Rick-REDW
Senior Member
For any of you with this installed option you may find this interesting. Every time it rains I need to crawl up the ladder and remove upwards of 5+ gallons per each awning. This is crazy. Just viewing the install you know what is wrong. The engineering wizards never allowed enough room to create the proper incline to let the water run off. Other manufacturers seem to have understood this geometric principle. I am currently visiting a Redwood dealer to have some other items taken care of. One of those items was to adjust and straighten out the slide toppers that have been stretched, crinkled and and now wrap up improperly. I was told by Redwood CS that they do not cover slide toppers as they are an aftermarket accessory. Excuse me! These were installed by Redwood and selected directly from the Redwood option list. I have a 2013 36RL. Now here is the kicker. I was told today that there is a fix. The fix is to bring in the slides when it is raining. We full-time. Are we to live in our Redwood with all of the slides in for 24 hours plus during a rainy period. Are you really serious Redwood? On top of all the parts availability issues and not being able to stay in one place long enough for Redwood to deliver parts to a dealer (they no longer ship parts to a customer) I am now suppose to vacate the unit when it rains. Seriously Redwood? SERIOUSLY?
To whom ever is running this organization get a clue. The customer service manager couldn't even find the time to call me back today after he returned from lunch. Here is my challenge to Redwood!
Get focused on your customer and what they have to go through using your products and systems. Fly your top staff (include, sales, ENGINEERING, CUSTOMER SERVICE and manufacturing) to a national sales meeting in San Diego. And provide them with accommodations in a Redwood at one of the very nicest RV parks in the area. Make sure you include their wives. At the end of the festivities tell them their return flights have been cancelled and they are to return home in their respective Redwood. Take the scenic route up the west coast, through the badlands and midwest before returning to Indiana. Along the way everyone is dependent on everyone else to take care of problems, fix broken items, find and source dealers and deal with the very crap that owners today are dealing with.
Once you all return home I suggest you sit down and discuss what was good, what was bad and what you are going to do to fix it. You see Redwood, you can't design it if you don't know how to use it or how it even gets used. And CS might experience a real epiphany having to deal with the waiting time when parts are needed here today because we have to leave tomorrow! I know ala Harley Davidson but it works guys. Trust me.
Yes I am truly frustrated but I share this with you because it will make you a better company. It will endear Redwood to a loyal customer base and it will result in gained market share. I did this with a little company called Cruisers Yachts. Your best marketing tool is the positive word of mouth shared by owners that are passionate about the product and the WAY THEY ARE TREATED. In the boating industry it's called dock talk. Not sure what it's called in the camping world but you want it to be good, to be positive. You've losing it. But you have time to fix it. FIX IT!
This past week I stopped in a Northern Alabama Park and a non Redwood owner asked me. How do you like that REDWOOD. Prior to this experience today I was able to talk highly and proudly about my Redwood realizing all RV's and boats have problems. This guy then went on and on to tell me about all the problems in the park with permanent Redwoods. I counted at least four. Success is going to be very fleeting at this rate guys. I was almost embarrassed to be a Redwood owner.
If anyone has a slide topper issue it appears we are on our own. I'd be interested in learning who you are. My last offer to Redwood is two fold. Remove them, fill the holes and repaint the coach to new condition. Or, reimburse me for the retail value of the toppers that I paid and reimburse me for an 8 ft lightweight ladder and hooks to secure the ladder to my Redwood ladder to support ongoing topper maintenance for as long as I own this unit.
Sorry for the length and pissy tone of this post. But the solution I received today has to be the most ridiculous thing I could ever imagine receiving from a legitimate company. Pull in the slides! Really Redwood.
To whom ever is running this organization get a clue. The customer service manager couldn't even find the time to call me back today after he returned from lunch. Here is my challenge to Redwood!
Get focused on your customer and what they have to go through using your products and systems. Fly your top staff (include, sales, ENGINEERING, CUSTOMER SERVICE and manufacturing) to a national sales meeting in San Diego. And provide them with accommodations in a Redwood at one of the very nicest RV parks in the area. Make sure you include their wives. At the end of the festivities tell them their return flights have been cancelled and they are to return home in their respective Redwood. Take the scenic route up the west coast, through the badlands and midwest before returning to Indiana. Along the way everyone is dependent on everyone else to take care of problems, fix broken items, find and source dealers and deal with the very crap that owners today are dealing with.
Once you all return home I suggest you sit down and discuss what was good, what was bad and what you are going to do to fix it. You see Redwood, you can't design it if you don't know how to use it or how it even gets used. And CS might experience a real epiphany having to deal with the waiting time when parts are needed here today because we have to leave tomorrow! I know ala Harley Davidson but it works guys. Trust me.
Yes I am truly frustrated but I share this with you because it will make you a better company. It will endear Redwood to a loyal customer base and it will result in gained market share. I did this with a little company called Cruisers Yachts. Your best marketing tool is the positive word of mouth shared by owners that are passionate about the product and the WAY THEY ARE TREATED. In the boating industry it's called dock talk. Not sure what it's called in the camping world but you want it to be good, to be positive. You've losing it. But you have time to fix it. FIX IT!
This past week I stopped in a Northern Alabama Park and a non Redwood owner asked me. How do you like that REDWOOD. Prior to this experience today I was able to talk highly and proudly about my Redwood realizing all RV's and boats have problems. This guy then went on and on to tell me about all the problems in the park with permanent Redwoods. I counted at least four. Success is going to be very fleeting at this rate guys. I was almost embarrassed to be a Redwood owner.
If anyone has a slide topper issue it appears we are on our own. I'd be interested in learning who you are. My last offer to Redwood is two fold. Remove them, fill the holes and repaint the coach to new condition. Or, reimburse me for the retail value of the toppers that I paid and reimburse me for an 8 ft lightweight ladder and hooks to secure the ladder to my Redwood ladder to support ongoing topper maintenance for as long as I own this unit.
Sorry for the length and pissy tone of this post. But the solution I received today has to be the most ridiculous thing I could ever imagine receiving from a legitimate company. Pull in the slides! Really Redwood.
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