Camping World / Forest River Review (Spoiler Alert- Its bad)

[Dave911]

Lets just start this off with, I know.....I should have listened to all the reviews. Lesson learned. This is a multi-review of both the dealer and the camper itself (You'll understand when you read it).



Let this be a learning moment for those researching camper dealers, or campers in general. I'll take you on a brief story about my "time" with Camping World and Forest River.



So my family and I decided we wanted a camper. I work in public safety and my wife is a nurse manager so we wanted to go a step above our every now and then tent camping weekends with the kids. I was told by a friend that Forest Rivers were decent campers, so off we went to our local dealer.....Camping World. They were located on Alcoa Highway south of Knoxville Tennessee, but are moving to Exit 407 on I-40 in Sevierville.



We were greeted at the door by a receptionist who makes sure she gets all your info to spam your phone and email before you can even talk to someone. I suggest give them a fake email and phone number unless you're sure you are purchasing from there. We are introduced to a salesman, asked a few questions about what we want, and we were off to the lot.


We had our eyes on the View series and really liked the 2024 28' model. After a few days of shopping around, we decided to look into it more heavily and see what price we could get. All in all the price point and monthly payments were ok, so we decided to go for it.


Now. You would think a salesman would MAKE SURE that trailer can be hauled by the customers truck right? No. Didnt ask until the day I was supposed to sign paperwork. THEN has the audacity to state "Well where can we deliver it to since you cant tow it?" Yes, let me buy a brand new camper AND truck. The wife will approve that no problem. (Thats sarcasm......)



Well, we had already gave a $500 deposit (which we were verbally told is refundable, but apparently is not), and I didnt feel like loosing that much money on behalf of an idiot salesman. They also would not refund it because its our issues if we couldnt tow the trailer. Fair enough.


So we found an XDBUD 2024 model we liked and could tow. So lets jump to purchase day...


My name on the paperwork was wrong. The PRICE was wrong. The down payment was wrong.



Did you know that any deposit needs to be a cashiers check? We didnt until the day before. Had to have it overnighted because we used an out of state bank (Navy Federal).



Tried to sell me the extra warranty....no thanks. Then this $1000 "Vacation ready" package. Well whats in it? They say its a Good Sam membership, propane, making sure your camper is ready to go camping out the door, a walk around making sure you know how to use it, and a $100 gift card to the store.


Well, I took it.



Fast forward to the "walk around". The service guy was completely UN-interested, and high. Did a terrible job and couldnt answer basic questions.


Drove the unit home.


Wife and I started to set it up. Front jack was broken. Ok. Being a new camper owner, I didnt realize I should have checked the jacks too. Thats on me I guess. Continued to set it up (jack was safely down just had some issues), and my wife took her shoes off getting in the camper.


Well, the carpet on the slideout was SOAKED. On further investigation...there was mold under the carpet on the plywood. Mind you, this is a NEW camper not USED.


We continued to set things up and test everything. Here is our list of things we had issues with:


1. Jack damaged
2. Water/mold problem
3. Toilet would not hold water OR spray water
4. Both front transverse compartments would not lock
5. Outside blackstone grill would not self-ignite
6. Oven wouldnt turn on.


So, contacted the dealership, they didnt really care. Finally got someone from Forest River to call me back, and she was nice and helpful. Dealership took the camper back, and I was told everything would be covered under warranty.


It has been a few weeks since they have had the camper. Last Friday, I was told I could pick it up and it was ready.


Today I drove 45 mins there. Waited around for them to get it out. Then went to inspect the work. Everything started off fine, until I asked if we could hook it up to water to check the toilet. The work order states "Toilet will not flush or hold water".



Guess what didnt work? You guessed it! The toilet. The service guy comes over dumbfounded. Well something inside the toilet is broken and will take either all day or a few days to get approved and completed.


Why would you not hook the unit up to water to check your work?



45 minute drive home. Day wasted.


I have paid 2 payments already on this camper that I havent been able to use. Forest River has given no sort of compensation or even a glimmer of empathy. Camping World has given no sort of compensation nor does it seem like they care about their customers. Its VERY aggravating not being able to use a camper that was supposed to be "Ready to go" and I had paid $1000 to make sure of. A camper that had a major water seal issue on the slide out to which had water damage and mold. BRAND NEW CAMPER.


After really looking at the quality of work that was done inside the camper....I'd say Forest Rivers quality has gone by the wayside.


Staples all over, crooked pieces of wood and cabinetry, laminate pealing, etc.



I've learned my lesson. I will try to get rid of this thing as fast as I can and spread the word about this horrible experience.


0 out of 5 stars. Stay Away.



Please feel free to message me if you have questions. I'd be happy to answer them!


- Dave

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

You’re not the only person to have this sort of thing happen. We bought a brand new 2023. The top three issues we had:

• Generator quit working at 1152 hours.
• Leveling system quit working after 4340 miles.
• Black water tank fell off and spilled 34 gallons of black water.

Our list has about thirty major issues.

A line in a letter I was going to write to the dealer and manufacturer:

You may read this and wonder why we didn’t use the warranty, because between you and the dealer, some of these issues should have been caught and remedied and they weren’t. Both of you let it out the door this way. We just don’t trust you to do the right thing.

Once the sting wears off and you figure out how to fix things yourself, the first trip is extra special.

People here are very generous in helping solve problems. Without their help, we wouldn’t be on the road.

 

[gwinger]

Your first mistake was going to Camping World. Then not getting the refundable deposit is writing.
Everything sounds like they were trying to unload a trailer that they knew had problems.
If you told them this was your first trailer purchase, you left yourself wide open.
Plus 99% of the salesman at CW have never owned a trailer.

 

[Oldgator73]

Yours is a very common experience. I would think twice about trying to unload the unit. You will be upside down money wise. The dealership is making 0$ on your warranty work so they aren’t interested in doing it. Hound the factory until they tell you to bring it to them for the repairs. Or better yet just tell them you are bringing it to the factory and be very specific about what needs to be done. We have had to take our RV’s back to the factory to get things fixed the dealerships wouldn’t or more precisely couldn’t fix; front cap replaced, bent axles, wiring harness replaced, leaking windows. And like somebody else said…learn to fix things yourself.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

Let’s know that just start this off with, I know.....I should have listened to all the reviews. Lesson learned. This is a multi-review of both the dealer and the camper itself (You'll understand when you read it).

I know that there are always a mix of reviews and some people just can’t be pleased, so reviews are often untrue.
In this case, though, I can say that I have never read or heard about a good Camping World experience. We just went to the showroom and the sales “kid” knew very little, was pushy and annoying, and the campers were dirty.
We should pay attention…

 

[Babe2201]

It is too bad that this happened. The only big interaction I have had with CW is selling them a slightly used TT that we no longer needed and it was a great experience. They offered us very close to what I had it on CL for where I got hardly any bites. We were there for a very short time while they did the inspection and a check was IIRC was dropped off by FedEx within a week.

I do know that other buyers have had multiple issues with CW as you did. I do have to say the truck not being able to tow it is on you not the salesman. One of the first things I did when we looked at TT was to contact GM with VIN to get towing capacities to know what I was aiming at.

I am also a little surprised the mold was not noticed on the final walkthrough.

 

[Dave911]

The mold was under the carpet on the slideout. Only way we noticed was when we got it home to clean it, wife took her shoes off and her feet were soaked.

Definitely learned a lesson about a the walk through and how meticulous I should be.

 

[Kirk]

While it's too late for that to help now, I do wish that you had come here before you made your purchase. As you move forward, keep in mind that salespeople are paid a commission based on total price of what they sell, so they are rewarded for getting as much from you as possible, at the lowest possible expense to the dealership. Most salespeople will talk of "situational ethics," which to me is no ethics at all. It is also true that many RV salespeople have no RV experience at all. I don't know that it would be as high as 99% but I do agree that it is probably a majority of them. Salespeople are not paid to be RV experts, only to sell RVs so management really doesn't care what they know as long as they sell. Most of them will say pretty much anything that they believe will get you to buy from them.

You didn't say what the tow vehicle you have is, but most salespeople never even ask, and often will tell you that you can tow with what you have when it isn't true, sometimes a like and others just stupidity.

 

[Kirk]

I worked in field service for a company with commissioned salespeople and a sales manager once told me that the best salesperson is the one that tells the customer to go to hell in such a way that they look forward to the trip.

The F&I (finance & insurance) people are as bad or worse that salespeople as they too are commissioned on what they get you to pay extra for.

 

[1stimerver]

Before purchasing our first TT my DW and I stopped at a number of dealerships. Having decided on a specific one, I contacted RV value mart in Manheim, Pa. (about a 2.5 hour drive from my home) They had the model I was looking for and I set up an appointment, telling them that they had a sale if the price was right. When I arrived I did a 45 minute - plus walk thru with their service manager !!! He knew I was new to TT ownership and took the time to show me not only that everything worked, but how to work them!!! We agreed on a price, a couple of thousand less than the used one I saw in Virginia, and I put down a deposit.
They did their dealer prep thing and 2 days later I returned to pick up a squeaky clean new trailer.. This was in November.

The following summer I was at an RV park nearby and had a problem with my absorption fridge not working on propane. I took the TT to them and told them about the problem. They had a service tech come out to the parking lot and remove a bunch of stink bugs from the combustion chamber. We tested the fridge and It was working great. There was no charge for the 15 minutes of work that they did.
Over the last 7 years, every time I called them for info or advice, they were very helpful.
Cant say enough about the consideration and integrity of the people there. After reading the horror stories posted, I felt that these guys deserved a heartfelt recommendation.

Safe travels and all the best.

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

The mold was under the carpet on the slideout. Only way we noticed was when we got it home to clean it, wife took her shoes off and her feet were soaked.

Definitely learned a lesson about a the walk through and how meticulous I should be.

If there’s mold under the carpet it might be other places as well. Check under the mattress. We had mold under the mattress. People here helped us with that, here’s the thread I started, it has the best mold cleaner/killers we found: Another lesson learned

 

[DutchmenSport]

We purchased 4 different RV's and had good success from each one of them. Then, 5 years ago we purchased our current fifth wheel (in my signature below). In the first year of ownership, I had over 80 different warranty issues. Some were major and was returned to the dealership 3 different times. Each time I returned the service got less and less and I got more and more run-around. (This was NOT Camping World).

The warranty service became so frustrating, I decided to start fixing stuff myself. I think in my first year of ownership, I rebuilt the entire camper (so it seems). But when I got done, I had a really good camper!

Now, don't get me wrong. Wear and tear and thousands upon thousands of miles pounding pavement on some of our nation's most magnificent roadways (sick... throw up here!) have beaten parts loose. But I keep fixing. Every time something else gives way, I realize how shoddy and how cheap the camper was built. Still, my own repairs have held up magnificent! And I would not trade it now for anything .... anything! I've invested too much work and sweat equity into it now.

So, you have 2 choices. Fight the system and try to get it patched up enough you can sell the camper and take a horrible loss financially, or let warranty do what it will then take the bull by the horns and start fixing stuff yourself and turn shoddy work into quality. Once you do, you'll never want to depart with the camper. You'll have it for life!

It's your call. I suggest ... get the screw driver out and make the camper great!

 

[Ohiosnowbird]

myself. I think in my first year of ownership, I rebuilt the entire camper (so it seems). But when I got done, I had a really good camper!

Yep. That’s where we’re headed!

 

[Dave911]

If there’s mold under the carpet it might be other places as well. Check under the mattress. We had mold under the mattress. People here helped us with that, here’s the thread I started, it has the best mold cleaner/killers we found: Another lesson learned

We did. It was thankfully an isolated leak with the seal on the slideout. Either way its documented with them. They said they killed the mold but the camper still isnt ready to be picked up yet.

 

[Martian]

Camping World is now a training ground for new salespeople as good sales people cannot make money there. They instituted a new commission policy that states that in order to get commission a salesperson must sell at least 20% of that month's sales. Sounds wonderful until you discover they try to have at least 15 salespeople on staff. Makes it impossible to get to that 20% mark. Plus the fact that salespeople have been instructed to charge a $400 fee that is disguised as a variety of things but is just there to add $400 to the price. Reputable salespeople walk away from tricks like this so only the sleazy are left.

 

[Skookum]

These things aren't worth the time nor grief. The RV industry is generally broken. Seems like cashing out and never thinking about the rig again might be a good way to go.

 

[DutchmenSport]

These things aren't worth the time nor grief. The RV industry is generally broken. Seems like cashing out and never thinking about the rig again might be a good way to go.

You can always go back to tent camping! It's much more simple and a lot cheaper to maintain!

 

[Ray-IN]

I replied to your post on winnieowners.com 3 days ago. It's time to put on your big boy pants and get past this.
You didn't do your homework before visiting the dealership is the bottom line. All that has been discussed here many times for you to read.

 

[Gr8bawana]

OP-Unless you bought the unit sight unseen you should have been able to see most if not all the problems you listed on your walk-through.
And it is NOT the salesman's' responsibility to make sure you have the right vehicle to tow it with, that is on you.

 

[gwinger]

Before purchasing our first TT my DW and I stopped at a number of dealerships. Having decided on a specific one, I contacted RV value mart in Manheim, Pa. (about a 2.5 hour drive from my home) They had the model I was looking for and I set up an appointment, telling them that they had a sale if the price was right. When I arrived I did a 45 minute - plus walk thru with their service manager !!! He knew I was new to TT ownership and took the time to show me not only that everything worked, but how to work them!!! We agreed on a price, a couple of thousand less than the used one I saw in Virginia, and I put down a deposit.
They did their dealer prep thing and 2 days later I returned to pick up a squeaky clean new trailer.. This was in November.

The following summer I was at an RV park nearby and had a problem with my absorption fridge not working on propane. I took the TT to them and told them about the problem. They had a service tech come out to the parking lot and remove a bunch of stink bugs from the combustion chamber. We tested the fridge and It was working great. There was no charge for the 15 minutes of work that they did.
Over the last 7 years, every time I called them for info or advice, they were very helpful.
Cant say enough about the consideration and integrity of the people there. After reading the horror stories posted, I felt that these guys deserved a heartfelt recommendation.

Safe travels and all the best.

This is the reason I bought mine at a privately owned RV dealer.
No high pressure sales or financing bull. Sales person knew almost everything about the trailer and how things operated, and what the didn't know he called the service manager in on.
When I went to pick it up, the service manager did the walk through. Very thorough and answered all my questions.