I have had it.

[BillyBass]

I agree with wolfpacker76

[DDC]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

I think the RV industry is rather 'fly by night'.
Go look at ANY other industry - there are a few big players with 1/2 dozen brands. Weak players go out of business. A few high end specialty ones exist for those that want or can afford the best.

In no industry that I know of are there 50 brands of products. Trying to figure out who makes what, or why, or when is impossible.

When we started looking I found this confusing and illogical - asking for advice was less than useless - all I got was 'use your own best judgement'....so I'm supposed to be an engineer, consumer reports expert and more? Sorry, that's just wrong.

In the car world, appliance, computers, etc if you ask around you'll be told 'X brand is the low end, Y is the high end, Z is a pretty good value and avoid brand W' In the RV biz? Nope, not a chance of getting such a response.

Went to a few RV shows and it wasn't much better - the salesman all said the same thing when I asked "whats the diff between your model/brand and Model/brand Q" and well, there IS no difference apparently. I know more of what's different than those in the industry...pitiful really.

If the EXPERTS can't tell my why Brand A at $35k isn't better, and how/why it's better, than Brand B at $21k then as a consumer I'm gonna buy Brand B. The only diff I say (but none were pointed out) were longer warranties, alum 'fenders' vs plastic, fancier counters. All used the same floor, roof, tires, axles doors, switches, appliances, etc - unless you went really high end.

Typical of the industry I think are the electronics - concertone, et al. When was the last time you had a car radio die? Home stereo? TV? And you use them a lot more than your camper version.

Our camper radio has never worked right. There were (and still are) missing vent hoses on our camper. Knock on particle board, we've had no issues other than those - no leaks, everything works, nothing has fallen off.

But as an industry...the RV world is a shell game IMO.

Excellent post very well put and I for one agree 100%.

[campdohbrew]

Originally Posted by prof_fate

If the EXPERTS can't tell my why Brand A ... isn't better...than Brand B .... The only diff I say ... were longer warranties, alum 'fenders' vs plastic, fancier counters. All used the same floor, roof, tires, axles doors, switches, appliances, etc - unless you went really high end....

Absolutely agree! All the components are made by the same manufacturers!

If I was the original poster with the problem, I would contact my state’s attorney general if I had not done so, contact up the manufacturer’s chain of command, and keep very good records.

Good luck!

[BillyBass]

Originally Posted by campdohbrew

Absolutely agree! All the components are made by the same manufacturers!

If I was the original poster with the problem, I would contact my state’s attorney general if I had not done so, contact up the manufacturer’s chain of command, and keep very good records.

Good luck!

That is what I said to do .Call the Better Business Bureau.Because the company don,t want a bad name. I done that with my car years ago and I got it taken care of. good luck

[WannaBcamping]

I would want them to give me a brand new replacement product of equal value with a brand new warranty. I would also want verification that it wasn't built on either a Monday or a Friday. They got all your money as your part of the deal. Now you want the quality product from them as their part of the deal. Fair is fair.

[puff]

Originally Posted by Lpboy

I wonder if I should go up higher at FR? Does anyone have a contact with someone at FR that could help. Higher than warranty?

Higher road or more annoying....how about a letter a week to the dealer and the point of purchase. Someone will cave in sooner or later..?!

[Lpboy]

Guys thanks for the replies. At this point a couple of things have happen. I have a call with warranty @ FR tomorrow. Regarding the dealer ... I think our relationship is done. I have Forest River saying that the front work on the trailer was done incorrectly and therefore causing leaks. The dealer is saying that FR doesn't know what they are talking about and it was done to specifications. I had not been agressive toward the dealer until I found out that bit of info from FR. I submitted a complaint to the BBB on the dealer and the response I received was basically that I was trying to "shake them down". They went on about how they tried to work with me on finding a buyer or trading me into something else. They had the exact same model on the lot and never tried to work with me on trading into another 189. They did want to put me in a larger trailer ... I did ask them to put me in another FR product and FR was willing to work with the dealer ... but they didn't carry the line so they just dropped it and said "sorry". (I have all the emails) They basically wanted nothing to do with the situation and pushed me to the manufacturer. I honestly thought well ... it is a FR problem so I will work with them until I found that the work they did was causing issues. Dang this gets frustrating. Also, I have spent I don't how much time going back and forth with FR. Why would the dealer not deal with this? I don't deal with Ford directly when I have an issue with my truck.

You know when I bought the dang trailer, I should have known something when I dealt with the salesman and the finance manager. My wife is very preceptive and wanted to walk away ... I should have listened.

The thing that bothers me is that even if FR fixes everything 100%, I have lost the first year depreciation with very virtually no use. I will only sell it if I am assured that everything is 100% and FR will extend a warranty to the next person.

For the record, the ladies at FR warranty have been very understanding and trying to do the right thing I think. They are as frustrated at the situation as I am I think. I'm sure they would love to have me not calling them anymore.