Tom Johnson Camping - Marion

This was the worst sales experience we have ever had. We made an appointment to see a 5th Wheel that they had posted on-line. We got there and our salesman was with someone else. We were told to go out and find it on the lot. We found it but it was locked. We were left standing out in the bitter cold for over 30 minutes. We finally went back to the sales office to get a key and the salesman came back out with us. We loved the camper and made a tentative deal to purchase. They gave us an estimate on our trade in and a 5th wheel hitch was to be included in the purchase price. We were going to wait until the middle of January to come in to finalize everything due to the extreme cold weather. We were called on Saturday December 30 and asked if we would do them a favor. They asked if we would be willing to come in to sign the papers before the end of the year. I had requested an upgrade on the microwave, which we were going to pay for. They offered to give us the microwave and the installation if we could get the papers signed in 2017. We agreed to come in on Sunday. We spent the entire day on Saturday detailing our trade. We arrived Sunday, with our trade-in. We dropped our camper at the service center and went to the office. We were immediately told that they were sorry but our hitch had been sold the day before. If we would still sign the papers they would deliver our camper to us and we could come in at our convenience to have the hitch installed. We were told that the hitch would be a top of the line SuperGlide. We went to do the walk-through of our new camper. Everything was awesome and things were explained very well and all of our questions were answered. The microwave had not been installed yet because they were going to have to drill new holes in the cabinet and did not want to do that until they asked us. We said to proceed. Our salesman came in and told us that there were some minor repairs that needed to be done to our trade-in, approximately $1100, and because of that they would not give us the hitch that they had promised. They said the cost of the hitch was roughly $1895. We were going to walk away but finally agreed to pay $1000 for the hitch. We waited for an extended period of time, again, in the sales office for the paperwork to be completed. The paperwork was incredibly confusing. We were told we had road side assistance and a medical alert feature - which I later realized were listed in the charges and we only received about 65% of the trade-in value we were quoted. When we were finally ready to leave we had been there for 5 hours. We had been told the process would take 2 hours. We told them we would be back on the 6th to get the hitch installed and to pick up our 5th wheel. We did not want it delivered because we wanted definite instructions on hooking up to our camper. Again - we were told it would take about 2 hours to install the hitch. We left and got stuck in ice traffic coming up I-40. It took us 6 hours to get home. We confirmed our Saturday appointment with our salesman twice. When my husband arrived on Saturday they said they had no idea he was coming and it would take about 4 hours to install the hitch. 5 hours later - finally ready. The hitch they installed was not the hitch we were promised. They had installed a Curt A16. When my husband went into the camper to make sure everything was strapped down it had not been detailed. It was a mess. It had been sitting outside the detail area for a week and he had been there that day for 5 hours. Every person in the facility knew that he was not happy - not one person did anything to make sure that everything was ready for him. They told him he could wait and they would detail it or he could bring it back. He refused to sit there any longer and told them he would never be back.. When he got home he realized they had not even transferred our tag from our trade-in. Extremely disappointed in the total process. We would never recommend this dealership.

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We were buying the unit from a friend who had it there on consignment. We asked them to fix the generator, oil change and make sure it ran properly, and clean it as if they would before they sold it. The first time we tried to use the generator it did not work. The unit was not clean and even the sinks were left dirty.

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That price seemed high to me, but I was happy to pay to be sure my wheel bearings were good and a small but pesky water leak around the AC eliminated. Unfortunately, the boot and trim ring on one wheel fell off on my next camping trip, and the AC leak was as bad, perhaps worse, than before. Called from FL to see if it would be okay to drive without boot. After the second call, finally got service rep who said it would probably be okay to bring home but hemmed and hawed when I asked if he would repack the affected bearing at no charge to me. (I'm not a mechanic but discovered on-line that boots are important in excluding dirt and grit that can ruin a wheel bearing.) To my mind, they should have apologized for the problems, volunteered to repack the bearing that had lost the boot, and to reexamine AC. Long story short, I was out of pocket $271 and change, and was worse off than when I took the camper to them. BTW, I bought the camper new from Tom Johnson and had them replace my AC unit--including the seal--in 2012. So much for customer service. I plan to upgrade to a larger RV next year but, given TJ/Camping World's reluctance to back their work, this is not a dealership I will consider or would recommend to others.

The experience was excellent. The communication was good. They prepared everything. They actually went above and beyond what they usually do for a sale.

My first visit was on a Friday appx. 15 minutes before closing time. I couldn't even get in the entrance due to all of the employees who were in a rush to leave. That was my first sign. If the folks who work there are more focused on the clock then they are in providing good customer service and quality work, I really wouldn't want to let them work on my RV. Still, I decided to give them a 2nd chance.
During the 2nd visit, we arrived early in the day and the receptionist greeted us the moment we walked in the door. After informing her we were interested in looking at the used Class A diesel's, she called a salesman who greeted us in the main showroom area within 2-3 minutes. The salesman (can't recall his name) was professional, and friendly, and within minutes we were previewing a number of their used Class A's. The two main concerns I have with this dealership are:
1. Most of the used RV inventory was in fair to poor condition, and were dirty inside and out. The sales rep assured us that if we bought one of them, the unit would be cleaned from top to bottom and all needed repairs would be performed. The problem with that approach is that you must first commit to the purchase, THEN they will put the unit into the condition it should be in. That was a bit of a red flag for us.
2. After being very clear about what we were looking for, the salesperson never followed up with us with an e-mail, a call, or any other contact. We were (I use the term "were" because we now own a new RV that we purchased from another dealership) serious cash buyers, and all we were looking for was help finding our first RV.
So in the end, I would not recommend this dealer to anyone who asked, nor will I be taking our new RV to this dealership for service.

Very well!

They sales lady was great.