Not happy with FR warranty service

[ResQMoore]

We haven't even owned our Roo 21SS for a year and we have had to make many repairs and get replacement parts.

-The screen door latch and handle came damaged- I had to tighten down the handle assembly and pull out the latch on the frame with a pair of pliers to get the screen door to latch. Should have been done right in the first place.

-Our first camping trip the propane system failed due to a pressure problem from the gas line causing the water heater, upon ignition, to shoot 5' flames out the side of the camper. Should not have had that problem coming new, never mind the safety hazard.

-Sink was leaking, had to crawl under sink and tighten connections. (should have been done right in the first place)

-Shower head was broken had to replace ourselves at our expenditure.

-under carriage drain valves were improperly installed and were leaking. Fixed at the same time as the propane by a 3rd party RV repair specialist. Should have come working in the first place.

And the current issue which we are still attempting to remedy:
-The table we received with our trailer was severely warped in both directions. In addition the feet/leg assembly was over torqued and snapped off first time setting it up. We ordered a new table and finally received it two weeks ago. I open the packages and find that I have a table top and a frame.... No hardware and no instructions are included... I don't recall remember ordering a table kit, I remember ordering a new table to replace the one under warranty... Unacceptable.

Is my trailer a lemon and is the level of service I can continue to expect?

[grhodes50]

I remember when I purchased our first new tt. I told the salesman we decided to buy new so we wouldn't have to worry about problems. He then got kind of a funny look on his face. He told us it's usually just the oposite. Most of their repair work was on new units. He went on to explain how new campers usually have a few issues that need to get worked out.
Some of your problems are disturbing, the water heater issue should have been found by your dealer when they checked out the tt upon it's arrival. The door latch seems to be an obvious problem the dealer should have caught as well. We had them replace our table on the second tt we purchased. Caught the problem during our PDI.
Should we have to deal with these issues on a new tt? No, but it is what it is.
I hope you get all the issues worked out on your's so you can enjoy the time camping with your family instead of worrying about your tt.
Post any problems you may have on the forum. There are many knowledgeable people on here that are willing to help.

Good luck and happy camping.

[capucine]

Most of what you mentionned are small repairs except the experience that you had with your water heater. Most problems can be addressed on the warranty. Like your table it should have been shipped to your dealer and put together by the dealer under your warranty that is still valid. All trailers are made fast today and serious problems can be more of a pain like delamination of walls and major internal leaks that can cause severals thousands dollars in damages. I find that you are lucky with only these issues. Your trailer is not a lemon.

[bob213]

Sounds like you have a complaint with build quality, not warranty service. Did you contact FR about any of these problems? I can't believe that if you took it to a "warranty" repair facility that they would not have been fixed for free. I agree that these things should not have happened, but what about your dealer's PDI? How come he didn't catch this stuff?

[ResQMoore]

Dealer is RV Direct. Were going to place another call to FR tomorrow.

[mdamm]

We are on our second unit from Forest River - the first had several very minor issues, that it seems like most of them due - a loose screw here, another there - lots of minor tweaking to do with a new trailer...I have found both our dealer, Cheyenne Camping Center, and Forest River, to be fantastic with our warranty support - we have had timely replies, attentive service and absolutely no issues, but that has been our personal experience.

Your water heater issue is more than a minor issue...

I concur witht he comment that most of your issues seem to be issues that the PDI inspection by your dealer should have caught - from my perspective, the question is not whether Forest River provides the proper warranty service, but whether your dealer will remedy your issues.

The most pressing issue is whether you extended your FR warranty to two years, otherwise, you are coming up on your one year warranty expiration date, so you need to address all of your warranty issues ASAP before the warranty expires (unless you extended it at the time of purchase)...

I agree with the comment that you don't have a lemon, but you do have a few "real" issues that you need addressed before your warranty expires.

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by mdamm

We are on our second unit from Forest River - the first had several very minor issues, that it seems like most of them due - a loose screw here, another there - lots of minor tweaking to do with a new trailer...I have found both our dealer, Cheyenne Camping Center, and Forest River, to be fantastic with our warranty support - we have had timely replies, attentive service and absolutely no issues, but that has been our personal experience.

Your water heater issue is more than a minor issue...

I concur witht he comment that most of your issues seem to be issues that the PDI inspection by your dealer should have caught - from my perspective, the question is not whether Forest River provides the proper warranty service, but whether your dealer will remedy your issues.

The most pressing issue is whether you extended your FR warranty to two years, otherwise, you are coming up on your one year warranty expiration date, so you need to address all of your warranty issues ASAP before the warranty expires (unless you extended it at the time of purchase)...

I agree with the comment that you don't have a lemon, but you do have a few "real" issues that you need addressed before your warranty expires.

Makes me feel better that the tweeking is normal- I was just more upset with the water heater issue and the table. Ill post up results after I contact FR again tomorrow (out of business hours now)

[TURBS]

I can feel your pain in some respect as I have had minor issues and problems .
BUT I bought through a Dealer whom I could trust and that was close to take of these issues promptly . RV direct had they done a proper pdi should have caught most if not all.
AS a buyer you need to protect yourself but doing a proper and complete pdi which would have included running the hw heater BEFORE delivery .
While forest river may have not caught these issues and RV direct is the next in line to catch anything THEY missed and you and you only should fine tooth comb your unit before you take delivery "PRE-INSPECTION DELIVERY" is in place for a reason .
although donn was a little rash he does have a point to some extent .
when you buy from and internet wholesaler you cant expect to much .

sounds like you need to find a local authorized dealer to do warranty repairs but heres the catch THEY have the right to put you at the end of the line and are not obligated to even work on your unit since you did not buy it from them .
sometimes it pays to buy from not only a local dealer but not a wholesaler such as rv direct .
I hope you get your issues resolved quickly and promptly and you have a great summer.
Ron

[Cherokee39]

Sorry to hear you are unhappy. The problem with trailers is they get bumped around while being towed. The propane problem is the worst you mentioned and was most likely a bad regulator or debris in the tube. The screen doors on them have a Z shaped hinge that is easily bent and that causes it to bind in the latch, be careful when opening and closing the door. They are not built like a stick house and contain lighter materials and products. I am on my 2nd Forest River trailer, The first was a Roo19 and we had lots of issues. The dealer didnt care. We called FR and were treated very well. After 4 years we traded the Roo and bought a Cherokee 39p. I explained to the dealer on the phone that we would be travelling 4 hours and it better be perfect. What a suprise when we arrived. This was in early March with snow on the ground and our trailer was in their service bay, fully operational. All systems were checked. The PDI was the best compared to what we experienced before. After we finished going through the PDI the service tech that did the inspection winterized the unit. With the exception of a piece of vinyl missing from some exterior trim we have not had any warranty work done. We may have paid a few dollars more but the service was worth it.

[caper]

The local dealer is the way to go. I know you can save $$$ buying from an internet company but many times you miss the extra care a local dealer will give. When you are selling high volume it is hard to give each and every customer the red carpet treatment. If you do not purchase local do not blame the company for items that should have been caught on the PDI. Like the previous poster has said use the extra money you saved and get the trailer fixed.

[Cowracer]

I dunno. Maybe I have a different attitude. So far on my new 21ssl, I have had to fix a speaker that wasn't working, tighten up a fitting on the water pump, remove a blockage from the aerator on the kitchen sink and tweak the screen door to close properly.

I am fully aware that despite all the proclamations about "quality", my trailer, just like your or anyone else's was put together just as quickly and just as cheaply as possible. With that being said, I fully expected something to be wrong, and I wasn't surprised.

Now, it could be argued, (and one would be completely in the right) that we paid good money and should expect zero defects. However, adopting that line of thinking will surely drive you stark-raving crazy, with little or no gain.

I prefer to think of it this way. I did not pay FR for perfection. I cannot afford perfection. If I could, I probably would have gotten an airstream or something (and I am not sure if even they qualify). I paid FR a reasonable amount and I got a reasonable product. I had to do a total of about an hour and a half of very very minor repairs that are now done.

No arguing with anyone. No heated phone calls. No aggravation or trying to navigate the FR corporate tree. My blood pressure is low. My countenance... serene. To me, it was well worth just fixing these things myself and moving on, than to getting wound up and angry over something that on the whole really aint that big of a thing.

Of course, if something big occurred (like the gentleman with the cracked skylight) you can bet your bippy that I would pour all over FR like maple syrup. But for now, I will adopt a very dude-like position of taking it easy.

Tim

[sherdep]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

Dealer is RV Direct. Were going to place another call to FR tomorrow.

this is why I bought from a local dealer - so when they (Dealer) recieved the trailer from the factory they would fix the issues before it was delivered to me.

Hopefully they will get you taken care of your Service issues

to the OP to whom ever you talk to on the phone - keep your cool and be level headed - you will get farther with honey then being nasty and will get more accomplished

[novaken1]

Hahahahahaha....Before you fix the hw heater, how bout filming the flames shooting out the side. See if you can get them out about 10ft this time.

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by Cowracer

I dunno. Maybe I have a different attitude. So far on my new 21ssl, I have had to fix a speaker that wasn't working, tighten up a fitting on the water pump, remove a blockage from the aerator on the kitchen sink and tweak the screen door to close properly.

I am fully aware that despite all the proclamations about "quality", my trailer, just like your or anyone else's was put together just as quickly and just as cheaply as possible. With that being said, I fully expected something to be wrong, and I wasn't surprised.

Now, it could be argued, (and one would be completely in the right) that we paid good money and should expect zero defects. However, adopting that line of thinking will surely drive you stark-raving crazy, with little or no gain.

I prefer to think of it this way. I did not pay FR for perfection. I cannot afford perfection. If I could, I probably would have gotten an airstream or something (and I am not sure if even they qualify). I paid FR a reasonable amount and I got a reasonable product. I had to do a total of about an hour and a half of very very minor repairs that are now done.

No arguing with anyone. No heated phone calls. No aggravation or trying to navigate the FR corporate tree. My blood pressure is low. My countenance... serene. To me, it was well worth just fixing these things myself and moving on, than to getting wound up and angry over something that on the whole really aint that big of a thing.

Of course, if something big occurred (like the gentleman with the cracked skylight) you can bet your bippy that I would pour all over FR like maple syrup. But for now, I will adopt a very dude-like position of taking it easy.

Tim

I guess with more than 10 years experience with two different pop-up campers and never having any issues like the kind of issues I've been having I've been lucky. Like I mentioned before I guess its part of the camping experience having to tweak things. I'll take the blame on that one- I'll call myself naive. Point taken. I'll see how the phone call goes tomorrow. And I'll remain calm, which is hard for an Irish-Italian (sorry trying to defuse the situation with humor)

Originally Posted by sherdep

this is why I bought from a local dealer - so when they (Dealer) recieved the trailer from the factory they would fix the issues before it was delivered to me.

Hopefully they will get you taken care of your Service issues

to the OP to whom ever you talk to on the phone - keep your cool and be level headed - you will get farther with honey then being nasty and will get more accomplished

The local dealers I have around me have great service (which is whom I will be having take care of my trailer from now on) but we had terrible experiences with their sales people. I'm hoping I have a success with FR on the phone tomorrow- and I'm going to ask more questions than anything and not get angry)

Originally Posted by novaken1

Hahahahahaha....Before you fix the hw heater, how bout filming the flames shooting out the side. See if you can get them out about 10ft this time.

Heater is already fixed... not an experience I want to have again haha.

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

We haven't even owned our Roo 21SS for a year and we have had to make many repairs and get replacement parts.

-The screen door latch and handle came damaged- I had to tighten down the handle assembly and pull out the latch on the frame with a pair of pliers to get the screen door to latch. Should have been done right in the first place.

-Our first camping trip the propane system failed due to a pressure problem from the gas line causing the water heater, upon ignition, to shoot 5' flames out the side of the camper. Should not have had that problem coming new, never mind the safety hazard.

-Sink was leaking, had to crawl under sink and tighten connections. (should have been done right in the first place)

-Shower head was broken had to replace ourselves at our expenditure.

-under carriage drain valves were improperly installed and were leaking. Fixed at the same time as the propane by a 3rd party RV repair specialist. Should have come working in the first place.

Is my trailer a lemon and is the level of service I can continue to expect?

We are not alone... Close encounters of the low quality finishing. And we complain that no one is buying American or Canadian.
our 2012 Salem had a major window trim piece almost fly off the trailer coming out of Mass. 2 days after taking ownership.
Awning clips had no springs to lock into place. That was early Sept 2011.
oct we had the dead bolt lock seize and i had to crawl through the front hatch and up from under the bed to disconnect.

4 tires burnt off in 2000 miles. and most recently (2nd camping trip last weekend since we took ownership) the galley drain was noticed to be one full pipe length out of alignment - cracked at the collar of an elbow. An 82 year old camper beside me noticed it draining on the ground.
Still waiting on about 1300$ of repairs I had to pay for up front 9 months ago.
Doesn't say much for service does it.

[TURBS]

lol going from a pop up to a tt is a whole new ball game .

By the way if you dont have one get one asap you need it .
DIGITAL volt / ohm meter . trust me on this one .

[ResQMoore]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

lol going from a pop up to a tt is a whole new ball game .

By the way if you dont have one get one asap you need it .
DIGITAL volt / ohm meter . trust me on this one .

Have one along with AC voltage Detector (had some sketchy powerboxes), IR Thermometer, propane leak detector (just the spray, nothing too fancy), and hand tools. All great equipment to have.

[TURBS]

Originally Posted by ResQMoore

Have one along with AC voltage Detector (had some sketchy powerboxes), IR Thermometer, propane leak detector (just the spray, nothing too fancy), and hand tools. All great equipment to have.

[youroo]

Originally Posted by f1100turbo

I can feel your pain in some respect as I have had minor issues and problems .
BUT I bought through a Dealer whom I could trust and that was close to take of these issues promptly . RV direct had they done a proper pdi should have caught most if not all.
AS a buyer you need to protect yourself but doing a proper and complete pdi which would have included running the hw heater BEFORE delivery .
While forest river may have not caught these issues and RV direct is the next in line to catch anything THEY missed and you and you only should fine tooth comb your unit before you take delivery "PRE-INSPECTION DELIVERY" is in place for a reason .
although donn was a little rash he does have a point to some extent .
when you buy from and internet wholesaler you cant expect to much .

sounds like you need to find a local authorized dealer to do warranty repairs but heres the catch THEY have the right to put you at the end of the line and are not obligated to even work on your unit since you did not buy it from them .
sometimes it pays to buy from not only a local dealer but not a wholesaler such as rv direct .
I hope you get your issues resolved quickly and promptly and you have a great summer.
Ron

These are Travel Trailers,buying from a local dealer does not help when you are on a long trip.Like you said they are not required to work on any unit. I am glad truck dealers dont have this policy. Youroo!!

[DonG]

"Dealer is RV Direct."
-----------------------
'nuff said