In the paragraphs below I am describing a very intense problem I have had with a RV dealership. They are very unethical, unprofessional and untruthful, as you will hear in my complaint below.
Please, if there is anything that you can do to help us with this problem I would greatly appreciate it?
I’m at the end of my rope and no results in sight.
In October of 2005 my husband and I went to Bankston Motor Homes in Huntsville, Alabama looking for a motor home or camper. We were planning to retire and do some traveling.
We were shown several motor homes & after several visits to the dealership we found one we liked. But the motor home would not start and the salesman Mr. Jim R----- informed us the battery was just run down and insured us that the battery would be replaced with a new one.
We had a business trip planned and we told Jim R----- that we would leave it with them for 3 to 4 weeks. He said that would be fine this would give them time to check everything out to make sure the coach was in good condition, and they would replace the battery and any other corrections that needed to be made. He said he wanted to make sure everything was in save driving condition. We had informed him that this was our first motor home and that we were unfamiliar with motor homes & campers and would place our trust in him and his technicians to make sure everything was in good shape and ready to travel without problems.
Jim called us and told us to come in on a Friday and stay the night in the motor home so they could show us how to use it.
When we arrived on Friday afternoon Mr. Jim R----- gives us a very quick tour of the parked motor home and said everything had been checked and everything was "WORKING GREAT"!
We spend Friday night in the motor home and my husband gets up on Saturday morning and takes a shower. (1) There was NO hot water! (2) Water would not drain! (3) Water back up in shower, sink and toilet!
We informed them of this problem and James; a service tech, worked on it until noon on Saturday and then worked on it again until late Sunday afternoon and at this time we leave Huntsville to return to our home in Scottsboro, AL.
The motor home would only run 30 MPH and could not be held in the road. At the 30 MPH the coach BOUNCED all over the road. We finally got the coach home and my husband called them (Bankston’s) on Monday morning to inform them that there was a BIG PROBLEM with the coach! They had to tow it back because it was too dangerous to drive. They literally placed out lives in danger by allowing us to drive the coach in that condition. We were not aware of the dangerous condition of the coach. We had taken Bankston’s word for it. That everything "WORKED GREAT!’
After a wrecker picked up the motor home they kept it for another 4 to 6 weeks. Which at such time they called and again said "everything is fixed and is working great"!
We picked up the motor home and went on a short 60-mile trip. After the motor home sat overnight, it would not start, would not run 50 MPH, still bounced all over the road, still had water problems and was leaking diesel fuel.


We once again called them back concerning the MAJOR problem. They told us to bring it back and they would work on it again. We did take it back & they kept it for another 2 months.
We go back, drive it home and it still will not start and is still leaking diesel fuel!!!
We called them and told them we are bringing it back. This in July of 2006. (Keep in mind we’ve had the motor home since October 2005 and have been on one 60 mile trip & it broke down again). They ask us to leave it with them for repair yet again. I’m not sure how long they had the coach before we decided to check on it and get some of our personal articles out (some of which were my mother’s hand made quilts)! We discovered that the coach is no longer at Bankston’s. We were told they thought it was in some shop, somewhere. No one seems to know!!!
We informed Mr. Bankston and told him we were sick of this motor home hassle and that after all this time we did not think it could be fixed. We told him that we had owned the motor home for almost a year and that it had been with Bankston more than we had it. We could not even get out of the city limits without something going wrong. We told him that we wanted our money back or something of equal value. He said "I will work with you & make things right."
We looked at several motor homes but all were either too old, too many miles, worn out or too expensive. So we decided to look at the 5th wheels. Mr. Bankston had one on the show room floor that we liked. There was a sticker on the outside that said it was a 2007 and marked down. He said he would not let us have it at the sale price. But we went in and looked at the 5th wheel and decided that it might work for us. I was concerned, but my husband pointed to the sticker on the table of the 5th wheel and said " Brenda, we are getting a 2007 model, that is 10 years newer than the motor home." My husband, his daughter, and I all saw the sticker on the inside & outside that said it was a 2007 model. We told Mr. Bankston that we would trade even if he would make a few changes to it. I’ll go into that in just a minute. He said okay as he was tearing the sticker off the table and sticking it in his pocket. He said it’s a deal.
We had to come back a few days later to sign the papers & pickup the 5th wheel. When I started looking over the papers I noticed that she had down that it was a 2005 model. I tried arguing with her but she informed me that it was manufactured in 10-04 and was a 2005 model. Mr. Bankston knew it was advertised wrong, that’s why he jerked the paper off the table and stuck it in his pocket. We did not think to go around and look at the model number before we made the deal. Even at this point we still had to try to trust Mr. Bankston. TRUSTING AND BELIEVING MR BANKSTON CAUSED US TO LOOSE $15000 ALONG WITH A YEAR OF HEADACHES AND DISAPPOINTMENTS.
Now back to the things that Bankston agreed to do to the 5th wheel. There was no TV in the 5th wheel, there was a spare tire cover but no spare tire, no outside ladder, and the antenna did not work. Now we had left the 5th wheel with them for a few days in order for these things to be fixed just like Mr. Bankston had agreed. THEY DID NOTHING!!!
We took the 5th wheel back and they finally did fix the antenna and got us a spare tire. But informed us that they would not put a TV in it. Mr. Bankston could not be found at this point. They also said a ladder could not be installed on our 5th wheel, because of the way it was made. Why did they not tell us all this up front?


We also had and extended warranty on the motor home. We ask that it be cancelled and our money refunded. We had not used the warranty and had the motor home not even a year and had placed only 300 miles on it and most of those miles were going back and forth the Bankston Motor Homes repair shop. But it has been several months and still no refund.
I called the warranty people and they told me it had been cancelled and that Bankston was to refund my money. My husband has called & left Mr. Bankston several messages but his calls have not been returned to this date. 2-2-07
If this is life on the road with a Bankston Motor Home, WHO WANTS IT? NOT US!!!