sofar-sogood
West Palm Beach, Fl
Senior Member
Joined: 01/25/2006
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
 Offline
|
A while back I received a letter from Dutchman that our 2012 Voltage 3905 might have a splice in the fuel line running from the tank to the generator and that that line needed to be inspected. Since we were on the road at the time, I elected to wait until we got back home to have the issue addressed. After we got home, I attempted to have that inspection done at four nearby Dutchman dealerships. Each and every one of them refused to do any warranty work because we didnt buy the trailer from them! A call to Dutchman didnt help. They told me that the dealers have the option to do warranty work or not. Dutchman suggested that we take it back to the selling dealer (1200 miles one way). Needless to say we didnt make that 2400 mile trip to have the fuel line inspected.
Seems strange to be that the Dutchman dealer network refuses to do warranty work on units that they didnt sell, and particularly warranty inspections that could prove to be a safety issue. Just FYI.
|
katysdad
Virginia
Senior Member
Joined: 08/03/2010
View Profile
|
Fairly common in the RV world among most or all brands, if they didn't sell they are not obligated to do warranty work on it
Dodge Ram 3500 DRW Diesel
|
Alfred622
Rochester, MN
Senior Member
Joined: 03/21/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
That is a pretty sad state of affairs. I wonder if that is specific to Dutchman, travel trailers, or is it the same for all RVs?
Alfred
2005 Sightseer with Workhorse, ReadyBrute Elite towing 2003 Honda CRV
Map below shows states where we actually camped.....
|
mpierce
Scranton, ND
Senior Member
Joined: 12/30/2010
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
Pretty much universal. Hear it all the time. Some do it, others do not.
|
Gale Hawkins
Murray, KY
Senior Member
Joined: 07/22/2007
View Profile
Offline
|
Folks this is as common as rain in the rain forest even for lawn mowers, etc but I am not sure it is the best way to build a business.
Buying an RV when on vacation when 1200 miles from home is very risky and be expected to bite one in the end as this thread illustrates.
|
|
|
JayWalker2009
I'm not really a
Senior Member
Joined: 08/11/2009
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
|
Gale Hawkins wrote:
Buying an RV when on vacation when 1200 miles from home is very risky and be expected to bite one in the end as this thread illustrates.
Not only that, when you make the willful decision to drive 1200 miles from home to get the best price, be prepared that this will happen. People will travel far to get the killer deal, then think their local mom and pop shop will want to take on the task of the warranty repairs, which is little profit and a lot of hassle.
Just another reason to support your local businesses. You might pay a little bit more, but it is very convenient to have a good relationship with a nearby dealer. You might get that killer deal way on down the road, but that won't be the dealership who you need to deal with for the life of your rig.
I don't blame a local business for not wanting to take on the warranty work for a trailer they did not sell you. Way too many warranty repairs are declined leaving them in the lurch. The local guys are just trying to stay in biz.
|
Crazy Cooter
Redding, CA
Senior Member
Joined: 03/18/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
Have you discussed having a reputable independent repair facility perform the repairs with Dutchman?
Heartland has payed fair rates to a "Non-selling" shop for my repairs.
Tony KI6WAO
2006 Dodge Ram 3500 DRW
1992 Jeep Wrangler YJ
2012 Cyclone 300C
2013 Can Am Maverick X-RS
2006 KTM 525 EXC CA Plated
2008 KTM 525 XC ATV
2008 Polaris 525 IRS
2007 Kawasaki STX12F
2009 Kawasaki 260X
|
Y-Guy
Tri-Cities, WA
Moderator
Joined: 03/04/2002
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
Since Dutchmen is owned by Thor you should be able to take it to any dealership that sells a Thor product line and have it inspected.
Sadly with the large internet dealerships it seems more and more smaller dealerships are tired of servicing those big dealerships at the rates the manufacturers will pay. I can understand why, but still don't like it. When I moved to where I am now I had a nearly new Jayco, the dealership here treated me like a customer but was honest and told me it might take several weeks since they took care of their customers first then non-customers - I could live with that and appreciated their honestly. There treatment has led them to sell me 3 other RVs other the years. So the short sighted dealers that won't service you now are probably going to lose out on a future sale, but I still don't totally fault them for not servicing. You might have better luck in the non-prime time camping season.
Our RV: '07 Winnebago Sightseer 35J
Our Toys: Four Winns Horizon 190, Polaris Sportsman 500's & Honda Recon's
|
mwebber78
New England
Senior Member
Joined: 08/07/2005
View Profile
Good Sam RV Club Member
Offline
|
I agree with a previous poster, have an independent RV repair shop perform the work. Most smaller dealers squawk about servicing trailers bought elsewhere. Im ok with this as most of the ones I know that act this way have horrible business practices anyhow.....
2013 Jayco Eagle 334RBTS
Disclaimer for the daft: Don't confuse my opinion with facts.
|
jbc28
Gadsden, AL
Senior Member
Joined: 08/16/2005
View Profile
Offline
|
The problem with this way of thinking is what if you need warranty work while on vacation or if you full time and don't have a "home" dealer?
The way most RV dealers and manufactuers run their businesses is amateur at best.
06 F350 DRW cab & chassis, CM bed, 4x4, crew cab, Lariat
05 KZ Sportster 37KX2L
|
|
|
