Theater seats delaminating

[BuckeyeChuck]

The faux leather theater seats are laminating? I have a 2013 Sabor 33ckts and the leather theater seats are delaminating. Will Forest River stand behind their product or am I on my own?

[GL1800Rider]

2013 I seriously doubt it. If you can arrange to attend the International Rally in August there is a possibility they may take care of it.

[BuckeyeChuck]

It would not be worth the expense of driving from Florida to Indiana. I've heard that this was a common problem and just wondered if maybe Forest River knew of a recall or something or would I have to replace the junk furniture they put in myselfe.

[goduc]

Just head down to your local furniture store and buy some quality theater seats. Most RV seating is marginal at best. They're not really intended to be used full time like home furniture.

[kenandterry]

We replaced the factory bed sofa with a much better dual recliner love seat from a real furniture store for the same reason.

[BuckeyeChuck]

With what a new RV cost one would expect the funature to not tp delaminate after just a few years. These seats broke down after the second year of weekend camping. The delamination started last year. It's easy to say just run down to the furniture store and buy some quality theater seats. Why should one be forced to do that?

[kenandterry]

It’s all about cost. The quality of everything in an RV can be improved over what you have....but you wouldn’t like the price.

That being said....there was an issue with Forest River and other brands having secured a bad batch of “pleather” a number of years ago from a supplier back then. Certainly when your rig was new it was quite a popular complaint. This many years later (your rig is now considered 5 model years later) the best offer is to replace with real furniture.

[jvalich]

I'm the second owner of my coach so no warranty. FR sold me the complete covers stitched and sewn for my two captain chairs, sofa and dinette at their cost. I've been replacing the covers as time permits. Down to 1 captains chair now. The new material was not a bonded leather produce but rather a 100% polyurethane material. It is the same move we have done in our furniture store. Bonded products have been dropped because of the peeling and cracking issue.

[BuckeyeChuck]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

It’s all about cost. The quality of everything in an RV can be improved over what you have....but you wouldn’t like the price.

That being said....there was an issue with Forest River and other brands having secured a bad batch of “pleather” a number of years ago from a supplier back then. Certainly when your rig was new it was quite a popular complaint. This many years later (your rig is now considered 5 model years later) the best offer is to replace with real furniture.

There should have been a recall on the furniture with a delamination problem. Oh well it's water over the dam now. I doubt if I'll ever buy a new Forest River product again. Too many workmanship problems and now this..

[rskeans]

Go to Lazy Boy and get what your want. They'll deliver, install, and take the old ones away. It'll all be fixed for under $1K, maybe.

[jvalich]

Originally Posted by BuckeyeChuck

There should have been a recall on the furniture with a delamination problem. Oh well it's water over the dam now. I doubt if I'll ever buy a new Forest River product again. Too many workmanship problems and now this..

I wouldn't hold the delimitation issue against FR. Even the famed Laz-i-Boy company only warranties their fabric for one year. That is the limit on fabric warranty for nearly every manufacture I have felt with. I have been replacing delimitation issues for my customers on furniture 3 - 4 years old that is beginning to delaminate as customer service issue. I want to keep my customers. FR did step up for me and sell me the new covers for their cost.

I'm not defending the use of low-end materials in the RV industry. There are lots of things I've seen that they could do a bit better for near zero extra cost. I'd like to see better quality materials in some areas, such as the furniture.

As with any business that manufactures a product, it's a balance of quality, cost, affordability for the customer and profit to keep the light on. Add in the cyclic nature of any luxury/discretionary product (like RVs) and it's not a challenge I would relish.

[goduc]

I certainly wouldn't put Laz-i-Boy in the same category as fine furniture. Sort of mainstream Holiday in stuff. We've had 2 sets of LB living room furniture in our home. They hold up well. But to get high quality full time stuff you need to hit one of the better furniture stores.
RV's (Except for the top high end stuff) try and get by with the lowest cost items that will make it thru the 1-2-3 year warranty.