Bish's RV of Center Point-Urbana — Local services in Urbana

I hadn’t had time to review the Bishs Urbana store but here I go…first I’d like to give a huge shot out to Johnny who does the cleaning and maintenance on the Rv’s and campers, as a customer first impression is everything especially when I’m looking at something I’m interested in buying 1000 miles away. The camper I was looking at (IBEX 19 MBH) looked super sharp in the photos so that was the hook that caught my attention, I compared this same model to other stores that had it in stock in Idaho Falls, and Wyoming and none of the ones they had in stock same model and all looked as sharp as the one in Urbana which is why I decided to drive down there to get it, not to mention it was better priced. So Johnny, thanks a lot for taking care of that detail, and the best part was also that Johnny is a Cowboys fan so even better!

After doing my research to make sure that camper was the one I was really interested in, I finally filled out the inquiry online after business hours to check its availability and Julie called me back the following morning to give me any information she had on the camper, I really appreciated that she was honest and informed me only on the information she knew and told me she would get back to me on anything she didn’t. This is really important because I don’t think anyone appreciates a sneaky salesman who just wants to tell you what you want to hear in order to make a sale, so thank you very much for your transparency Julie, it speaks volumes about your way taking care of customers.

The process itself was very smooth, I paid the $500 deposit to hold the camper I wanted, they sent me a message with a link in order for me to complete my application and was approved the following afternoon. We made the drive on 08/13/24 and arrived the following day early afternoon to the store to pick up the camper. I met the manager Matt who was great and assisted me with setting up the video stream to complete the sale. I don’t recall the gentlemen who did the video stream but he was also great, I really appreciated that although they do offer the extra warranties they weren’t pushy or try to just sneak them in the sale price without me approving. I had had that done to me while trying to purchase a new vehicle in my home town in TEXAS and I will never shop there again, because that’s just not good business.

Riley assisted me with the walkthrough and he was very knowledgeable, I will say it was a lot of information to take in as a first time camper owner, especially when I was still half asleep from my drive from Montana the day prior. That being said that was my fault not his, I would suggest if possible though, possibly creating a small word document or something that they could include in the packet for reference, I think new camper owners like myself would really appreciate a little guide like that to get us started as we learn whole process.Steve and another gentleman helped me find some basic accessories to get me on the road, I appreciated they weren’t pushy in trying to sell stuff so thank you.

I had one tiny hiccup I wish could’ve been identified and resolved before I picked up my camper I didn’t notice it until after the following day after spending our first night in it, and luckily I hadn’t gone to far. The solar panel display ended up blinking a B01 error and apparently was not communicating with the battery (current was not flowing from battery to solar panel) they did an inspection the following day after I took it in and they said it might be a pinched wire. Because I needed to get back on the road to drive back to Montana they told me to call Bish’s repair number and I was able to set up an appointment to have it looked at. I am actually taking tomorrow to get looked at and only hope that it is not something that will take too long to fix or need a lot of disassembly as I would hate for my new camper to get damaged.

Overall, I had a great experience at Bish’s RV in Urbana, IA and will not hesitate to make a trip again if needed for a future purchase. Great team, thank...

Update: The people I worked with last year appear to all be gone and the people in place now seem to be much more concerned with making and doing things right.....even things that they didn't promise or have no responsibility to deliver on. So far I am impressed, and it seems like a change for the better has occurred at this location. The right people in the right place.

We drove 2 hours to check out a camper that worked for our family. Liked the youtube channel, was hopeful we'd have a good experience. Liked the camper, pointed out a few things that needed to be fixed before we picked it up. No problem. Actually believed the hype about all the inspection they do to make sure it's good to go.

When we drove down to get it, nothing was fixed. I wish we would have walked away then. They hastily (I figured out later) repaired it while we did paperwork. During the walkaround I asked about the solar not charging - "oh, that's because the battery is already full". Who was I to know better.

After a few weeks at home, thinking that the solar was keeping the battery charged, I realized something was wrong. I called BishFix (now RV Fix) and told them the issue; they walked me through troubleshooting, said they could send me parts and sealant to do the work myself. I asked what happened if I damaged the roof while replacing said parts, would they cover that? Nope, that would be on me. Wonderful. It would be a 4 hour round trip to drop the camper off to be fixed, then 4 again to pick it up, so I decided to look elsewhere for it to be fixed. I contacted a more local dealer (only an hour away) that is well known for their quality service (they just didn't have this camper model when we were looking) and they said they could do the warranty work for us. Turned out that they had to take the ceiling down as the wires weren't even run from the roof plug to the solar controller. Again, I brought this up at Bish's - not their fault it wasn't done, but they should have known something was wrong and I pointed it out. I think it greatly contributed to the short life of the overpriced battery we bought from them.

I get the camper home and another item asked about but was told was "normal" rears it's ugly head. The slide mechanism was squealing when running in and out. It was getting worse and the slide tore the seal off of the slide. Back down to the local dealership - but before I left, I was catching onto the inspection "quality" of Bish's. I figured I'd better hook it up to water and see if I had any leaks. Well what do you know, water everywhere. So added that to the list. Local dealer finds that there are some warped flooring pieces that are dragging and causing the slide to run crooked. Just another thing we asked to have looked at that wasn't.

Bedroom door with sprung hinges. Master bed where your feet are higher than your head. Damage to the flooring. One of the quick fixes done when we were purchasing not working, but was submitted as a warranty claim by Bish's, had to call the manufacturer so the other dealer could get it covered to repair.

I had it to the local dealer 3 times, I have more miles there than for camping. From what I remember, Bish's has maybe 3 bays for repairs. The local dealership doing work for me now has 12(?) doors and double deep bays and they're always busy on the repair side. That's a detail I wish I had known before buying.

The manager at Bish's said they'd send me a check for $200 to help cover some of the gas and time, but that never materialized. To be fair, not all Bish's fault, but I would hire someone to do a full inspection that you pay for, I wouldn't trust them in the least. Nor would I buy a camper from them. They're a big chain, they spend a lot on marketing (compare the photo online to how it actually looks when you pull up to their lot). Would not recommend.

I paid my local dealer $1400 to do a full inspection to make sure everything was good before my warranty ran out. It was...

Josiah Terrones a salesman at Bish's RV in Urbana was really great to work with on a travel trailer I purchased. Very honest, professional, and personable. He was always very prompt in his replies and callbacks. He didn't mind at all going the extra mile for you! I liked the purchase from Bish's RV and would call them first when RV shopping in the future. These people do business right!!! This was all written before I showed up to purchase it. Then things took a turn for the worse.

After buying my RV I was told I would have a Diamond club membership. Could get gas buddy for free, etc. But was never given any membership card or paperwork explaining it or phone numbers to access it. In the process of purchasing this rv was I was forced to pay and sign all paperwork before I was ever given the opportunity to even look at the rv. Then they pulled it outside and I had to assemble and install my hitch alone without any interaction or instruction as to what to do after I was hitched up. Only paperwork I received was the papers I signed and never received any paperwork on the extended warranty I had purchased, or memberships. Arrived at 8:45 am and left at 2:19 pm the last 3.5 hours the only person I had any interaction with was the trailer jockey whom by the way was the most friendly person I met while there. Maybe you should consider placing him in administration and moving someone in admin to being the trailer jockey) He was sure more personable than the guy I signed paperwork with. Never met Josiah my salesman who told me he would be there that day and looked forward to meeting me (which a few days earlier I had wrote an amazing review for on google). 2:19 that afternoon when I completed hooking up everything and not having any instruction or sequence of things to do, I turned and asked my daughter what we were suppose to do now? So we left only to discover the tires were underinflated so another stop we had to incur to bring them up to specs 10-13 pounds low on all 4. Maybe you guys are better than this and I caught you on a bad day. but was sure left with a distinct bad feeling that after the check was signed I wasn't any value to you anymore... We arrived early after a 700 mile drive for a prearranged 9am appointment and were told to take a seat and someone would be with us shortly. Another couple arrive 20 minutes later and they were purchasing a new unit that was in the showroom. They had all kinds of interaction with tons of staff while we were left sitting waiting for them to start their purchasing process ahead of us. I know you made more money off them so a clear priority was given but how would it make you feel after a hour and a half sleep and 700 mile drive if you were in our shoes. I own a business and understand how one strives for perfection only to find someone you paid to do their job didn't deem it important, but when you are on the receiving end it's aftertaste is...