- Well, Patty, you know, I love RVing as many people do, but sometimes it can be really frustrating, and I wanna talk about that in this episode of Trebles with Delaney. - The podcast. - Hey everyone, welcome back. My name's Patrick. - And I'm Daddy. - And we are joined today on the podcast couch by none other than Mr. Truman. - And Miss Beth. - That's right. - She's joining us right now. - Sometimes she doesn't join us. - She likes this couch, though. This is her domain. - It was so funny, as soon as I started setting up the equipment. - Oh, Truman's right in. - He always jumps right up on the couch. He's like, "Man, I'm not missing a recording." - He always wants to be on the recording couch. - So, you know, Patty, I was thinking RV has always stood for recreational vehicle. - Yeah. - But recently, I'm starting to think it stands for ruined vacation. - I think it could be. - And we're gonna talk about that, but before we do, we need to do another exciting round of this or that. - Okay. (upbeat music) - Here we go. - So currently, we are staying at Camp Margaritaville. - Yes, awesome. - In Kitchen Forge. I have to tell you, we could do a whole episode just at best place. - Oh, yeah, love it. - But, Patty. - Yes. - When the Margarita cart comes around, if you are faced with the choice of a mango margarita or a salted water margarita, salted watermelon margarita. - I was like, what? - Which one are you choosing? Mango or salted watermelon? - Oh, geez. Those two were on our flight. We had the other day with coconut margarita and they were all awesome, but I usually tend toward mango, but the watermelon margarita was pretty unbelievable. It was pretty outstanding. I don't have to go with the watermelon margarita, especially if it comes from here. - Yeah, I tell you what. - Yeah, it was so light and refreshing on a 90 whatever day at the pool. Yeah, they all were great, but that one, I think, was my fave. - Yeah. - That was my jam. - I actually liked the coconut. - Yeah. - The best of the three, and I normally drink mango 'cause that's what you like. (laughing) - Now, let's just clarify. Usually we share a humongous one that you could take a bath in, you know, those kind of things. And so, we each don't need a humongous one. And yeah, he usually succumbs to what I like. - So. - So, we normally, we normally do share a margarita, and normally we get it frozen. - Yeah, these are on the rocks. - These are on the rocks, and I'm so amazed you're drinking them. Yeah, 'cause you've always been more of a blended, frozen type. - Yeah. - So, anyway. - I like it. - Well, you know, probably the way I should have started this podcast was, today we're joined by our special getaway, they're not here. - Yeah, they're not here. - 'Cause technically we should be recording this podcast. Right now with my aunt and uncle from Texas, many of you know 'em as Colonel Woody, which is my uncle Dennis, and my aunt Priscilla. - Right, but they're not here. - They are not here. We had planned this trip way back when we were all together in Florida at Christmas, and have been looking forward to it for months. And so, let me just set the stage, and then we'll get into the topic. So, they left Texas on last Saturday morning, it doesn't really matter what the day it is. - Yeah, I don't know. - And drove about, I believe they said, just shy of 500 miles up to Shreveport, Louisiana. That was their first stop. They were gonna turn it into a three day drive. - Right. - To Pigeon Forge. And when they woke up on Sunday morning, uncle Dennis was outside just kinda, you know, as he always does a quick walk around, and noticed a lot of water under the RV. And like he said, normally you see water, you're thinking, well, we ran the AC all night, but it wasn't around the RV, it was under the RV. - Mm-hmm, that's not good. - No, that's never good. And when he started investigating, he noticed his underbelly was full of gray water. - Right. - So, he did decide to go ahead and dump his tanks, and when he pulled the cap for the dump, gray water rushed out of there as well, which it shouldn't. - Right. - Because the valves were all closed. So, they called us and we all talked about it and made the decision that they should turn around and go back to Texas, which they did. - Yeah, they were just, you could just feel the frustration through the phone and the stress, the anxiety that this was causing them making that decision, you know. - Right. - So, it was, it was a sad moment. - And that's why I say maybe RV should stand for ruined vacation because we know this isn't, my aunt and uncle are not the first couple who have had to cancel their vacation because of RV issues. And I wanna say right up front, this RV is brand new, they purchased it last fall. - Right. - It's still under warranty. And it has spent more time in the shop - Than out on the road. - Than out on the road, yes. Now, I know some of you may be thinking, well, you know, they could have came on and. - Yeah, they could have. - And they could have, they could have used the bathhouses, but you know what, they're in their 70s. - They don't need to. - And they don't, that was not. And honestly, my uncle, I don't think it was even the issue of using the bathhouse. - No, I think it was more of. - He was concerned that the underbelly was wet. He was worried about mold that the longer this went. And so he felt like he just needed to get it back to the dealership. - Right. - So that they could take, 'cause he didn't wanna, he didn't, the thing is, as we're recording this, we're recording on Thursday. - Right. - It's at the dealership. They took it there on Monday. The dealership, which is a great dealership, and I'll say it, Ansera, my uncle speaks very highly of Ansera RV down near San Antonio, Texas. But they just told him we're so backlogged, we don't, it may be a couple of weeks before we can even get to it. And so the consequences of this failure on this RV, again, not the first failure, this is, they just had gotten it back from having a black tank valve that wasn't working fixed. Their countertops have had to been replaced already. The fan did not work in their bathroom. They had to have a part on it replaced. I feel like I'm missing. I think there were other, like it's just been nonstop. And for those of you wondering which RV it is, I have no problem saying it's a Coachman Chaperrell light, a 2022, and in my opinion, it's a lemon. But it had this been a car, then most likely it would be covered under the lemon law, and they could get their money back. But sadly, the RV industry, which I do love, and I'm not here to bash on the industry because I hate the RV industry, I'm here to bash on the RV industry because I love it, and something needs to be done. These manufacturers need to be held accountable for the crap they've been producing, especially since the start of COVID. They have only been concerned about their bottom line numbers and have not thought about the customers and what impact it will have on customers. And so not only did our vacation with my aunt and uncle, who, like I said, are in their 70s, and God, I hope they're around till they're 100 years old. Although Uncle Dennis may say he doesn't want to be. But every vacation that gets lost is a lost opportunity for not only them, but for us. And they lost, well, they didn't lose their money for the campground that we had booked. They gave them a credit, which was very nice of them. I mean, I work at a campground, I understand. But it's so frustrating because people buy these units to use them. And these companies, you and I were talking, I've been really upset about this. Oh, I know. We were driving the day that it happened. We were, no, I guess we weren't driving. We weren't driving yet. We weren't driving yet. I think we were out and about doing something. And I went on a tirade that I really would love a reality TV show where CEOs of some of these big mass producers of RVs have to live in an RV with their family for a month. I mean, it's like, do they really, they understand what people go through? I don't think they do. And the way I would love to see the show go down is they don't get to have one made for them at the factory where their factory employees make sure it's perfect. I think it would be great if somebody gets to randomly choose what dealership lot it comes from, just like a normal customer. And then they get stuck in it for a month. Because maybe if some of these executives had to actually go camping, 'cause I don't believe a lot of these executives ever set foot in them, other than to walk through and take photographs. If they had to go through some of the struggles, and it's not just my aunt and uncle, that's the thing, we hear it from our subscribers on our YouTube channel all the time, about, you know, they go out and they buy these RVs. In fact, we have friends, I'm not gonna name them because I didn't ask for permission to talk about them. - They just recently bought one. - They just bought an RV. - And they're having a terrible time. They almost had a fire that could have killed them the other night. - If they wouldn't have noticed what was going on, I think it probably would have burnt. - Yes, because they heard a clicking sound, and noticed it was coming from an outlet. And then went over, well, I guess initially just heard it and was like, okay, something's weird. This person started looking for the fuse for it, couldn't even find a fuse that would deactivate that outlet. And then notice it started smoking. Luckily, they were still up. They were getting ready to go to bed. And he said he could barely touch it when he went to remove the wires from it. He ended up capping it. And, you know, it's things like that. But that's not the only thing. He said, you know, when his wife went to plug something into that outlet, the whole wall pushed in. 'Cause it's in a kitchen island. - What the heck? - Yeah. And they're supposed to have ducks for their main AC in the bedroom. - And they're not there. - And they're not there. And we know they're supposed to be there 'cause they own the same unit we have. - Yes. - And now I feel bad because we had recommended this unit. - Well, they came, they looked at it, they were, you know. - So, you know, it's an ongoing issue. - It's terrible. - It's terrible. - Yes. - When I just get sick of, like, if you have an issue with one part, they don't take cover, you know, the dealerships are, well, you gotta contact so-and-so. Well, if my, you know, Subaru has an issue with the radio, I don't go to Subaru and they said, well, you gotta go to-- - Oh, you mean that old back and forth between the RV manufacturer and the maker of, like, fury, let's say. - Yeah, it's like, come on. Like, you know, it's like, if I have told my Subaru radio, Subaru's gonna help me with it. - Yeah, Subaru doesn't care who made it. They take care of it. - No, right. So it's just kind of, that's the part that frustrates me. Or, you know, like, we were watching anyway. It's just frustrating. - It is. And, you know, my favorite thing as well, you know, you gotta understand these things are like an earthquake going down the road. - Well, my car goes down the highway. - Yeah, and it doesn't fall apart on the first trip out. - I hope not. - You know, in fact, it's got over 50,000 miles and we've yet to-- - Little Sonny Bird is just flying down the highway. Yeah, it's just crazy. - And I think a lot of this, I think there were issues with RVs prior to 2020. - Oh, I think so. - I mean, that's always been, you know, the industry is unregulated. They do whatever they want. But after COVID hit, everybody wanted an RV. And instead of the manufacturer saying, hey, look, there's just gonna be a shortage of RVs 'cause we do have minimum quality standards to maintain. They just cranked up the production. And it seems like since 2020, the quality on RVs in general has went down. - Right, it has, you know it has. - And it doesn't matter what you buy. We know a couple that bought a brand new Tiffin Allegro and they were back at Red Bay, Alabama like three times in the first year because of issues. And that thing was probably a $200,000 or more. - Or more. - Yeah. - Versus if it's a diesel pusher. - Well, I don't know that it was a diesel. It doesn't really matter, but I mean-- - It's a very, very expensive. - You know, 'cause a lot of times we say things, you know, like, well, you get what you pay for, but-- - Not necessarily. - Not necessarily. - Yeah. - And so anyway, I just thought, you know, I don't know if people understand this, but I don't know that manufacturers understand the consequences of their access. And the thing is they're unapologetic about it in the sense that they're not saying, 'cause here's what happens. If your Subaru, while it's under warranty, has issues, Subaru's offering up a loaner car. - Absolutely. - You don't see most, I'm not gonna say nobody out there does 'cause I wouldn't put a pass somebody like, you know, PJ down at Princess Craft, if somebody had a trip playing for her and say, "Hey, we've got a rental we'll loan you to get you through." But most dealerships aren't offering up loaner RVs, and they're definitely not offering to refund lost camp fees and things like that. And in many cases, you can't even get 'em repaired in a timely fashion. - No, it's like good grief. They probably are gonna lose most of their summer. - Yeah, because in fact, I talked to him last night, they are hoping that-- - It's ready by August, right? - Well, no, by July, mid-July, because, you know, I have an uncle that is going through some cancer issues, serious cancer issues. - Well, he wants to be nearing. - And he wants to come up and spend time with his father. - And use his trailer that he bought to do that. - And so I know that he's working with the dealer 'cause again, he speaks very highly of Ansera. - Right. - And I'm sure they, but they're also at the mercy of the manufacturer to get them the parts. So, you know, I think Uncle Dennison, we were talking last night on the phone, best case scenario, it's a pipe that has come loose. - Hopefully it is something very minor. - And it can be reattached. Worst case scenario is it's a cracked gray tank, and then who knows how long it'll take to get an inspiration. - Well, still with that water down there, even if it's something simple that was a leak, they need to make sure that they do something to replace that insulation and all that, because you don't want mold in there. - Right. - And it's, I hope they do them right and, you know, make sure it's right when they are done, too. They're not trying to rush it out the door. - I mean, you know, again, we had a lot of issues, and we've never made bones 'cause we're not ambassadors for anybody or anything like that. Obviously, nobody would have us as an ambassador because I'm pretty critical of the industry. But our last alliance is anyone who's watched our YouTube channel knows we loved our alliance, but it had so many fit and finishes. - Issues, yeah. - That, and some of them were frustrating, like the wiring on the slide-out was never right. - Never right. - And it gets really frustrating when every time you go to put your slide-out in. - Or when you're just traveling, you gotta check it all the time. - Check it because the wires keep falling, and when, you know, we had an authorized tech say, the wires-- - It's not wired, right. - It's not wired, right. It needs to, the wires need to go to the other end, so they're not hanging-- - We're like, well, we can't. - We can't authorize that, it's like, what? - They said no, because that wasn't the way it was designed. Well, who designs wires to hang over a tire that's going down the road at 65 miles an hour? - Like-- - No, that's being very modest. You should say it for like 75 miles. - Well, I know it, you know, it's kind of funny. It's funny you say that because on a recent video we did, I think it was the one on the difference between towing a fifth wheel and a travel trailer. And I did a lot of talking in the video like it was I was driving, yeah. But somebody actually just left a comment about, did you notice he was going a nice, safe 60 miles an hour? And when I read the comment, I was like, oh my God, how fast was I going? So I'd go back into the video. - How fast were you going? - 60 miles an hour. Like this person must've-- - Zoomed in on you, Dash. (laughing) - And so, you know what my response to him was? 'Cause you know I had to respond. - I'm sure you did. - That's because we were on US 30 in Indiana where the speed limit's 60 miles an hour. I go to the speed limit. And I've never had a ticket knock on wood in my entire life for speeding. I want to clarify for speeding. 'Cause one time, the only ticket I've ever had was for not wearing my seat belt. You remember that? - Well, we thought it was an on ramp. - Well, that really wasn't an excuse for an on ramp. - No, but we were-- - He pulled me over for speeding. - He pulled me over for speeding. - On an on ramp. I didn't even realize it was the on ramp. - We loved a restaurant. We were just, "Jipper Jabron had a great time." And we were just, you know, not really thinking. - Yeah. - Right. So I mean, so I always clarify. He said, "I won't get you for the speeding." But that was when the seat belt law had just went into effect. And in Florida, he said it was non-negotiable. He had to ticket me. But I'd never had speeding violation. And so I guess the guy was making fun of the fact that I was only going 60 miles an hour. But it was 60. You know, my friends all make fun of me because they said I drive like an old person. - But I get him in his truck alone, just in the truck, grandpa. - Well. - You get him in my sunny bird, Subaru, and he acts like it's a little go-kartening zip around. - It's a little easier to get around. - And he's two and around speeding around corners. But anyway. - Anyway, you know, I heard and backed our topic of like these RV manufacturers and, you know, I was listening to a YouTuber that I periodically will watch called Lado's Law. It's a lawyer. I believe he's up in Michigan. And he was talking about a case out in Virginia where a gentleman was suing camping world and Thor because he had bought, I believe it was a classy motorhome that literally was never right from day one and spent again more time that first year in the shop than they were able to use it. And he ended up suing camping world and Thor. And the judge at the point that Lado's Law's video came out, they had released camping world from the lawsuit because apparently when the gentleman had signed paperworks at camping world, he had signed so many forms that one of the forms basically stated that you can't sue us. So they were released from the case. But then the judge also said, I have to dismiss the case here in Virginia because apparently somewhere in that paperwork, Thor makes it to where you can't sue them outside of the state of Indiana. And we know why they want all court cases in Indiana. Number one, it's closer for them and their lawyers because that's where they're located. And number two, let's face it, the laws in Indiana favor the RV industry 'cause they don't want to lose workers. And so I don't know what's going to happen with that case. Hopefully the gentleman's going to move his case to Indiana, although I don't know that he'll get a favorable outcome in Indiana. So it's just, you just read all these stories of these people and their ruined vacations. And it just makes me think that, you know, is this where the industry's at? And where's it headed? Is it going to ever get better? - Right. - I don't know if it will until some legislations put into place to start protecting. You know, and now, I mean, and then people are left wondering, should I get rid of my RV? Should I trade it? In fact, Aunt Priscilla? - That's what they debated about what to do. - On the dentist, they literally were talking, "Do we need to trade it in on a different one?" But they're not going to, they're hoping to get it fixed. But it's just sad that they've had all these issues and it's not even a year old. And we lost what was a vacation we had been planning for months. - Right. - So on. - Poof. - I don't know, I just wanted to ramp basically in this episode. But I'd love to hear how many of you have also had ruined vacations because of issues with your RV to where you could not go RVing either because it was in the shop and didn't get done in time or when you got ready to leave or during your vacation, something happened with your RV. - Right, right. - So. - Yep. - I want to hear, I want to hear your stories. And I'll tell you what, there's a lot of stories on YouTube. All you have to do is start doing some simple searches. - You'll find them. - Yeah, you'll find them, I'm not even gonna name names of the channels doing them. But the thing is, the big one we've been hearing about in the recent months is the whole frame flex issue. - Oh yeah. - It's not just that. And that's one of the things I hate it. I saw a YouTuber who was like making fun in essence of YouTubers talking about frame flex. Here's the thing, frame flex really is only been impacting the larger fifth wheels and the toy haulers. You know, like I had somebody say, "Well, I hope your new RV doesn't have a Lipper frame." It has a Lipper frame and there's nothing wrong with it. It's a 33 foot RV. - Isn't it more of the way you put in? - Well, some of it might be that. And it's, again, it's been affecting those really long 40 plus and the toy haulers. But for another YouTuber to basically say, "Well, that's not even affecting hardly anybody." It doesn't matter if it's only affecting one person. - It's affected one person. - To that one person, it's a big issue. And so I just think that, you know, I would never blow off people's complaints about their RVs is like, "Well, it's just you, it's not me." 'Cause a good example is we've owned RVs to where we've never had issues, but we know people who own the same company RV. - It had terrible trust. - And I would never be like, "Well, we didn't have an issue." So you're just, you know, no. I mean, it's a big deal when you're, again, when you spend this kind of money. - Well, in time, it's just, yes, it's crazy. - So anyway, well, thank you to all of you for allowing me to rant today. - 'Cause it's your money, right? - Yeah, that's right. It's my money. I gotta get a t-shirt. It says, "It's my money." - It has nothing to do with money today. - It is my money. When you spend this kind of money, you expect-- - It's my money. - Not to have issues. So luckily our new RV, so far, we really haven't had many issues. - Knock on wood. - Knock on wood if there's any in here. But now there is. I tell you what, this is a gorgeous RV and we're loving it, but all right. And a huge shout out to Mr. Jim Coosman. - Thank you, Jim. - He's our friend, he's our producer. He's the one that has to listen to this podcast, probably multiple times, dad. - Oh, probably, poor boy. - I know, sorry, Jim, but I just felt like I wanted to get this out there and it doesn't solve any problems. - No. - Other than, maybe if you're listening to this and you've been having issues with your RV, you'll realize you're not alone. - Nope. - And I hope someday, as an industry, you either get this cleaned up or legislation takes act. And you know, I know somebody's sitting there ready to go to the keyboard and go, well, when they legislate it, the price RVs is going up. You know what? - I would rather pay more. - I would rather pay more. - Knowing that I won't be traveling down the road and like a tire flies off or something. - Yeah, exactly. I mean, and again, I don't think to ask for the similar quality standards that are in the auto industry, in the RV industry, is too much to ask. And if that means prices go up, then prices go up. - Then that's what has to happen to make it work. - And I guess if somebody wants to keep producing crap and somebody wants to waste their money on it, then maybe, I don't know, but legislation goes in place, you can't do that. - Nope. - All right, we need to wrap this up. - Wrap it up, baby. - All right, everybody. Well, thank you so much for joining us. Next week, we'll be back with hopefully a much more positive version of this podcast. - You put your smile on. - That's why, maybe next week we will talk about Camp Part 3, though. - There's a probably effect. You'll be happy. A happy acre. - That's right. - Everybody's happy. - Everybody's happy for the happy acre. That's where we'll be next year. - Yep, all right. - Until next time, everybody, we'll see ya. - On down the road. - Bye. ♪ I was with the lady ♪ ♪ We'll see you on down the road ♪ - Let's see, am I loud enough? - I think you're loud enough. - Hopefully I look okay for the video version.
