On October 26, 2016 we purchased a new 2017 Winnebago Via from Camping World in Wood Village, Oregon. We noted several issues at the time of purchase and made arrangements for all of these to be serviced prior to bringing the RV home to Ridgefield, Washington. These issues included the inability to get hot water, application of Crystal Fusion to the windshield and interior and exterior protective coatings, as well as installation of satellite dishes and “wallies”, and a tow package. The dealership had the coach until mid-November. On our first use of the RV in November, we had no hot water, the window wipers failed in a severe thunderstorm making it difficult to drive home, and none of our phone calls were returned. We had to wait until December 14, 2016 for an appointment. The dealership returned the RV to us on January 24, 2017 stating that “there was nothing wrong with the water heater”.
In reviewing the work order for that visit we noted that they did not start work on the RV until December 22, 2016 and that the water heater needed a
“sensor”, however it needed to be replaced or ordered and they “had not been able to reach Winnebago”. There is no indication that they actually did order or replace the sensor or that they verified the heater was working. NOTE: they also charged us for “winterizing” while it sat on their lot without being serviced.
On Feb 27, 2017 we returned to the Service Department because the water heater still did not provide hot water. At pick up we asked manager Mike Theurer to verify with us that the hot water heater worked, since the paperwork indicated “verified and working”. Mike could not get it to work. Senior technician “Larry” (a great resource!) determined the gas valve assembly was preventing gas flow to the burner and it needed removal/replacement. More waiting until this could be accomplished.
We used the RV several times following that repair and the water heater did work, although we rarely used the shower because the resorts we stayed at had excellent shower facilities.
We took a 6 week cross country trip in April/May this year, 2019, and once again the water heater failed to work. We could not get an appointment until June 4, 2019 at which time the dealership agreed the heater was not working and after ordering a second new valve assembly it was replaced a second tome July 8, 2019! When we arrived to pick up the coach, we were informed that actually the work wasn’t started. We live 30 miles away form the dealership and expressed our unhappiness that we wasted a trip when nothing was done (not the first time this happened). The manager made arrangements for one of the techs to deliver the RV to us on his way home. Due to a heavy rain and the statements that the hot water worked, we placed the RV in the RV garage and did not verify the function.
On our next trip, we had a short episode of hot water, then nothing, causing us to cancel the next trip August 4, 2019. During a phone call, the manager stated that it is normal for the hot water to start out very hot then get colder. We don’t believe this is a good answer not that it applies in our situation. There was no suggestion that we bring it in. So, a very expensive RV which we cannot enjoy since purchase– no hot water and many other issues.
A second major issue is that the GPS system has failed multiple times, as has the radio application. The NAV card and Head Unit have been replaced in 2017. On our April/May 2019 trip this happened again. The service department gave us the phone number of the vendor to call ourselves. Why? We have extended warranties on just about everything, so not sure why this is handed off to us. The system has not been fixed.
Lastly, the salesman who sold us the RV in 2016, and the individual (Mickey) who completed all the paperwork for the purchase, the required repairs, etc. were both fired. Of critical importance is that Mickey was new and failed to document the spelling of our last name correctly or to transmit the purchase details/additional purchase installations to the service department. We discovered this after numerous calls to the dealership, to Good Sam, DMV, insurance, etc. We finally went in and viewed the actual paperwork between the sales and the service departments and discovered that “Mickey” had misspelled our last name as “Everette” and thus no connection in the dealership’s computer system had been possible. What a mess this was! We find it impossible to understand why a large corporation like Camping World does not have checks/systems in place to assure these mistakes do not happen. Paying a large amount of money for a product we could not use was not appreciated.
We have many questions about ongoing warranty coverage, as well as how to get the hot water system, the GPS system, and other concerns handled once and for all. We have numerous documents and letters sent to Winnebago, Camping World, and Marcus Lemonis as evidence of the ongoing issues for your review. We do have many more issues related to this specific RV but in keeping this initial letter short, we have not included all of these.
We hope that you find our letter worthy of including us as one of the 5 contestants selected for your assistance! Thanks in advance for considering us. Sincerely, Sheila Everett