How long is "normal" to wait for a repair quote?

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

I scraped my front door pulling my trailer out of my backyard and the door will have to be replaced. I took it to the dealer 24 days ago and haven't heard anything. When I dropped it off, they said they were busy because it's camping season and it might take them a couple of weeks to get me a quote. I'm sorry but 24 days seems absurd, if they are that busy why don't they hire more help for the season? I just called today but no one was available to speak to me so I had to leave a message. Needless to say I'm irritated beyond belief.

Am I being unreasonable? Is it normal to have to wait this long?

The dealer is DIXIE RV in Defuniak Springs, Florida.

The dealer told me the door would have to be replaced since there's a hole to keep moisture out. Attaching picture of the door damage for reference of the repair.

IronJ · Aug 9, 2016

My dealer took 4 months to fix my rig....3 weeks just to look at it and send the request to heartland for authorization!!!

They were busy and got hit with hail storm 2x!!...he said they had replaced 130 roof vent lids and 2 weeks later they got hit AGAIN...

there were rows and rows of warranty/repair trailers sitting there....

I asked same thing about techs and he said they were hard to find (good ones) and they only had 6 work bays to actually do most of the work...

Just have the dealer order the part and take it back when it's there....?..or check with some other repair places? Maybe an indelendent?

sent from space via an invisible beam from a flying metal dish

Bob&Patty · Aug 9, 2016

Quite frankly, if you are handy at all. You could call HL service yourself, with your VIN#, and order the door yourself and install it yourself. Unless things have changed, all you need for tools are a #2 square bit and some caulking. Just a suggestion.

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

Re: How long is "normal" to wait for a repair quote?

IronJ said:
My dealer took 4 months to fix my rig....

This is shocking to me.... but I guess it's confirmation that what I'm going through is normal

Thanks for the reply

- - - Updated - - -

Bob&Patty said:
Quite frankly, if you are handy at all. You could call HL service yourself, with your VIN#, and order the door yourself and install it yourself. Unless things have changed, all you need for tools are a #2 square bit and some caulking. Just a suggestion.

I might just do that! Thanks

IronJ · Aug 9, 2016

True that...and if your a hoc member ya even get a discount!..

sent from space via an invisible beam from a flying metal dish

mlpeloquin · Aug 9, 2016

Replaced my right front storage door and graphics. Not a hard job at all. Save yourself a lot of labor dollars. Note that Heartland does not have the doors in stock for repair. They will order it. The time it takes depends on where the manufacture is at in production. It took three weeks to get mine. Three hours to remove and install the new one. I added electrical box plates where the door lifts attach and of course putting on the graphics. The reason I replaced the door is that one ripped off when I was crossing the country. In a effort to fix it on the road I was drilling out the mounting holes and insert dowels. The drill grabbed and went through the entire door. So get your rig and DYI. Or fine an independent RV service center and have them give you an estimate. In the mean time you can still go camping.

TxCowboy · Aug 9, 2016

Re: How long is "normal" to wait for a repair quote?

GCG, I agree with Bob's comment -- contact HL and have them send you a replacement door with hardware. Probably not a warranty item but also probably cheaper and a lot less hassle than working with this dealer.

You can probably hire a mobile RV service tech to install the door -- probably about $200 including the service call fee.

All in all, probably about $600 for the entire replacement and a lot less headaches. Plus you can still use the RV if you want. Get some Gorilla tap and seal any exterior holes until the mobile tech can replace the door.

HTH

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

Re: How long is "normal" to wait for a repair quote?

TxCowboy said:
GCG, I agree with Bob's comment -- contact HL and have them send you a replacement door with hardware. Probably not a warranty item but also probably cheaper and a lot less hassle than working with this dealer.

You can probably hire a mobile RV service tech to install the door -- probably about $200 including the service call fee.

All in all, probably about $600 for the entire replacement and a lot less headaches. Plus you can still use the RV if you want. Get some Gorilla tap and seal any exterior holes until the mobile tech can replace the door.

HTH

I love this idea thanks! I didn't even know there was such a thing as a mobile RV service tech, of course I didn't even know I could call the dealer and get the door myself. After reading Bob's comment, I called Heartland and they are going to email me the prices. She also looked up my RV and found out the dealer had just called about parts for my unit yesterday... only they didn't give her the VIN number, now how does an experienced RV dealer not know the VIN number is needed? My confidence in them is fading by the minute

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

mlpeloquin said:
Replaced my right front storage door and graphics. Not a hard job at all. Save yourself a lot of labor dollars. Note that Heartland does not have the doors in stock for repair. They will order it. The time it takes depends on where the manufacture is at in production. It took three weeks to get mine. Three hours to remove and install the new one. I added electrical box plates where the door lifts attach and of course putting on the graphics. The reason I replaced the door is that one ripped off when I was crossing the country. In a effort to fix it on the road I was drilling out the mounting holes and insert dowels. The drill grabbed and went through the entire door. So get your rig and DYI. Or fine an independent RV service center and have them give you an estimate. In the mean time you can still go camping.

Thanks! I was raised mostly by my dad so I spent a lot of time in the garage and I'm very handy. I have more tools in my garage than a lot of men I know.. LOL! This is my first RV so I didn't even think about doing the work myself but after reading this thread I'm thinking perhaps I should.

IronJ said:
True that...and if your a hoc member ya even get a discount!..

Thanks! I am a HOC member, I didn't mention that to Heartland when I called for prices but I will if I do proceed with ordering directly from them.

TxCowboy · Aug 9, 2016

GCG, there's a ton of info here on the Forum for maintaining your RV and its systems. Click the Tools link at the top center of the page and then click on Heartland User Guides.

Enjoy!

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

I just heard back from the Dealer and they are telling me $5,876 just for labor, doesn't even include parts! They want to replace the J wrap along with the door and say the labor alone is 35 hours. I'm going to go get my trailer and to the work myself.

What a bunch of CROOKS!

Buster537 · Aug 9, 2016

We bought our Big Country at Dixie in DeFuniak - Mossy Head. Had a tire problem less than two weeks out of warranty. When we called their reply was - out of warranty, we don't know you. Really

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

Buster537 said:
We bought our Big Country at Dixie in DeFuniak - Mossy Head. Had a tire problem less than two weeks out of warranty. When we called their reply was - out of warranty, we don't know you. Really

Yep, same dealer! Probably just as well they didn't know you because I'm guessing it would have taken them a year and a half to fix your tire

Shortest Straw · Aug 9, 2016

Unfortunately what you are going through is normal. The general population seems to put up with it so why should the dealers change. I just returned from my dealer to get some warranty work done. I had made the appointment two weeks ago and I had expected to drop it off for at least a week. My service manager informed me at my arrival that they had already received Heartland approval as well as parts and if I would wait a couple of hours they would have everything done. I parked my rig in storage about a half an hour ago. I do have an extremely awesome dealer and the service they provide is stellar. This is not normal.

jnbhobe · Aug 9, 2016

With a patch on the door and some paint you could fix that yourself for next to nothing.

Mrsfish · Aug 9, 2016

Shortest Straw said:
Unfortunately what you are going through is normal. The general population seems to put up with it so why should the dealers change. I just returned from my dealer to get some warranty work done. I had made the appointment two weeks ago and I had expected to drop it off for at least a week. My service manager informed me at my arrival that they had already received Heartland approval as well as parts and if I would wait a couple of hours they would have everything done. I parked my rig in storage about a half an hour ago. I do have an extremely awesome dealer and the service they provide is stellar. This is not normal.

i'll say you have an awesome dealer. Ours won't place an order until the trailer is on site,brought in on a scheduled appointment, EVEN IF THEY HAVE ALREADY DIAGNOSED THE PROBLEM... Yeah it's a real pain in the arse....

justafordguy · Aug 9, 2016

Dixie is my dealer also but it's not just them, every dealer I have ever dealt with is the same. After the sale you are nobody to them. Even if you are willing to wait months for a repair the quality of the work is awful. I will never take my trailer back to a dealer. I do all my work myself unless it's major warranty work. I have a mobile RV tech guy I run the warranty work through.

Mrsfish · Aug 9, 2016

justafordguy said:
I have a mobile RV tech guy I run the warranty work through.

i need to get me a 'guy'. Anyone in the Tucson area have someone they would recommend?

Gulf_Coast_Girl · Aug 9, 2016

justafordguy said:
Dixie is my dealer also but it's not just them, every dealer I have ever dealt with is the same. After the sale you are nobody to them. Even if you are willing to wait months for a repair the quality of the work is awful. I will never take my trailer back to a dealer. I do all my work myself unless it's major warranty work. I have a mobile RV tech guy I run the warranty work through.

Since it sounds like we might be in the same area since we are both using Dixie RV, would you be able to give me the information for your mobile RV Tech guy? I would love to have that option as well and it sounds like your guy works out a lot better for you than the dealer.

Thanks

justafordguy · Aug 9, 2016

Gulf_Coast_Girl said:
Since it sounds like we might be in the same area since we are both using Dixie RV, would you be able to give me the information for your mobile RV Tech guy? I would love to have that option as well and it sounds like your guy works out a lot better for you than the dealer.

Thanks

Any independent will be better than the Dealers I have dealt with.

I'm in Tallahassee so if you live near Dixie RV it may be a little far for him to travel. His business is called John King RV Service but I don't have his contact info right now. He has been out of town for a while helping with his ill mother so he has been hard to get in-touch with anyway.

If you live near the coast you should check with some of the RV parks, I bet they have mobile guys they could recommend. There are of a lot mobile RV repair guys down along the gulf coast.

How long is "normal" to wait for a repair quote?

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