camping world of council bluffs iowa Ridden hard and put away wet! council bluffs Iowa

My wife and I went to Camping World of Council Bluffs Iowa to trade our older 5th wheel in for a travel trailer.

We were met by a gentleman named Joe Woods who said that he was sure he could find us what we wanted.  After viewing several trailers he kept bringing us back to the same 5th wheel that he said was the best deal on the lot and was well within our budget.

We ended up buying a 2015 Dutchman Denali 316RES. 

During the meeting with Scott Ryan, Sales Manager, we were told that the original warranty didn't transfer to the second owner except for the chassis. He then stated that "You know nothing ever happens to the chassis".  He then proceded to sell us the new and exciting Marcus Lemonis Camping World-Good Sams Elite Warranty that can only be purchased by people who buy from Camping World.

We later were to find out after reading the owners manual and talking to Dutchman  that the warranty does transfer to a second owner but only for the original twelve (12) month period. (This was misleading statement number one).

I towed the trailer home to southern Iowa, about 120 miles from Camping World, and proceeded to sanitize the water system so we could head west for the winter and a camp ground host position that I was already late for.

I drained the water and added fresh water and the sanitizing solution to the system.  After waiting the required time I proceede to run the water through the faucets to sanitize them.  The bathroom sink and shower faucets were done first and I proceeded to the kitchen. When I turned on the faucet and the water started it also started to come out from under the island and run all over the floor.  I immeadiately turned the water off and tried to find the problem.  As I was taking the front panel off the island I noticed the screw holes seemed elongated like they had been removed a few time before.  After removing the panel I found that the spray nozzel hose on the faucet wasn't completely tight.

I called Camping World and informed them of the situation and was told to bring it back and they would see what they could do to fix the problem.  I told them I wasn't going to drive that far and back and that I would just fix it myself.

The first night we stopped the kitchen slide wouldn't go out.  The back motor worked but the front motor stopped.  I contacted Camping World and was told that there was a manual overide located somewhere in the rv.  It had to be inside as it needed to be away from moisture.  When I asked where this module was I was told they had no idea as companies put them all over the inside of rv's.

Being tired and as it was getting late we decide to go to bed.  In the middle of the night I sat up in bed and my wife asked what I was doing.  I told her that I remembered seeing a box with wires in it un der the kitchen island while I was repairing the faucet.  (Remember this scenario for later).

I located the control module and followed the procedure to set the slide on overide and was able to get the slide back in so we could at least travel.  I also read how to trouble shoot to see what was wrong.  After following all the steps the little chart said there was a short in the wire to the slide motor.

In the morning I called Camping World and informed them what I had done and that I would be in Salt Lake City, Ut by ten (10) in the morning.  I asked them to contact the Camping World there to see if they could fix our problem. 

I was contacted by Camping World and told that they had been trying to reach CW Ut by phone, email and text with no luck.  I stated that since it was eleven (11) o'clock we were going to get something to eat, take our dogs for a walk and rest in hopes that they would reach them.

My phone rang at two (2) o'clock and was told that they had finally reached the CW manager in Ut but were told that the service department closes at one (1) o'clock on Saturdays.

I then informed them I would be going through Las Vegas in a few hours and to try and contact one of the two (2) stores there.  It hadn't been but a few minutes and my phone rang.  CW CB said they had reached Las Vegas and the manager there said they were booked up for the next month but since it was a emergency of sorts he would work me in.  The only problem was that the date they gave me was seventeen (17) days away.  I told them that I was going to my RV park because the warranty states that if I go to there repair facility it cost me $50.00 and if I have the repair man come to me it was $100.00.  So for the extra $50.00 I could at least have a place for my wife and pups to stay.

After arriving at the RV park the manager that I was going to work for called a repair facility that was authorized to do warranty work.  They came out the next day.  When the repair man arrived we discussed what had happened.  He then called Lippert Ind. and got a technician on the speaker phone to walk him through the repair.  He was told to get on top of the slide inside and to move the rubber seal in the corner to find the motor.

The repair man got up on the slide and said I think I found the problem.  I also see someone has been up here before because the rubber seal has been tore.  There is nothing wrong with the motor it has only come unplugged and who ever was up here before tried to tape the plug in but it didn't hold.

When he got down the Lippert tech asked for the vin number again.  After we gave it to him he said I hate to tell you this but that unit has been in for service before (Now remember the earlier scenario I told you to remember) to repair a shorted control module due to a leaking faucet.  It seems whoever replaced the control module didn't bother to fix the same leaking sink that I had encountered.

Since the motor wasn't bad the insurance wouldn't cover anything so I had to write a check for $346.64.  I contacted CW and informed them what had happened.  The next day Scott Ryan contacted me and stated that he had just come from a staff meeting and while they weren't calling it the (Ron's) list they had been given a two (2) page list of everything that had to be checked before a unit was put on the lot for sale.  I said I was shocked that they didn't already inspect units before putting them up for sale.

Scott then said that he was told to send me a check for $350.00 to which I said no it was only $346.64.  Scott then said that before he could send the check, he was going to email me a letter to sign which would stste that by signing I was saying that the problem was solved and that was the end of it.

I REFUSED BECAUSE I SAID I DIDN'T KNOW IF THE PROBLEM WAS SOLVED.

Due to my wife getting ill we had to relocate to Las Vegas.

Upon arriving, I set up the RV and proceeded to run out the slides only to find the front motor on the kitchen slide not working.  I jumped up on the slide and saw it unplugged again but when I tried to plug it back in I noticed the wire had also broken.  I was going to try to splice them but since they are as thin or thinner than a human hair I couldn't repair it.

I contacted dutchman to get the name of a certified repair facility in Las Vegas.  It was at this time that I found out the warranty did transfer to a second owner.  I said that was good because I hasd already paid a bundle for nothing.  I told Dutchman that the contract I signed with CW showed that my unit went into service 01-04-2015  so I still had two (2) months left on the warranty.

I was then informed by Dutchman that it didn't matter what was on my contract but my unit  we actually went into service  11-28-2014.

This was the second falsehood CW world had pulled on me but this time it was in writing.

I contacted the Marcus Rapid Response Team and was told that they would look into it and to keep them informed. (Iv'e kept them informed all the way to no avail as they have done nothing to help the situation.

I eventually emailed Mr Lemonis and informed him that he ought to remove the "IS" off the end of his name as his RV lots are selling "LEMONS".

By the time we returned to Iowa I had made a list of some twenty=two (22) items that needed repair like CW had told me to do and dropped my unit off to be fixed only to find that my elite warranty didn't cover half them.

Just to list a few of the items that are wrong:

1)  Lamenent on washer dryer cabinet separating:  Unit wasn't vented to the outside.

2)  Whe I tried to flush the black tank I flooded the bathroom, hallway and bedroom because the two (2) water lines under the bathroom sink hadn't been connected.

CW called me the other day and said they were almost done but that my share of the repair cost (They originally started at $1000.00) was going to be $400.00 with me having to repair several items on my own.

I've contacted a lawyer but he said CW's as is clause in the contract is pretty tight but if we could show misleading or false statements we might have a case.  I feel the warranty issue and wrong in service date should qualify but who knows what a court will decide.

Thanks for allowing me to rant/