Many RVers have been praising General RV for the past few years. However, we’re seeing more and more comments regarding customer service going downhill. Some are even comparing the brand to Camping World.
If you’re an RV dealership, the last business you want to be compared to is Camping World. So, is General RV as bad as everyone is saying?
Today, we’re diving in and looking at these complaints and why people are starting to throw shade their way.
Let’s get started!
A fellow RVer posted her frustrations online about General RV. She and her husband took their new fifth wheel on a 4th of July adventure.
Unfortunately, during their trip, they discovered their refrigerator wasn’t working. To make matters worse, it appeared as if it hadn’t worked from the beginning.
They did what any new owners would do and hauled it back to the dealership where they purchased it. However, a month and a half later, it was still not working. They’re starting to feel like no one cares or has their back.
Sadly, this particular owner isn’t the only one with frustrations. Their post generated hundreds of responses from fellow owners looking to offer advice and share similar experiences. One commenter stated they had to make a big scene in the service and sales area to get General RV to take them seriously.
Another General RV customer shared that they felt they were getting the runaround. They’d call in and get forwarded to a voicemail box. Their voicemails and phone calls were never returned, and they were left waiting for a response.
This same individual claims the dealership has had their rig for almost seven months.
General RV is one of the largest RV dealerships in the country. They sell some of the largest brands in the RV industry, including Forest River, Winnebago, and Jayco. Because they deal in such a large volume, they can offer incentives and discounts that other mom-and-pop dealerships cannot.
Because they have a significant presence, many turn to them to purchase their camper. However, as many are discovering, bigger isn’t always better. Sometimes, saving a few bucks isn’t worth the hassle or stress it creates. However, it wasn’t always this way for General RV.
Ambrose “Abe” Baidas started the company in 1962 as General Trailer & Boat Manufacturing and Distribution in Detroit, Michigan. A few years later, in 1968, they began selling new RVs, parts, and accessories at their new Southfield, Michigan, location. Over the next two decades, they slowly expanded and created four additional sites focusing more on RVs.
In 1993, they replaced their Southfield store with a new location in Wixom, Michigan. During this transition, they also changed their name to General RV Center. They’ve since continued to grow and expand.
Today, they’re one of the largest RV dealerships in the country. They have 14 locations with more than 500 service bays across those sites.
There aren’t many RV dealerships that sell more RVs than them. However, just because they sell a lot of campers doesn’t mean they have the happiest customers.
General RV started and continues more than sixty years later to be a family-owned company. Today, Loren Baidas serves as President, and Robert Baidas as Chief Executive Officer.
However, other notable names for their leadership team include Chris Davis, VP of Finance, and Katie Short, Chief Financial Officer.
As mentioned, plenty of people are throwing shade at General RV. But are they as bad as everyone says? Let’s dive in and take a look!
Like the owners we mentioned earlier, one of the most significant issues plaguing customers has to do with service. Unfortunately, they’re often left disappointed. One commenter stated, “Nothing but bad experiences with General RV!” Another was pretty blunt and said, “General RV is the worst.”
Customers who don’t feel appreciated or valued won’t take it kindly. Unfortunately, the post shows that some owners aren’t happy campers. Their experience with General RV could have been better.
Does this mean that every General RV customer experiences the same? Absolutely not. Just like in many other industries, companies sometimes miss the mark. There are many reasons why some customers have bad experiences and others do not.
We’re not making excuses for General RV, but sometimes customers have high expectations. In some instances, they’re unrealistic expectations. However, being without your brand-new camper for a month and a half seems like a realistic reason to be upset.
If you’ve purchased a vehicle or RV, you know pricing and sales tactics can be a tricky game. Some sales team members have been borderline dishonest with customers. We’ve seen posts of individuals sharing frustrations where dealers didn’t disclose fees until they were in financing.
In addition, we’ve also seen complaints about last-minute changes to the amount offered on trades.
This isn’t a complaint unique to General RV but the overall industry. We want to think that these mistakes aren’t necessarily on purpose but are instead communication problems.
Pro Tip: Before purchasing an RV, make sure you know these 10 Important Facts! You won’t want to sign on the dotted line without considering these facts first.
As several commenters shared on the post, the communication problems seem never-ending. We mentioned earlier that some individuals call day after day and leave messages. Unfortunately, these messages are often never returned, leaving owners frustrated.
One fellow member said, “We dealt with General RV! You have to show up and call every day and make a big production every day!” They claim that once General RV understood they wouldn’t stop, they addressed the problem. They encouraged this particular individual to do the same.
As the original post indicated, they believed the refrigerator wasn’t working when they took ownership of the rig.
Others chimed in and stated they experienced a similar issue and that the refrigerator was replaced. Unfortunately, this isn’t so much a General RV problem as it is a manufacturer problem.
However, RV dealerships like General RV are often the middleman between the manufacturer and customers. Dealerships have complained for the past couple of years that manufacturers rely too heavily on dealers to catch problems.
When a dealership, whether General RV or not, doesn’t catch the issue, customers suffer.
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While General RV can’t do anything about the quality of construction, they can do something about the post-sale support. General RV and many other dealerships enjoyed RVs practically selling themselves for a couple of years.
This resulted in them losing focus on post-sale support. After closing the deal, many new owners felt they were left high and dry.
Many have decided to take matters into their own hands. Instead of relying on the dealership, they go straight to the manufacturer. They work with them and skip the middleman whenever possible.
Post-sale support is a critical component to earn future sales. For many, these situations cause them to consider other dealerships for their next purchase.
General RV, like many other dealerships, is far from perfect. Very few owners talk positively about their experience with any dealership. You rarely hear from people who have a so-so experience.
They’re not the ones shouting from the mountaintop about their experience. We encourage you to proceed cautiously no matter where you shop for your RV.
Have you had a bad experience with General RV?
