In May 2023 I purchased a 2023 Riverstone Legacy 442MC from Unlimited RV in Independence, MO (NE part of Kansas City). If you read nothing more of this post PLEASE READ that I would NOT recommend Unlimited RV as a place to purchase or get your Riverstone serviced in any way. They are nothing short of shady, dishonest lairs when it comes to work quality and completion.
When purchasing my Riverstone I choose Unlimited RV as I like to support local businesses. I had options of buying from my previous home town, a dealer out in Elkhart and locally. I choose Riverstone over competitors because I was told by many people that the Riverstone Legacy was the worth the extra money for the quality. Purchase of this Riverstone Legacy 442MC has been nothing but stressful chaos so far. Below is the story of the issues or quality defects that we have experienced during our first months of ownership and then the horror story of dealing with Unlimited RV, Firefly, and warranty departments.
Dealership Purchase Experience
Purchasing
Like all sales situations, the business was more than happy to return every communication during the sales courtship. Devin (sales person) was attentive and kind with our questions. Some his answers seemed off as I'm sure he was trying to make the sale. Devin is not new at his job and was "salesperson of the month" several previous months. So he is experienced. We agreed on a price and delivery date. We scheduled our walk-through of the rig and everything seemed great. As I mentioned above I wanted to support local businesses so we choose Unlimited RV. It was an added bonus that Unlimited RV offers a free Lifetime Warranty with any new RV purchase. We figured the lifetime warranty could save us thousands over buying an extended warranty. Devin bragged about the lifetime warranty and stated "it covers almost everything".
On the day of delivery I went into Unlimited with a check thinking paperwork would be quick followed by the walk-through and taking our rig home. Before any paperwork was signed I was given a new sales pitch about the importance of buying an extended warranty. I was confused and expressed by confusion as Devin has bragged about the free lifetime warranty provided by Unlimited RV. The sales manager had a laminated sheet all ready to hand me (the same I'm sure he hands everyone when this is sprung on them) listing the items covered by the extended warranty that is not covered by their lifetime warranty. The items covered by the lifetime warranty was short and generic. The Unlimited RV lifetime warranty seemed of very little value. It did not align with what Devin had bragged about. Needless to say I decided to write a separate check and buy an extended warranty (more on this later) and off I went to the walk-through.
Walk-through
We were told the unit was fully inspected and cleaned. I would agree the rig was cleaned. The inspection, very doubtful. My wife and I quickly realized the service department employee giving us the information about the rig was out of his league.
Item 1 - I asked to confirm the fridge in the rig was 12v power. The Service Tech told me the fridge was propane powered. That night I researched and determined the tech was wrong and the fridge is 12v powered.
Item 2 - We asked if the water heater was electric or propane as the water heater in our Tiffin can operate with either power source. The Service Tech told us it was a 20-gallon tank propane or electric water heater like what we had on our Tiffin Bus. When we got to the water heater door I pointed out the water heater was tankless and appeared to be propane powered unit. The tech was wrong.
Item 3 - The rig did not come with a generator installed by the factory so we asked if one could be added. The Service Tech said yes and ordered a gas powered unit. The 442MC is not a toy hauler and needs a propane (not gas) fueled generator. This delayed the final delivery of the rig by two weeks.
Item 4 - We asked about the Riverstone Legacy sewer lines as we had read they had difference connections than what we were used to on the Tiffin. The Service Tech told us the connections are unique and we needed to purchase an adapter to make the sewer lines compatible... not with other lines, but with the connections on the rig itself and at campsites. We asked for that adapter to be included for free and Unlimited agreed. At the end of the walk-through we stood in the service center and a part was ordered. We now know no adapter is needed for the new sewer lines unless you want to use extensions with the old style connectors. We never received the adapter but honestly we do not need it.
Item 5 - I asked about the coax hookups in the water connection area. The service tech told us those were outputs in case we wanted to hookup an external TV. I asked him to confirm the connections were output since the 442MC has an external TV on the other side of the rig and we would want to know where the input connections would be. The service tech confirmed those connections were outputs.
Item 6- During the walk-through we noted the rear gray and black tank levers were impossible to move. The tech noted since the rig was staying behind for the generator, they would lube up these levers and take a look to make sure they were working properly.
Needless to say at that point my wife and I ended the walk-through as we felt our time was being wasted. Wife and I came home and emailed the sales person, sales manager and service manager asking for a second walk-through from someone who new more about the rig. The second walk-through wasn't much better. However the specific items we complained about (listed above) we did get correct information, but new items had misinformation.
Walk-through #2
The generator was installed and our rig was ready.
Item 7 - During the second walk-through we asked about the "This unit has been winterized" sticker still on countertop by the kitchen sink. I asked if the second service tech if the water lines had been flushed and if the unit had been de-winterized or whatever the word would be. We all joked around trying to figure out what the proper phrasing would be for a unit that had the water lines flushed, but after the jokes he confirmed the unit did have the water lines flushed and the unit was de-winterized. More on this later....
I walked around the rig and gave a quick pull to the gray and black tank levers. They were stuck like concrete. Before taking the rig home the device department dropped both tanks and had to completely replace the levers. Apparently the service tech from the first walk-through completely forgot to take care of the issue.
The List of Issues
Despite being told by the dealership the unit had been fully inspected and ready for sale, these are the items we discovered that were broken or inoperable during use at our home connection to water and 50amp power.
The Timeline Story
April 23rd - We signed the paperwork for the new rig. Our first walk-through took place and as described above, the walk-through was filled with A LOT of misinformation and flat out lies. Service tech said the failing gray and black tank levers for the rear tanks would be addressed.
April 24th - I sent an email requesting a second walk-through.
April 28th - Received second walk-through and took possession of the rig. During second walk-through we noticed the levers for the rear tanks had not been addressed. Before taking possession Unlimited RV replaced the tank levers. We stood on the device lot for 45 minutes while the work was completed then we were told we could leave to go get lunch and they would text when the work was done. Later that day at our home we began noticing a few things that would be service attention, but nothing urgent. We setup an appointment for June 12th to have the free checkup and I informed Unlimited that we were leaving on June 19th for a three week trip so a checkup just before our trip would be great. They agreed.
May 1st - Remember the story of how we were told the water lines had been flushed and the unit was no longer winterized? WRONG! We hook up to water and the water coming from every faucet is foamy and pink. Had we trusted the service tech we could have drank anti-freeze, or we could have put water in our dogs bowl and he could have died. Who knows what could have happened. Additional minor issues were discovered that were concerning to me. Not knowing anyone in the service department that I trusted due to the fiasco with the two walk-throughs and because our salesperson Devin said to reach out to him if we ever had any questions, I reached out to Devin via text to ask who I should be contacting to create a list of items that would need to be addressed. I never received a response from Devin.
(screen shot captures July 18th)
May 14th - I sent Devin an email with a list if issues (and pictures) and asked him to forward onto the service manager. I never received a response from Devin or communication from the service department. Devin never forwarded my email to the service department.
May 18th - I completed the online form at UnlimitedRV.com to request service. In the form I listed all the issues I had sent to Devin in an email two weeks prior. I received an automated response stating Unlimited had received my submission and they would contact me shortly.
May 22nd - I did not receive any communication from Unlimited Rv's service department so I began calling and texting anyone who worked at Unlimited who I had a number for. My urgency began because that morning the Firefly unit took a complete dump and stopped working. Here are just a few of the videos showing the Firefly system inoperable.
The Firefly system would also cause the lights to clicker. At first I thought there was bad weather and lighting until I captured it on camera. (excuse the mess as we were moving our camping gear from the Tiffin into the Riverstone).
We had a 3 week long trip we planned on taking the new rig on starting on June 19th. I finally got in touch with the service department. I was told they had no record of my online submission despite my confirmation email shown above. I explained the whole situation, how the rig was inoperable because of Firefly and how I could not get the slide outs retracted to bring the rig in for service. During a phone call with Unlimited around 10am I was told an Unlimited RV service tech would visit my home to help retract the slides outs. 6 hours later and nobody ever showed up. Around 4pm I called and asked if someone was going show up. I was told due to insurance coverage Unlimited RV could not send a tech to my home to help and I needed to call and use the extended warranty I purchased to get a tech to come visit and help retract the slide outs so I could haul my rig to Unlimited for service. I understand the insurance thing, but questioned why I was told someone would come to my home and why I was not communicated with when that decision had changed.
May 23rd - I spent 6 hours trouble shooting the Firefly system myself. Firefly customer support is non-existed. The only worse customer service than Unlimited if Firefly. For all future purchases if a rig has Firefly it will be a deal breaker and the rig will not be considered. Calling Forest River support passed me along to a tech out in Oregon someplace who was helpful, but this is the type of issue that really needs to be hands on. Hours of volt meter testing and resetting the system I was able to get the system reset and the slide outs retracted.
May 25th - Firefly sent an email alerting me I needed to update the FW of the Firefly system.
June 1st - We dropped off the rig at Unlimited RV. I walked through each item listed above and that I emailed and submitted to Unlimited via the webform. A Service Manager noted all the items, took pictures of all the items and put a piece of yellow tape on each item. The main item I stressed to the Service Manager was that the Firefly unit was inoperable (I forwarded him videos and pictures of the unit inoperable and the strange light flickering). I told him Firefly recommended at the very least a FW update be installed, but also that the G12 module may need to be replaced. I stressed to them I needed the rig back by June 19th as we were leaving on a three week trip.
June 14th - I received a phone call from Jayci at Unlimited RV. She shared a keypad door handle had come in for me and was curious if the keypad had been fixed on my rig. She wasn’t sure if the keypad had already been fixed because the work order had been closed out and was marked complete. I shared with her I wasn’t sure if the keypad had been replaced because my rig had bee on their service lot for the past two weeks. She seemed shocked to hear that news. I asked if the other work ordered I made them aware of had been addressed. I stressed again that we needed the rig back by the 19th (5 days from that call). She said everything was fixed and she would confirm. Without waiting for Jayci to communicate back I texted the owner of Unlimited RV (Stacy) asking what was happening and if work had been completed on my rig. I communicated that work orders are being marked as complete and that it sounds like work is not being completed on my rig. Stacy said he would check into it. I did not hear anything back that day.
June 15th - Stacy sent me a picture of my rig in a service bay stating work was being completed. I asked for confirmation that everything I asked to be done would be done and that we were leaving on a trip in a few days so I would need to come pick up the rig. 1:10pm Stacy said he would confirm. I heard nothing back
June 16th - At 9:44am I sent Stacy a text asking for an update or ETA. I was told Erik (Service Manager) would call me within the hour.
Erik called and told me everything was done except the Firefly. He said the first tech that looked at the Firefly system noted “used the panel to open all slides, turn on and off all lights, checked connections. Could not determine an issue." I asked about the firmware update Firefly said I required and Erik said that was not updated. I asked for Unlimited RV to run a full diagnostic on the Firefly unit AND install the FW that I requested when I dropped off the unit. Shortly after Erik called me back and said the Firefly unit was inoperable and they could not update the FW. The tech told Erik they “needed to order new touchpad. The touchpad glitches and loses all memory when used.” With 3 days before we were supposed to leave for our 3 week trip, Unlimited RV had finally addressed the first and most major issue we made them aware of two weeks prior.
We came to the realization we were likely not leaving for our trip on our planned date and we may not be taking our brand new Riverstone Legacy 442MC. My days were consumed calling Firefly trying to get support and for Firefly to overnight a G12 module to Unlimited RV. I must have called Firefly 20 times over the next 48 hours. At no point was I ever able to speak to a Firefly tech. I sent multiple emails to Firefly, at no point did Firefly return any of my urgent requests for help. If I wasn’t calling, emailing or texting Firefly or Unlimited RV, I was calling around to try and find a camper/RV to rent for our three week trip. Finding a camper to rent was no small task with the upcoming July 4th holiday.
June 19th - Our departure date came and went. We stayed at home working to find a way to go on our trip. More emails and calls to Firefly and Unlimited. I asked Unlimited to also call and email Firefly daily or hourly if needed.
June 20th - Unlimited RV was able to get ahold of Firefly and Firefly agreed to overnight ship (at a cost) the G12 module to Unlimited RV.
June 21st - I received a call from Unlimited that the Firefly G12 unit was swapped, an updated firmware was installed and everything was operational. Late in the day we drove and picked up our 442MC from Unlimited RV. We were in such a rush to get home so we could start packing I didn’t take a close look to see if everything was fixed or if things were operational. I was told a tech had everything working and he tested everything. As soon as we got home with the rig, I opened it up for packing. It was a very hot day in Kansas City, Missouri so I attempted to turn on the three AC units in the 442MC. The Firefly touchpad only showed a front and rear AC unit. Unlimited RV had failed to program the middle (kitchen) AC unit into the system. Because we didn’t have enough battery power, I needed to start the propane generator to run the AC units. Not a big deal until I discovered Unlimited RV had forgotten to program the Firefly unit to allow operation of the generator. So much for “the tech tested and everything worked”. I immediately called Unlimited RV and explained the situation. They asked me to make the 40 minute drive back to their dealership so they could program the Firefly unit correctly. I told them we would stop by on our way out of town the next day. While packing I began to notice that all the issues we reported that needed to be corrected were not addressed. The microwave still had the charred remains and the yellow tape inside. Despite the work order stating they replaced the microwave and the work order bingo completed, this was what I found when I opened the microwave door.
The screen door still jammed and rubbed when closing. Most of the items we asked to be addressed, appeared to never be touched.
June 22nd - We stopped at Unlimited RV. Before anything was said I asked for a copy of all my work order issues and asked for a copy of the tech notes. According to Unlimited RV, all my work orders had been closed out and completed. I asked first for the Firefly unit to be programed. Erik the service manager could not have cared less that they screwed up again and we had to make another special trip for them to correct their issues. He stood at a distance away from me and never said a word to me while the tech programmed the Firefly unit. I then began showing the service manager all the items that were not addressed and pointed out that some of the yellow tape still remained at trouble spots but that my work orders showed complete. All these issues are frustrating, but I’ll focus on the microwave as it’s the easiest. Here is the actual work order from Unlimited.
Unlimited appears to have first thought they would only replace the insulated feet on the metal racks. But then decided they would repeal the entire microwave. As you can see the work order is complete, but nothing was swapped or fixed in any way. Knowing we can deal with most of these issues on the road as long as the Firefly unit was operational, we left for our 3 week trip.
June 23rd - The first morning and first shower in the primary bathroom. We noted the drawers that did not have soft close and that we asked to be addressed were still not working properly. After my shower I decided to take some time and organize the basement. I opened the basement door and found a puddle of water.
I wasn’t sure where the water had come from so more investigate was needed. It didn’t take long for me to determine the shower drain was leaking.
At first I thought the drain seal on the topside of the shower was the cause. The installation of the gray seal from the factory seemed subpar at best. I striped out all the grey seal, cleaned the are and used Flex Seal. I waited 24 hours and we attempted another shower. We were again met with a puddle of water and dripping drain. That is when I discovered the drain itself was cracked 60% of the diameter of circumference of the drain. Another trip to the hardware store. I used a two part JB Weld to seal the crack in the drain. Waited another 24 hours and that fix seemed to hold for now. I’m going to ask the entire drain be replaced since the drain was mostly cracked already and I don’t want it to completely crack and break loose in the future.
June 24th - We attempted to use the dishwasher. Since Unlimited had not drained all the anti-freeze, I attempted to run a 15-minute quick rinse to get fresh water into the system. The dishwasher seemed to start but then beeped several times and gave a ”F52” error. After some research we called Fisher & Paykel. The manufacturer informed us the washer would need to be fixed or replaced. Because we were in an RV and not a home, we would need to pay for time and mileage for the repair man. We declined service and washed dishes by hand for the three week trip so Unlimited can deal with the warranty claim.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We received several compliments about our new 442MC at every campground we visited. Sometimes we bit our tongue and didn’t share the horror stories of owning this unit, other times we were more open when people said they would look into purchasing a similar model from Forest River. But we always made sure we warned them of Unlimited RV.
So that is my very long post. This was a big eye opening experience for us. Previously we had only dealt with Tiffin Allegro Bus and their top notch customer service.
I understand these rigs can have issues and I wasn't expecting perfection. But this has been a bit much from the broken appliances, misinformation from the service techs, and having to move heaven and earth to get ahold of Firefly/Forest River/Service Department for warranty approval or parts. The rig is going back to the service department next Monday to have the issues addressed for a second time. I plan on making the service department show me the fix of each and every item before I leave the lot. I've already been told they will ned the rig for 3-4 weeks. At this point the rig will spend more time in their service department than in my possession. I'm not sure if I need to start looking into dealing with Riverstone service departments that are 2-3 hours away instead of my local service department.
Questions
When purchasing my Riverstone I choose Unlimited RV as I like to support local businesses. I had options of buying from my previous home town, a dealer out in Elkhart and locally. I choose Riverstone over competitors because I was told by many people that the Riverstone Legacy was the worth the extra money for the quality. Purchase of this Riverstone Legacy 442MC has been nothing but stressful chaos so far. Below is the story of the issues or quality defects that we have experienced during our first months of ownership and then the horror story of dealing with Unlimited RV, Firefly, and warranty departments.
Dealership Purchase Experience
Purchasing
Like all sales situations, the business was more than happy to return every communication during the sales courtship. Devin (sales person) was attentive and kind with our questions. Some his answers seemed off as I'm sure he was trying to make the sale. Devin is not new at his job and was "salesperson of the month" several previous months. So he is experienced. We agreed on a price and delivery date. We scheduled our walk-through of the rig and everything seemed great. As I mentioned above I wanted to support local businesses so we choose Unlimited RV. It was an added bonus that Unlimited RV offers a free Lifetime Warranty with any new RV purchase. We figured the lifetime warranty could save us thousands over buying an extended warranty. Devin bragged about the lifetime warranty and stated "it covers almost everything".
On the day of delivery I went into Unlimited with a check thinking paperwork would be quick followed by the walk-through and taking our rig home. Before any paperwork was signed I was given a new sales pitch about the importance of buying an extended warranty. I was confused and expressed by confusion as Devin has bragged about the free lifetime warranty provided by Unlimited RV. The sales manager had a laminated sheet all ready to hand me (the same I'm sure he hands everyone when this is sprung on them) listing the items covered by the extended warranty that is not covered by their lifetime warranty. The items covered by the lifetime warranty was short and generic. The Unlimited RV lifetime warranty seemed of very little value. It did not align with what Devin had bragged about. Needless to say I decided to write a separate check and buy an extended warranty (more on this later) and off I went to the walk-through.
Walk-through
We were told the unit was fully inspected and cleaned. I would agree the rig was cleaned. The inspection, very doubtful. My wife and I quickly realized the service department employee giving us the information about the rig was out of his league.
Item 1 - I asked to confirm the fridge in the rig was 12v power. The Service Tech told me the fridge was propane powered. That night I researched and determined the tech was wrong and the fridge is 12v powered.
Item 2 - We asked if the water heater was electric or propane as the water heater in our Tiffin can operate with either power source. The Service Tech told us it was a 20-gallon tank propane or electric water heater like what we had on our Tiffin Bus. When we got to the water heater door I pointed out the water heater was tankless and appeared to be propane powered unit. The tech was wrong.
Item 3 - The rig did not come with a generator installed by the factory so we asked if one could be added. The Service Tech said yes and ordered a gas powered unit. The 442MC is not a toy hauler and needs a propane (not gas) fueled generator. This delayed the final delivery of the rig by two weeks.
Item 4 - We asked about the Riverstone Legacy sewer lines as we had read they had difference connections than what we were used to on the Tiffin. The Service Tech told us the connections are unique and we needed to purchase an adapter to make the sewer lines compatible... not with other lines, but with the connections on the rig itself and at campsites. We asked for that adapter to be included for free and Unlimited agreed. At the end of the walk-through we stood in the service center and a part was ordered. We now know no adapter is needed for the new sewer lines unless you want to use extensions with the old style connectors. We never received the adapter but honestly we do not need it.
Item 5 - I asked about the coax hookups in the water connection area. The service tech told us those were outputs in case we wanted to hookup an external TV. I asked him to confirm the connections were output since the 442MC has an external TV on the other side of the rig and we would want to know where the input connections would be. The service tech confirmed those connections were outputs.
Item 6- During the walk-through we noted the rear gray and black tank levers were impossible to move. The tech noted since the rig was staying behind for the generator, they would lube up these levers and take a look to make sure they were working properly.
Needless to say at that point my wife and I ended the walk-through as we felt our time was being wasted. Wife and I came home and emailed the sales person, sales manager and service manager asking for a second walk-through from someone who new more about the rig. The second walk-through wasn't much better. However the specific items we complained about (listed above) we did get correct information, but new items had misinformation.
Walk-through #2
The generator was installed and our rig was ready.
Item 7 - During the second walk-through we asked about the "This unit has been winterized" sticker still on countertop by the kitchen sink. I asked if the second service tech if the water lines had been flushed and if the unit had been de-winterized or whatever the word would be. We all joked around trying to figure out what the proper phrasing would be for a unit that had the water lines flushed, but after the jokes he confirmed the unit did have the water lines flushed and the unit was de-winterized. More on this later....
I walked around the rig and gave a quick pull to the gray and black tank levers. They were stuck like concrete. Before taking the rig home the device department dropped both tanks and had to completely replace the levers. Apparently the service tech from the first walk-through completely forgot to take care of the issue.
The List of Issues
Despite being told by the dealership the unit had been fully inspected and ready for sale, these are the items we discovered that were broken or inoperable during use at our home connection to water and 50amp power.
- Primary bathroom - Shower drain leaks
- Fisher & Paykel Dishwaser had "F52" error leaving washer inoperable
- Microwave had been used with metal inside. Microwave arc'ed, leaving interior light bulb blown, rubber tips on metal stands were turned to ash, mcirowave smells funny when door is open.
- Rear gray and black tank valve levers were inoperable. Could not open or close valves.
- Rear black tank flush connection will not allow water to enter the tank
- Rig was missing the Wi-fi Router
- Entry screen door is misaligned. The screen door prevents the main door lever from closing so it's nearly impossible to get the door to shut and latch closed.
- Keypad lock on entry door was inoperable even with new batteries.
- Door for electrical hookups was missing the lock. Unable to lock access door.
- Several of the soft close drawers did not work properly. Some doors would pen during travel, other doors were very difficult to open and close.
- Rear half bathroom toliet will not hold water for more than a minute before draining dry.
- Firefly G12 module became inoperable. We were left unable to control anything managed by the Firefly system (slideouts, lights, HVAC, etc).
- License plate mounts were overgightend and striped when dealership put on their advertisement licence plate.
- Entry door steps were poorly aligned and wore groves into the door jamb.
- We were told the unit had been flushed off all the antifreeze and had be un-dewinterized. Upon first use all faucets and items that use water had foamy and very pink water. Had we not noticed, this could have been very dangerous to anyone consuming the water.
The Timeline Story
April 23rd - We signed the paperwork for the new rig. Our first walk-through took place and as described above, the walk-through was filled with A LOT of misinformation and flat out lies. Service tech said the failing gray and black tank levers for the rear tanks would be addressed.
April 24th - I sent an email requesting a second walk-through.
April 28th - Received second walk-through and took possession of the rig. During second walk-through we noticed the levers for the rear tanks had not been addressed. Before taking possession Unlimited RV replaced the tank levers. We stood on the device lot for 45 minutes while the work was completed then we were told we could leave to go get lunch and they would text when the work was done. Later that day at our home we began noticing a few things that would be service attention, but nothing urgent. We setup an appointment for June 12th to have the free checkup and I informed Unlimited that we were leaving on June 19th for a three week trip so a checkup just before our trip would be great. They agreed.
May 1st - Remember the story of how we were told the water lines had been flushed and the unit was no longer winterized? WRONG! We hook up to water and the water coming from every faucet is foamy and pink. Had we trusted the service tech we could have drank anti-freeze, or we could have put water in our dogs bowl and he could have died. Who knows what could have happened. Additional minor issues were discovered that were concerning to me. Not knowing anyone in the service department that I trusted due to the fiasco with the two walk-throughs and because our salesperson Devin said to reach out to him if we ever had any questions, I reached out to Devin via text to ask who I should be contacting to create a list of items that would need to be addressed. I never received a response from Devin.
(screen shot captures July 18th)
May 14th - I sent Devin an email with a list if issues (and pictures) and asked him to forward onto the service manager. I never received a response from Devin or communication from the service department. Devin never forwarded my email to the service department.
May 18th - I completed the online form at UnlimitedRV.com to request service. In the form I listed all the issues I had sent to Devin in an email two weeks prior. I received an automated response stating Unlimited had received my submission and they would contact me shortly.
May 22nd - I did not receive any communication from Unlimited Rv's service department so I began calling and texting anyone who worked at Unlimited who I had a number for. My urgency began because that morning the Firefly unit took a complete dump and stopped working. Here are just a few of the videos showing the Firefly system inoperable.
The Firefly system would also cause the lights to clicker. At first I thought there was bad weather and lighting until I captured it on camera. (excuse the mess as we were moving our camping gear from the Tiffin into the Riverstone).
We had a 3 week long trip we planned on taking the new rig on starting on June 19th. I finally got in touch with the service department. I was told they had no record of my online submission despite my confirmation email shown above. I explained the whole situation, how the rig was inoperable because of Firefly and how I could not get the slide outs retracted to bring the rig in for service. During a phone call with Unlimited around 10am I was told an Unlimited RV service tech would visit my home to help retract the slides outs. 6 hours later and nobody ever showed up. Around 4pm I called and asked if someone was going show up. I was told due to insurance coverage Unlimited RV could not send a tech to my home to help and I needed to call and use the extended warranty I purchased to get a tech to come visit and help retract the slide outs so I could haul my rig to Unlimited for service. I understand the insurance thing, but questioned why I was told someone would come to my home and why I was not communicated with when that decision had changed.
May 23rd - I spent 6 hours trouble shooting the Firefly system myself. Firefly customer support is non-existed. The only worse customer service than Unlimited if Firefly. For all future purchases if a rig has Firefly it will be a deal breaker and the rig will not be considered. Calling Forest River support passed me along to a tech out in Oregon someplace who was helpful, but this is the type of issue that really needs to be hands on. Hours of volt meter testing and resetting the system I was able to get the system reset and the slide outs retracted.
May 25th - Firefly sent an email alerting me I needed to update the FW of the Firefly system.
June 1st - We dropped off the rig at Unlimited RV. I walked through each item listed above and that I emailed and submitted to Unlimited via the webform. A Service Manager noted all the items, took pictures of all the items and put a piece of yellow tape on each item. The main item I stressed to the Service Manager was that the Firefly unit was inoperable (I forwarded him videos and pictures of the unit inoperable and the strange light flickering). I told him Firefly recommended at the very least a FW update be installed, but also that the G12 module may need to be replaced. I stressed to them I needed the rig back by June 19th as we were leaving on a three week trip.
June 14th - I received a phone call from Jayci at Unlimited RV. She shared a keypad door handle had come in for me and was curious if the keypad had been fixed on my rig. She wasn’t sure if the keypad had already been fixed because the work order had been closed out and was marked complete. I shared with her I wasn’t sure if the keypad had been replaced because my rig had bee on their service lot for the past two weeks. She seemed shocked to hear that news. I asked if the other work ordered I made them aware of had been addressed. I stressed again that we needed the rig back by the 19th (5 days from that call). She said everything was fixed and she would confirm. Without waiting for Jayci to communicate back I texted the owner of Unlimited RV (Stacy) asking what was happening and if work had been completed on my rig. I communicated that work orders are being marked as complete and that it sounds like work is not being completed on my rig. Stacy said he would check into it. I did not hear anything back that day.
June 15th - Stacy sent me a picture of my rig in a service bay stating work was being completed. I asked for confirmation that everything I asked to be done would be done and that we were leaving on a trip in a few days so I would need to come pick up the rig. 1:10pm Stacy said he would confirm. I heard nothing back
June 16th - At 9:44am I sent Stacy a text asking for an update or ETA. I was told Erik (Service Manager) would call me within the hour.
Erik called and told me everything was done except the Firefly. He said the first tech that looked at the Firefly system noted “used the panel to open all slides, turn on and off all lights, checked connections. Could not determine an issue." I asked about the firmware update Firefly said I required and Erik said that was not updated. I asked for Unlimited RV to run a full diagnostic on the Firefly unit AND install the FW that I requested when I dropped off the unit. Shortly after Erik called me back and said the Firefly unit was inoperable and they could not update the FW. The tech told Erik they “needed to order new touchpad. The touchpad glitches and loses all memory when used.” With 3 days before we were supposed to leave for our 3 week trip, Unlimited RV had finally addressed the first and most major issue we made them aware of two weeks prior.
We came to the realization we were likely not leaving for our trip on our planned date and we may not be taking our brand new Riverstone Legacy 442MC. My days were consumed calling Firefly trying to get support and for Firefly to overnight a G12 module to Unlimited RV. I must have called Firefly 20 times over the next 48 hours. At no point was I ever able to speak to a Firefly tech. I sent multiple emails to Firefly, at no point did Firefly return any of my urgent requests for help. If I wasn’t calling, emailing or texting Firefly or Unlimited RV, I was calling around to try and find a camper/RV to rent for our three week trip. Finding a camper to rent was no small task with the upcoming July 4th holiday.
June 19th - Our departure date came and went. We stayed at home working to find a way to go on our trip. More emails and calls to Firefly and Unlimited. I asked Unlimited to also call and email Firefly daily or hourly if needed.
June 20th - Unlimited RV was able to get ahold of Firefly and Firefly agreed to overnight ship (at a cost) the G12 module to Unlimited RV.
June 21st - I received a call from Unlimited that the Firefly G12 unit was swapped, an updated firmware was installed and everything was operational. Late in the day we drove and picked up our 442MC from Unlimited RV. We were in such a rush to get home so we could start packing I didn’t take a close look to see if everything was fixed or if things were operational. I was told a tech had everything working and he tested everything. As soon as we got home with the rig, I opened it up for packing. It was a very hot day in Kansas City, Missouri so I attempted to turn on the three AC units in the 442MC. The Firefly touchpad only showed a front and rear AC unit. Unlimited RV had failed to program the middle (kitchen) AC unit into the system. Because we didn’t have enough battery power, I needed to start the propane generator to run the AC units. Not a big deal until I discovered Unlimited RV had forgotten to program the Firefly unit to allow operation of the generator. So much for “the tech tested and everything worked”. I immediately called Unlimited RV and explained the situation. They asked me to make the 40 minute drive back to their dealership so they could program the Firefly unit correctly. I told them we would stop by on our way out of town the next day. While packing I began to notice that all the issues we reported that needed to be corrected were not addressed. The microwave still had the charred remains and the yellow tape inside. Despite the work order stating they replaced the microwave and the work order bingo completed, this was what I found when I opened the microwave door.
The screen door still jammed and rubbed when closing. Most of the items we asked to be addressed, appeared to never be touched.
June 22nd - We stopped at Unlimited RV. Before anything was said I asked for a copy of all my work order issues and asked for a copy of the tech notes. According to Unlimited RV, all my work orders had been closed out and completed. I asked first for the Firefly unit to be programed. Erik the service manager could not have cared less that they screwed up again and we had to make another special trip for them to correct their issues. He stood at a distance away from me and never said a word to me while the tech programmed the Firefly unit. I then began showing the service manager all the items that were not addressed and pointed out that some of the yellow tape still remained at trouble spots but that my work orders showed complete. All these issues are frustrating, but I’ll focus on the microwave as it’s the easiest. Here is the actual work order from Unlimited.
Unlimited appears to have first thought they would only replace the insulated feet on the metal racks. But then decided they would repeal the entire microwave. As you can see the work order is complete, but nothing was swapped or fixed in any way. Knowing we can deal with most of these issues on the road as long as the Firefly unit was operational, we left for our 3 week trip.
June 23rd - The first morning and first shower in the primary bathroom. We noted the drawers that did not have soft close and that we asked to be addressed were still not working properly. After my shower I decided to take some time and organize the basement. I opened the basement door and found a puddle of water.
I wasn’t sure where the water had come from so more investigate was needed. It didn’t take long for me to determine the shower drain was leaking.
At first I thought the drain seal on the topside of the shower was the cause. The installation of the gray seal from the factory seemed subpar at best. I striped out all the grey seal, cleaned the are and used Flex Seal. I waited 24 hours and we attempted another shower. We were again met with a puddle of water and dripping drain. That is when I discovered the drain itself was cracked 60% of the diameter of circumference of the drain. Another trip to the hardware store. I used a two part JB Weld to seal the crack in the drain. Waited another 24 hours and that fix seemed to hold for now. I’m going to ask the entire drain be replaced since the drain was mostly cracked already and I don’t want it to completely crack and break loose in the future.
June 24th - We attempted to use the dishwasher. Since Unlimited had not drained all the anti-freeze, I attempted to run a 15-minute quick rinse to get fresh water into the system. The dishwasher seemed to start but then beeped several times and gave a ”F52” error. After some research we called Fisher & Paykel. The manufacturer informed us the washer would need to be fixed or replaced. Because we were in an RV and not a home, we would need to pay for time and mileage for the repair man. We declined service and washed dishes by hand for the three week trip so Unlimited can deal with the warranty claim.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. We received several compliments about our new 442MC at every campground we visited. Sometimes we bit our tongue and didn’t share the horror stories of owning this unit, other times we were more open when people said they would look into purchasing a similar model from Forest River. But we always made sure we warned them of Unlimited RV.
So that is my very long post. This was a big eye opening experience for us. Previously we had only dealt with Tiffin Allegro Bus and their top notch customer service.
I understand these rigs can have issues and I wasn't expecting perfection. But this has been a bit much from the broken appliances, misinformation from the service techs, and having to move heaven and earth to get ahold of Firefly/Forest River/Service Department for warranty approval or parts. The rig is going back to the service department next Monday to have the issues addressed for a second time. I plan on making the service department show me the fix of each and every item before I leave the lot. I've already been told they will ned the rig for 3-4 weeks. At this point the rig will spend more time in their service department than in my possession. I'm not sure if I need to start looking into dealing with Riverstone service departments that are 2-3 hours away instead of my local service department.
Questions
- I've read that contact Riverstone directly is better than contacting Forest River, but I've been unable to find a direct number for Riverstone. Does such a number or email address exist?
- I've been told one of the reasons for the delay is that the service department can't do any work on the rig until a warranty department approves the item to be fixed/replaced. Is it normal with a manufacturer's warranty, dealer warranty and extended warranty that no item can be worked on or replaced until the item is submitted to and approved by one of the warranties? Even items that were broken prior to taking delivery or discovered within the first 48 hours?
