What to do about Unresponsive RV dealers?

bangell

Member
We purchase our New 2018 Torque 396 back on March 6[SUP]th[/SUP]. We put our money down and was told there was a 6 week lead time by the RV dealer. I figured 6 weeks to build and another 2 weeks for PDI and freight out to the west coast. Well, it’s been 12 weeks now with no idea when I can expect delivery. For the majority of the time in between March 6[SUP]th[/SUP] and now (June 7[SUP]th[/SUP]) I haven’t heard a word from the dealer except “we will advise when it is ready”. I couldn’t get any information at all from the dealer so I went to Heartland. John Hawkins at Heartland was great, he explained the back log issue and kept me up to date on the progress of my 396. My 396 was finished sitting on the Heartland lot May 26[SUP]th[/SUP]. Today is June 7[SUP]th[/SUP] and it is still on the Heartland lot. My dealer is a short 2.5 hours away from the Heartland factory and still cannot tell me when I can expect delivery. My question is what in **** do you do with an RV dealer like this? My deposit is non-refundable and I’m actually ****** about the whole experience. No one from the dealer will respond by email, text or phone.
 

danemayer

Well-known member
Hi bangell,

We're in Goshen/Elkhart now for the North American Rally. One thing I've noticed is an enormous number of trailers from all manufacturers, sitting in transport company lots. The RV business is booming with sales at record levels. The transporters are an obvious bottleneck.

Your dealer could probably be more responsive to you, but they probably have no control over the build or transport schedules. It's possible they may not be able to get a solid date from the transporter.
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
Being that close . . . I wonder why the dealership doesn't come pick it up themselves :confused:

After all . . . you would think the dealership would be interested in completing the sale :confused: :confused:
 

truckmen

Active Member
Hello all,

I am surprised that there is a backlog. But it's probably just me not paying attention to what's going on.

I haul cars for a living now and would like to possibly offer a hand to haul your RV to you. I am leased on with Foremost Transport since December 2015 and have been pulling my 4-car Wally-Mo trailer throughout the 48 states. I'm registered for a gross weight of 38,000 lbs and carry $500,000.00 of cargo insurance so I can possibly help out. At the moment I am actually looking for something to pull out of New England to either California and Georgia.

Ralph
 

wdk450

Well-known member
We purchase our New 2018 Torque 396 back on March 6[SUP]th[/SUP]. We put our money down and was told there was a 6 week lead time by the RV dealer. I figured 6 weeks to build and another 2 weeks for PDI and freight out to the west coast. Well, it’s been 12 weeks now with no idea when I can expect delivery. For the majority of the time in between March 6[SUP]th[/SUP] and now (June 7[SUP]th[/SUP]) I haven’t heard a word from the dealer except “we will advise when it is ready”. I couldn’t get any information at all from the dealer so I went to Heartland. John Hawkins at Heartland was great, he explained the back log issue and kept me up to date on the progress of my 396. My 396 was finished sitting on the Heartland lot May 26[SUP]th[/SUP]. Today is June 7[SUP]th[/SUP] and it is still on the Heartland lot. My dealer is a short 2.5 hours away from the Heartland factory and still cannot tell me when I can expect delivery. My question is what in **** do you do with an RV dealer like this? My deposit is non-refundable and I’m actually ****** about the whole experience. No one from the dealer will respond by email, text or phone.

Unfortunately, there is no "RVSellingDealersReviews.com" . You could compose a review for RVServiceReviews.com just based on your sales experience. I refer potential buyers to this website to see how good service is at RV dealers BEFORE they buy. You could also post this experience on Yelp and other user review sites. ..... Ask John Hopkins at Heartland to make sure your poor experience is heard by those in charge of selling dealer relations at Heartland. Phone Heartland and ask to talk to Jim Fenner.

I too have a hard time also understanding why a "small business" exhibits such poor practices in generating more rapid cash flow. This dealership is a business looking to fail.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I had a hard time trying to get our dealership to call me back to set up an appointment for me to bring our Prowler in for warranty service.

After a couple of weeks of nothing from them, a quick trip to their Facebook page and a short but sweet review about their promptness on returning phone calls . . .

Less than five minutes later my phone was ringing from them!
 

bangell

Member
Hi bangell,

We're in Goshen/Elkhart now for the North American Rally. One thing I've noticed is an enormous number of trailers from all manufacturers, sitting in transport company lots. The RV business is booming with sales at record levels. The transporters are an obvious bottleneck.

Your dealer could probably be more responsive to you, but they probably have no control over the build or transport schedules. It's possible they may not be able to get a solid date from the transporter.

Dan,
You are probably correct about the transport companies being the bottle neck. I just can't figure out why the Dealer will not communicate that. We have a reservation next month at Yellowstone that I made months ago, I just hope we don't have to cancel.

-Bret

- - - Updated - - -

Being that close . . . I wonder why the dealership doesn't come pick it up themselves :confused:

After all . . . you would think the dealership would be interested in completing the sale :confused: :confused:

John,
That's my thought as well. Complete the sale and get the cash flow! Doesn't make sense to me.

-Bret
 

dewwood

Well-known member
I think I know which dealer you are referring to and they are an extremely busy dealer. I am not making excuses for them just letting you know their situation. If you have reservations you might consider picking the unit up at the dealer which would save some time. I realize your schedule may not allow this but it would remove one step in the equation(the transporter getting it from the dealer to you).
 

JohnD

Moved on to the next thing...
I think I know which dealer you are referring to and they are an extremely busy dealer. I am not making excuses for them just letting you know their situation. If you have reservations you might consider picking the unit up at the dealer which would save some time. I realize your schedule may not allow this but it would remove one step in the equation(the transporter getting it from the dealer to you).

I believe his issue is trying to get it from the factory to the dealer . . .
 

bangell

Member
Hello all,

I am surprised that there is a backlog. But it's probably just me not paying attention to what's going on.

I haul cars for a living now and would like to possibly offer a hand to haul your RV to you. I am leased on with Foremost Transport since December 2015 and have been pulling my 4-car Wally-Mo trailer throughout the 48 states. I'm registered for a gross weight of 38,000 lbs and carry $500,000.00 of cargo insurance so I can possibly help out. At the moment I am actually looking for something to pull out of New England to either California and Georgia.

Ralph

Heartland said in early May that they had a 250 unit backlog on Toy haulers. Mine is finished, now it needs to go to the dealer so they can do the PDI. What is your rate per mile?

-Bret

- - - Updated - - -

I think I know which dealer you are referring to and they are an extremely busy dealer. I am not making excuses for them just letting you know their situation. If you have reservations you might consider picking the unit up at the dealer which would save some time. I realize your schedule may not allow this but it would remove one step in the equation(the transporter getting it from the dealer to you).

It would also save around 4k in delivery charges. I would have to eat a week of vacation to drive the 2200 miles there and 2200 miles back, but I am thinking about it.

-Bret
 
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