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Old 06-06-2012, 05:29 AM   #1
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New Komfort fifth wheel

Maybe someone can point me in the right direction. I have sent 2 emails to Dutchmen Customer Service and have not received a reply on either one. Does anyone else know of how I can get in touch with customer service? Very disappointed in my purchase and am not receiving any help from the dealership.


Hi,

I purchased a 2012 Komfort model 3230FRK from Camping World in Gulf Breeze, FL., on May 7, 2012. We were very impressed with the layout and colors of the unit. I also went on line and read several reviews on the unit and most loved it. On May 8 we were called by the salesman and told the unit had been cleaned and we could come for the vehicle "walk through" and orientation. The gentleman that showed us the unit, knew very little about it and was unable to answer my questions such as where the low point drains and fresh water drains where. As he was going over the unit we found that the light in one of the compartments was melted and the bulb was burnt out. We also found moulding loose in the kitchen area. We were told that they would go back over the unit and make sure everything was taken care of before it was delivered. This unit only had one air conditioner installed and we were told, when we first looked at it that a air conditioner could be installed in the bedroom, and that it was pre wired for it. During the walk through we discovered the bedroom air was wired for the air to be installed in the center vent over the television and the air would come through some very small vents in the facia board over the doors in the bedroom. They told me they had found in the past that these small openings allowed very little air in the bedroom, so they recommended the air conditioner be installed in the vent in the bedroom and the wire be run through the duct work into the bedroom. They showed us a unit they had installed the second air in, and once the wire gets into the bedroom they then run the wire below the ceiling, covering it with a small plastic wire channel. This made the unit look cheap and the wire channel did not match the color of the ceiling, thus making it very visible. I was told they did not understand why the factory chose to wire the second air away from the bedroom and this was the only way to make it work and be comfortable in that room. I expressed my concern that we were told it was wired in the bedroom, but was told there was nothing they could do about that.

When the unit was delivered on May 11, we noticed that none of the things we had pointed out had been taken care of. The light was still melted and the moulding was loose. We also found several other things that was wrong with the unit. I sent them a email, identifying the problems. Two of our biggest concerns was the air conditioner in the living area was leaking, condensation, onto the floor, not properly draining. The next big issue was the floor in the living room dipped 1/2 to 3/4 inch whenever someone walked over the floor. It is so bad that if you walk across the floor the entire unit shakes and will knock a drink over if placed on a TV tray. A gentleman came out on May 14 to address our concerns. Regarding the air conditioner leaking, he went on top and checked the drains to make sure they were not stopped up. He said they were draining. We took the cover off on the inside and the unit is wet as far as you can reach. He did not know what was causing that. When we showed him what the floor was doing, he was amazed, said he had never seen one so bad and that another support would need to be added under the floor. The only thing he was able to repair was the light that was melted. After he left I climbed onto of the roof to check the drains myself. After getting on the roof the first thing I noticed was the TV antenna was missing. The mount was there and a piece of coax was sticking out of the hole without any caulking around it. I am attaching a photo of the missing antenna and the water coming from the air conditioner. I contacted the salesman, on May 14, we purchased the unit from and told him about the issues and he said he would forward my concerns to the service manager. By May 16 I hadn't heard anything and again sent a email to the salesman. He told me he would again forward my email to the service manager. On May 18 I still had not received a response, so I called and asked for the General Manager. The manager said that all of these problems occurred after the unit left there lot and he did not have a mobile service tech, but would see what he could work out. I feel sure the antenna didn't fall off on the way here and the air conditioner and floor did not break in transit. I called the salesman and told him what the GM had said. He said that he had contacted the service manager and that someone would be here first thing this morning, May 21, to address the issues. At 9am this morning, I received a email stating they were on the way. As of 12:35pm, no one has arrived.

We purchased a Dutchman fifth wheel in 1992 and found it to be a very good unit, it was built well and we never had a issue. With this unit we can't walk across the floor without the entire unit shaking and we have a trash can under the air conditioner to keep the water from ruining something. We have a hole in the roof around the coax, that if it rains water will come through the hole and then we will have water in the ceiling. We are very disappointed in the quality and service we have received with this unit.

We are working this summer in a large campground in Destin, FL we bought this unit for more living space. The lay out is great. But when I speak with other Komfort owners who camp here, I hear of more stories of their dissatisfaction. I hope with your help, I will be able to tell other campers that this is a great unit and Dutchmen stands behind what they sell.


Thanks again for your help with these issues,

Sincerely,

Jeff Wygul


p.s. as of today, June 6, 2012 they brought out a omni tv antenna, and we still don't have any channels from the new antenna. Now the air conditioner shuts off about every 15 minutes and stays off for a few minutes and then comes back on. They s till have not replaced the basement door latches.....this is getting old, and no one seems to care.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me.
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Old 06-06-2012, 03:38 PM   #2
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

eulas8,
First and foremost welcome to the forum, maybe the following info will help:
Rl Rahe, is a member of this forum and a SVP at Camping World RV sales. In a previous post to another forum user he was quite willing to help them but I'm unsure of the outcome. This is the link to his profile, maybe send him a PM and see if there is anything he can do.

Good Luck and keep us up to date on the outcome.

Cheer
Daryl B.
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Old 06-06-2012, 07:03 PM   #3
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Good advice Grump Daryl, I couldn't think this morning of how to direct them.
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Old 06-07-2012, 11:36 AM   #4
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

I have a Komfort 3650FFL from Camping World Katy TX. I contacted Joni Busz at Dutchman, she is the customer satisifaction rep there. She took care of the issues I had. jbusz@dutchman.com, also sounds like the service at Camping World there is lacking. It was the same here about a year ago and after a lot of complaints the mgr was replaced, and a new leadership was in place. Service here is great now I highly recommend the Katy store. It sounds like a lot of your issues should have been handled by Camping World as they are the end product in the sale. Joni provided me with the schematics of my unit so I could trace the cable lines, plumbing, electrical, etc. email Joni and cc the general mgr of your Camping World store and you will get results. Congrats on your new unit hope you get all the issues resolved
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Old 06-07-2012, 11:25 PM   #5
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Eulas8- I have sent your information from your post to the dealership and you can expect a call tomorrow. I apologize for your experience and the opportunity.

Randall Rahe
Camping World
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Old 06-08-2012, 06:32 AM   #6
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Thanks to everyone for their help. I have spoken with a customer service rep. at Dutchmen. Haven't gotten very far yet. Hopefully all the issues will get taken care of.

Thanks again,

Jeff
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Old 06-08-2012, 03:46 PM   #7
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Really happy we maybe helped in some way, good luck Jeff. As I said earlier, keep us posted on your progress.

Cheers
Daryl
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Old 06-09-2012, 04:15 AM   #8
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Mr. Rahe,

I did not receive a call from Camping World, today, Friday. Just wanted to let you know. The customer service rep., Dan Delong, at Dutchmen will not return my emails. I sent him photos and description of my problems. Please let me know if I need to contact anyone else. The water from the air conditioner is getting the furniture wet and we have a garbage can in the living room floor to catch the water. I also sent Dutchmen a video of how the furniture shakes in the living room as we walk across the floor. The floor feels "spongy" as you walk across it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Jeff Wygul
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Old 06-10-2012, 06:42 PM   #9
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Jeff,

I am getting back to the Gulf Breeze store to get with you and circle back with the Dutchmen rep.

Randall Rahe
Camping World RV
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Old 06-10-2012, 06:48 PM   #10
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Jeff,

Just spoke to the store and they state they have spoken with you several times times regarding this. I trust we can get this fresolved. Keep your fast cool vent closed. Thanks and we appreciate your business.

Rl Rahe
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Old 06-11-2012, 01:42 AM   #11
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

Mr. Rahe

I have never spoken with the service manager. I have only sent emails regarding the issues. I have copies of every email sent and received. I did receive a voice mail from the general manager about 2 weeks after I purchased the unit. He told me he did not have a mobile service tech, but would see what he could do to resolve the issues. Also have a copy of the voice mail. I have never spoken to him directly. I have not heard anything from anyone at the Gulf Breeze store in the past 3 weeks. On top of all the problems that I have had so far, today while taking a nap I woke up with my hand wet. All of the pillows on the bed are wet and the carpet under the left side of the bed is wet. This is on the slide portion of the bedroom. Around the slide is dry, it is just wet in the left corner under the bed. I have photos of all the issues which I would be happy to send you. I would be happy to speak with you directly. You can contact me at eulas@yahoo.com and I can provide you with my phone number.

Sincerely,

Jeff Wygul
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Old 06-16-2012, 04:21 AM   #12
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

I am happy to say that do to the help of Mr. Rahe the Camping World store in Gulf Breeze, FL came and got my Komfort 3230FRK to work on it. They brought us a used camper for us to stay in until ours was repaired. They contacted me today and said Dutchmen agreed to repair most of the problems. Dutchmen refused to repair the floor. When you walk across the floor everything shakes. The floor has a dip of nearly 1" and feels "spongy". Dutchmen says it is within their tolerance and will not authorize for it to be repaired. It appears to me that the floor joists are to far apart and with the floor being particle board with linoleum on top, it is not sturdy enough to be walked on. I thoght that with the cost of the unit it would be livable. Companies build their units to be lighter and cheaper. Those cut backs make the units to not be built the way they should be. I am very disappointed in Dutchmen. They used to build quality products. I am going to try to get in touch with someone in a management position. Customer service won't even send me a email back just to discuss the problems. Anyone who expects Komfort to be a well built product, will be badly disappointed. I will keep you guys updated on my progress.

thanks,

Jeff Wygul
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Old 06-16-2012, 04:06 PM   #13
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Re: New Komfort fifth wheel

It's good to hear that Mr. Rahe came through for you and has done what he can to rectify your concerns, hopefully you can get through to Dutchmen and get the last of your issues resolved.

Daryl
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Old 11-02-2012, 08:06 PM   #14
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Another Komfort tale

In May of this year, I bought a new Dutchmen Komfort FRL3130 fifth wheel from Gulf Breeze Camping World. I took delivery and towed it home - a distance of 54 miles. My first trip was planned for early Sept. Just before leaving I was cleaning and waxing the front cap when I felt a quarter size protrusion. This is about 10 foot off the ground and about 16 inches from the edge on the curbside of the cap . On closer inspection I found I saw spider web cracks and noted something pushing on this protrusion from the inside of the bedroom. There is no flexibility of the cap in this area like there is on the other areas of the cap. I feel that with time, a hole would develop in this area and I want to get if fixed before further damage. I had a couple of other problems that needed attending to. On Sept 12th I delivered the unit to Camping World in Robertsdale, AL for warranty work. The people at Camping World agree with me that something is wrong here. Dutchmen had approved the other repairs but denied the cap work. Dutchmen told me that there is no framework there to push on the cap. It's obvious that there is something there that shouldn’t be. So I see it as a manufacturing issue as the pressing is from the inside. Warranty work was denied by Dutchmen for the cap. The reason given was the unit passed all inspections. Since when are inspections infallible?
After a couple of resubmissions, Dutchmen agreed to fix the spider web cracks, but not the cause of the problem. Which, doesn’t make much sense to me. The plan was to see if it cracks again while the warranty is still good. I already lost 7 weeks of use waiting for Dutchmen to do the right thing. So, I said screw it and fixed it myself. It took about 3 hours to take apart, fix and reassemble. When the unit was assembled the curb side of the bedroom cabinetry was jammed against the front cap causing the bulge and cracking. This is not a case of the framework shifting as there was no way I could even get it to budge by shaking, pulling or pushing. The fix was to trim the part of frame work that was jammed against the cap. Very tedious work as I had to use a hacksaw blade without the handle.
I have pictures of all this.
So much for Dutchmens warranty—A non-warranty warranty.
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Old 11-03-2012, 12:21 AM   #15
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I had a couple of small issues that the dealer did not address. I contacted Joni Busz also and everything was taken care of. Joni was great. I worked everything through email and it did a few days till the initial contact, but after that went very quick.
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Old 11-03-2012, 07:53 AM   #16
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Originally Posted by gonervn View Post
I had a couple of small issues that the dealer did not address. I contacted Joni Busz also and everything was taken care of. Joni was great. I worked everything through email and it did a few days till the initial contact, but after that went very quick.
Nice to hear you got things sorted out Bill. Joni is good to work with & gets things done pretty quick. It's a shame the Dealers can't be this good..
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Old 11-05-2012, 11:49 AM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gonervn View Post
I had a couple of small issues that the dealer did not address. I contacted Joni Busz also and everything was taken care of. Joni was great. I worked everything through email and it did a few days till the initial contact, but after that went very quick.
It seems I missed out on a good contact. Do you have a phone number or email address for Joni Busz?

Whoops I need to put on my glasses. I see the email in an earlier post
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Old 02-05-2013, 05:21 PM   #18
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As a footnote, I did email Joni and she did some checking. The warranty department gave her some runaround about why they refused to fix my problem. As a result she extended my warranty by four months. My rig had sat on the lot for a year and was badly oxidized on the front cap. The next time I took my unit in for a leak in the shower, Camping World informed me Dutchmen had authorized repainting the front cap. Not sure, but think this was done because I fixed that problem with the framework.
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Old 02-05-2013, 09:38 PM   #19
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So sorry to hear about these issues that other Komfort owners are having. We own a 2012 3130FRL and while we have had some warranty issues (mostly pretty minor) our dealer and Dutchmen have promptly taken care of things. I also have worked with Joni who has always been responsive to the warranty items.

I feel strongly that our Komfort is well built and look forward to many more years of exploring with it.
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Old 02-05-2013, 10:34 PM   #20
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OldOneTwo,

Congratulations on getting an additional 4 months of warranty. That's cool.

When I was at Camping World in Bartow, recently. They had three different Dutchmen campers that they were preparing to paint on the front nose. I believe that Dutchmen knows they have a problem with fading and are doing the right thing.

Hopefully, you get everything straightened out and you can concentrate on the reason you purchased it, TO GO CAMPING.

Enjoy!!!!!!
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