Maybe I Should've Stuck with a Tent

So earlier this fall I buy the SwissfamilyColeman Camper for the back of my truck. A great place for the family to stay warm, snug, and happy in while camping, and not a bad thing to have while hunting big game. I thought the purchase was a win-win situation all around, except of course the fact that it wasn' t cheap.

Anyhow, the purpose of this blog is to vent/rant about how broke dick the place is that I purchased the camper from...or more specifically how piss poor the service department is. This place may or may not be (not sure of slander laws) Helena RV or Preferred Auto and RV in Helena.

It all starts out at the time of the purchase when I bought the camper from the parts and service guy, let's call him Don. I figured great...this is a good guy to know since I am certain he is very knowledgeable about the workings of RVs, and I am not. So at the time of the sale, I ask him to put in a redundant second battery to ensure that the family will always be warm and happy since the heater needs electricity, and the beer in the fridge will be cold on hot summer days. He assures me that one battery is adequate as long as it is fully charged. So then I ask him about about an awning. He tells me I don't need one since it will cost me close to $1K, and won't keep the sun off since it will be too high. I was thinking the awning more for rain than sun, and looked on line and found awnings for a couple hundred bucks, but oh well, I trusted Don's opinion.

So the first camping trip it rains, and we have no awning to cook under. So then I go deer and antelope hunting with Neil, and we freeze our asses off since there is no juice in the battery even after charging it for a couple days.

So after the deer/antelope hunting, I call Don up and say my battery isn't charging properly, and I want to bring it in for him to look at. He tells me that I have to charge it for 4-5 days to ensure it is adequately charged as it is a trickle charger. So after charging for three days, and the little green light on the propane gas detector still doesn't come on, I call up and say that it isn't working and I want to bring the camper in and have them look at it. Don tells me it needs at least 6-days. So I figure screw it and buy a trickle charger from NAPA. It indicates full charge after a few hours.

I rehook up the battery to go moose hunting with Ryan, and I test the heater and still no juice. In a paniced anger, I start checking everything and see the invertor fuse box. After a little investigation, I realize that it was a blown fuse. Thanks for the lack of advice Don, you piece of shit!

Then over New Years, it dumped snow and I had about 6-8 inches of snow on the camper. I figured it would slide and/or blow off as we travelled down the interstate. Well that didn't happen at all. We get back to Helena and it is about 10 degrees out, but I want to clear the snow off the roof. So I take out the shop broom and start pushing the snow off. Apparently, I got a little aggessive since I broke through the plastic vent/skylight. There was a lot of swearing.

Come Monday, I call Don, and explain what happened. He tells me that I'll probably need a whole new seal on the roof and to bring it down the next nice day and in the meantime duct tape plastic over the hole. I tell Don that I broke the plastic vent cover that goes up and down and there was no damage to the roof. He says, "OK Buddy, well bring it down the next nice day." I tell Don it is January, and I want to fix it ASAP. So I end up taking pictures of the damage, email those to Don with the camper type and VIN, identify that I want those guys to fix it and ask him to give me a call.

After he doesn't call me back for a day, I call him and he tells me it is a really easy fix, and should only take me 5-minutes, and here is the part number. I explain to Don that there are rivets and possibly spot welds, and I would just rather them fix it. He tells me it is no big deal since it is a universal piece and here is the part number...just a couple screws, five minutes, no problem.

I order the part, which costs as much as the shipping, so I figured I might as well buy two. This afternoon I climb up on the roof of the camper to do the repair. Figured an hour would be plenty. After I drill out the rivets and break through the spot welds, I get the old cover off. Thinking the worst is over, I go to thread the new cover on and it is of course the wrong part and it doesn't fit.

Fuming mad, I call up the RV shop and ask for the owner. Speak with him...let's call him Chip, and I go through the whole story. All that Chip says is sorry you and Don aren't communicating well. So I ask what am I supposed to do and what are you going to do for me. In the end he was mostly a prick, and gave me the correct part number that I can order online.

Maybe I shoulda just bought a bigger tent.