Camping World review: Do not buy from them

I normally do not write to corporations regarding negative experiences; however, I feel strongly that my recent experience with Camping World must be brought to management’s attention so it can be properly addressed.
My husband, and I attended several RV shows and dealerships with the intention of purchasing a 5th wheel RV. We specifically chose to attend the Hershey Park RV Show on September 12, 2025, because we believed it would offer the widest range of options. Out of all the dealers at the show, we decided to purchase our RV through Camping World.

At the RV show we purchased a Cougar RV we paid more because we wanted the RV in the green color option, equipped with backup cameras and side cameras and slide top covers. Additionally, we paid for a hitch and installation. We purchased this from a Camping World employee named Thomas Berns.

Because we live three hours from the store where we made our purchase, arrangements were made to have the hitch installed at the Camping World location in Manassas, VA, approximately 45 minutes from our home.
At the show, we were told that our RV would be delivered within 4–6 weeks. Based on that timeline, we planned four camping trips after the expected delivery date and purchased equipment and supplies for our first outing.

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Problem #1 – Timeline of Delivery and Communication
As time passed, we received no updates from Camping World. My husband made several calls to an employee named “Jason” who was our point of contact and received no follow-up. It was not until he escalated the situation that he finally spoke with the manager Mr. Taylor Wheaton at the Camping World store in Harrisonburg Pennsylvania. Mr. Wheaton was helpful and remained in communication with us. He informed my husband that he would coordinate with the Manassas store to ensure the hitch installation was scheduled and completed. He later updated us that our RV had arrived and that we could pick it up on December 5th.
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Problem #2 – Hitch Installation and Damage to Our Truck
We drove to the Manassas Camping World store to drop off our truck for the hitch installation and confirmed with the service department that the correct work would be completed, including adding the lighting connections. We were told the job would take one day—approximately six hours.
Because no one contacted us the next day with any updates, we drove back (45 minutes in rush-hour traffic) expecting the truck to be ready. Upon arrival, we were told it was not ready and would instead be completed the following day at noon.

To avoid another unnecessary trip, I called the next day to confirm the work was completed. I was informed once again that the truck was not ready and would require yet another day. I explained that this was unacceptable and stated that I would be arriving at 1:00 PM to pick up the truck. The service representative later called me back and assured me that it would be ready by that time.

When my husband and I arrived at 1:00 PM, the truck was still not ready, and we waited in the store until approximately 2:45 PM. During this time, a manager approached us and explained that several employees were working on the truck. He then informed us that Camping World employees had damaged our truck during the installation and had cut a hole in the bed liner in the wrong location. He assured us that Camping World would repair the damage at no cost to us, as the store had a vendor they typically used for such repairs. He also explained that part of the delay was due to the store not having all the necessary parts on hand.

This only highlighted the ongoing communication issues we had been dealing with. Had we been informed earlier, we might have understood the delay. The most frustrating part is that the installation had been scheduled well in advance, and when we dropped off the truck, we were clearly told that all required parts had already arrived.

To make matters worse, after getting into the truck, we discovered that not all the scheduled work had been completed. When we asked about this, the woman at the service desk claimed that the additional work had not been requested. This was simply not true, as we had confirmed all service items at drop-off with the service employee.

Throughout this process, communication was poor, timelines changed repeatedly, and we never received proactive updates—we had to initiate every call ourselves. Not having access to our truck placed us in a difficult position, and the lack of transparency only worsened the situation.
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Problem #3 – Incorrect RV and Pricing Discrepancy
We were later informed that our RV had arrived on-site, and we scheduled a December 5th pick-up appointment. When we arrived, an employee offered to show us the RV and perform a walkthrough. He stated that the unit was "out front," so we walked in that direction.
Upon entering the store, we did not see our RV anywhere. My husband then noticed a white Keystone Cougar—the same model we ordered—sitting outside with a “sold” sign on it. He asked an employee whether that Cougar was ours, and the employee confirmed that it was.
At that moment, we felt extremely frustrated and disappointed. We had been genuinely excited to pick up our RV, only to discover that the experience we had looked forward to had completely fallen apart.
The RV that was on the property designated for us was also listed at a price of $69,999 at the RV show—significantly lower than the amount we paid. This pricing discrepancy should have been an immediate red flag to whoever processed our order, and we should have been contacted well in advance about the error. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

The store manager then informed us that the RV we ordered could not be located anywhere. We were told that if reordered, it would not arrive until March. A March delivery date would be seven months after our original contract that we signed with Camping World. As a result, we are now forced to cancel multiple vacations that we scheduled based on the delivery timeline provided at the RV show.

My husband and I left Camping World devastated because plans that we made had to be canceled because we chose to reorder the one that we purchased on the 12th of September because that is what we ordered and wanted.
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