Problems with Camping World!!

[River Rat]

I have been using Camping World for several years.? However, this year I have had some significant problems with two orders.? On the first I have no idea what happened, but I ordered the Rand McNally StreetFinder and TripMaker bundle on line.? For whatever reason (no I didn't hit a button twice) I got two copies in separate boxes.? I also got billed for both.? I have contacted Camping World 5 times by phone and three times by e-mail without result. Phone call #1 they said they would send me a return authorization.? Phone call #2 they said it takes two weeks to get an RA - and that it had been mailed on the 15th of June.? Phone call #3 they say that they only sent one copy and insinuate that I copied it and am now trying to return it - nope - second copy is still in sealed shipping box - never opened.? I ask why they charged me twice if they only sent me one - they said they had no record of charging me twice. Well - I got the credit card bill right in my hot little hand.? Phone call #4 - they said they would have UPS contact me and pick up the packages (another order also got double shipped and TRIPLE billed - more on that in a second). By phone call #5 they said they would send "another" RA.? At that point I turned the whole thing over to my credit card company.

On the second order, I ordered some jack stands - like an idiot I ordered them on line.? Something happened during the final part of the transaction - so I called Camping World sales and asked them if the order went through.? They said no it had not.? So I order them over the phone.? Next thing you know I have one set of jack stands arrive on one day and the next day a second set comes in - and THAT credit card has THREE charges on it from Camping World - and now that has been turned over to THAT credit card company.

My questions are these.....
Have any of you received double orders from them?
Have any of you been double billed for the same item?
Have any of you ordered something and then had one or two mysterious charges show up on your credit card from Camping World?
Have any of you had problems recently with their customer service?

I am about to write to the CEO.? I have had absolutely NO luck with CW's customer service and this whole thing has been a waste of my time and a total inconvenience.? I am NOT about to send the two packages back on my own nickel since I did nothing wrong.? If I had, I would have no problem paying to ship them back.

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[Pat]

My only mail order from CW resulted in a defective product in a previously opened, badly reboxed package.  Somebody must have returned it, and they just slopped it out in the mail to some other unsuspecting mail orderer.

My in-house RV installation and service experiences have both been bad.  CW Mesa installed the tow equipment on my vehicle and RV, and several things went wrong.  Their service provider in Tucson, Beaudry's, refused to do anything, and CW Mesa, who did the original bad installation, refused to refund the $45 I had to pay the Chevy dealer in Tucson to remove some CW wiring to a defective switch that was causing my car tail lights to fail.  I tried phoning CW for authorization for the repair, and was put on hold for over an hour.  Nobody ever came on the phone.  This was after a good half hour of redialing just to get past the busy signal.  Needless to say, I didn't want to hang up and redial.  When I got to Mesa, CW accused me of lying and only agreed that the switch was faulty, because the Chevy dealer left it in the car.

When I had service done, I got home before I realized they had charged me to change the oil in the generator, which the service mechanic admitted he couldn't do because the generator access door was locked.  The key was on the chain they had, or I was in the store the whole time and could have pointed it out to them.  They never bothered to ask but were quite efficient about charging. 

I'm still not convinced the braking system works, and the air cylinder under the hood of the car never held pressure again after the first time it was bled, per their instructions.

My overall opinion of CW has been increasing shoddiness.  Those DaHon folding bikes they sell are miserable.  I have a Giatex telescoping/folding bike that cost the same as the CW 6-speed, and all the Giatex components are so much nicer and run so much smoother.  The gear range is much greater.  The bike is prettier.  One of the websites that sells it even throws in the carry bag for free.  I've owned both the 6-speed and the single speed DaHons from CW, so I can make an informed comparison.  Biking is my hobby, so I have some experience.  I got my Giatex at Interbike, which is an industry show in Las Vegas, but two websites sell it, and the reps at the show said they thought Target carries them.  I've never seen one in a Target; although, I've looked only once or twice.

Did I get off the subject or what?

--pat

 

[John From Detroit]

Per their website Target carries "Glatex" (if I"ve not mangeled it too badly)

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_13/601-4608392-6330565?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0002KQP48

Is an example of one of them (It's their catalog after all)

 

[palmetto]

In defense of Camping World..I ordered a Sewer Solution macerator pump from them, when it came in, by UPS, it had the fresh water inlet broken off. The local store I deal with (Statesville,NC) traded it out from stock. No hassel at all. We also had them to install a toilet that we did not like, before using it, we removed it and they gave us our money back for the toilet (not the installation though). I have bought several things from them via their website and found the shipping, billing and quality to be good. So, I suspect that sometimes Murphy's law takes over (anything that can go wrong will) and your problems were or are isolated incidents. Hope you get your problem solved.

 

[Pat]

palmetto:  Having to drag the defective Sewer Solution back to CW to get a new one is not "no problem at all."  I am beginning to suspect, based on your experience and the item I ordered in the mail (battery watering system) that they put defective merchandise returned either by mail or in the stores in the mail order system and stick unsuspecting remote customers with it. 

--pat

 

[Tom]

.... they put defective merchandise returned either by mail or in the stores in the mail order system and stick unsuspecting remote customers with it.

Pat, I'm having a tough time believing that CW or any other national chain would do that as a policy. Have you talked to CW HQ in Bowling Green, KY?

 

[Pat]

Tom:  I'm just now reading about examples of shoddy merchandise showing up in the mail, so I haven't spoken with CW.  However, I have tried phoning their headquarters for some reason recently, and that was a joke.  I ended up on a very very lengthy hold pattern, only to be told they were closed.  Next time I called I was transferred to the wrong area.  I was looking for parts and ended up being given to extended warranty insurance.  Apparently the clerk interpreted my need for repair parts as a request to file a warranty claim.  I don't remember now why I got a feeling of deterioration in the Mesa store.  That place is So busy because of the snowbirds.  But it's all adding up to the decline and fall of CampingWorld.  I was speculating maybe it's because places like Walmart are carrying RV supplies.  At least the basics.

--pat

 

[Tom]

Pat

Forget the phone calls. Write a letter to their CEO.

 

[Pat]

Tom:  The phone calls were for the purpose of conducting normal business.  The CEO might be annoyed if I call him for a Suburban furnace burner assembly. 

I recall now that I didn't renew my membership to CW this past February.  I figured I'd join again if I ever need enough to warrant the fee.  As previously noted, a lot of their basics are available in many more convenient places, without the large non-member surcharge.

--pat

 

[palmetto]

Pat:
Maybe the problem is bigger than I realize. It just happened I was going to CW the day the broken item was received. I didn't have to "drag" it in there and they were very apologetic and accomodating. They didn't break it, UPS did. They could have just as easily made me file a claim and go through all of that process. Have you done that lately? Pain.

 

[Pat]

Aha.  As they say, the difference is in the details.

--pat