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Old 03-28-2018, 04:08 PM   #1
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New Avenger Slide with Major Leak

We accepted delivery of our new 2018 Prime Time Avenger 33RET on March 9. (We do not tow, as we have a permanent campsite.) Last weekend was only our second time staying in the camper. We had heavy rain all day on Saturday, and our front slide had a HUGE leak. We didn't realize it until stepping onto the slide carpet in bare feet late that evening. The carpet on that end of the slide was so wet, the water literally came up between my toes. 5 bath towels were completely soaked by the time we had leeched the water out of the carpet. We kept a fan on it through the night, and called the dealer the next day.

Just as a point of explanation, since we do not have the ability to tow, we confirmed prior to purchase that the local RV remote company could indeed perform any warranty work on site. (We pay their service call fee out of pocket) They are indeed authorized to do Forest River warranty work. We have used them for many years, and have always found them to be extremely knowledgeable.

The RV service guy came first thing Monday morning and was easily able to duplicate the leak using a hose. The top rubber seal on the slide was basically "flapping loose" with missing & broken screws and no sealer. He took multiple pictures inside and outside to submit to Forest River. Even in his photo, the edge of the carpet is darker than the middle from being WET. The water is obviously running down from behind the wallboard as the carpet is the most wet from there outward.

Today, I heard back from the RV service guy who says Forest River is being difficult about approving warranty coverage... Saying the picture does not show them that it is leaking, and that they basically don't believe that it is. WHAT??? He has had to return to the camper today to use a "dye test" to prove the leak even exists.

Unfortunately, we had already purchased this camper before we read the many complaints about build quality and leaks. Water in a camper feels like someone yelling "fire" in the hay barn. We are so disappointed. And why Forest River wouldn't be literally jumping all over themselves to approve an immediate repair for a Forest River customer who had this type of issue within 14 days of purchase is beyond me!
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Old 03-28-2018, 04:16 PM   #2
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Don't believe the dealer's explanation.

I would call FR to verify what has been communicated.
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Old 03-28-2018, 04:23 PM   #3
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Thanks bikendan -

We have actually known the people that run this RV Service business for years. We have no reason to doubt their explanation.

Having said that, the service guy who called me with the update today told me that if they do not get an immediate approval from Forest River off of the new pictures from today, he would recommend that WE contact Forest River ourselves to push them along.
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Old 03-31-2018, 07:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bikendan View Post
Don't believe the dealer's explanation.

I would call FR to verify what has been communicated.
I agree getting involved paints a clear picture of what's going on I had this happen with our Keystone RV (that we no longer own) once I got involved things started moving they don't like being annoyed by your everyday frequent calls & emails.
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Old 04-01-2018, 02:48 PM   #5
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esmoglo, Come Monday morning, they're about to get very annoyed!

The answer to fixing a sizeable leak in a slideout 14 days after purchase is not to just "put some caulk on it." That's all they want to do at this point. The RV didn't come from the factory with the seal covered in caulk, and that shouldn't be the fix either.

It's a shame that a customer has to basically raise a stink to be treated fairly, but we will certainly do it. Won't mind adding a description of our experience to facebook and the Better Business Bureau either... BUT I'd rather be able to post that they did the RIGHT THING and stood behind their warranty... and in a TIMELY MANNER too
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Old 04-01-2018, 03:06 PM   #6
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esmoglo, Come Monday morning, they're about to get very annoyed!

The answer to fixing a sizeable leak in a slideout 14 days after purchase is not to just "put some caulk on it." That's all they want to do at this point. The RV didn't come from the factory with the seal covered in caulk, and that shouldn't be the fix either.

It's a shame that a customer has to basically raise a stink to be treated fairly, but we will certainly do it. Won't mind adding a description of our experience to facebook and the Better Business Bureau either... BUT I'd rather be able to post that they did the RIGHT THING and stood behind their warranty... and in a TIMELY MANNER too
They also hate when you post videos on FB or YouTube. Food for thought in the future if you keep getting the run around .
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Old 04-03-2018, 11:44 AM   #7
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my question is when is it time to start holding these Dealerships responsible for allowing a crappy RV out. They sure like charging you a prep fee yet they don't find half the crap you do on your first trip out.
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Old 04-04-2018, 11:24 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by dapennington View Post
my question is when is it time to start holding these Dealerships responsible for allowing a crappy RV out. They sure like charging you a prep fee yet they don't find half the crap you do on your first trip out.

I completely agree! The Remote RV Repair service DID FINALLY get approval from Forrest River to repair the leaking slide with more than "slapping on a little caulk"... for which we are relieved... BUT we are now spending money OUT OF POCKET to have the other 2 slides re-done the same way BEFORE we get into another leak situation. We can't be hauling a sofa out of a slide every time it rains to see if there's a leak behind it. And even to my "untrained eye," it's obvious from the pictures the service people took that none of the slide seals were done correctly. One of them was bad enough that we could see the problem from the ground once the service tech showed us what we were looking at... Shoddy work at the factory and shoddy prep review at the dealer!

We owned a Coleman for 17 years without a single problem. We owned an R-Vision Trail Sport for the past 12 years, and the only thing we had done was to replace the microwave after about 6 years. We've had this Prime Time less than a month... Our first weekend in it, the GFI outlets failed because of a loose wire in the main GFI outlet, one of the breakers in the converter was never wired in, one of these issues was causing the refrigerator to keep tripping over to gas, a broken interior light cover, and a missing running light cover on delivery... And our second weekend was the big leak from a completely failed slide seal... I mean, we understand some minor issues are likely to come up with any camper, but this is not going too well so far in a camper we've owned less than 30 days...
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