Camper’s Barn

This place is unfortunately pretty mediocre, maybe even less than mediocre.
The sales guy we worked with was a pretty likable guy (Carl) and all in all our experience with him was pretty good. For us, where things went south was when we picked up the camper and got our walkthrough. It seemed as though they never did a pre-​walkthrough themselves to see what might be wrong with it before we got there, and during the walkthrough itself there were a number of items broken. They had to replace the circuit board of our refrigerator literally 2 times that day and finally got that working. Wood near our bedroom was cracked, and despite being promised that a new one would be ordered, 3 months later we’re still with the cracked wood. There were other problems too found during the walkthrough, and all in all it felt like the experience with our «new» camper was starting off bad.
Once the camper was set up at the campground and we actually started to use it, we quickly had a host of problems:
1. Neither of the TVs worked
2. The entertainment center didn’t recognize any of our devices (iOS and Android devices)
3. The front sink was leaking
4. Several of the ceiling lights didn’t work
5. The outer bathroom door’s arm/​piston disconnected from the door
There might have been some other problems, I can’t remember.
After chasing them down endlessly for a couple of months, they *finally* resolved the television problems. The entertainment center still doesn’t work and I was told that it’s not meant to work because it’s a disabled feature. The sink we fixed ourselves.
We still have a cracked piece of wood near our bedroom, two of the ceiling lights don’t work, and the bathroom door is still broken. It’s been escalated to the service manager and despite being in the hands of a senior manager there, there’s no follow-​through and I have to again chase them down.
The experience we had working with their parts division to order a weight distribution system was also bad. They don’t call you when they say they will, they don’t call you when the parts arrive, and you have to chase them down.
With this place, you’ll need to really internalize the expression «the squeaky wheel gets the oil». You will get positively nowhere unless you terrorize them with email, phone calls, and site visits. Don’t expect calls back, don’t expect emails to be returned, don’t expect proactive service. just expect to have to continually make noise until they give you a slice of attention, for a little while at least.

Horrible experience. My wife and I have been looking for a camper for a few months now. We decided on a dealer, because we didn’t want the hassle of buying one from a private seller. Camping world (formerly Campers Barn) is close by.
Went to look at a camper on ⁵⁄₃₁. Salesman didn’t seem to know much about campers. Good thing we already had some in mind to look at, because we looked at what was for sale on their website. We found one we liked and started the negotiation to buy the camper. We paid cash. First, we wanted to know how much the hitching and brake controller would be. The salesman told me that the service dept was busy and they would call me that afternoon with the estimate. Needless to say, no one called.
Sunday comes and goes, no call. Monday comes and still no call. I call them and ask for the service dept. They take my name and number and tell me they’ll call me back in a few minutes. Well, Monday is over and no call. Tuesday, I call back and ask the salesman to find out what’s going on. He assured me that he himself would call me before close of business that day with the estimates. Well, Tuesday does come to an end and I still don’t have a price. The sales guy does call me and I must have been in a bad reception area, because I got a voice mail, but no missed call. Anyway, the salesman tells me that he was still waiting on the service dept and that he would have it to me by next day at noon. He does call at noon and has a price. Way over priced. Being that I was waiting so long, I was looking around at how much the parts would be. The WD and sway controller part on their website is $ 241. But to buy from the store it was $ 379. I researched it more and all of their competition was around $ 200-​$ 230 for this part. Should only take about an hour to install, or less really because the camper already had the sway control ball on the camper. I started questioning the price and the salesman transferred me to someone else. Convenienly I got this persons voice mail. No returned called. I call again on Thursday and ask for a store manager. Again, got voice mail and no call back.
We went to pick it up on Saturday ⁶⁄₇ and have everything installed. We overheard some other customers complaining about how no one got back to them etc. I complained about no one calling back etc. They knocked off a few bucks. Sweet right? Well, we started out at 9:00AM and didn’t leave until 1:30PM. All they had to do was install the brake controller and hook up the hitch. Finally, we’re out of there. Get home un-​hook. I head down the road and turn the A/​C on. Guess, what doesn’t work. I call the salesman and he says to bring it over on Monday, since service dept was now closed and closed on Sunday.
I bring it back on ⁶⁄₉ and they take it in. Took only a few minutes. Turns out to be a blown fuse. Now they want to bill me $ 30? Are you kidding me. No way. It’s not related they say. At this point I“m livid. You mean to tell me at 9:00AM my A/​C worked and after they got done with it it didn’t, yet it’s not related? I told the guy I’d pay for the fuse, but wasn’t going to pay $ 29 for someone to put a new fuse in. About had to call the police, because they weren’t going to give me my vehicle back until I paid. I guess after they saw me dialing, they wanted to talk. The service manager brings me back into his office, comes up with a bunch of excuses and the waives the fee.
Damage is already done. Wouldn’t go back there for anything, nor recommend to anyone that they do business with Camping World!

9÷1÷13
Went to Camping World to look for a new camper.
Found 2 exactly aike, the one we wanted was $ 7000 more because it was purchased in a different lot than the one they would deal on. The deal was terrific, we just wanted the other one with different upholstery.
We put down a $ 500 deposit which we were told would be held pending financing. This was Labor Day weekend.
Tuesday we decided to nix the deal because of the upholstery issue. Called Camping World to inform them that we would not be purchasing at this time, please return the deposit. Well — low and behold, the check was DEPOSITED on Sunday, 9÷2÷13. We were told we would get our money back in 4 – 5 weeks. WHAT??? If this happens to everybody (2 other customers I personally know of), CW collects a lot of interest!
Now it is 10/​16/​2013 — still no deposit returned to us.
Constant runaround from finance department and management (which has since changed).
Deposits are supposed to be held in escrow, and returned immediately. Not going here for my big purchase.

I don’t often write Unilocal reviews, but something happened today that doesn’t often happen, either. Camper’s Barn (or Camping World) in Kingston proved there are amazing professionals out there who care for their customers.
Chris Alfonso and Jim (sorry, didn’t get a last name) are incredibly professional and helpful people. The Kingston CW came through for us, providing the fastest and most capable resolution I could imagine, taking the time to explain every detail of the repair they did, and going the extra mile (or hundreds of miles) to offer assistance with the original problem (which happened at a different store completely). In a very stressful situation, Chris and Jim not only fixed things, but left us feeling like we can count on the Kingston service department for literally any problem that might come up.
I cannot emphasize enough the quality of service and technical ability they showed — both these guys know their RVs (and mine, too, probably a little more than they’d like to!). If ANYONE needs RV service anywhere near Kingston, you can trust them. I’ve worked with a lot of people, both as their managers and as their colleagues, and I don’t think I can remember two guys who do a better job for their company. Chris’s cool demeanor and professional attitude make him a true manager, and I can say what started out as a difficult morning turned into a more than pleasant afternoon, due to Jim’s taking the time to chat about old RVs and his experience with them. He’s a MOPAR man through and through, and it’s clear he cares about the machines his guys work on. I am so thankful to have met these guys — there are few total pros out there who will work as hard as these guys to right a situation. And there are few guys as smart, too, who know what they’re doing.
So thank you, Chis Alfonso, and you, too, Jim — I will send other RVers to you with exactly the same enthusiasm that I have writing this.

EDIT: I’m told that literally weeks after our RV was so shoddily repaired by the «Campers Barn», they sold out and became «Camping World». Sadly, nothing has changed except the name. The same people still work there. You’ll even smell the same sulphur smell from the nasty bathrooms in the showroom.
The above pictures are of our 2008 Winnebago View that I took to the Campers Barn for repairs after it was side swiped while parked. The pictures are of the COMPLETED $ 17,000 repair job the campers barn bodyshop did.
The bodyshop manager Mike Kahle blamed the amazingly sub par quality workmanship on the Martin Senour paints and clears they used and on the humid weather.
I was forced to take the RV 180 miles round trip back and have them make repairs to their original repairs. We had paid in full already so the urgency to please us was GONE.
After 11 days of sitting in the yard they finally got our RV back in the shop.
They promised a detail job because they had originally given the RV back to us in a fithly state. Unfortunately, Mike later told me the Campers Barn doesn’t even have a detailer on staff! Yet, they advertise on their website that they offer professional detailing?! WTF guys? After spending $ 17,000 they didn’t even have the decency to wash the outside or even a quick sweep on the inside. The service manager Chris Byron was aware of our problems. He didn’t have the deceny to respond to my emails.
Their workers use the bathrooms in the customers RVs too! No joke. Look at the photos I posted above of the human waste on our toilet. That was NOT there when I left the RV. That’s how they gave our RV back to us… with employees crap on our toilet.
PLEASE FOLKS, BE VERY CAREFUL WHO YOU LET WORK ON YOUR RV!