Phillips RV of Bourbonnais Phillips Chevrolet of Bradley Didnt do the work we paid them for - wanted us to come back... the issues were the wrong amp fuse and unattached wires Bradley il

On July 31st, following extensive damage to the underside of our popup hybrid Cub camper on the highway, we camped nearby and was recommended by the Kankakee KOA to contact Phillips RV.  We called Phillips RV, spoke to Jeff Workman and informed him we were looking to have only the water pump and heater repaired/rewired; any remaining repairs would occur after we arrived home.  Jeff predicted that those would only take a couple hours to repair.

On August 1, 2019, we brought our camper to Phillips RV at 8am, as Jeff told us to do the day before. At 9am, it was brought into the shop; he said the mechanic came in late at 9am rather than 8am. Shortly after 3pm it was FINALLY “ready”.  Of course, several of the salesmen, as well as Jeff, mentioned that “we could always just get a new one.”

 Jeff told us that they found more wiring damage that needed repair – I had told them they could just staple the wires out of the way; we were not concerned about the cosmetics (after all, we are camping…).  Jeff mentioned we could apply the insurance money to a new one, especially after they had found “more extensive wiring damage” than expected. We declined as we like our camper – and it is paid for.

While waiting, we also had the truck’s air conditioner looked at.  Due to the unexpected expenses of the camper (roadside assistance, a new tire, service charge on the RV side), we declined.  We asked about applying the $169.95 to the $347.22, since we did in fact, have work done at Phillips, just not on the truck.  We were told that is not possible because they are separate departments.

We were so aggravated at spending the entire day in the showroom that we immediately departed for our destination, Michigan.  When we reached our destination at 11PM, setting up in the dark, we realize that NEITHER the water pump NOR the heater had been fixed. Seven hours in the dealership and $347.22 later – what we asked for WAS NOT FIXED. 

The following morning, we were able to investigate the camper to try to see what may have been missed.  Imagine our SHOCK to find two disconnected and exposed (one red, one yellow) wires by the heater/thermostat. When I called the next day, Jeff was EXCEPTIONALLY RUDE and HIGHLY UNPROFESSIONAL. He told us it was OUR responsibility to be sure everything is working before we left the parking lot [I reminded him that people usually can trust their mechanic, giving the analogy of how no one checks the oil filter on their car following an oil change]. Interestingly, their invoice states “we guarantee our services for 90 days or 4,000 miles, whichever comes first”.

Jeff told us we needed to bring the camper BACK TO THEM for them to fix it and tried to convince us that Kankaee, IL is on the way to/from Michigan and Macomb IL, that we needed to “plan for unexpected situations and that sometimes you need to make a detour” – and we had, which is how we ended there in the first place.  There was NO WAY we would go back to the dealership since they could not correctly fix the problem in the 6 hours they had the camper in the shop when we only asked for 2 things to be fixed, and those 2 things were not fixed.

The next day, we also found a ONE AMP fuse was placed in the fuse connector for the water pump.  Since everything else in the camper required a 15 – 30 amp fuse, and we had a 15 amp fuse, I replaced it to check for improvement.  Shockingly, IT WORKED.

Jeff used words like “oh, so you’re just gonna take the money and run, huh” (because there was no way we would let them do any work – since they didn’t fix anything the first time), accusing us of insurance fraud when I asked him to increase the estimate following his statement that they found more extensive damage than anticipated [of which we immediately notified State Farm], and that his mechanic has kids he needs to feed so giving us a credit takes away food from his family.  My wife told him we wanted a refund; he said that he has 1-2 people a week claiming their repairs didn’t work… this sounds like a pattern of concern to me.

Pictures of the wiring were sent to Jeff stating that unless we were issued a credit, she (my wife) would notify everyone of their fraudulent business practices.  Jeff’s response was “oh, are you trying to blackmail me?” He was supposed to contact his manager and get back to us and never has.  You are now among those being notified.

So after spending SEVEN HOURS in the dealership and $517.17 ($347.22 in the RV service department + 169.65 in the automotive service department), they wanted us to come back to replace what they know was the wrong amp fuse and to reconnect the wiring.

Lastly, State Farm notified us today that our claim was delayed due to the “inflated labor rate” which was ultimately reduced by nearly $1000.  I have no doubt they would have charged us the amount they originally listed:

• 8 HOURS to repair a wheel well
• 5 hours for wiring repairs
• 8 HOURS to “rebuild” shower surround that only has a stool and a shower drain with one hole in the floor

21 HOURS of repair work @ $159.95 per hour + parts & tax  = $3793.01