Very UNHAPPY Camper

[mtpocket]

It was a bubble on the flooring about thre size of a pencil eraser. By the time we got it to the dealer it had popped and was torn. They had an outside flooring repair guy fix it. Now in the area about the size of a quarter it looks like skin peeling off a sunburn. I am wondering NJ ow if I should have left it alone. I hope its not the top layer of the flooring coming off. There going to call their flooring guy back. There to busy to deal with it so we have to wait until 7/30 to bring it back in. At the rate the list is growing I should make another appointment now. Toilet started leaking at the base. Tightened it up and it may have stopped. On top anyway, not sure if its leaking underneath.

[Stuts]

Sorry for the delayed response mt. I just read Chris's blog post and the feeling I have is pretty much aligned with his within that post. I really do love this RV and I'm not on this forum to create a "Slam Fest" of GD. I want to give the GD time to respond to my issues. My 379 is #1467. I imagine that they've gotten the vast majority of these units right coming off of the line. There are growing pains when you try to go out on your own and with all of the positive that I read about with JD and Janice getting quick turnaround on issues, I want to be part of the solutions to make this right.

Sure I paid a lot for this unit and right now I'm frustrated. I think if I can get General RV and Grand Design in sync, we can come out of this pretty happy overall.

Ultimately, I will post the issues that I've had but I'm not reading anything here that is a common occurrence that would help the forum. I do know that there have been some of the issues posted that have helped me like the popping of the Level Up system, lightbulbs above the sink and the sewer smell in the bathroom. There are the nagging molding issues that will be fixed. There are also issues that people are having that I'm not.

I want to give Grand Design a chance to make it right.

Thanks,
Scott

[NHSeasonal]

WOW
I am new to this forum and am considering a purchase of a GD 379fl. I am a Seasonal camper and will not have a Tow Vehicle to bring the thing to and from the dealer for repairs. It cost's over $100.0 just to get someone to show up (when the "can") to work on a trailer here.

Beginning to become concerned, from what I have learned thus far, GD is striving to be a "step above" so to speak in the industry. And at least from what I have been told, there is not alot of movement off of MSRP. Clearly more research is in order...

[Bamaman]

RV manufacturers very often have the same issues, same problems over and over.

If it's a human issue, they should be looking for those nagging problems and head them off on front end.

You'd think it'd be cheaper to identify and repair well known problems when the RV's are built built than to pay a dealership to finish manufacturing their product.

And customers wouldn't be so frustrated--let alone be often out $100's in fuel to haul trailers back and forth to dealerships.

[mtpocket]

NHSeasonal
You have a very valid concern. Mine has been back three times in less than two months and I would bet you the dealer wont get it all done after having it a week and a half. Pretty frustrating for sure. I guess I am in the minority on this but my take on all the glowing customer service reviews is they shouldn't happen in the first place. Making it right is just meeting expectations, not going above and beyond. Over-nighting parts, paying for service in the campground, taking care of issues outside the warranty period etc is going over and above and credit is deserved for that. A dealer fixing a leaking shower, design and other quality control issues from the factory is not great service. It's just plain ole meeting expectations and doing the right thing. Nothing can make up for the expectation of a promised top quality trailer, then as Bamaman says, getting one that is no better than any other in its price range. If they are striving to be a step above they are missing the mark in my humble opinion. Hopefully once mine is all straightened out it stays that way. I still cant say I am happy with my purchase but looking forward to the day I can.

[Bamaman]

Would I be right to say that the quality of the dealership that you're doing business with is most important?

And I would hope that the dealers Grand Design has chosen to do business with at this point in time are more of the better dealers.

Grand Design stresses buying local over internet sales. Unfortunately, Grand Design dealers are not in every market, and some of us have to drive quite a distance to find them.

[mtpocket]

Bamaman
I agree and the quality of the dealership is probably more important than the manufacturer. Having buying locally your only choice would be terrible for the consumer. Competition is a good thing. There are three GD dealers that are within two hours of our house. My last trailer I bought was an hour and 30 minutes away. For 3000 plus dollars I will drive for an hour and a half to get to the dealer. Luckily I never had to. Of course the local guy refused to do any warranty work but that was his loss. The second air add, other add on's and all future work went somewhere else. He is now out of business and with an attitude like that its no surprise.

[Bamaman]

My closest GD dealer 75 minutes away, and he was $5K too high. One more is 120 miles away, however he's a high profit operation. Another competitive dealer is 175 miles in the wrong direction. I bought from a dealer 140 miles away from my storage location.

And I don't expect one of my local dealers to service my trailer. There's few repairs or additions that cannot be handled by myself or a local independent shop.

[ACDW-Ottawa]

I agree with much of what you are saying. But I gotta say, you are lucky (Banaman and mtpocket) to have multiple dealers relatively close to you and independents to repair RVs. There are no GD dealers in town. My closest GD dealer is 60 miles away in another province (more gov't issues to deal with), almost $10K more, then the next closest who is 300 miles (where I purchased mine). The others are much further (i.e. 1000 miles) or over the border in the USA over 250 miles where we have to deal with all the importation issues, fees, and taxes on the full sales price not the net price after the trade-in. And worst is that the dealers in Ottawa and many other cities here will not repair an RV if it was not purchased at their dealership (unless they need the work or maybe if you are from out of town). Im lucky, there an autobody shop who has expanded to repairing RVs that is about 40 miles away. GD has been providing outstanding service so that I don't have to travel 7 hours back to my selling dealer. There is more details on my situation in previous posts.