Negative Experience on new 2013 Rockwood

[alinerhog]

Hi all.

Wanted to chat a little about my experience over this past weekend.

My wife and I just purchased a Brand new Forest River Rockwood 2703WS 32 foot travel trailer.

We had it out twice and on the 3rd time is when everything started going badly. To start with, the tip out on the left side. ( facing the front ) The wrap around table slide out, failed while we were in a provincial park. The weld joint that attaches the electric pull arm to the slide out broke off. It appeared the weld was not done properly. We of course didn't notice this until we were packing up to leave. Being a holiday here in Canada didn't help but we decided to contact coach-net. Coach-net is the emergency roadside assistance. Let me tell you, i got everything except assistance. Not only were they rude, but they were not helpful as they simply told me they couldn't find anyone to help me. Even the next business day when everything was open, they said no one would help. We ended up being stranded at the park for 3 days and finally I found a guy who came and helped me get the slide out in at a cost of 300 bucks out of my own pocket.

Now this is in ontario, they capital of rving in Canada and coachnet didnt have one dedicated service place in all of southern ontario. So much for the 24/7 assistance they brag. The rep at coach-net even said they are not forest river and only a general call center and they are not responsible if they cant get emergency assistance for me. Imagine that, an emergency call center that basically says tough luck ..

I then contacted the tech support at Forest River. They guy says im basically screwed and need to have mobile support to get to my trailer. I told him I had been trying to get someone out to me and he said its tough to get service on holidays and weekends. Let me say that again .. tough on holidays and weekends, the time when people camp? wow ...

My dealer wasn't able to find anyone either but not really their fault. Finally we got out of the park by forcing the slide out in and made our way home.

The whole experience was stressful and I am angry at the complete lack of care and service from coach-net and forest river. We now have a buzzing noise out of the fridge and the hitch is now making a noise when we turn corners. Most of the wood doors in the Rv wont close now for some reason. The list is growing with my lemon of a trailer.

What is more frustrating is being able to find any company these days that do more then a shrug "oh well"

Wanted to vent ... comments welcome ..

[bikendan]

the dealer has more responsibility in this, than FR, since they are the designee for warranty repair.
you bought the trailer from the DEALER, not from the factory. they should be the ones to try and get this fixed. even if it means sending one of their techs out to you.

[jim44646]

Yep! Not Forest Rivers problem, They just threw it together, Dealers problem now. Good incentive to be a Forest River DEALER

[F and E Damp]

Very sorry to hear about your rotten experience. It's one reason we've mainly bought relatively young used vehicles. The original owner has had the teething troubles and got them fixed.

We bought our current MH from a couple who were the original purchasers. They had used it very carefully and taken excellent care of it. It was 8 years old at the time we bought it and only had 12,000 miles on the chassis odometer and 48 hours on the generator Hobbs meter.

We've found a few problems relating to the low utilisation, aggravated by our own. DW had rotator cuff surgery before the start of our second season and I've had both a lumbar laminectomy and an angioplasty between Feb 2010 and Jan 2012. We're both back up to full strength now (at least as much as septuagenarians can be) and have already had one two-week trip this season.

Right now, the fridge is dead (new one to be installed next week) and the generator won't run (suspect a carb problem - I don't think the float is floating!). We hope to get at least three more trips this season.

I hope both FR and your dealer face up to the issues. We decided not to sign on with coachnet after hearing quite a lot of stories like yours. We've signed up for the Allstate Motor Club, since we've had Allstate car insurance since early 1972.

[SaskCampers]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, especially on a weekend. The thing is I don't think FR is really the culprit here other than not having a better roadside service contract, which I actually don't think many other brands even attempt to offer. If it were your TV that broke down, the best you could reasonably expect is getting it towed to the nearest dealer and then it would have sat till the first open day. As has been stated above it is your dealer who is your 1st responder in cases of failure, I know my dealer actually has a mobile service unit they send out in cases like yours all you pay is mileage for the vehicle. These are things they can do on site,
Furnace or air conditioner failure;
Water heater failure;
Slide out failure; and,
Converter failure.
Now to think they would send one out after hours I think would be asking alot of any dealer and I know I would not expect it of mine.

The poor welding on the slide to me is a quality control issue for FR as the frames and slides come in as a unit from Lipert in the case of the Rockwood / Flagstaff units and the Rockwood / Flagstaff factory just assemble the trailer on the frame components. The only thing they actually manufacture themselves is the walls, floors and ceilings in another building at the same site.

Hopefully your dealer can get things rectifed quickly to get you back on the road again. As to your other issues that popped up after the slide incident, I think forcing the slide in probably tweaked the frame and will be fine when the slide is fixed.

[jhardie]

That's rough. We are going to look, again, at the 2703ws this morning with the intent now to purchase. I'll be sure to ask how they would handle a situation like this.

Hope this is resolved soon for ya!

[Arn]

We had problems every single trip the first year with our new 2010 2604, 21 documented issues in total. Our dealer was great (only while under warranty I might add) and resolved every issue to our satisfaction. I'm glad we stuck it out because once we got over those hurdles we have enjoyed our trailer to the fullest.

[Pitstop88]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. We have the same model, 2013 2703, which we bought in 2012. So far, we've had only minor problems. We had to replace the thermocoupler in the oven pilot, the dinette table and a slide bracket on the storage drawer in the sofa. Our dealer here in Ohio has handled everything so far, but we've never had any issues that kept us from leaving the camp site. Hope you get it worked out.

[utah_utrup]

Sorry to hear about your problems. I have a 2013 2909 Rockwood and have had only a couple of minor problems. First, the radio wouldn't recognize the USB port. My dealer sent me a new one within a couple of days. The second problem was a leaky toilet. They also sent me a new toilet. So all in all, I can't complaign.

However, I have only camped twice. The third trip is this weekend. Hopefully the third trip will not end like yours.

Keep us updated on how this gets resolved, I am very interested.

[Fishnfun54]

That totally sucks!!! But I disagree that it's not Forest River's problem and the responsibility lies solely on the dealer. When I bought my new 2703WS....9 days ago (I'm hoping not to experience what you just went through), I signed a paper that basically said this is a Forest River product...the dealer is certified to work on warranty issues, but ultimately, anything that goes bad is the manufacturers problem, not the dealer. Just thought I'd share that.

[bgarbo]

Your definitely right about customer service today! Its really hard to find anyone that stands behind their product with a smile..... When you do, you stick w/them for sure! I have a 8315BSS 2012 and have been blessed w/a good unit. No issues so far. Keep the faith.

[GABandit]

I agree the ultimate responsibility lies with FR. They put there name on these campers and
It does not matter to me who makes all the items that goes in it. We all just hope that we have a good dealer to take care of us when they break. The dealer will be the one to see that every thing is took care of(hopefully) but I still feel that FR signs off on these units and picks who manufactures the items that go in them and stake the reputation on it. With that being said I'm very happy with my new FR and only had minor issues so far.

[Arn]

Get your model & the last 6 digits of your VIN & contact FR. You will be put in touch with the right person to handle your warranty & answer ANY questions you have about that model. Let him know what is going on & let him know what your expectations are. Believe me, he will work with you. Don't let the dealer buffalo you.

[alinerhog]

Thanks all.

Just wanted to let you know what has transpired. I contacted FR who has told me that all fault seems to fall with the dealer. It seems they simply just sell the product and are not responsible for it. Really ... And they are not responsible for the conduct of the road side assistance as they are simply a supplier for FR. Really ....

SO .. what you really need to do people is either buy from a different manufacturer or find a really, really good dealer.

All that being said, I did get my slide out fixed at a cost of about 100 bucks, and I lost the RV for about a week with the dealer. The 100 bucks was to a rv dealer that I drove out of the park to find .. myself. He did it for cash so FR refused to pay the claim.

The dealer did fix everything, but didn't really go out of their way to appease me. They did what was only expected and nothing else.

Cheers all !

[trudinator]

You mentioned your hitch making noise. If you have a WDH, it makes noise. our Equalizer makes a huge racket. Just goes with the territory. If it makes noise, we know its doing its job.

[jaherbst]

Originally Posted by alinerhog

Hi all.

Wanted to chat a little about my experience over this past weekend.

My wife and I just purchased a Brand new Forest River Rockwood 2703WS 32 foot travel trailer.

We had it out twice and on the 3rd time is when everything started going badly. To start with, the tip out on the left side. ( facing the front ) The wrap around table slide out, failed while we were in a provincial park. The weld joint that attaches the electric pull arm to the slide out broke off. It appeared the weld was not done properly. We of course didn't notice this until we were packing up to leave. Being a holiday here in Canada didn't help but we decided to contact coach-net. Coach-net is the emergency roadside assistance. Let me tell you, i got everything except assistance. Not only were they rude, but they were not helpful as they simply told me they couldn't find anyone to help me. Even the next business day when everything was open, they said no one would help. We ended up being stranded at the park for 3 days and finally I found a guy who came and helped me get the slide out in at a cost of 300 bucks out of my own pocket.

Now this is in ontario, they capital of rving in Canada and coachnet didnt have one dedicated service place in all of southern ontario. So much for the 24/7 assistance they brag. The rep at coach-net even said they are not forest river and only a general call center and they are not responsible if they cant get emergency assistance for me. Imagine that, an emergency call center that basically says tough luck ..

I then contacted the tech support at Forest River. They guy says im basically screwed and need to have mobile support to get to my trailer. I told him I had been trying to get someone out to me and he said its tough to get service on holidays and weekends. Let me say that again .. tough on holidays and weekends, the time when people camp? wow ...

My dealer wasn't able to find anyone either but not really their fault. Finally we got out of the park by forcing the slide out in and made our way home.

The whole experience was stressful and I am angry at the complete lack of care and service from coach-net and forest river. We now have a buzzing noise out of the fridge and the hitch is now making a noise when we turn corners. Most of the wood doors in the Rv wont close now for some reason. The list is growing with my lemon of a trailer.

What is more frustrating is being able to find any company these days that do more then a shrug "oh well"

Wanted to vent ... comments welcome ..

As you will find out Forest River is the "Big Company with the small Heart". They could care less about you after purchase! I have had my F/R trailer for almost two months and have not been able to leave on a trip yet due to problems.

FOREST RIVER is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureou. That should tell us all something. No customer or warranty service and no road service.

That is why there is almost no Forest River return customers. After dealing with Forest River you will most certainly change brands next time.

Jack

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by jaherbst

As you will find out Forest River is the "Big Company with the small Heart". They could care less about you after purchase! I have had my F/R trailer for almost two months and have not been able to leave on a trip yet due to problems.

FOREST RIVER is not an accredited business with the Better Business Bureou. That should tell us all something. No customer or warranty service and no road service.

That is why there is almost no Forest River return customers. After dealing with Forest River you will most certainly change brands next time.

Jack

Really? "there is almost no Forest River return customers"??? We, and I'm sure many, of the posters on these forums would have no problem buying another FR product. We've had a couple of minor problems, that were taken care of by our dealer. That is who the OP should be contacting, not FR. The dealer is the one who should be rectifying each and every problem that arises. Please don't speak for the majority when you have nothing to back up your statements.

[JohnF]

Originally Posted by trudinator

You mentioned your hitch making noise. If you have a WDH, it makes noise. our Equalizer makes a huge racket. Just goes with the territory. If it makes noise, we know its doing its job.

Thanks Trudinator, I feel better about mine now.

John

[trudinator]

Originally Posted by JohnF

Thanks Trudinator, I feel better about mine now.

John

I know I freaked the first time I heard it, driving out of our dealer's lot. I thought something was terribly, terribly wrong! Now I'm used to it.

[jaherbst]

Originally Posted by trudinator

Really? "there is almost no Forest River return customers"??? We, and I'm sure many, of the posters on these forums would have no problem buying another FR product. We've had a couple of minor problems, that were taken care of by our dealer. That is who the OP should be contacting, not FR. The dealer is the one who should be rectifying each and every problem that arises. Please don't speak for the majority when you have nothing to back up your statements.

BACK UP
Just read these forums if you think I am wrong. I have owned RV's and trailers for over forty five years including six high end Diesel Pushers and Forest River is by far and long the very very worst. Why else would they not be an accredited business with the Better Business Bureau. One reason and one reason only my friend. They have not been able to successfully settle their claims. In other words Buyer Be Ware!

Four of my friends have owned Forest River products once and once only. You can add me to the list. After thoroughly going through my unit it is the cheapest built thing I could possibly imagine. OK I did buy it in Texas from RV-Max in Sherman and should have bought it locally where I could and should have done a more thorough inspection. After calling RV-Max eight times with no return calls after I left, I had a bad taste in my mouth. No help there and little help from the F/R factory. La Mesa RV here in Tucson has been very good at helping me solve the numerous problems.

I am glad you have had a good experience with them and are happy. Most of us are not. Just read the forums my friend ,just read the forums.

Jack