Winnebago Industries Factory Service Center DOES NOT accept Extended Warranties

[ChrisKW]

Ray and Tom, good advice and recommendations are always appreciated, however criticism, especially when you do not have personal knowledge of all the facts, is unwelcome.

Admittedly, for the sack of clarity regarding the initial post, I should have stated that I was writing in regard to 'unscheduled' service appointments. A valid point made by others in this post.

That said, the key points to my experience are three fold. First, Tom is correct that the Winnebago Industry's policy is to accept and process 'extended warranties' for 'Scheduled Appointments' only, and that all 'non-scheduled appointments' are cash/credit card only. Second, Tom is correct in the importance of reading and understanding your 'extended warranty contract'. Third, in my particular case it was due to bad or incomplete communication during several weeks that resulted in our initial post to this forum.

In summary, and I believe 'due diligence' was made on our part, there were four individuals who provided incorrect information to us. Understand, we had never been to the factory before, so a learning curve is something we all go through.

First, over several weeks we spoke in depth with more than one RV service center and two Winnebago service advisors concerning our coach issues that developed during the last half of our five-month cross country trip. When we experienced three system/equipment failures in the last 45 days, which were critical to our living comfort (failed AquaHot, so no hot water; failed bed air pump and failed bed track assembly, so sleeping on the couch) the RV service center and Winnebago service advisors recommended proceeding to the factory as soon as possible, if possible. I clearly indicated to each party that we were just under two years in ownership since new, and that we had a Good Sam extended warranty. Each party stated that was great that we had the latter and that the factory would be able to resolve all of our issues with no problem. Please note here, I 'reenforced' the fact that we had an extended warranty and 'asked' if the service issues would be covered even though we would arrive at the factory as an 'unscheduled appointment', and the answer was "yes". On this point, the service advisors were both incorrect.

Second, on our arrival at the Factory Service Center in Forest City, during our initial checkin I took all of my records into the office and stated I could provide them a copy of the extended warranty. Turns out the clerk that day was a substitute and said "we can get that later if needed." The clerk was incorrect as it turns out and she did not advise us of the aforementioned company policy. It is also known to some that the 'Work Order' does state that extended policies are only accepted for scheduled appointments, an item "I missed" and was not clarified on check-in. Okay, my bad.

Now, four days later, while still waiting for service, I again asked if they needed a copy of the extended warranty contract, and I asked if they had called for pre-approval and it was then that they advised of their company policy. Bummer! Disappointing to learn of this late in the game.

In any case, and again with 'due diligence', I called GS Extended Service. The representative specifically told me I could NOT initiate a claim, and that only an authorized service center can do so, and that meant I could NOT submit an invoice after the fact, meaning pre-approval must be obtained by the service center first. This turned out to be incorrect as well, when I learned after making several additional calls to GS to complain to a supervisor.

Fortunately the supervisor advised me that I had been mis-informed, and that I simply needed to write a letter stating why pre-approval could not be obtained, and submit a signed invoice to GS. We are awaiting final determination.

So, if either of you have constructive recommendations for myself or others, by all means we would love to hear it. But, some of us have seen the criticism slung towards owners and participants in this forum before, and that is unappreciated. Let us move forward on positive ideas and shared experiences.

Meanwhile, in my experience with two Winnebago 43' coaches, despite having ultimately receiving some great customer care at the factory, my factory tour experience, and poor quality in some of the repair work done at the factory left me with the impression that not all techs are equal, and not everything was done to a level of craftsmanship I expected. After 38 years in aviation the level of quality control, quality assurance and craftsmanship at Winnebago was not to my satisfaction. In fact, one of the repairs which had new hardware and equipment installed, and of which had taken a full day, completely failed on first use the following day. That repair had to be completely reworked over a second full day and with all new hardware yet again. It took two weeks to get work completed, but then again we were unscheduled and the repairs were surmountable.

Lastly, I am sure many Winnebago owners are proud, satisfied, and happy with their RVs, a most wonderful thing. I was not and have therefore sold my coach. I wish you all the best.


Chris & Deb - North Venice, FL - 2014 Itasca Ellipse 42QD - Toad: 2014 Jeep Rubicon