Mr. Mik
USA
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Joined: 02/03/2003
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OOOOOOOOOOOPS!!!!!!!! Cedar Creek!!!!!!! Don't ever get on Mrs. Mik's badside, look what it has created!!!!! I would also like to say to you people at Cedar Creek, life has not been good around the Mik household since all this has ocurred! We had the CC out alongside the house displaying it proudly, now it's up north hidden till taken care of 270 miles away!!!! Thank you so much!!!! Mr. Mik!!!!!!! P.S. Would also like to add, alot of good future buyers are headed to other RV Companies who are trying harder to meet the new demands that are out there now that the RV business is BOOMING!!! BIG TIME!!! Do it right the first time and never look back! The growing pains are over!!!!!
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Fulltimewannabes
Toms River, NJ
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Joined: 03/21/2004
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Mrs. and Mr. Mik,
I'm sorry about your troubles and am watching this thread closely. I want to see how Forest River handles these problems to your satisfaction.
Based on floorplan and then on all your and other Cedar Creek owners' wonderful "promotion" of the Cedar Creeks, we went ahead and purchased our fifth wheel. We are currently not happy campers!
We were told 7 - 8 weeks for delivery and it has been over 11 weeks. Unit is at dealers and we are scheduled for PDI this week. However, unit is missing options we ordered and dealer has not yet confirmed he plans on providing them and then adds that that will add more time before delivery. We are considering not taking delivery. We know this being a holiday may have delayed Forest River's/dealer's response, but this is not okay. I want to give the dealer some time to come back to us with confirmation that unit will be available on PDI date as ordered - so I don't want to go into details at this time. If I hear otherwise -- you will too! We are hoping for good news from our dealer.
The Cedar Creeks are a nice product, but the company needs to improve its customer relations. I had e-mailed Doretta and she responded promptly that someone in customer service would get back to me - I've not heard anything from him yet.
To the Miks - I hope to hear good news on your sink and speakers!
Happy Fourth everyone!
* This post was
edited 07/04/04 08:23pm by Fulltimewannabes *
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Diesel Dad
Victoria BC, Canada
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Joined: 02/10/2002
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I certainly share your frustration with Forest River. On the one hand, they make great coaches with excellent layouts and features for affordable prices.
On the other hand, their assembly quality is lacking and the customer service is hit and miss. We had over 40 problems with our Cardinal 312-BHLE. It took a lot of persistence and a few calls to Forest River, but eventually all problems were corrected and today we are happy with our rig.
I did a little soul searching after the first 8 or 10 trips to the dealer. What if I found a better made unit ? Could I avoid a lot of aggravation ?
I finally decided that even if I had to spend $2K or even $4K to get everything perfect, it was much cheaper than buying a different rig, which may have an equally lengthy list of problems. Luckily, I spent very little.
If I were Peter Liegl (owner of Forest River) and I wanted to make lots of money and get even richer, I would:
1). Invest in better quality at the factory. Better process design. Better inspections. All of the techniques that are well known in the auto industry, even in Detroit.
2). Appoint an ombudsman to resolve customer complaints with reporting back to an executive on a regular basis. Act to fix the hotspots.
3). Bonus employees on quality -- defects found through inspection, field reported, warranty cost.
4). Survey customers on satisfaction using a 3rd party. Analyze the results. Fix the root causes in engineering and manufacturing.
Today, RV quality is a sad story. JD Power is now looking at the RV industry. But we have a long way to go from 40 defects per unit to 1.4 defects per unit like a car.
Victoria BC, Canada
Our Web Site: rv-there-yet.com
2001 Duramax / Allison Chevy Silverado 3500 Crew Cab
2003 Cardinal 312BH LE
Cardinal Photos
2001 Chevy Silverado 3500
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Snow Hawk
Ma, USA
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Joined: 08/19/2002
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Hello:
Unfortunatley, your story about Cedar Creek is one I have heard before.
I was at two different campgrounds last season and the campers loved their new Cedar Creek fivers, and both had NOTHING good to say about the factory dealing with their problems. To quote them both, "I will never buy another Cedar Creek." " And I will tell everybody I meet all of my problems with the factory so they don't ever buy a Cedar Creek."
Manufacturers have to wake up and realize customer satisfaction is their second most powerful marketing tool. Customer disatisfaction, is their number one marking tool.
Good Luck with your problems. I'm sorry to hear you were treated so poorly. We had some issues with our Prowler (Fleetwood) and it had to go back to the factory, and they did an incredible job fixing the issues and threw in 4 free upgrades in the unit, at no cost, for our troubles. I would go after them for some free stuff. Assuming that you can contact them.
Snow Hawk
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WTTCS
freedom , U.S.A.
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Joined: 07/28/2003
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Mrs. Mik, I had a small issue with my 5er, and the first couple of calls got me no where. It was used, no warranty, but I expected a warm and fuzzy feeeling when I called the factory. Welcome, me, to the REAL world. I took copies of every complaint on this board, like yours and the others reply to you, copied them and mailed them to the president. Within 48 hours, I had a reply, ON HERE NO LESS. Just a suggestion, it sure cant hurt it appears, and I wish you luck with your problems.
1997 chev crew cab 454, 5 sp. 4.10
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Midwest
Carbondale, IL
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Joined: 11/24/2003
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Mrs. Mik
I commend you. You are one of the high profile RV.Net participants. Everyone has read one or more of Mrs. Mik's post. It took nerve and commitment to post the issues you are having with Cedar Creek after all your praise of their product. I am sure you are correct that your posts influenced several individuals to purchase Cedar Creeks. The power of the internet is underestimated. The readership of RV.Net is huge. I hope Cedar Creek fixes your problem promptly. All manufacturers need their loyalty to speak up for them. Once your issues are rectified, I am sure you will again become a Cedar Creek flag bearer. I respect your decision to make your post. You did it with your normal respectful flair. Good luck in getting your issues resolved.
Steve
3710RLTS 2004 Jayco Legacy
2007 3500 GMC SLE CC LB D/A Dually 2WD
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Shimo
NW PA.
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Joined: 06/10/2004
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I don't know if this helps anyone but I recently read an article in an issue of Forbes Magazine that Thor industries ( Owner of quite a few independant RV manufacturers) do not pay their managers or employees a salary or hourly wage, instead managers and employees are paid by the number of units out the door.
As a small businessman myself, I would much rather see a program where a percentage of sales is put aside for warranty work for that year. If the quality is there and no large claims are made then divide what is left of the warranty money at the end of the year. I personally feel this is a better incentive to insure the quality is built in and the brand name improves. A system that rewards speed over quality and reliability is guaranteed to fail both the consumer and manufacturer. I personally would not buy a product from Thor Industries. I may be mistaken (and if someone can confirm this I would really appreciate their input) but I thought I read that Forest River was just purchased by Thor Industries. I will try to confirm this and edit this post as needed.
(My mistake Thor Industries does not own Forest River!
Holdings are; Aerolite, Airstream, Brekenridge, Damon RV, Dutchmen, Four Winds, General Coach ON, General Coach BC, Keystone RV, Komfort, Mandalay, Thor America and Thor California.)
* This post was
edited 07/08/04 12:06pm by Shimo *
Just me and "Pee-Wee", 1989 Peach faced Lovebird.
'05 Holiday Rambler Presidential 36RLT , on permanent site on the beaches of Lake Erie.
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Latdo
I'm too young to be a
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Joined: 07/07/2002
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Quote:I may be mistaken (and if someone can confirm this I would really appreciate their input) but I thought I read that Forest River was just purchased by Thor Industries. I will try to confirm this and edit this post as needed.
Oh No say it isn't so.. I just ordered a Cedar Creek..
2004 F350 Lariat, 4WD, 6.0 Diesel, 5-Spd Auto
2005 Cedar Creek 34CKTS 5'er
Rallies Attended(11) & Other Photo's
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Hotel California
Northern California
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Joined: 06/07/2004
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"I may be mistaken (and if someone can confirm this I would really appreciate their input) but I thought I read that Forest River was just purchased by Thor Industries. I will try to confirm this and edit this post as needed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh No say it isn't so.. I just ordered a Cedar Creek.. "
I just did a search on the Net, and cannot find any indication that Thor has or will purchase Forest River.
Doug & Juanita
2005 33' Cedar Creek Custom
The Cedar Creek RV Owners Club
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Hotel California Slideshow
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pompanojoe2
pompano beach florida usa
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Joined: 12/18/2003
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Hi,
I just noticed this and do not have time to read all the responses. Unless this is already a done deal I would NEVER accept 4 speakers aligned around the entertainment center as a substitute for surround.
I would demand a full refund of the factory RETAIL price for that particular option then find a mobile stereo business whom I am sure could come to your trailer to set you up properly. The cracks are another issue but a stereo is a stereo is a stereo and no doubt someone else could do a beautiful job. Once you get the refund of course.
good luck,
j
pompanojoe
Ford F250 CC 6.0 4x4 5 Speed
2004 HR Presidential 34RKT
Reese 16K Slide
Prodigy Brake Controller
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