Customer Service or Lack of it. Thoughts please.

[JKellerJr]

I know this has been addressed before , but to me this is the single biggest flaw in the Rv industry. When you have a warranty issue with a car / truck , you don’t have to go thru Delphi , Aisin , Koyo , Brembo, or whoever the parts were sourced from. The final assembler takes responsibility. I haven’t had any major warranty repairs on either of our GD fifth wheels , but I can certainly understand an owner’s frustration with having to track down individual suppliers.
Charlie

I know a lot of people think this way but its not the same industry(fortunately or unfortunately). Its its own animal. Its not really a car or a house, its a house on wheels. When you have a problem with you refrigerator at home you call the refrigerator manufacturer not the builder (same with pretty much all of the parts sourced to build the house). I can see it from both points of view but its what it is, for better or worse.

[minnow101]

These folks replace replace cooling units and are located in Goshen


https://jc-refrigeration.com/

[Dakota]

I know this has been addressed before , but to me this is the single biggest flaw in the Rv industry. When you have a warranty issue with a car / truck , you don’t have to go thru Delphi , Aisin , Koyo , Brembo, or whoever the parts were sourced from. The final assembler takes responsibility. I haven’t had any major warranty repairs on either of our GD fifth wheels , but I can certainly understand an owner’s frustration with having to track down individual suppliers.
Charlie

Thank you. That was my thought as well. When I had a problem with a heater I bought at Home Depot I returned it to Home Depot and not the manufacturer.

[Dakota]

Thanks to everyone who replied. I am stocking a purchased cooler with ice and a second one with dry ice for the frozen meats. It will cost $20-30 every couple days to keep things cold and frozen. The coolers were $100. The money is not a huge issue, but the inconvenience is. We have one more trip planned after this to northern Minnesota and then I’ll schedule the replacement with the local dealer we purchased from. They said it could be January before they can get a replacement unit.

[gs9219]

Mike & Linda, so sorry you are going through this. I have 100% empathy having just gone through this with our new Solitude 310GK-R. The difference being that it was with Samsung---we lovingly call them "Samdung" now. It makes me tired just thinking about recapping our nightmare with a failing Samsung refrigerator. We picked up our rig on 7/30/21 and were gone for a month. The fridge failed over 8 times. The thing is, Grand Design customer service was the most effective at mitigating the problem for us though it was mainly Samsung's responsibility. Samsung nearly drove us to tears as they wear you down until you almost want to go away and accept your losses as ridiculous as that is. Your post highlights what we wrote to the CEO of Grand Design---the 3-way responsibility between Grand Design, Dealer, and component manufacturer does not work. The poor customer (poor because these rigs are not cheap) is stuck between them all with no way out! (We eventually got Samsung to reimburse for a low retail value of the refrigerator; Grand Design covered the difference between that and a new purchase after we called and begged for an "intervention" by them to Samsung :-).

[Craw15385]

Our 310GK-R is new. picked up from dealer in September of this year. All was good at walkthrough with Samsung fridge. Even making ice during walkthrough..
Two weeks later fridge stops cooling. Contacted Samsung and they sent tech to check. Seems that the compressor locked up. Tech wrote up to replace compressor if available or replace entire unit whichever was available 1st. After many text messages stating that unit would be replaced and to call to make arrangement for swap, I call to set up and now they ( Samsung) wants to refund the retail purchase amount of $1087.00.
Dealer build sheet shows cost of $3101.00. Told Samsung no deal until I talk to Grand Design about difference in cost.
5Th wheel is 200 miles from dealer and don't want to drag it back and leave until resolved.
Anyone else have Samsung offer a refund instead of replacement?
I guess I will also be responsible for removing and disposing of existing unit.

[titanxd]

I am a GD owner on my 2nd GD 5th wheel. I have close friends with 2022 Solitudes who had to fight to get even a mobile tech to help and warranty from Grand Design without their famous new saying (bring it to the dealer for help).

I think it is just a matter of time before dealers say either build a better product or revamp your warranty procedures or get off my lot I will sell something else. It also time for people to stop spending 110k on a new 5th wheel....are you kidding.......and then hassle their customers about warranty claims because you can't understand quality control.

[gs9219]

Your situation is pretty identical to ours. See the post before yours, #15 . In short, between GD and Samsung we acquired reimbursement for the purchase of an identical, but working, unit at Home Depot. We have yet to make the swap; quite a puzzle to move that puppy once it's in there. Our plan, once the new one is in place is to try to have the old one repaired and make it one of our garage refrigerators---if possible. The $3101 figure, we surmise, is part of an almost useless sheet of paper. There is no way GD paid that figure for this refrigerator; they may have charged you that but they didn't pay that. We spoke with customer service regarding obtaining 'the real' figure and found it impossible to obtain which we figure led to GD voluntarily offering to send us the difference between Samsung's refund offer and regular retail on the unit. Feel free to privately message me for more details if you'd like.

[JKellerJr]

I am a GD owner on my 2nd GD 5th wheel. I have close friends with 2022 Solitudes who had to fight to get even a mobile tech to help and warranty from Grand Design without their famous new saying (bring it to the dealer for help).

I think it is just a matter of time before dealers say either build a better product or revamp your warranty procedures or get off my lot I will sell something else. It also time for people to stop spending 110k on a new 5th wheel....are you kidding.......and then hassle their customers about warranty claims because you can't understand quality control.

Unfortunately its been this way for as long as I can remember and I have been rv'ing for well over 30 years. Unless dealers don't want to sell anything there is no other option. GD is considered on one the better options for customer service and at the very least average for quality.

[geotex1]

Your situation is pretty identical to ours. See the post before yours, #15 . In short, between GD and Samsung we acquired reimbursement for the purchase of an identical, but working, unit at Home Depot. We have yet to make the swap; quite a puzzle to move that puppy once it's in there. Our plan, once the new one is in place is to try to have the old one repaired and make it one of our garage refrigerators---if possible. The $3101 figure, we surmise, is part of an almost useless sheet of paper. There is no way GD paid that figure for this refrigerator; they may have charged you that but they didn't pay that. We spoke with customer service regarding obtaining 'the real' figure and found it impossible to obtain which we figure led to GD voluntarily offering to send us the difference between Samsung's refund offer and regular retail on the unit. Feel free to privately message me for more details if you'd like.

Nothing to discuss. That is the cost of the refrigerator. The rest of GD's price is related to the inveter and associated wiring and ice maker plumbing. What you actually need to take up with GD, since you are in warranty, is labor to remove and install a new fridge. That wouldn't be covered by Samsung regardless, and GD will tell you to schedule with your dealer or maybe authorize a mobile tech. However, know upfront that mobile techs hate R&R of refrigerators! With the steady business techs are having, don't be surprised if you are met by "thank you, but no thank you."