Warranty Work Taking Several Weeks

[Retread68]

Oh gosh, my gut gets tied up in a knot when I read these threads. I so much want GD to become a leader in the industry and yet the gray cloud on the horizon seems to be appearing too soon. Let me say that I had the same hopes for a new "start-up" company several years ago. I won't mention their name, but their initials are Crossroads RV. They came with product innovations, customer care/response beyond reproach, dealer agreements to service end users regardless of seller, etc etc. We developed a "relationship" personally after I purchased a Cruiser 28CK. They were as open minded as Jayco, Inc. folks. We exchanged thoughts, design plans, construction build plans, etc. and they made changes when warranted.

Fast forward to not so long ago ...... C RV became a product name on a corporate wallboard instead of a privately owned company. Business philosophy changed, workmanship guarantees changed, employment compensation changed, and customer care changed. No longer can anyone call and ask to speak with R.M. (a person - initials only). No longer will ideas from customers be entertained. Slow forward to last year .... I was searching for 4 corner caps for the rear corners of the 28CK. Knowing I was required to go through a dealer for parts I called my dealer, who told me the parts were not available. So I called 3 more dealers and received the same answer; thus I called "Customer Assistance" at C RV, explained exactly what I was looking for and that I had already called four (that's 4) dealers. The nice lady on the phone advised me to call a dealer ! So I explained the situation again. Her response was, "I can't help you, you'll have to call a dealer."

Time for the supervisor! Politely I explained to him my dilemma and his response was the same as the lady before him. My patience wore thin and I asked what it was about being told 4 dealers had already said they could not help did he not understand?! His retort was to ask who I called (as though I was lying); thus I gave him names, phone numbers, and addresses. Finally he advised the company that made the part was no longer in business and C RV had no idea where to get any replacements.

Next I found a Crossroads RV dealer in Knoxville, TN (who happened to be a GD dealer also) and I called them out of desperation. Spoke with the parts mgr. and although he did not have the part, he knew what I was looking for and he went out onto their lot looking for other mfg's that use the same or similar piece. He called me and advised that a new company - Grand Design uses a very similar piece; however, since he could not give GD a serial number of a unit that needed the piece, he could not get it. Now - this was a man that had/has never met me, has never sold me anything, nor has the dealership where he worked; however, he is someone that apparently has the same philosophy that I do ..... help someone when they need help ! That made me look at Grand Design.

Fast forward again to today. Grand Design owners talk the talk, but the walk appears to be slowing. There have been several recurring/multiple occurrences with defective components. So far the solution to all but one has been to wait until the end user complains, then GD will "react". Sometimes the "reaction" is to give the end-user a phone number and have the end-user call the component mfg. Now I AM an RV capable "rebuilder", but on a new unit; that is probably the last answer I want to hear !! Reason: I did not buy the component from the mfg, I bought an RV from Grand Design. Grand Design purchased the components as they saw fit for whatever reason and Grand Design is the responsible party to me. When I buy a component from the mfg that's when they will be my contact.

I'm hoping GD's business philosophy will turn around sooner than later. Yes, they have "reacted" well and faithfully so far, but as any military strategist or sports coach knows - wars/games/business success are not won by reactionary forces, winning is the result of strong leadership with a strong offensive game plan. Come on Don, Ron, and Bill ..... step up, show what you're made of. What we want is an Issue with One in a Thousand RV's, not an Issue in every One Thousand RV's.

Dealers are often given the blame, but truth be told; the dealer should not be required to correct construction problems before a sale is possible, only clean the bugs off because there are no problems. That defines "Quality" for RV's. IMO.

Sorry for the rant. I am basically pleased with my Reflection 303RLS. It has some issues that I will not air at this time because I'm giving GD a chance to figure out what went wrong. I want to see Grand Design building and selling quality products for many years to come. Hopefully they listen to their customers .... the end-user. We are the ones that make the paychecks at GD possible. We want to keep funding those checks.

R. Kaiser

[thompsons 369rl]

This is a thread that I hope Grand Design management/ownership gets to see. I believe it reflects the sentiment of so many RV owners that it should not be ignored.

Chris, If there is a way this thread can be made visible to those at GD that should see it, I for one would appreciate it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.

Andy & Julie

[Steve and Cill]

Chris, If there is a way this thread can be made visible to those at GD that should see it, I for one would appreciate it.


Andy & Julie

No problem Andy, moved to Tech Corner!

Steve

[thompsons 369rl]

Thank you, Steve!

[Lingerlonger]

Some good, cogent thoughts here. Would hope to see a candid response from GDRV management/owners.

I guess I've been lucky to not have a repair issue that kept me from using the 5W. Just nuisance stuff that needed to be fixed.
Some I have taken care of myself (blown fuses, tightening water connections/leaks, fixing some loose trim, etc.)
I have had it in to the dealer twice. They are 75 miles away. I had to wait 30 days each time to get an appointment, but they
only kept it 2-3 days each time. My last call to the dealer, they said I would have to wait until Jan to do some things and March
for the others because they involved de-winterizing the plumbing in order to fix. The most critical one for me was getting the
fireplace repaired. Dealer suggested I pull the fireplace out and just bring that in. That saved me a bunch of time AND FUEL.

Every time I get a customer satisfaction survey from the dealer I tell them they need to shorten their wait times.

I remain optimistic, but I do hope everything that is gonna fail does so soon and while still under warranty.
Then I won't hesitate to take it to my local place where the wait times are much shorter.

This forum is terrific for giving us a heads-up on common failures to keep an eye out for.
The strap for the propane line under the kitchen slide that breaks is a perfect example. I would not have noticed
that mine was failing until it broke completely if I had not been keeping an eye on it.

K

[redram]

I made an appointment for Nov 4. I had wheel grease seals leaking. They checked and found the right front leaking and the right rear had leaked the grease in the brake drums. I called the over a week ago and they said Grand Design sent the wrong parts. So over three weeks and no RV. Don

[Bill Fenech]

Hi Everyone:

Darn, I really hate reading these comments. I'm so proud of what we are doing at Grand Design and I truly feel we are raising the bar on quality and customer service. However, these are real issues that we need to hear about and understand so we can get better. I really appreciate the feedback and I assure you all that we will be looking into how we can improve. We will also respond with some specific items that we have addressed or will be addressing. It's late Wednesday and tomorrow is Thanksgiving so it may be next week before we can reply properly.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and please have patience and keep the faith in Grand a Design RV.

Sincerely,

Bill Fenech
Co-Owner

[thompsons 369rl]

Thank you Mr. Fenech. The faith I keepeth

Wishing you, your family and the entire Grand Design team a Happy Thanksgiving.

[TucsonJim]

Terrific Bill. Happy Thanksgiving to you.

Jim

[gws154]

Thank you for taking the time to read these comments. I appreciate it!