How to Communicate With RV Manufacturers and Dealerships

Communication Recommendations with RV Assembly Companies:

Use Email Whenever Possible

When officially communicating with your RV assembly / manufacturing companies and dealership service departments, it is recommended that you communicate through email rather than phone conversations that cannot be tracked whenever possible. You will find that email creates a historical record of all your discussions and establishes who said what and when. As so many RV owners have experienced, the RV industry tends to make verbal promises but tend to not follow through. Consider these communications as business transactions, establishing a paper trail that documents conversations from both sides. Phone calls may be necessary from time to time, but we always recommend you follow up with an email to reiterate what was discussed and agreed upon. One option you have to avoid phone calls when you see them show up on your phone. DO NOT answer that call but listen to the voice mail and follow up with an email instead. Mention in the email that you would prefer keeping all communications via email for documentation.

Recording a Phone Call

Another option is recording the conversation. However, there may be a catch — so know your rights regarding recorded phone conversations. When you call many of these RV companies, you may be informed that your call is being recorded for quality and training purposes, and as the consumer, you have the right to end the call if you oppose the recording. On the flip side, the company may have the right to end it as well. The catch here is that there are one-party and two-party consent laws. Eleven states require both parties to consent to the recording, and the rest only require one party, YOU. The stricter law applies if the parties are in two different states with two distinct laws. Do your due diligence before you record a call without informing and receiving permission from the company. Although not necessarily intentional, phone calls may be used to manipulate or confuse a consumer. Often, phone calls can be misunderstood by one or both parties, whereas emails usually make it very clear what the conversation is about. Be sure to proof read your emails before sending. Should your issue escalate into a legal dispute for resolution, being able to provide electronic communications may help to bolster your case. 

Your List vs. Their List

When having repairs done by the RV assembly company, make sure that your list of needed repairs matches their work orders. Do this prior to the start of work, and when repairs are completed, verify their work orders still match yours. They should have details of the repair resolution.

Some RV companies may do additional work either as a “Goodwill Gesture” or to manipulate you into thinking they are just going above and beyond for you. Their reason for doing so may, in fact, be to gain a good public review, whether that’s on Google or even on YouTube in some cases. Maybe they are being helpful, but maybe they’re not! Just be aware of what is going on.  Many times, if there are exterior damages on your RV, they will repair them so that their RV brand looks good going down the road. This is all about appearances for them and the art of manipulation as well! Know your warranties (read them) before dealing with customer service reps in getting warranty work done. Do not allow them to drag these repairs out months at a time. If they schedule the work, make sure you are staying on top of where the dealerships or manufacturers in getting the work done in a timely manner. They will delay repairs with excuses, anywhere from approvals from manufacturers to parts delays. Maske sure they order the parts before you drop off your rig and make sure warranty approvals are authorized within a reasonable amount of time. You may have to contact the your assembly comp[any / manufacturer to verify what a dealership is telling you but get it in writing.

Dealing with Dealerships

RV dealerships are not at all like automobile dealers. Dealerships will likely know less about these RVs than you will learn from your research. They will do their best to get you to buy these RVs and tow them off their lot, but then no longer feel a responsibility to work with you. Tell them in advance that you will have your own independent inspection and that you will not need nor pay for their Pre-Delivery Inspection(PDI). Researching the RV lifestyle is one thing but the next thing you should research is the RV manufacturer/assembly companies.

Make sure that while finding the right floor-plan, or the right cabinets for you, that you ask about the frame and the frame warranty. Havr them show you the 1-year bumper-to-bumper, structural and frames warranties before you sign on the dotted line. This is critical (i.e.….frame failure is serious). A poorly designed and engineered frame is crucial to the entire structure (Flooring, walls, and roof). Many of these frames are not spec’d out properly for the weight of the structure that sits on top of them. The RV assembly company / manufacturers cut corners and some of the can be safety related when traveling down the road. Always remember this as well. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) allows the RV industry to “self-certify and self-regulate”, which means there are NO FEDERAL SAFETY REGULATIONS in the RV industry, nor building standards like houses/buildings have with building codes.

Know this before diving in. You are already super excited about buying an RV and hiting the road. Don’t let that excitement prevent you in doing all your research before you sign the dotted line of a sales contract. When you sign an RV sales contract, you will not notice much of the fine print, such as “all litigation goes through the State of Indiana” (state of origin). This is never told to anyone during the sale and you will not have any leverage if any legal dispute is settled in Indiana. You should strike through this in the contract and initial it once you discover it.

Dealerships, in many instances, do not like independent inspections and, in some cases, will not allow them. Walk away and do not purchase that RV. Never sign the contract before the inspection has been completed and you’ve verified that the repairs have been made. — This is CRITICAL!

Most “RV company-affiliated dealerships” sign contracts with these RV companies and will not share certain information with you such as pictures during repairs. They may also misinform you of certain repairs they allegedly performed and even hold your RVs at these dealerships for weeks or months at a time. It has been known they will try to cover up manufacturer defects from you such as excessive frame flex / frame failure.

Many, if not most, of these dealerships are barely qualified, let alone capable of doing certain types of repairs, and their technicians are typically not certified technicians to begin with. In most cases, they will not have experienced, let alone certified welders on staff for frame repairs.

Stay away from dealership trying to sell you extended warranties! These warranties through dealerships are not worth the paper they are written on. They tend to not cover many things that may happen to your RV. You have a 1 year bumper-to-bumper warranty through the manufacturer. Spend that time researching and looking for an extended warranty that goes into affect just before your 1-year warranty runs out. Ask your fellow RV friends what they use.

One Final Thought

In all communication, be clear, be concise, and be cool — as in "keep your cool."