NBC10 Boston Responds: Making a Happy Camper

Christine Melanson was dreaming of the great outdoors when she paid $27,000 for a 2018 Prowler camper at Camping World in Berkley this spring, but things went downhill fast.

“I think this is the worst experience I’ve ever had with a major purchase,” said Christine.

Christine says the furnace wasn’t working when she picked the camper up, and there were other problems. She says fuses were installed incorrectly, and cabinet doors wouldn’t stay closed.

“I couldn’t even believe the amount of things that my husband was pointing out, that needed to be fixed or changed. It was shocking,” said Christine. “I was like how can a company sell you a brand new camper, and then come back with a laundry list of items that already needed to be fixed before you even take it off the lot?”

She made plans to have repairs done and took the camper home.

“When we got home there was a water leak, and the holding tank had literally collapsed and flooded the underneath of the camper,” explained Christine.

The problems were fixed and Christine headed out with the RV.

“We load up the camper with kids and go camping for Mother’s Day weekend. As soon as we pull in, we set everything up and the furnace pops,” said Christine. “So we’re in a brand new camper without heat and it’s raining, and I see water dripping. I am like where is this water coming from, and I go inside and the entire back bunk is flooded and so is the kitchen. I’m literally in tears, and can’t believe this is happening. This was a major purchase that I am paying for monthly, that I can’t even use.”

Christine says there was water damage inside and she was worried about the potential for mold. She was also concerned her vacation plans would be impacted.

“We’ve had nothing but aggravation,” said Christine. “I think we’ve taken probably a half a dozen trips back and forth down there trying to get things resolved. I have made so many phone calls and sent so many emails, to not only the service technician, service manager, the general manager, and they will do nothing to help me.”

Christine reached out to NBC10 Boston Responds for help and we contacted Camping World, facilitating an appointment for repairs to be made in August, but Christine still wasn’t satisfied with the fix.

“The cabinet doors weren’t even fixed. We were told this was 100% complete and it wasn’,” said Christine. Camping World then offered Christine a replacement camper, another 2018 Prowler, finally ending the months-long ordeal.

Camping World tells us: “We take seriously all our customer complaints and move forward to resolve them as quickly as possible. Due to the circumstance with this trailer, we were required to order the replacement parts...to provide the permanent fix. We worked with the customer to enable them to use the trailer during the summer…after we had tried to fix the unit the customer was still unhappy…therefore we exchanged the trailer for another that they were satisfied with.”

“I am happy with this one,” said Christine. “We did have a very enjoyable weekend not too long ago in this camper. I can finally smile and say we have a camper that I love. I absolutely love you guys. You have been by my side the entire way, trying to help resolve this…and I don’t think I would have been able to without you.”

The Massachusetts Lemon Law protects consumers if they buy a vehicle that has serious defects. However, the law does not apply to RVs. The State’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation says affected people can still attempt to find a resolution under the Consumer Protection Act.