The converter on my one month old R-Pod failed while I was on a trip to Alaska. I called the Forest River warranty department and explained that none of the Forest River dealers near where I was had the unit in stock. I was told that if I paid for the repair out of pocket and submitted the invoice and proof of payment, I would be reimbursed. Following is the email exchange that I had with the warranty department after I emailed a copy of the invoice and proof of payment. I was not told that I had to send the defective part back to Forest River during my first conversation about reimbursement. I've put this information on the forum because I was appalled to learn that the warranty is basically worthless. Perhaps forewarning about what you will have to deal with if you need warranty work done will inoculate you against some of the frustration I have experienced.
Do you have the bad converter we can have picked
up to get it back to the factory?
Thank you,
Samantha Ferguson
Surveyor/Rpod
Warranty Administrator
(574) 642-3119 ext. 275
mailto:sjhoover@forestriverinc.com - fax: (574) 343-5920
Dear Ms. Ferguson,
I just arrived home from my trip. While I
was traveling, I did not see your email, hence the late response.
The old converter is still in the R-Pod. If
I remember the conversation accurately, the owner of Bulletproof Trailers who
installed the new converter said that the original fuse panel and converter
were all one unit. He said there was nothing wrong with the fuse panel
and that only the converter had failed. Moreover, he said he did not have
a single fuse panel-converter assembly in stock, but he did have the IOTA 55
amp power supply. He bypassed the connections to the old converter and
installed the new one behind it in the space under the seat. I have had
no electrical problems since the installation. Even if I were to bring it
to an R-Pod dealer to extract the failed converter for you, I would then (if I
understood the technician who did the work correctly) have no fuse panel.
I note that other R-Pod 180 owners have reported
on the R-Pod owners forum that they also have had the converters fail in their
180’s. This leads me to believe you must have multiple claims for these
failures and already be familiar failures of this unit.
I hope you will process my reimbursement as
quickly as possible.
Thanks!
Maureen Rubano
Maureen,
I would
need the bad converter back for our vendor to test. Once I receive that back I
can start the reimbursement process.
Thank you,
If this is the case, then you need to direct me a
Forest River R-Pod dealer who will replace the defective unit under warranty
and return the defective part to you. I will then keep the converter I
paid for out of pocket as a spare. Please advise where I may get the
warranty work done.
Thank you.
Maureen.
Can you
not take it to your selling dealer?
Thank you,
Samantha Ferguson
I live in Maine. I drove to Ohio to purchase
the unit. Please advise what local (i.e., New England) dealer will
perform this warranty work.
Thanks.
Maureen
http://www.forestriverinc.com/DealerLocator.aspx -
Above is the link to our Dealer Locator feature
from our website, Forest River cannot advise what dealer to take the unit to as
all of our dealers are independently owned and operated.
You plug in your zip code, first drop down box
choose Travel Trailer and second drop down box is a list of Forest River
products, you don’t have to stick with Rpod as any Forest River dealer or
Camping World location can do warranty work for Rpods, please keep in mind that
being that these dealers are independently owned and operated that some may
work on units they didn’t sell and some may not.
Thank you,
Samantha Ferguson
Do you understand that your
warranty is worthless if Forest River cannot compel its retailers to honor a
warranty because they are all “independently owned”?
I apologize you feel that way, however, that is why
we strongly suggest to purchase locally.
Thank you,
Samantha Ferguson
This is not a matter of
“feeling”. If Forest River cannot get its dealers to honor the
manufacturer’s warranty, then the warranty is a fraud. I can only assume
a class action suit will eventually be filed.
If you want to go that route than
I can no longer speak with you.
Thank you,
Samantha Ferguson
This is not a problem, since
Forest River has failed to honor its warranty and there really isn’t much left
to say.
Forest River has not failed to honor its warranty,
I clearly gave you instructions on how to find a dealer if you cannot take the
unit back to the selling dealer.
Thank you and have a great day,
Samantha Ferguson
Instructions about how to find
a dealer does not equal reimbursement for money I paid for a failed component
of my one-month old Forest River trailer. Telling me that whatever dealer
I find through your instructions may choose to replace the part for me — or
not — does not honor Forest River's “warranty”. “Warranty" means the
manufacturer will fix, or cause to have fixed by a retailer of its products, a
defective part: it does not mean providing information about finding a dealer who
may elect to fix a defective part — or not. “Warranty” means you tell me
which dealer is going to replace the defective part without cost to me.
You have not done that.
------------- Thanks for all the fish.
R-Pod 180
2006 Ridgeline
2013 Polaris XP850
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