Enough is Enough

highwayman · 06-16-2009, 10:44 AM

Anyone out there had any trouble with these blow up mattesses Forest River offers as an option in there couches? Ours has leaked since day one! Our 2009 was delivered to us last May and I reported this problem to the dealer. He suggest blowing it up and using it a few times will sometmes cure the problem? I was pretty leary of that answer?

Anyway today I called him and was insistant that something be done about this issue! He contacted the manufacter, and pursued warranty on it. He says they are warrantied for 1 yr, but since we have had an ongoing problem, and had brought it to there attention they will honor the warranty, as were up on time?

I told him I had purchased the 1 additonal yr warranty,, and it clearly says mattress under items covered, he said thats Not the mattress their talking about. Interesting? Anyway it sounds like my dealer is going to take care of me. He said they make a patch kit (the manufacturer), but does recommend trying to patch anywhere near a seam.

How do these things hold up?, anyone had much experience? Doubt we will use ours much as it will be a guest visit type situation.

chevy02 · 06-17-2009, 01:44 AM

I am on my 2nd replacement first one got pinched in the frame and the second one leaked around the pump both were replaced by forest river

AVid · 06-17-2009, 06:09 AM

I have never folded mine up in the bed. Was afraid it would get pinched. We have used Aero-Beds at home for years and never had a problem.

AVid

Radio · 06-17-2009, 09:01 AM

They will appear to leak for two reasons:

When new, the rubber material will stretch slightly each time the mattress is used. This should not be a problem after 5 or 6 uses. As the material stretches, the mattress apears to leak as it requires additional air during the night to fill the additional volume.

Also, for the life of the system, the pump slightly warms the air passing through it. When it air cools it becomes more dense, taking up less space, requiring a little more air to make up the difference.

Personally I don't like the way the thing sleeps, but the wife and kids do. Whatever. I get the real bed anyway which I do like! And since the pump is right there at your head, it's not a big deal to reach over and add (or subtract) a little air during the night.

highwayman · 06-17-2009, 10:00 AM

I could see you would want to be careful with the mattress placement around the metal frame, to make sure it doesn't get pinched somewhere. Looks like I will have a HAPPY ENDING TO MY MATTRESS SITUATION. Dealer has gotten Flair Industries to ship him a new one and he will be forwarding it on to me.

He said he hasn't had much problem with the Forest River air mattress option, and does one or so a year. Flair has been good about replaceing them he said, but they want documentation, pictures, etc.

He had me take pictures of the very small cut area area and air compressor plate, and allowed me to keep this damaged one. Now the even better news, I tried a vinyl swimming pool repair kit patch on it, and so far its HOLDING. Love the bed, won't mind a spare.

chevy02 · 06-17-2009, 02:39 PM

Try putting a memory foam pad on top of it makes it a whole lot more comfortable

fivecodys · 06-17-2009, 04:07 PM

We have used ours about 10 times. It's does stretch a little and might be seen as a leak.

Ours was actually losing air and the problem was the cap at the foot of the bed was not tight enough.

My 19 yr old son usually sleeps on it and he likes it better than the jack-knife sofa we used to have in the old trailer.

Hope you find a lose cap and not a hole.

Bill

redtang02 · 06-19-2009, 06:12 PM

We have the same mattress in our 09' 8306 rockwood. No problem the first time using it. The second time it ended up with 2 "pinches" in it and had to patch. I am being more careful on how I fold it and making sure all air is out. Hopefully that will take care of it.

Mikesr · 06-23-2009, 04:30 PM

We did not even have ours 3 months and only used the air mattress one time and it did not hold air. I contacted Flair Industries direct since our dealer went out of business and was emailed a check list to follow to look for leaks. Found no leaks following this list and was told by their customer service if they find a leak that was not covered under the warranty we would be charged for shipping and repairs of the mattress. Well I did not like this and decided to go to Wally World and get a $25.00 Coleman air mattress (queen size) that fits perfect. So far no leaks and I know if it does Wally World will replace it no questions asked as long as you have a receipt. The pump was separate and cost another 17 bucks, but the way I look at it the pump can be uses for other things. The Flair Industries mattress with the integrated pump seems like it was the problem. I swear the leak was in the pump. The couch and the frame for the mattress seem like good quality but I think that some other company makes the mattress for Flair Industries; they should have used a Coleman air mattress.

lori08360 · 07-05-2009, 01:48 PM

I now too am having issues with my matress! Over the holiday weekend, we opened the hide a bed, air matress and attempted to inflate it and found we have 4 small holes right at the joint of the frame. Must have been pinched when we closed it last time. We tried to patch but unfortunately, the holes are at the seam of the matress and of course at the area where it fold up when not in use. After 2 patches & 10 hrs later, still no fix. It still leaks air. Now the problem...We are out of warrenty this past Memorial day and the fact that it was damaged because we piched it we are out of luck. Does anyone know the estimated cost to replace this matress? Does anyone have any suggestions? I plan on calling Forest River to complain that there should be plastic cover to cover the metal frame/joint area While attempting to fix the holes - we noticed that there are 2 joints on each side of the bed. The top joint is covered in plastic but unfortuntaley the 2nd joint is not. I would like to know if there is a plastic cover to cover the metal joint to prevent futher damage. Any suggestions would help. Thank you for any comments or suggestions.

chevy02 · 07-06-2009, 02:38 PM

We are taking our off and putting it in the drawer under the couch after every use to insure no holes.It`s kind of a pain in the ass but so is no mattress

955wildcat · 07-06-2009, 02:55 PM

We just picked up our 5th wheel last week and my wife was disapointed it did not come with the blow up mattress in place of the hideabed. The dealer told us he has a bunch of them in his service department with holes in them. He said they get pinched when put back and are generally poorly made so they just don't hold up. I guess it was one of the few things our dealer was honest about.

Cheers, Keith

Relaxed · 07-06-2009, 08:24 PM

We had the same issue in our 2009 345RET first time of use. Found two small pinched holes, which we repaired with the patch kit. We called the dealer, they told us to look for holes. I pulled it outside, blew it up, used soap water to find the holes. They were located opposite corner (same side) from the pump. Patched it up, so far it's holding. Just watch how you fold it up.

lori08360 · 07-07-2009, 07:38 AM

Well, yesterday we spoke with the dealer and at first they said "they are going to have to do something about it because it is the 3rd one this week" So i took the matress for the one hour drive to the dealer as they requested. When I got to the service desk another service rep (not the one we spoke to on the phone) said "you are out of warrenty" (which I already knew). She also said, "even if you were still covered, a pinched matress would not be covered because it was negligence not defect".

I was very disapointed as well as angry because I made the trip to the dealership at their request. They told me that even the 3 others this week were also not covered for the same reasons. I complianed to her that it was dumb design especially if there are all of these problems and she agreed but was still not able to help. She said Forest River says it is Flair Interiors design and therefore their problem and Flair Interiors says once they sell the coch to Forest River it is their problem. Sounds like no one wants to take responsibility!

Now the only solution we have is to fork over $400 for a replacement. She also said if it was hers she would take it off the bed and fold it up underneath in the drawer (just as Chevy02 said).

Well now it is a lesson learned!!

Thanks for all the replys. Lori

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