Where do I EVEN begin? It started off nice enough, by letting me "layaway" a new 2013 travel trailer "online" back in my home state of IN. Why not? I was sending over 1000/wk to them... All by phone/email. Never even met them! I eventually put down 4000 and wanted to pick up the travel trailer (and finance the rest) so I could start using it for work as a travel nurse.
Once I got there from AZ (in two days and somewhat sleep deprived) they were ALL about "signing the paperwork"!! I got there late-about 4pm that day and they closed at 5pm. I was told to go ahead and stay overnite in the camper and try things out..."get to know the camper" and we would do the "walk thru" in the AM. Okay... Fine!:)
They went home, I got into the camper and noticed right away that there was NO counter space! Oh, oh! I looked at the other models on the lot... And found the same model (but different floor plan) same price! So I called my sales guy "earl" on his cell and asked if I could switch floorplans? Having only seen this TT on the internet, I did not catch every detail and I now needed more counter space!
The next AM I was told I could switch floorplans... But there would be 1500 dollar "fee" for staying in the first camper b/c now it had to be considered "used"! Really??? I was then told I was "lucky" I didn't get the standard 4000 dollar fee that "most" other dealers would have charged me for making their New campers "used". WOW!
I explained that once I saw the interior of the initial camper, I KNEW I was NOT going to keep it... So I ate out that eve. And used the resturant BR. Back at the camper I would have to do without a shower, and then I pulled out my blanket from my car and laid it ontop of the bedspread of the camper bed to sleep on. Surely, this was not asking too much from someone who had just drove 2000 miles with only 6-8 hours sleep, right? Furthermore, the next morning I cleaned up the pink antifreeze droplets in the shower, swept up the small shavings in the window/door jams and shined up the fingerprints on the counter tops as my way of saying "thanks" for having a place to lay my head down for the night.
Nope, none of it mattered. If I wanted the new/second floorplan, I had to pay 1500 for:
1. Recopying the paperwork I already "signed" at 5pm the night before (new paperwork HAD to come
From the factory!
2. He could no longer (and in "good conscience") sell the first TT as "new" and had to sell it now as
"used".
Yup..."shoulda walked away"... But I was tired, shocked, and they knew I did not make plans to stay else where for the two weeks I would be in Indiana before I had to return to AZ for another travel nurse assignment. I was already preapproved and was also limited in my financing options.
They had me right where they wanted me: tired, unprepared, and shell shocked too. Once I begrugingly agreed to this new "fee" (which was never itemized as such on my contract) I was nickle and dimed for anything else I asked for including asking for help putting up my own flat screen wall bracket that I was previously told I would have installed as part of their "service". When it was finally drilled into the wall for me, a 1 inch thick plywood board was left naked on the wall for me to "finish" later...
After they attached the trailer to my Kia, this low riding VISA, now on my low riding Kia hitch (which they charged 800 dollars to install, was only 8 inches away from scraping every speed bump and driveway I encountered. The chains had to be "twisted" and criss-crossed, and even then, I was told that even Lamborginis ("other" low riders) somehow safely made it across highways, right?"I" just had to be xtra carefull and drive slowly!!! I was only then told about "airbags" and another metal piece/bar I could add to my hitch/underbody to "lift" my car higher... But Oops! They already funded my loan and could not add anymore money onto the final purchase price now (nor did I have the xtra "cash" I would now need!). Oh... And by the way! Did we tell you that when you go to "plate" your new trailer, you'll have to pay over a thousand MORE dollars in sales tax? (yes, we did not include that in your loan either... But WE got our 1500 dollars on top of the four thousand cash you gave us-lol!) Isn't this FUN?
Two weeks later, on my way to Phoenix via TX, both 30ft screw cap covers flew off the sides of the camper walls at the same time making me pull over to roll them up off the highway in order to tear them off. The dealer said it was "cosmetic" and these could be replaced in Phoenix.
Two hours later... The FIRST tire blew out at an Amarillo intersection after pulling out of a Fazoli's drive thru. Luckily, I was just minutes from having got up to speed on the highway again AND there was a gentleman Texan behind me to help me change my first flat tire with the spare. We got out of the intersection, and while he changed out the first tire with the telltale tread wear, I knew enough to go look at the other tire to find that it was right behind the first tire... And ready to blow. Both tires were worn down to the threads... But only on the inside 1/2 of the tread (could not see this from the outside... Only after getting UNDERNEATH the TT to "look").
We drove with my blinkers on to nearby RV park until the next AM when I would have to buy a new tire to replace the second bad tire. Did not have enough left after being "robbed" to buy a new spare...
I "babied" my TT and new tires the rest of the way to Phoenix getting there at 5am in time to start my new job that same day.
Along the way, my fridge stopped cooling right and my food was getting warm... Mostly when on the propane. I put a bag of ice in the freezer to help. But once in Phoenix, even using the electric was not enough to keep my food from eventually going bad. After two weeks in Phoenix (one week parked at a friend's place unused) I called over a mobile RV repair guy to figure out the fridge problem.
He said the TT frame was CLEARLY not square and that the fridge did not have a baffle/insulation across the top where there was a big dead space now creating heat across the fridge. I would also need a fan installed to "help" the fridge cool in Phoenix... It was 105-110 degrees now.
After speaking with the factory, I found an authorized dealer in Phoenix who said the axle needed to be replaced, (they've replaced these before - and further, no longer sold Gulfstream VISA's at their dealerships!) and along with the wheels and fridge repair, I could be looking at 12 weeks!
I was on assignement with no other place I had planned to live!!! We agreed I'd wait to bring it in after all of the permissions/parts were obtained first... Until the air conditioner stopped cooling the next week!
I had to call off from work the next day to move out my things, some food, my 90lb dog and sick cat!!!
This was Aug 27th and I have not seen this TT since... I am on an Indian reservation in AZ now and still on a waiting list for hospital housing... I have slept on various "couches for three months now and have my personal belongings scattered between three friends homes and two garages. My cat has gone blind b/c the stress of ALL of these changes/moves shot up her BP and dialated her pupils permanently.
The dog seems to be holding up well though... Not so with my lower back or savings. Both crippled.
"What is The Outpost RV Experience? Knowledge and a willingness to share it with our customers"
REALLY??? Exactly WHEN? AFTER they leave your lot? Or after you make THOUSANDS off of their ignorance and trust and hard earned savings and after they are stranded 5 states away... By themselves on a busy intersection or worse... On a dark highway? What KIND of knowledge? Certainly not expert or EVEN mediocre in fact, or AT LEAST you might have sold me an all season (or Polar) camper to get me thru the heat of Phoenix or the cold of Flagstaff! I told you EXACTLY how, when, and why I would be using this TT. Yet you could not even include a thermostat or a satellite conection in this TT that I paid you over 18,000 for! (You even saw the portable DISH that I brought with me... Yet you must have known I would never be able to connect it via the TV "cable" wall socket included in this TT)
Truth is, had you really shared your KNOWLEDGE of this TT with me (as I had trusted you would) I never would have purchased the TT you now charged me 1500 more for!
My experience with OUTPOST and with GULFSTREAM, has sidelined not only my travel career, but my life as I knew it a few short months ago. I will never get back in this TT again. I have NO FAITH, NO CONFIDENCE oor TRUST in this TT OR Gulfstream who only intends to perform the warrantee work on this LEMON. Don't blame them I guess. That's a CHEAPER than making things right or offering to put me into another trailer more appropriate to my needs and SAFER to be in!
What king of NEW 2013 TT wears down it's tires to the bone at 1200 miles, stops cooling its fridge, AND breaks down the air conditioner with 6weeks of purchase??? (oh I forgot to mention the floor seam near the door that separated on day one or wood panels/mouldings that curled up and off around the bed?)
I need a good lawyer on my side, can someone recommend one? I am too exhausted and overwhelmed and could use some assist. Thanks...
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