Worst experience ever

[jeepfamRV]

Hi, I am new to the group. Not sure if this is the place to post but here goes.

This is my first class A and first Winnebago. Not new to camping, been family camping my whole life and have owned 3 TT's. Purchased a 2018 Winnebago Vista 29VE from a La Mesa Rv show in phoenix in Nov. everything went great at the show, got a good price, fair trade and felt treated very well..... thats were the good experience ended...

It took 2 weeks to have my RV ready for delivery. No big deal. I added a Travel Satellite and ask to be hooked to all 3 TV's, plus they said La Mesa RV said they wanted to do a 100 point inspection and clean it for delivery....

Super long story short. Upon arriving at La Mesa for our 1pm appt. we were not greeted in any way. After wondering the dealership for 20 mins just trying to find someone we ended up at the front customer service counter and was treated rudely and was simply asked for our keys and title to the trade before anything else. Finally someone was brought over to do a walk around (he didnt know much about the RV but told us everything about his previous tow truck experience the entire time.) after 4.5 hours there we still didnt see the Satellite work or the radio work (Noted not working at the show) and was asked to wait while they looked at it. And hour later a service guy brought in out keys and said the RV is out front you are ready to go. Upon inspection those two items still didnt work and when we went to go back in to tell them, the doors were locked and the place was closed.

Next day we took it camping after 4 hours of packing and loading all of our stuff. We proceeded to make a list of 29 items wrong, missing, broke or just not right. It took a 3 days of calling La Mesa service to get back in to go over all items. They had the RV for 3 weeks telling me all along everything was getting taken care of. Upon arrival, once again they tried to just hand me the keys and say your good to go. I made the service manager(who was my point of contact) walk the RV with me. out of the 29 items, 5 were addressed (neither was the radio or satellite which cost me $2200 extra) and 3 more items arouse. I complained enough that they sent a tech to my business to at least fix the satellite to make it usable for a preschedule trip that weekend. It took them 6 hours to get it to work. (that lasted 2 days before breaking). Along with the hot water tank going out and a few other things I discovered got broke while at La Mesa.

I made several calls to the dealer, no one wanted to talk with me, Not one person seemed to car that I spent over $100K and regretted the quality and experience and things dont work. I made a call to Winnebago and was told dont ever go back to La Mesa the service is terrible, then some area sales rep from Winnebago called and said La Mesa is great they sell tons of units for us please give them another chance and no one from Winnebago should have told me that.

I finally ended up at Afinity RV in Prescott, AZ (by the advise from the tech at Winnebago hotline) They addressed much of the factory related stuff they could but because I didn't buy the RV there and they were busy my RV was there for 2 months getting things done. I also had to pay out of pocket for a few items that was done wrong by La Mesa that they couldnt put under warranty.

I now got my Vista 29ve back a little over 5 weeks ago. With life events and work, we finally got to use it this past weekend. That is after spending another few hours on the satellite (ends up I just wasnt told the proper way to use it) I still have a rattle above the drivers seat area that is annoying as a toddler banging on your knee with a hammer for 5 hours (spent 3 hours and lots of glue trying to fix this, the squeak not the toddler). And discovering now that the water drains dont line up with the hole in the bottom of the cabinet so the door has to be open when hooked to a dump station.

All of this experience almost makes me want to go back to loading several totes in a truck and tent camp again. It might be less work and for sure a hell of a lot less money.

Is any one else haveing issues or experiences like this? Did I just get a lemon? Why didn't some of this issues get caught by Winnebago before leaving the factory? And I already know La Mesa in Phoenix has no customer service care or experience so I wont even ask that question.

Sorry for the long rant, but it was the short version.

[rk911]

i had major trouble with our new itssca suncruiser 38q that we purchased in august 2015. over the first 15-mos we logged more than 20-issues big and small,all but one of the issues were factory/quality control or Lippert/Schwintek issues. our dealer was great (Barrington Motor Homes in Bartlett IL) but this was our third Winnebago product and i needed to tell the company how disappointed i was. here's what i did:

i looked up the names, titles and mailng addresses of Winnebago Industries principal cirporate officers..The Chairman of The Board, CEO and three of the VP's who have ties to the RV part of the business. i wrote a letter...12-pages long...that detailed every problem we'd had since day one. THAT got a response. A few days later i had a call from an executive at WI. he told me that my letter had gotten the attention of the corporate offices. we had a long conversation that culminated in WI picking up the repair cost of some items that were out of warranty. he told me that my letter made an impact because it was detailed and had a business tone. he said those letters are read unlike the 'foaming-at-the-mouth" letters.

if it were me i'd send the same type of letter to those same executives AND the Chairman and CEO of Lazy Days detailing your experience. worst case it will help you feel better. and btw, you're not alone in having a bad experience at LD. good luck.

[jeepfamRV]

Thanks, I think that is a great idea. I thought of doing that but figured it would just get thrown in the trash.

By the way it is La Mesa RV in Phoenix, Not Lazy Days.

[Wetstuff]

Nice to see you got an answer JFR. Your post sort of hung there like; "I have Cancer at a reunion." Mine is 16yrs old, so I expected to have to do a lot. It's interesting, however; it's not like these folks along the chain introduced RVs last year like the Tesla 3 everybody is handwringing over.

'Like at the reunion; "Sorry to hear."

Jim

[jeepfamRV]

Originally Posted by Wetstuff

Nice to see you got an answer JFR. Your post sort of hung there like; "I have Cancer at a reunion." Mine is 16yrs old, so I expected to have to do a lot. It's interesting, however; it's not like these folks along the chain introduced RVs last year like the Tesla 3 everybody is handwringing over.

'Like at the reunion; "Sorry to hear."

Jim

I am not one to just run around complaining nor do I ever seek attention. And I completely understand the quote "I have cancer at a reunion". Just trying to see if anyone else is experiencing this type of quality and customer service. And if some one is researching La Mesa RV, Phoenix, maybe they will think twice before purchasing there.

I own my business and I would never treat a customer like this nor ignore problems if they arose. But I am not a big multi million dollar business either so maybe thats the difference.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by jeepfamRV

Thanks, I think that is a great idea. I thought of doing that but figured it would just get thrown in the trash.

By the way it is La Mesa RV in Phoenix, Not Lazy Days.

sorry. we stopped at La Mesa in Mesa. AZ a few years back while shopping at Camping World. it was a spur-of-the-moment thing...LM was having a hot dog/hamburger cookout. so we thought...as long as we’re here let’s take a look. so we grabed a couple of dogs and drinks and greeted a sales critter that walked up and asked to see a new Winnebago Adventurer. a few minutes later he opens one up for us so in we go. it didn’t take long to find most of the windows were fogged (broken seals) and there was evidence of a roof leak on the ceiing. and this was supposed to be a new Adventurer. we pointed out the problems and we all returned to the parking area. that was our first, last and only contact with La Mesa

[SarahW]

Originally Posted by jeepfamRV

Hi, I am new to the group. Not sure if this is the place to post but here goes. <snip>

Wow, sorry you had such a crummy experience with your first motorhome and your first Winnebago. I hope that once you get all the stuff ironed out that you will have many happy miles in your RV. Seems like a lot of dealers are suffering from poor customer service these days and I remain hopeful that the manufacturers will step up to help. Good luck to you and keep us updated.

[Smitty550]

Originally Posted by rk911

sorry. we stopped at La Mesa in Mesa. AZ a few years back while shopping at Camping World. it was a spur-of-the-moment thing...LM was having a hot dog/hamburger cookout. so we thought...as long as we’re here let’s take a look. so we grabed a couple of dogs and drinks and greeted a sales critter that walked up and asked to see a new Winnebago Adventurer. a few minutes later he opens one up for us so in we go. it didn’t take long to find most of the windows were fogged (broken seals) and there was evidence of a roof leak on the ceiing. and this was supposed to be a new Adventurer. we pointed out the problems and we all returned to the parking area. that was our first, last and only contact with La Mesa

From what I have read elsewhere, La Mesa does not have a good reputation.

2015 Navion Sprinter

[AzLady]

Originally Posted by jeepfamRV

I am not one to just run around complaining nor do I ever seek attention. And I completely understand the quote "I have cancer at a reunion". Just trying to see if anyone else is experiencing this type of quality and customer service. And if some one is researching La Mesa RV, Phoenix, maybe they will think twice before purchasing there.

I own my business and I would never treat a customer like this nor ignore problems if they arose. But I am not a big multi million dollar business either so maybe thats the difference.

We had problems with our purchase of a Tiffin Phaeton at LaMesa RV in Mesa. It was in the shop for almost a month before they 'supposedly' got things fixed. They didn't. We took it to La Mesa RV in Tucson. THEY fixed everything the first time, and we have remained loyal Tucson La Mesa customers ever since. We just traded our 2008 Phaeton in on a Winnebago Aspect 30J. We needed to downsize in size, but not quality. So far we are very happy with our purchase. We bought our Aspect sight unseen, except for what we saw online... first time we've ever done that, but so far, no regrets. :-)

[jeepfamRV]

Originally Posted by AzLady

We had problems with our purchase of a Tiffin Phaeton at LaMesa RV in Mesa. It was in the shop for almost a month before they 'supposedly' got things fixed. They didn't. We took it to La Mesa RV in Tucson. THEY fixed everything the first time, and we have remained loyal Tucson La Mesa customers ever since. We just traded our 2008 Phaeton in on a Winnebago Aspect 30J. We needed to downsize in size, but not quality. So far we are very happy with our purchase. We bought our Aspect sight unseen, except for what we saw online... first time we've ever done that, but so far, no regrets. :-)

My salesman at the show was from the Tucson location. He was part of the reason I even bought the RV. He was very laid back non pressure and answered most of my questions. I wonder if I should give that location a try? My only reservation is that I was treated so horribly I hate to give any part of that company my money. Plus living in north Phoenix its twice as far to drive as Afinity RV in Prescott.

[jeepfamRV]

So this weekend I got to take it out and do some dry comping for the first time owning it. Is it common that even with only the refrigerate on gas and nothing else running I am only getting 4 to 5 hours on the batteries before the warring alarm goes off for low battery and I need to run the generator.
I remember my Keytone TT would go 2 days at least and that was with my playing the radio for 8hrs, awning lights on 4hrs or so, and me using the interior lights off and on and running the water pump when needed. Seems odd that again with the money I have spent that I cant go "camping" not "Glamping" without having to worry the entire time.

[rk911]

Originally Posted by jeepfamRV

My salesman at the show was from the Tucson location. He was part of the reason I even bought the RV. He was very laid back non pressure and answered most of my questions. I wonder if I should give that location a try? My only reservation is that I was treated so horribly I hate to give any part of that company my money. Plus living in north Phoenix its twice as far to drive as Afinity RV in Prescott.

if it were me i’d stay with whatever service fixed my problems and where i have confidence in their service going forward.

[LarryW]

I purchased from La Mesa in San Diego. Good price, no TT problems, fairly good walk around...boring to an experienced person however. Sorry about your experience.

[jeepfamRV]

Originally Posted by LarryW

I purchased from La Mesa in San Diego. Good price, no TT problems, fairly good walk around...boring to an experienced person however. Sorry about your experience.

LarryW, to say my walk around guy was boring was an understatement. And yes being experienced makes it even worse. But all he did was talk about how he was the greatest tow truck driver in all of Phoenix for 15 years. Dude didnt even know how 80% of the stuff worked on the Coach. You would think if this was your job you would learn what the coach features are. I get every RV is different in some way but even common things that are the same was puzzling to him. And when I pointed out a few things that didnt get addressed during the walk around he just blamed it on someone else.

Not meaning to complain but just trying to warn others about La Mesa in particular. I do blame Winnebago for most of the items passing there quality control but I also blame La Mesa RV for how I was treated and they didn't do what they had promised on any level.

[jeepfamRV]

Originally Posted by rk911

i had major trouble with our new itssca suncruiser 38q that we purchased in august 2015. over the first 15-mos we logged more than 20-issues big and small,all but one of the issues were factory/quality control or Lippert/Schwintek issues. our dealer was great (Barrington Motor Homes in Bartlett IL) but this was our third Winnebago product and i needed to tell the company how disappointed i was. here's what i did:

i looked up the names, titles and mailng addresses of Winnebago Industries principal cirporate officers..The Chairman of The Board, CEO and three of the VP's who have ties to the RV part of the business. i wrote a letter...12-pages long...that detailed every problem we'd had since day one. THAT got a response. A few days later i had a call from an executive at WI. he told me that my letter had gotten the attention of the corporate offices. we had a long conversation that culminated in WI picking up the repair cost of some items that were out of warranty. he told me that my letter made an impact because it was detailed and had a business tone. he said those letters are read unlike the 'foaming-at-the-mouth" letters.

if it were me i'd send the same type of letter to those same executives AND the Chairman and CEO of Lazy Days detailing your experience. worst case it will help you feel better. and btw, you're not alone in having a bad experience at LD. good luck.

rk911, I am taking your advise and writing a letter. I found even more stuff this weekend when we did our first dry camp for 2.5 days. I am going to send it to all of the top people at Winnebago along with the top people at La Mesa RV. I doubt anything will ever happen or come of it but it needs to happen. Maybe if more people with similar issues take a stand quality will get better. It seems like anytime you talk to someone that purchased a new RV its like "ya, it took me a year to work out the bugs, but thats common".

Why is it that we pay the money we do for these RV's and we feel its common to have all these issues for a year or so to "work out the bugs". But if we buy a $30k or $40k car and we have more than 3 issues in the first few months we are done with the car and want to look into LEMON laws. Are there Lemon Laws for RV's? Why is this except-able in the RV industry?

I also find it very interesting that 80% of the top people at Winnebago Industries were hired in the past 3 years. That to me says the company had major issues and they needed to bring in all fresh people to figure it out. I think they still have a long way to go.

Either way maybe the letter will be a piece of mind for now.

[rhodesaz]

I had a great buying / walk around experience at Affinity in Prescott. Took the class A back a couple of months later for a non-working leveler. Had an appointment & everything. Called me at the end of the day to pick up class A. I tried the levelers (in the parking lot) and they were not fixed. Didn't even touch the ground!! Went back inside and told the service manager who said "That ain't right". Two hours later they finally got them working. Never been back!!

[VSPA]

I understand you pain and frustration. I went through the same with a Thor I bought from Camping World in Houston and to make it worse, I traded in a paid for 3 year old Vista 26P. Drove it to Las Vegas where we live, put in the shop immediately, slide and other factory lack of quality problems and was never satisfied with the repairs. Last time I went to pick it up I was still not satisfied with the repairs, so I dumped it at a 5k loss and went back to Winnebago/Itasca. We purchased a Sunstar 35F and feel it's the best RV and floor plan we've had in a Class A.

[Flagstick]

I really feel all the dealers have a lot of room to improve. I highly recommend not signing the contract until you do a walk thru and nothing needs repaired. Even if it means walking away from the deal they won't give you the time of day once you drive the rig off the lot.
And it's not just La Mesa or Lazy Daze.

[Clint11]

I can top all of the above horror stories. Took delivery of a brand new 2014 Tour 42QD from La Mesa RV. I long ago gave up trying to get service from La Mesa, in my opinion and 35 years of RVing experience they are by far the worst in the industry. Just one example of how bad they are, they make you make an appt for service weeks in advance. When you show up for your appt. they tell you they willl have the RV for 3-4 weeks!!! What is the purpose of the appointment—you fulfill your end of the deal and they could care less about fulfilling theirs. Now, lets talk about the poor quality in my motorhome. Over 155 failures starting out from day one and continuing today. 4 weeks spent at the factory in Iowa trying to get repairs. Months spent elsewhere in the US broken down or waiting for parts. Just a sampling of the issues, 8 slide failures, 3 jack failures, engine brake failures, power management system burned up 2 times (smoke filled coach), 3 dishwasher failures, multiple plumbing leaks, 2 leaking windows replaced, generator starter motor failed after 45 hours, front cap of motorhome put on with no sealant—waterfall onto the dash and front seats during first rain, cracked tiles, stove failures, backup camera replaced twice, no Bluetooth—factory said “they cannot fix it” even though it was under warranty, shower valves replaced, two compartment doors flew open and were destroyed while driving, multiple awning failures, motorized bed failed, 13 LED lights failed, numerous pieces of wood trim fell off, front window screen failed, Aqua Hot was completely replaced at the factory and I have spent $1550.00 repairing the new one since then, 2 thermostat failures, satellite dish replaced, 4 HDMI boxes replaced. I could go on with dozens of more failures but you get the point. Buyer Beware. Oh, by the way, I have an appointment at the factory in Junction City, OR to try and fix more issues!!!

[luckydog08]

Never dealt with La Mesa. But had some startling results from taking our 03 Adventurer to Camping World. Our first misadventure was the installation of a steering stabilizer backwards. We could barely steer until we swapped ends on it.

But this latest caper really deserves a prize. Getting ready for the summer season, we took our coach to a different Camping World (after the deal with the first one do you blame us?) over 100 mi. from our home. My husband wrestled the beast through 100 miles of congested stop and go California midday traffic, and arrived about as tired as one would expect after a harrowing journey that was witness to several high speed weavers, carpool only dive bombers, several near rear enders causing forceful braking ... if you live in the Sacramento area you know what I mean, and if you don't, be glad! Meanwhile I tooled along in the comfort of my Ford Edge with my four legged companion and Sirius XM.

After we met up at CW and got the coach squared away, my husband realized he'd left his jacket on the sofa where he'd tossed it. He asked where the coach was, and after receiving directions was somewhat surprised to see the motor was running. And then when he opened the door he was extremely surprised to discover an employee, shoes on, asleep on the sofa! Air conditioning going full blast, he decided to plop his sweaty body down on my pristine sofa. There's incompetence and there's absolute indifference to any respect towards a customer. We had just three days prior cleaned all the upholstery in the rig which I usually have covered with fleece throws. Those were at home being laundered thus exposing my sofa to a sweaty oaf, who for some reason also decided to leave a footprint on the recliner.

I am almost afraid to see what's happened since then. I was told the oaf err technician was dealt with.

This is appalling - not just the oafish behavior - I suppose I should be happy he wasn't on my bed or in my shower - but the general attitude of people we are paying to service our rigs.