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  1. #1
    Fireside Member gws154's Avatar
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    Warranty Work Taking Several Weeks

    I took my 2015 Solitude 369RL to the local dealer, from where the unit was purchased, with a punch list of twelve warranty items for their attention. It has taken about four weeks for the dealer to order the necessary replacement parts, and who knows how long it will take to receive the parts and do the actual work. My question is, has anyone experienced warranty service by taking their unit back to the factory? Is that an option? I'm getting incredibly frustrated by my dealership, and I now regret purchasing from them. I still love my Solitude, and hope to see it again some day. Any help would be appreciated.
    Greg & Sherry
    Stormy - Beagle/Springer Spaniel
    2015 Solitude 369 RL #2950
    2013 GMC 2500 HD Diesel

  2. #2
    Site Sponsor Dave and Monica's Avatar
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    That's a tough call as the only time that the dealer is busier than now is the spring when everyone what their camper ready go camping. That's one of the reasons that I'll fix most things myself including having GD send me parts. Some will say 'that's not right...it's under warranty' but I'd rather have it available to camp instead of sitting in a dealer's lot. As far as getting it fixed at the factory, I think you'll find them just as busy as any dealer but the advantage would be close access to parts.

    Dave
    Dave and Monica - Gore Bay, Ontario
    Vitus the Hungarian Vizsla
    2014 Reflection 337 RLS #129
    2008 F250 V10 CC Lariat RWD

  3. #3
    Site Sponsor thompsons 369rl's Avatar
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    I don't know, but 4 weeks sounds like a long time unless there were some major repairs required. What about the "Pledge" (see link) that GD made a big deal of. Does it only apply to "traveling" campers? The most common excuse many of us hear when a dealer has had our rig for weeks on end is "I'm still waiting for authorization to do the repairs" or "I ordered the parts weeks ago and still haven't received them". I agree with Dave. It's often way easier to just DIY rather than to listen to what often seem to be lame excuses. Don't get me wrong. I think Grand Design is by far the best company and product out there, BUT, I also think that there is a serious lack of Dealer accountability
    http://www.rvbusiness.com/2014/10/gr...ners-pledge-2/
    Andy & Julie
    Gig Harbor, Wa
    2014 Solitude 369RL S/N 104
    2012 F350 SWR 4x4 CC 6.7 Diesel

  4. #4
    Site Sponsor Cate&Rob's Avatar
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    Andy . . . well said.

    GD is being totally reactive rather than proactive WRT preventative maintenance and information for DIY.
    For example, when I roll in my slides, I can see slight depressions in the flooring where the traveling rollers are.
    Given the floor damage encountered by others, I asked GD by email what I could do to adjust to prevent damage.
    Their response is that I should schedule a service visit with my selling dealer. I am 2000 miles from my selling dealer.
    This is obviously not an "emergency" need that fits their dealer pledge.
    So . . . either I will figure this out myself or the floor will get damaged and GD will spend a lot of money fixing this under warranty.
    Doesn't seem like the best solution for either of us . . .

    Rob
    Cate & Rob
    2015 Reflection 303RLS

  5. #5
    Site Sponsor Dave and Monica's Avatar
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    The 'Pledge' says priority servicing for travelling GD owners...doesn't seem to limit work to emergency only, though in practice I suspect that's the case.

    Dave
    Dave and Monica - Gore Bay, Ontario
    Vitus the Hungarian Vizsla
    2014 Reflection 337 RLS #129
    2008 F250 V10 CC Lariat RWD

  6. #6
    King Pin
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    The dealerships ARE the weak link in GD's quality assurance. I refuse to take my rig to the dealer unless there is no physical way I can perform the repairs myself. I'm an engineer and I've been involved in manufacturing for over 30 years, so there's not much I can't tackle. My dealership (Lazydays) is inept, non-responsive and unprofessional. They lied to me, and did more damage than they fixed. I painfully learned my lesson the one and only time I took it in for service. I gave the dealership a very detailed list of what needed to be fixed. They told me it was all taken care of and I could pick up the 337. When I picked it up, less than half of the scheduled work had actually been performed. I had to repair the problems such as electrical outlets falling out myself. To top it off, they damaged the interior of the rig by getting ink on the walls and then tried to remove it with bleach. One of the interior panels will never look right again, and will cause a loss if and when I trade the unit in.

    To top it off, it's very frustrating when you need a part for warranty work, GD responds that you can only get the parts from the dealership. I'm saving GD a ton of money when I do the repairs myself, and the least they could do is ship the parts directly to me so I don't have to deal with the delays and bureaucracy of the dealer.

    Am I frustrated? Yes, and the more I hear about pathetic dealerships, the more frustrated I become. I know I need some warranty work, but I'm dreading taking the rig back to the dealer so they can get their grubby hands onto it.

    GD, the dealerships are your WEAK LINK. What do you plan to do about it?

    Jim

  7. #7
    Site Sponsor Cate&Rob's Avatar
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    So . . . we rolled into the Lazy Days campground near Tampa, thinking that we could talk to them about a couple of concerns.
    (Apparently they are the largest GD dealer) Nothing we have is "urgent" . . . grey tank capacity and potential floor damage.
    This is an amazing 200 bay service facility . . . I've never seen anything like this !
    Our choices were to "declare an emergency situation" . . . which this is clearly not . . . or schedule an appointment . . . for March.
    As GD RV owners, we are all trying to protect our own situations. Tires/floors/tank capacities/ride height/etc.
    GD could leverage DIY by making service information much more available. They are choosing not to do this.

    Rob
    Cate & Rob
    2015 Reflection 303RLS

  8. #8
    Fireside Member gws154's Avatar
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    Thank you all for your thoughts. The "we're still waiting for authorization" and "the parts aren't here yet" have been combined with "there's a glitch in the Grand Design system" at my dealership. I suppose that I need to remember that the bar is set very, very low in the industry.
    A local dealer that sells brands other than GD had always treated me well when I had a Fleetwood product. Once my warranty period is over, I'll use them when practical.
    Thanks again one an all, for the great input!
    Greg & Sherry
    Stormy - Beagle/Springer Spaniel
    2015 Solitude 369 RL #2950
    2013 GMC 2500 HD Diesel

  9. #9
    Site Sponsor Dave and Monica's Avatar
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    Those could be excuses offered to cover their own ineptness. Just saying...

    Dave
    Dave and Monica - Gore Bay, Ontario
    Vitus the Hungarian Vizsla
    2014 Reflection 337 RLS #129
    2008 F250 V10 CC Lariat RWD

  10. #10
    Long Hauler Canyonlight's Avatar
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    Tucson Jim and others--as Melissa Francis on Fox Business says, “it’s always about money”……..she may be right.

    Back in July of this year we were told by our local dealer that he would not complete warranty work on our RV until January of 2015........6 months ……really ? Since we have known him for many years, he has always been and was quite open and candid in his feedback. He shared what seems to be a fairly common response that since we did not buy the RV from him, our warranty service unless critical will not be a priority……..but 6 months ? He went on to share that since warranty work (all manufacturers) does not pay enough to cover his service department costs, it is a low priority vs completing other higher paying work unless he sold the RV where his profit helps to offset the deficiency.

    Our situation may have also been the first one for GDRV warranty dealing with us as second owners having purchased a used 303 directly from the original owner 400 miles from our home. We wanted to buy from our local dealer but obviously could not. We were ready to buy a new 337 from our local dealer but the deal on the 303 with all the dealer installed options and hitch included was too good to pass up. Having a RV industry first as I understand it, for GDRV to have a transferable one year warranty is huge but only if you can get a non selling dealer to work on it in a reasonable timeframe. As an aside, we did spend nearly $1000 with our local GDRV dealer buying from them and having them install hitch custom bed and frame rails and wiring, but apparently that did not account for enough profit to offset completing warranty work in a reasonable timeframe.

    The auto industry used to have similar challenges but in the last decade or so auto dealers are more than happy to complete warranty work in a timely manner no matter whether they sold the vehicle or not. Our local GDRV dealer said this is because the auto industry has changed the business model to pay dealers enough to cover their warranty work service costs and of course we as consumers pay for that. If his feedback is correct, is that the easy answer for the RV industry to charge more for the product so owners receive timely and good service no matter where they bought the RV. If the auto dealership still operates under the old school culture that if you did not buy from us don’t expect priority service, that’s another issue that should not exist and needs to be rectified.

    Waiting months for any service and/or getting poor service is unacceptable. For us, the solution for our warranty work to be completed in a reasonable timeframe and working with the superior GDRV customer service team, I identified another local non GDRV dealer who was more than accommodating to handle our warranty work and GDRV said go for it. Two weeks later we had our RV in for warranty work and the dealer working with GDRV customer service got things done and done well. Incidentally, the service department manager and dealership owner were most impressed with the GDRV product………go figure !!!

    We as owners need to share feedback (not to chastise dealers/others) but to learn why things are the way they are and then have the industry/dealers/owners work towards mutual solutions. My hats off to Chris our site owner for the true mission of this site to share information to ultimately improve the RV experience and product.

    Dan
    Dan & Carol
    2014 303RLS Reflection #185 (10/2013 build)
    2012 Silverado LTZ Crew Duramax 2500HD
    2700/16K Pullrite Superglide

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