Gerzeny's RV World - Fort Myers — Local services in Fort Myers

Purchased our FIRST RV (travel trailer), a 2021.5 Forest River r-pod 190 from Gerzeny's of Fort Myers.

GREAT: Paul Graef in Finance was TERRIFIC at explaining everything (paperwork on our financing, registration, roadside assistance, extended warranty, etc.), He was enthusiastic about his job and genuinely excited about us starting our new adventures in our camper. He patiently answered all questions we had and shared lots of tips and insights from his many years in the business.

GOOD: Our salesman, Doyle Howard, was helpful throughout the process. He did everything necessary to help us acquire the exact model we wanted. Rich Davis in Service did our walk-through and we understand it was his FIRST time doing one. He did a great job for his first time! There were a few minor things he missed, like making sure our Emergency Brake Disconnect Wire was connected before we rolled out, but there were even more things he went above and beyond to tell us/show us. One example was how he quickly installed a few "extras", like screw-on levels, that came with our camper that he knew we would want, but technically could have been done by us later.

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Being new to the RV lifestyle, we had a lot of questions and have a lot to learn. When we asked our salesman for "tips", we were given a few links to some very basic information. We found LOTS of much better resources on our own, since then. As a company, I just feel Gerzeny’s should have a better list of resources to share at first contact. Jeff Thurmond in Parts assisted us with adding on a MaxxAir Roof Vent and several Ventmate Insect Screens. There is a fine line between high-pressure sales and genuinely trying to educate and recommend products to new owners. I think a better job could have been done showing us some of the add-ons, upgrades, etc. that would make our camper ownership more enjoyable. There were a considerable number of items we ended up purchasing within the first few days of ownership. Many of those were seen in the parts department, but because we didn't fully understand what we were looking at... we ended up getting them elsewhere. These were missed sales opportunities for Gerzeny's.

BAD: As I write this, we have had the camper for a week and a half and haven't heard a peep from anyone from Gerzeny's. I was shocked when we hadn’t heard from anyone the day after we picked our unit up and that has only grown with each passing day! Good customer service should include a follow up the next day and then maybe after a week or even a month later. Yes, you might hear about some things you have to fix, but it also might be a wonderful opportunity to realize some additional revenue from the sale of add-ons, extras, and upgrades.

GENERAL ADVICE: I hesitate to include this here, as this is a review for Gerzeny's RV World and not a "Tips & Tricks" article, but I am including it for one reason. So... the biggest tip is to TAKE YOUR TIME on the walk-through. We didn't feel rushed, but there was simply SO much to take in and try to remember that we forgot to ask a lot of questions we had going in. The reason I do include this in the review is because there is a checklist that the person doing your walk-through has you sign and gives you a copy of... at the end. It would have been nice to have had that when we started to make sure we had gone over EVERYTHING. We were so focused on learning the major systems that we forgot to look over some basic things. When we got to our first campsite, we opened the blinds and found some minor damage to one of the windows. Something we really should have checked during the walk-through and I'm not sure how much of a pain it will be to fix now. Again... take your time during the walk-through and ask for the checklist before you start!

Overall, we had a GOOD experience with Gerzeny's RV World and would certainly consider them again for our future needs. There are, however, several things they could do to easily provide better...

I normally do not do reviews. However, i feel compelled to do so due to my extreme dissatisfaction with Gerzeny's RV World. Hopefully, others will read this before deciding which dealer to visit.

I am a first time rv owner, with no past knowledge or experience with rvs. I looked around online and came across Gerzeny's. I made a few calls prior to me visiting. I drove 2 hours to see what the dealership had in stock. To make the story short, i purchased a 2021 Passage a few weeks later.

I was excited to take it on my first trip, which i did with my family. As soon as the trip started, the AC in the back wasn't working, even though the rv was plugged in at my house for 24 hours prior. I reached out to the salesman, Dewey, who tried to help, but didn't. 150 miles into the trip the transmission service light came on and the power shot down. All of that was in the pitch dark on a turnpike. I wasn't sure i was going to make it. I even called the roadside assistance, but hung up at the last minute.

Somehow, i made it to the campground. That whole night the inside of the rv was at uncomfortable 82 degrees. As soon as the dealership opened the next day, Saturday, i called and talked to Dewey and Jeremy (manager). I told them that i lost any confidence in this vehicle, was unwilling to get it fixed and wanted to get a different rv. It was obvious i was going to lose a lot of money but i was willing to get a more reliable vehicle, the one that would work.

I was presented with 3 different models. I agreed to one of them. However, come Monday, i was told that the deal was not going to happen. I was told that the upper management would not honor the deal, but rather would sell me the new camper once the "old" one would sell. Dewey assured me that the rv market was "hot" and he was confident it would sell quick, maybe even within a few days.

Two days later the van was picked up by the dealership. When i called to see what was wrong with it i was told that there was nothing wrong with the vehicle. It drove well without any service light or power shot down. Was i making things up or imagining the issues???

Two plus weeks later the rv is not sold, the dealership refused to buy it back and i lost a lot of money. Needless to say, i am extremely disappointed with the dealership, its defective unit they sold me and lack of any effort to rectify the situation. I will be dealing with a different dealer who is more professional and responsible.

I sent an email to the owner, who had one of his managers call me. Hi did apologize, but that does not make me feel any better. I gave him an option to rectify the situation- nothing was done.

My suggestion- go 1 exit north on I-75 from Gerzeny's if you're looking for a camper. You will be happier with what you get for the money.

P.S. To Gerzeny's: Please do not send me your standard respond to a review to email to the owner Matt. I did-...

I took my camper into service for warranty work to have a gasket replaced on my slide. They had the camper for almost 4 weeks. I called to check on my camper because I had not heard from them at the end of the first week and was told that they had not looked at it but would look at it that day. I was lied to constantly by the service writer. At the end of the second week I was told that the warranty clerk had been out that entire week so they could not process my claim. At the end of the fourth week I was told I would need additional gaskets that the trailer did not have installed from the factory at this point I contacted forest river directly as I was told it would take another week to get the parts and a week to get them installed. I received a call from service telling me that they now had authorization to get the parts from a supplier and they would probably have the parts by Friday or Monday. On that Friday I received a call telling me the camper was done and ready for pick up. I arrived I met with the technician that worked on it who told me he had finished my camper two weeks before as he was going on vacation and that had been done and it did not need any additional gaskets replaced. On top of that they had now put my camper on charge as they had killed the house battery instead of turning off the battery switch. Needless to say I am extremely disappointed in the service department and the fact that my camper was there for four weeks to have one slide gasket replaced. On top of that I can still see daylight when the slide is retracted on the bottom so I will have to take it somewhere else and have this corrected. I will let you judge for yourself if you think this is the right place to do repair work on your camper or RV Brad Martin

I feel the need to post an update about my experience. about three days after I posted this review. I received a call from the service manager Doug. He apologized over and over for the experience that I had had an asked me to bring my travel trailer back and allow them to complete the repair that they had not done when they had it the first time. He even offered to pick my trailer up from my home to make it more convenient. reluctantly I took trailer back to the dealership to have the remaining warranty work completed. It was done in two days and they even washed and detailed my trailer. The job was done professionally and I have no further issues with the trailer at this time. Having been a service manager for marine dealership in the past. I understand how things can get overlooked and repairs can take longer than expected. A hearty thank you to Doug and his crew or completing my repairs...