Fleetwood Service Woes


Old Forum Post

Senior Member
[wbeck] It&#039s been months since we tried to repair a part on our Avion, and Fleetwood has left us high
and dry. Anyone need an EMS panel?

Last summer, the Liquid Level Monitor in our Avion fifth wheel died. Every time you push a
button to check the levels in fresh, grey, and black water tanks, or the proane tanks, all the
lights go on and you have no way of telling if the tanks are full or empty.

We tried to locate the manufacturer of this panel, with no luck. Then we went online to
contact Fleetwood/Avion for replacement or retrofit parts.

In early April, after trying several times to get a response on the Fleetwood Service site, we
finally received an answer. We were given the address and phone number of their plant in
Longview, Texas, where we found a knowledgeable service technician. He confirmed that the
origianl part was no longer available and gave us a part number, telling us that it would not be
difficult to retrofit the current panel version into our 1992 trailer.

We had to then locate a dealer who would order this part for us, no easy task since none of
the dealers for 150 miles represent Avion. A Fleetwood dealer 70 miles from here did place
the order, however, and we finally received a part in a little over a month from our first
two-way contact with Fleetwood.

Too bad it was the wrong part at a cost of $80. We now have an EMS (Electrical
Monitoring System panel which tells you what amp service you&#039re hooked up to and which
main appliances are in use, so what does this have to do with liquid levels?) The dealer would
assume no responsibility, since we had provided part number and they were "doing us a favor"
placing the part order.

Calling Texas again resulted in the technician needing to go to the parts warehouse and check
to see why the wrong part was labelled with the right part number. He was supposed to call
back as soon as he had the right part. Then he would drop ship the correct part and include a
return shipping label for the wrong part. Sounds like great customer service so far, doesn&#039t it?

Well, he never called back and many attempts to call him went to his voice mail without a
response. SO, we again contacted the main Fleetwood service site and were finally sent yet
another plant address and phone number, this time in Nebraska. This plant was to receive all
of our information via FAX from the main site and would contact us. After a week, we again
emailed the main plant to let them know there had been no communication from Nebraska.

Now we got no response from the main site, Texas or Nebraska. So we emailed the Investor
Relations department, the only available email address for upper level management on the
Fleetwood site. Again no response.

So, we went camping and the rear grey water tank repeatedly overflowed under "dry
camping" conditions at a state park. The overflow flooded the electrical and
storage compartments and left a wonderful aroma to permeate the trailer.

Since there seems to be no responsible customer service, and our customer satisfaction level
with Fleetwood has dropped below the tolerable level, we are writing to warn other owners
that they really need to take their Avion to an authorized service center if they want service.
Of course, since we&#039d have to take a vacation to do this, we have no real idea if this plan
works any better than trying to get satisfaction from Fleetwood headquarters.

We love the construction, style and quality of our trailer, but when we trade it in for a newer
model, it won&#039t be for a Fleetwood product by any name.
 

Old Forum Post

Senior Member
Fleetwood Service Woes

[RVJOE] WHILE I DONT HAVE THE SAME PROBLEM, I HAVE A 1998, 33 FT. PROWLER 5TH WHEEL AND THE SIDES ARE YELLOWING AND NOT ALL THE PANELS..TURNS OUT THAT FLEETWOOD NO LONGER USED THAT VENDER, MOST LIKELY BECAUSE OF THIS PROBLEM. AND AFTER SOME MAJOR CHECKING, I AM STUCK WITH IT. NO MORE FLEETWOOD FOR ME OF ANY KIND. AS I WAS TOLD; "BUY A FLEETWOOD, BUY PROBLEMS"
 

Old Forum Post

Senior Member
Fleetwood Service Woes

[Les Adams] WBeck,

What a frustrating experience... I know how aggrevating a situation like that can be having gone through similar experiences myself...

While I have no advice regarding the resolution of the dealer/manufacturer problems, there may be a relatively simple solution to obtain a reasonable replacement panel...

There is a product out on the market called AccuGauge... I believe this product is sold both by Camping World and Campers Choice... The Panel Monitor setup is in the $100 price range and works quite well... It is installed OUTSIDE the tanks on the tank wall and wiring is is run back to the monitor panel itself...

I have installed this system on a previously owned TT and found it to work quite well...

What I am thinking is it may be possible to install this system using the existing wiring in your TT... You may have to transpose color codes on wiring and possibly splice a few wires, but it would eliminate crawling under the TT and "fishing" wires thru walls...

You may want to check this product out and see if it is a solution to your existing problem... You might even be able to negotiate with your dealer on the installation of it in place of what he has previously installed...

Good Luck and Best Regards,
Les
 
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