NEW CAMPER ISSUES - LEMON 233S need advice!

[dodr33]

We bought our Shamrock 233s new in June 2017 and it had issues wit bent bend hinges since day one which I emailed to forest river but did not send it in until later in my year warrantee so we could get any other issues that pop up taken care of.

Fast forward to May 2018, we returned from a 3000 mile trip to find that our entry steps were falling off because the whole door side wall of the camper was sagging and had bent the paper thin outriggers that hold up the wall and had even broken one.

I promptly alerted Forest river and provided pictures that day which was luckily 1 day before the 1-year bumper to bumper expired.

Forest River assured me that these repairs would be covered and they would repair the unit.

They then waffled back and forth with the dealer and decided to not bring the unit back to the factory and have the dealer complete the repair

THAT WAS IN JUNE ....ITS NOW OCTOBER

My camper was finally admitted to service at the end of August and repairs are not going well....

-They removed my steps and skirting to jack up the wall and raise it from the frame

-Then welded a new improperly sized outrigger to replace the broken one.....since the new outrigger was too short they had to weld additional tabs of metal to bridge the gap to the frame.

- The wall was not raised back to factory level and the new outrigger has already been pushed down by the wall.

These are just my preliminary findings and have not accepted the unit back from the dealer as the work is not complete...


I'm really upset by the delays and the repairs to date and any recommendations as to what steps I should take next are greatly appreciated


Thanks!

[cavie]

Very unacceptable. Send pics to Forrest River along with a polite sternly worded complaint. Go to the dealer and demand to see the owner. Not just some flunky service agent employee.

[phillyg]

That looks like they found their worst welder to make the repair. I can't tell from the photos, but if the outer wall has not been jacked and fixed to the frame, no improvement has been made.

[dodr33]

Yep, the wall is still below the frame even with the need outrigger...the issue has not been fixed by this "repair"

I emailed these photos to Forest River yesterday but they have been poor at responding lately.

Guess I need to forward this to Warren Buffet...

[MilCop4523]

Originally Posted by dodr33

Yep, the wall is still below the frame even with the need outrigger...the issue has not been fixed by this "repair"

I emailed these photos to Forest River yesterday but they have been poor at responding lately.

Guess I need to forward this to Warren Buffet...

we had a FR hunk of junk in 2016/2017 and after 75+ emails to their dealership then the warranty supervisor at FR and then finally up the food chain we traded the sway behind unit after sleeping in it 5 nights.

No more FR stuff for us. they all have issues but when no one responds to them it is worse.

the repairs definitely in your case are not worthy of them applying a warranty issue repaired tag on it for sure.

[Tiggerdad]

Originally Posted by dodr33

Guess I need to forward this to Warren Buffet...

Good ;luck with that. He couldn't care less.
I wish you luck in repairs.

[RACarvalho]

I would contact FR and agree with them to take the camper back to the factory.
The dealer already show what they are capable off...

[CaptnJohn]

Originally Posted by Tiggerdad

Good ;luck with that. He couldn't care less.
I wish you luck in repairs.

If you have BRK stock ~ preferably A shares catch Charlie at the annual meeting OR the FR guy. Buffet will tell you he has no sh!ts to give.

[Decon Blue]

I being a certified welder, making Race Car chassis for NHRA/IHRA CARS, I can tell you that it appears whoever welded that mess didn’t ever remove the paint and prep it before attempting to weld. Another example of dealership incompetence. I’d be calling FR every hour on the hour till this is resolved.

[eprovenzano]

Originally Posted by Decon Blue

I being a certified welder, making Race Car chassis for NHRA/IHRA CARS, I can tell you that it appears whoever welded that mess didn’t ever remove the paint and prep it before attempting to weld. Another example of dealership incompetence. I’d be calling FR every hour on the hour till this is resolved.

AMEN to that... you need to become a pain in their ASS... do not relent until you are fully satisfied. Either repair the camper properly, or you want a new one which you will inspect with a fine tooth comb before taking possession.

[dodr33]

*UPDATE*

After weeks of calls and emails to FR I finally have approval for return to the factory for the repair!

My camper is now back in central Indiana .... fingers crossed 🤞

[elind]

I would guess your in good hands at the factory. I had mine back to the factory to fix cracks in the side walls. They replaced both side walls front to back, replaced the front cap due to fading, roof vent cover, new awning, leaking wheel, kitchen range (maybe a recall) all in a month. All the work looked factory fresh like it never happened. These are the pros with all the original parts and knowledge to fix it right.


ps It was just out of the warranty period and done as a "Good Will fix" with no cost to us.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by elind

I would guess your in good hands at the factory. I had mine back to the factory to fix cracks in the side walls. They replaced both side walls front to back, replaced the front cap due to fading, roof vent cover, new awning, leaking wheel, kitchen range (maybe a recall) all in a month. All the work looked factory fresh like it never happened. These are the pros with all the original parts and knowledge to fix it right.


ps It was just out of the warranty period and done as a "Good Will fix" with no cost to us.

Where do you think all these problems came from???

Pro's? and RV in the same sentance?

[elind]

I've been to two RV factory tours and saw how things are put together. They are assembled quickly to keep the cost down to give you Cadillac for a Chevy price. When shortcuts are done, sometimes it's the wrong decision. But when they go back to the factory they come back right. In my case the Wildcat 327ck has a bad design in the walls and re-engineered the wall / replaced it. A lot of the 2013-2014 models this problem. They made a error and manned up to correct it.

[dodr33]

We'll, the camper came home a little before Christmas and I wanted to take some time to shake things out before I posted the result.

Overall our unit was at the factory less than 6 weeks and Forest River went ABOVE AND BEYOND on the repairs they made on our camper!

Not only did they have Lippert fix our frame outrigger issue "correctly" but they also went though the entire unit with a fine toothed comb and fixed every possible issue they could find...down to even resealing the front roof seam and performing a full PDI.

We are very happy so far and pleased with Forest River taking the time to make sure everything was right!

[bikendan]

Originally Posted by dodr33

We'll, the camper came home a little before Christmas and I wanted to take some time to shake things out before I posted the result.

Overall our unit was at the factory less than 6 weeks and Forest River went ABOVE AND BEYOND on the repairs they made on our camper!

Not only did they have Lippert fix our frame outrigger issue "correctly" but they also went though the entire unit with a fine toothed comb and fixed every possible issue they could find...down to even resealing the front roof seam and performing a full PDI.

We are very happy so far and pleased with Forest River taking the time to make sure everything was right!

Nearly everyone, who has their FR RV sent back to the factory, is more than pleased with the results. And they usually get some extra perks done.