Wilkins RV of Rochester

Very Dissatisfied with Wilkins We purchased a 2017 Coachman Clipper from Wilkins in Churchville in May of 2016. We were unable to use the RV all summer but in the fall we camped at We purchased a 2017 Coachman Clipper from Wilkins in Churchville in May of 2016. We were unable to use the RV all summer but in the fall we camped at Hamlin Beach State Park. They do not have water hookup so we were "dry" camping. We had decided in the fall that we were not going to winterize the RV since we never hooked it up to any water source. This year in August of 2017 we were able to finally go camping at an RV resort in Lake George, NY. We went about hooking up electric and water. The water began pouring out of the back of the toilet and out of the kitchen faucet. What we found was that there was a clip and seal missing from the faucet and the toilet's intake line was 2 inches too short and not hooked up to the toilet and of course not sealed. Our 1st real camping experience was ruined. When we returned, my husband went to the service department at Wilkins RV and explained the situation. The service guy was extremely rude, belittling and condescending to my husband. He spoke over my husband and kept saying that the two problems we had were because we did not winterize the RV. My husband then decided to take the RV over to show them. The Store Manager and a mechanic went through the RV and when my husband pulled up and off the faucet the mechanic stuck his finger down the hole and said yes, it is missing the ring. My husband said "that would cause it to leak right"? The mechanic said "right". Then he showed him the toilet. Yes, the water intake hose is too short and no seal in place. Again, my husband said "that would cause it to leak right"? The mechanic said "right". After two weeks of having the RV Wilkins finally called back. Same service guy as before said that our bill will be $500 plus dollars to repair it. My husband told him that obviously the RV was never water pressure tested or else they would have noticed these two defects before we took possession of the RV. Their service department said that all their RV's are tested. My husband asked "couldn't it be possible that this unit, for whatever reason, did not get tested (overlooked perhaps)"? The service guy again fought with my husband and said that it was our fault since we did not have the RV winterized. This did not have anything to do with whether or not we winterized the RV! It all has to do with Wilkins not properly doing thorough checks on the RV before we took delivery of it. I spoke with the Store Manager this afternoon and she said that by the kindness of their hearts, they will knock some off of the orig. $500 plus repair fees. I say if Wilkins did their leak test before we took delivery, they would have had to pay to fix the issues anyway "before" we took delivery of it so why do we have to pay for these obviously manufacturers defects? Her response was that our warranty ran out in May 2017 and if we had it winterized we would not have had this problem. Did they not hear anything that my husband and I had said!? Needless to say, my Lawyer will be contacting Wilkins regarding this and I am putting the word out "BUYER BEWARE" and if we were to do it all again, we would have gone to the "other" RV store that is located right behind Wilkins in Churchville. We will be going to Meyers for all our service and accessories in the future and telling everyone we know to avoid doing business with Wilkins as well. More

You can keep your RV Last Fall we had an exciting time coming in to your Churchville store to look around and we met Rob Moss. Rob was a great help to us and we appreciate Last Fall we had an exciting time coming in to your Churchville store to look around and we met Rob Moss. Rob was a great help to us and we appreciated his prompt answering of questions and willingness to show several members of our family in and out of the trailers on your lot a few times. We decided to purchase and spent considerable time with your brochures and on line to decide what we wanted to buy. We decided on a North Trail 33BKSS. We signed the paperwork last November and talked all winter about our summer plans with the grandkids. We came in May, picked it up, brought it home, loaded it up and headed to Stonybrook for Memorial Day weekend. That’s when the nightmare began. We had been told we could dry camp with the trailer and we just couldn’t use the A/C on battery. We were told everything else ran on battery or propane. We arrived, set up on Thursday and spent almost 2 days learning how to camp with a trailer instead of a pop up. We found a few minor things that needed to be addressed- windows we couldn’t get open or to stay open, squeaky steps, torn screen, etc.- again, minor things. Then Saturday morning the fridge quit. We didn’t understand why, as we hadn’t been using the battery whatsoever. We are used to dry camping at Stonybrook, so we had gas and battery lanterns, we cooked outside, we did not use the bathroom or water services on board. All we used differently from our old pop up system was the inside fridge. Why would it quit? Then I tried to use the lights inside and they would not work. I tested the awning and it would not work. So I called your service department around 11:30 that morning. I explained our situation to a woman (Lois?) who said she was the supervisor on duty and that all technicians were busy. She took my number and said I would get a call back as soon as one was free. She suggested it may be the battery and advised me to back up to the trailer and plug it in leaving my truck running to re-charge the trailer battery while I waited for a call back. I did this. A little over an hour later I got a call back from a technician who spent more than an hour with me trouble shooting our problem. He kept insisting our trailer had circuit breakers on the outside of the trailer behind the battery. We do not. He verified that we could run a fan in the bathroom- we could. He had us recycle the switches on the fridge after checking to make sure we had propane. He had us try switching tanks. Finally, he asked if we had a voltage meter. Um, no. I’m camping. He said he didn’t know what else to do and told me good luck. By this time, I was quite frustrated and asked to be transferred back to the lady supervisor. This was done and I explained the problem had not been resolved. What should I do now? She said she was not a technician. I asked to speak to her supervisor and was told they were closing up for the weekend. I reminded her we were close to bath and asked if someone in the bath store could help. When she came back from me being on hold she said no one from the Bath store answered. I asked if the store was open on Monday. She said no, due to the holiday. I told her I was supposed to leave the site Monday and had no way to close up the trailer to leave. She had no answer and basically wished me luck. While the sales end of your company had been super, this first experience with your service quite frankly sucked. Don’t worry, it gets worse. I called a friend who went into our garage in Rochester, got a couple of our coolers and ice, and drove down to Dansville to deliver them to us so our food would not continue to spoil. That’s how you solve problems, sir. I walked around the campground asking other owners if they had any idea what my problem could be. The most common answer was a dead battery. Your technician had asked about this as well but ruled it out when the fan in the bathroom worked. So for the next two days we sat in a $30,000.00 box just the same as we could have sat in a smaller older box that had no issues. On Monday, watching everyone else pack up and leave I was at the point of calling you and telling you where your trailer was and where you could come and pick up the piece of crap. I decided to try a simple jump. As soon as I connected the jumper cables we had power! We quickly packed everything up and closed the trailer down. At least I could get it back to you to determine what the problem was. Our exceedingly frustrating and ruined weekend was over! No. In Avon we stopped at Tom Wahl’s to eat just as we had on the way down. This time however, it was packed and someone else had parked their trailer along the back. I tried to maneuver out around the lot and despite my wife and son both helping me with blind spots and turn radius I clipped the back of another trailer and damaged our new BKSS. Finally, after finding the other owner, calling the police, doing all that work (and getting a ticket) and choking down a cold burger we got back to Rochester. The electric died again in your lot when we tried to level the trailer after we unhooked it. I was introduced to Tim in your service department. I showed him some of the minor things we had found. He said our problem with the fridge was probably the battery not being charged. I said we didn’t use the battery and the fridge ran on propane. He told us the fridge also used the battery to run the compressor. So I guess we CAN’T dry camp after all. That counts out a number of campgrounds we enjoy. Wish we had been told that up front. I asked Tim about our camping trip over July 4 and he said it would be tight, but he would try to have the repairs done for us. The repair had been estimated by insurance to be around $4,000.00. We went through the process, received the insurance check, added ours, and both have been in your account since early June. Tim said he would order the parts and hopefully have the trailer ready for us by early July. Since then we have repeatedly adjusted plans for camping trips and despite several calls asking for status from my wife and I we still have no trailer. Every time we call Tim says the same thing- we have parts on order. We expect them in this week and will have your trailer for you shortly. Nearly 10 weeks since you have been paid in full, and after at least 4 calls WE initiated for status, our trailer sits untouched in your lot. Not once has anyone from Wilkins RV initiated communication with us. Not once. Finally, we decided enough was enough. Last Thursday I called and left a message for Shannon, your General Manager at Churchville. A message, as she was out for the day. I told her that while Rob Moss was great on the front end, Tim was horrible on the back end and if this was the kind of service we could expect to continue, we no longer wanted a relationship with Wilkins. I asked her to call me back and tell me how we could make that happen. Surely this would generate a conversation from your management. No. On Friday we got a voicemail from Tim, I'm assuming in response to the voice mail left with Shannon asking HER to call us. Guess what he said? He may as well have just played the recording again- we have parts on order. We expect them in this week and will have your trailer for you shortly. So I called Shannon again on Friday, and again got her voicemail. I was told she was working that day. I again left the message that we were disillusioned, frustrated, disappointed and disgusted with the level of (non) service we had received and did not want to be tied to you any longer if this is what we could expect in the future. And why wouldn’t it be? I am still waiting for her call. I can come to no other conclusion other that your people either don’t know how to treat customers or you don’t care. Either way, it is a failing on your company and is sending the loud and clear message that all you want is the money. Service to customers has no value to you. We hear you loud and clear. No more assurances of repair. Our summer is gone. You have been holding the trailer hostage. We slept in it one weekend and never used the onboard facilities or kitchen other than a short use of the fridge. You can’t be bothered to communicate. We don’t want the stress of having to deal with you over the years ahead. We want out. The next letter will be from our lawyer. Stephen Alcorn UPDATE: On Friday afternoon August 26 we got a voicemail from Tim saying that most of the repairs had been done but there were still part (s) on order. This is now 10 weeks since being paid in full, and represented the first time since Memorial Day week Wilkins had initiated any communication with us about the repair. As of August 31 we have had no response whatsoever from Shannon or Brian Wilkins. More

Buy Beware If you think about buying from here run; run away We were looking to purchase and RV and did some internet browsing for dealerships close to our area. We found Wilkins RV in Rochester, NY and decided We were looking to purchase and RV and did some internet browsing for dealerships close to our area. We found Wilkins RV in Rochester, NY and decided to see what they had at the dealership to offer. We were met by Gary who showed us a 2004 R-Vision Condor. It looked to be in great shape and only had 18000 miles on it. We informed Gary we were interested and did a look through of the vehicle and took it for a test drive. We also pointed out to Gary that there were some items that needed to be repaired before our final purchase. Gary guaranteed us that the items would be repaired and we filled out a Purchase Order for the RV for over $30,000.00 and put down $6529.00. Gary told us the RV should be ready to go in a week or so. On 8 July we were called by Wilkins RV (Shannon) and told that our loan had been approved and the RV was ready to pick up. On 9 July 2016 we drove 205 miles one way to Rochester to pick up the Motorhome. We arrived at 0900 and began an inspection of the RV. During the inspection we discovered not any of the items we told Gary about were fixed. These included the electric mirrors, defroster fan, Coach step handle, and a some other items. The only thing they repaired was the bedroom slide and I later found out they fixed a short in the wiring by patching in two cheap extension cords to bypass the short. I was not happy and told the service manager Nancy about the issues of the guaranteed repairs that were not made as promised. Nancy apologized on behalf of the service department saying that it was not the way they do business and would ensure everything was corrected. She even agreed to have the RV delivered to us because of our inconvenience. Nancy said she would call when they were ready to deliver the motorhome. On 14 July 2016 my wife received a call from Wilkins RV in Rochester informing us they would have 2 drivers deliver the RV to my home and they would leave around 0930 on 15 July to deliver the motor home. Because of the telephone call confirming the delivery, I took a day off work without pay (costing me $320.00) because I wanted to be home when the coach was delivered. At 0930 on 15 July 2016 I received a call from the dealership stating the RV was not completely fixed because a part that was ordered did not fit. I informed the service tech I was not happy about this as I had taken the day off work without pay based on their previous promise of delivery. Again all I got was an apology. At 1330 they called me back and said they found a substitute part and would be leaving with the motorhome enroute to my house. The 2 drivers showed up with the coach around 1730, handed me the keys and immediately left. Around 20 minutes after they left I could smell gas. I looked around the motor home and found out gas was leaking from the fill point tube to the gas tank. I tried to call Wilkins but they were gone for the day. The gas was leaking so badly I had to jack up the rear left side of the motor home to stem the gas leak. On Saturday July 16th I called Wilkins and told them about the gas leak. Again all I got was an apology. They told me they would try to find someone in my area to repair the leak. They called me back around 1400 and asked if I would take the RV to Thayer’s repair shop in Gouverneur NY. I informed them I knew where it was and took the motor home there. Mr. Thayer’s mechanic looked at the leaking hose and told me it was jerry rigged together and would require a part to fix the problem. He called Wilkins RV and he was told they would order the part and get it shipped immediately. On 21 July I called Mr. Thayer and he said the part was not in yet. I then called Wilkins to find out where the part was and was told it was hard to find and they finally shipped it. Mr. Thayer informed me he received a part for the RV but it was not what was required. They only sent a 7 inch pipe. The part required was the entire section from the gas fill to the gas tank. Mr. Thayer was able to improvise and make a repair but the pieces were clamped together. While making the repair he noticed a wiring harness cover was missing and he also replaced that. Additionally he fixed the storage compartments that would not lock and a switch that Wilkins was supposed to replace but did not have the part. On 21 July I attempted to contact Brian Wilkins (owner of the dealership). I was told he was out of the office until the following Monday. I asked to be connected to his voice mail and left him a message to call me. He returned my call on 25 July at around 2030. I explained to him the issues I was having with the RV and once again I got an apology and he told me they would make things right on the RV. I told him I was concerned about the warranty running out and that I was not able to test for other problems because I did not have the RV in my possession. Mr. Wilkins told me not to worry about the 30 day warranty and he would extend the warranty by 30 days. Mr. Thayer called me on 29 July saying the RV was ready for pickup. When I went to pick it up the entire coach was dead. Nothing worked. So once again I went home without the coach. About an hour later Wilkins RV called and said Mr. Thayer had fixed the electrical problem and I could pick up the coach. After picking up the coach to bring home, I started checking it out for any other problems. The first thing I noticed was the left front fender had become detached at the bottom portion of the fender skirt; I put a drywall anchor in the area to temporarily fix the fender. Additionally, I noted that a seal in one of the storage compartments had become detached and was falling. Also a piece of molding in the bedroom was detached. There was also a nail holding on the emergency brake pull knob. I put down the jacks to make sure the slides would work ok and to level the coach to make sure the refrigerator would work. The refrigerator was tested and worked with propane. I did not test electrical. I then retracted the slides and tested to make sure the jacks were working properly. In doing so I noted the jacks did not fully retract and the jacks down light stayed lit. Also while running the generator from the front switch I noted a ticking sound every 3 seconds. This only occurred when the generator was running. After checking these systems I put fresh water in the tank to make sure it was not leaking and to test the water pump, plumbing and hot water heater. The pump kicked on and I immediately saw water leaking at the outside shower faucets. It was leaking both in front of and behind the faucets. I immediately turned the water pump off as the water was leaking quite rapidly. Needless to say I did not get to test the hot water heater. There was also a brass water faucet that a hose hooks too that I tried to open the valve. It was froze shut so could not be turned either way. I still have not checked the furnace to see if that is running correctly. I sent a message to Tim at Wilkins RV and he was apologetic as usual. He asked me if I thought Mr. Thayer could fix the problems. I told him that Mr. Thayer was an auto repair shop and did not specialize in RV systems. I told him there was an RV shop around 30 miles from my home and asked him to make arrangements with them to get the RV repaired. I also asked that the independent RV shop look the vehicle over because Wilkins RV service department had done such a horrific job at preparing the RV for sale. Tim told me he would only allow what I had found to be repaired and other systems checks but would not authorize a complete check. He also said the RV dealer in my area had to be in contact with him with all repair estimates. I asked for a list of what they would authorize the independent RV dealer to check but never received an answer. I informed Tim that they either fix the RV as required or refund my purchase price. I have also written Mr. Brian Wilkins (owner of Wilkins RV) informing him of the problems I have had. It has now been 34 days since I purchased the RV and I have still not been able to use it. On 2 August I received a return email from Mr. Brian Wilkins stating they would not authorize an independent dealer to look over the RV’s that they sell for any other problems. He stated he felt Tim was working with me to resolve issues. Again with an apology. He also recommended I drive 410 miles round trip for his service center to go through the RV again. I have lost $320 in wages due to their incompetence and also lost 2 deposits of $100 each on camp grounds where I had made reservations in anticipation of having the motor home. I can’t get the motor home to the independent dealer until 18 August as that is the earliest appointment I could get. I still don’t know what Wilkins RV will let them repair. By the time it is worthy to be used 2 months will have passed and camping season will be over. On 10 August I looked at the front tires on the RV. I had read on the internet that RV tires should be replaced after 7 years as they were considered unsafe after that period an could be prone to a blowout which could cause severe injury or even death along with substantial damage to the RV. Upon looking at the tires I noted a DOT number ending in 3202 which indicated the tires were manufactured during August 2002. This met the tires on the front of the RV were 14 years old. Two times the age recommended by RV and tire experts to have them replaced. I sent another email to Wilkins RV about the age of the tires and asking if they would replace them. On 11 August I received a message from Tim stating the tires were looked at (tread and sidewall) during the NYS Inspection and the service department deemed the tires passed the NYS inspection standard. Tim also stated that age had nothing to do with the worthiness of the tires; even though the RV and tire industry recommend they be replaced after 7 years. I told Tim I was concerned with the tires and was worried about the safety of my family if the tires were to fail. Tim did not seem concerned as he said Wilkins RV would never jeopardize anyone’s safety. I informed both Tim and Brian Wilkins that I would be reporting the problems I have had with this RV to the BBB and the NYS Attorney General. On 11 August after informing Wilkins RV that I would be reporting the problems with the RV to the BBB and Attorney General I received an email from Tim stating he did not mean they would not replace the 14 year old tires. He said he had discussed the issue with Brian Wilkins and they wanted verification of the manufacture date of the tires. In the email he said they would have the tires replaced if they were indeed manufactured in 2002 by either having Steve’s RV send an estimate to replace or sending tires for the RV to Steve’s RV. I replied to the above email telling Wilkins RV that I would try to take a picture of the date code on the tires and send to them tonight. I also told them I would have Steve’s RV confirm the date code on the tires when I had my appointment on 18 August for the other repairs mentioned above. On 11 August at approximately 1630, I emailed Tim photos of the date codes on the two front tires. Date codes were 3202 which meant the tires were 14 years old. I also told them I could not see the date codes on the rear tires because they were located on the inside of the tire where I could not see. I told him I would have Steve’s RV check the date codes during my appointment on 18 August. On 12 August I received an email from Tim stating the tires would be replaced and to make an appointment at Emlaws in Postdam, NY; All 6 tires were replaced by Emlaws. As of 17 August I still hadn’t received my permanent registration for the RV. I emailed Shannon concerning this as the temporary registration would expire on 21 August. I did not hear from Shannon concerning this so I sent another message to Brian Wilkins. I then received an email from Shannon saying she had overlooked my email and stating they had a problem registering the RV because there was still a lien from the previous owner that had not cleared. So it appears that Wilkins RV had sold me a vehicle that did not have a clear lien. I do not know how they were able to do that. Shannon said they would get this squared away and I would have my registration prior to 21 August. I received the permanent registration on 20 August. On 21 August I sent Shannon an email requesting a refund of $80.00 on the registration fees. I initially paid $300 and was told by Gary the salesman that any overpayment would be refunded to me. It is 25 August and I still haven’t received my refund. During our first camping trip with the RV, 19 – 21 August, I noted the slide awnings were beginning to rip on the sides and there were also several small holes in the slide awnings. On 21 August I sent an email to Tim informing him that the tires had been replaced by Emlaws and Steve’s RV had fixed the previous noted problems. I also informed Tim of the rips in the slide covers. It is 24 August and I still have not received a reply from Tim concerning the rips in the slide covers. If the rips are not repaired or replaced, I am sure the entire awning will tear apart. On 25 August I received a call back from Tim and he told me the ripped slide covers were not a warranty repair item and their only option was to sell me new slide covers. and charge 3 hours of labor to install them. Again, if they would have checked the RV prior to selling it to me they would have noticed the bad shape the slide covers were in. I told him that was not an acceptable solution and he could tell his boss that. I have had nothing but issues with Wilkins RV since I bought this vehicle. There was even an inspection sticker which is dated in June. This was before I even purchased the RV. Even though they said they did a complete inspection. Probably the inspection was done by the previous owner. I believe Wilkins RV never did any service on this RV before they sold it to me. With all the needed repairs it shows they have a terrible service department and dealership who do not care about the customer after the sale. I have had to argue with them time after time to get everything fixed. Their warranty is not worth the paper it is written on. I now understand why they did not want me to have an independent dealer look at the Motor Home. If they did, it would have shown would a terrible job they did when they said they looked at the vehicle prior to selling it. I purchased this motor home on 30 Jun and have only been able to use it 1 time because it has been in one repair facility after another due to needed repairs and defectss My advice to anyone who looks at RV’s at Wilkins RV is run; run away as fast as you can. I am posting this as a review on Wilkins RV web page. It will probably be deleted by them. I will am also reporting my experience to the BBB and the NYS Attorney General. More