The RV Industry Is Letting Its Customers Down And They Don’t Seem To Care

As many of you know, we have had our coach since June. There were some issues with it that we got fixed during the delivery stay at Lazydays and there are a couple of minor issues that we need to have taken care of when we get around to making our first service appointment. Unfortunately, during our last trip to St. Augustine, a new issue popped up. Whenever we go over a rough road where the coach bounces up and down, there is an ugly noise coming from behind the driver’s seat, we think it’s the slide.

Our next trip is scheduled for the first week of November and we figured we’d get Irving in for service before then. So we call Lazydays and the first appointment we can get is at the end of October. If this isn’t bad enough, the person Amber talked to said that if parts are needed, it could take weeks to get them.It was at that point Amber brought up a great point. We were given a year parts and labor warranty, but if we can’t get a service appointment for a month and it takes weeks to get parts, we really don’t have a one year warranty.

Part of me understands that Lazydays is the largest RV dealership in the world, so they must have a massive amount of customers to service. However, they also have a ton of service bays, so they should be able to service a large amount of customers at time. Another part of me believes that Lazydays cares more about selling RVs to people that giving them amazing service and that makes me angry.

So we made our service appointment, but Amber wanted to call Winnebago to see if there are any other options available, mainly a mobile RV service provider. She described the issue with our slide, which is our biggest concern at the moment. The person she talked to mentioned that the problem she described was something they hear about a lot and directed us to YouTube to find some videos on lubricating our slide gibs. She also asked whether the long wait for service appointments and parts were common. He said it is. Even the Winnebago representative said that the first appointment at their factory wasn’t until the end of November.

How exactly are all the things I have mentioned in this post acceptable to the RV manufacturers? I read on forums all the time that people do their own maintenance because they don’t want to lose the use of their RVs for long periods of time. This is really the issue here. How is a one year warranty a one year warranty when you may potentially lose the use of your coach for a percentage of that year for a potential manufacture defect?

I am actually thinking about seeking a legal opinion on this matter, but I am not optimistic.

Stage Coach RV Park

Address: 2711 County Road 208 Saint Augustine, FL 32092
Telephone: +1 (904) 824-2319

Dates Stayed: 09/21/2016 – 09/25/2016

Rate: $46 per night (10% discount for AAA & Good Sam)

Rating:

Location

This campground is just over 1/2 mile from I95 exit 318. We arrived on Wednesday afternoon and there wasn’t much traffic, so we go from the exit to the campground pretty quickly. As the week progressed into the weekend, the intersection where CR208 meets SR16 meets got very busy, so plan your route well. With tall trees and lots of shade, this is the kind of campground we envisioned staying at.

Stagecoach RV Park
Stagecoach RV Park

Check-In

Checking in was a pretty quick. We stopped just past the front door of the office and got out. Christopher and I went into the office and told the woman we were checking in. She knew who I was and had a packet of information ready for us. She asked if were towing a vehicle and I said no, so we didn’t need the mirror tag for a vehicle. We given directions to our camp site (straight ahead) and off we went.

Camp Site

Campsite #40
Campsite #40

The site is pull through, so we were parked and lined up in a couple of minutes. The camp site (40) is a very level gravel and our automatic leveling jacks had no problem leveling quickly.

The services included at the site are 30/50amp electric, fresh water (1 spigot), cable TV and sewer. We attached a splitter to the water spigot to make it easier to clean our black tanks when we left. There is cable television at this site and when we scanned for channels, we were able to receive a handful of local stations and some cable stations. Not a huge selection, but enough to make some TV before bed a decent experience.

Patio with Picnic Table
Patio with Picnic Table

There is a picnic table at the campsite. No grill, unfortunately, but we are looking for a portable grill to bring on our trips to allow us to grill outside anywhere. No big deal.

WiFi & Cellular

We arrived just after I finished work for the day, so I didn’t need WiFi for the rest of the day. The WiFi was very strong and relatively fast. I had to work the entire day the next day and there were several disconnects, but it was reliable enough for me to work. As with any WiFi, the more people who are on it, the slower it gets and this is no exception. I noticed the WiFi degrade as the weekend approached, but I did not have to use cell service at any time during the trip. It’s a win when I don’t have to use cellular data to work!

Facilities

This campground is no resort. There is no pool, a few swings and a basketball court, that’s it. If you are brining kids and like a campground to have lots of amenities to take advantage of, this may not be the place for you.

Right before leaving and after cleaning our black tanks, I used the bath facilities to shower before checking out. It was very clean and well kept with toilets and showers.

Conclusion

Our 2016 Winnabego Vista LX at Stagecoach RV Park

We very much enjoyed our stay at Stagecoach. Our campsite was pull though, large with plenty of space between neighbors. We would definitely stay there again when we want to visit St. Augustine.

If you want to see the sights of St. Augustine in a campground that is about 7 miles to downtown, this is the place for you. We do not tow a car right now, so we relied on the trolly sightseeing tour to pick us up at the campground and bring us to the trolley depot to pick up the sightseeing tour. It was good for getting around, but when the weekend came, it got very busy and took ages to get from one place to another. We also used Uber for direct transportation to sights.

There are other campgrounds that will offer more amenities, like a pool and activities for the kids. If that’s what you need, Stagecoach is not the place for you.

120v Power Outlet Issue

On out latest trip to St. Augustine, Florida, we ran into an issue after arriving at the campground. Two of the non-GFCI, 120v power outlets (master bathroom and kitchen counter) we not working and we could not figure out why. We checked breakers and fuses, nothing.

Amber noticed that the light on the GFCI outlet just inside the coach door was not on. She reset that outlet and then the other two started working again! I guess the three outlets were wired as one circuit…? I know next to nothing about electrical, so don’t take my word for it.

MORAL: Check all outlets when one isn’t working.