocked and amazed when I showed them the photo that I posted above.

JohnD,

I don't know much about axles and bearings, and I might be wrong, but I thought the cap that's missing is just to keep dirt out.

Did anyone explain to you how the missing cap caused your wheel bearing to burn out?
 

Georgia_Biker

Well-known member
Jim and Dan-

Thanks for the comments. In summary I guess my last experience at CW-Oakwood was the end result of a long line of frustration. I have never encountered such a dealership and I was "venting" as best I could.

Dan, if I in anyway offended you I certainly apologize - I did not mean to be personal.

Many times you have sent me good advice on RV questions in the past and you are always in the forefront helping others. Many thanks!

We are attending our first Regional Meeting at Myrtle Beach in April. We are looking forward to meeting other Heartland owners and learn everything we can about the RV's and Heartland.

Hope to see either one of you on the road one day.

Take care
 

Jim.Allison

Well-known member
I think the OP is completely reasonable. All he wanted is what he was promised. They promised and did not deliver. It is inconsequential what others experience positive or negative.
 
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