OK, here is the latest, FINGERS CROSSED.................................
So, we said fuck the camper people & bought a 8 person Cabela's Alaskan Outfitter Guide tent, on super sale, extra clip inside tent floor saver, a 12oz cotton duct tarp for underneath the tent. Many places are small sharp stones, thats why we got the HD tarp. Went to Lakeside State Park for 4 days (just got back---man, what a long hard day today was). So, anyways, we got there, set up & i set up every single guyline with a stake, made sure every velcro strap was wrapped around the tent poles where they intersected with others, every clip installed & snapped. Wife was like
, do we REALLY have to do every single one ? I said Yup, we do. Well, that night, we got the storm of all storms. It went from 90* & sunny, to 50+ mph winds & 4.5hrs of the most torrential rain I have ever seen or heard, Thunder, lightning, 1 tree got hit & exploded, my wife literally thought it was the end of the world. So much rain, so fast, there was water flowing underneath the tent/tarp/floor. The next morning, when I went outside, there were a small crowd of people standing there looking at the tent & me, which I thought was weird. Finally 1 guy asked: how did you make out in the tent? I said we were dry as a bone, not 1 leak. They said we were the only people in the entire Park that survived the night in a tent. There were some sites where the water was half way or more up the camper & vehicle tires! Flooding everywhere. It was super intense to be sure. Luckily, our site was on the highest ground in that loop.
So today, we pack up & come home, unpack, mow the lawn, empty out the ARB's. Then notice a message on the answering machine. It is the camper place: "We put a complete new window, complete new frame, caulked everything in addition to the window seal, let it dry for 24 hrs, soaked it for 5 hrs straight, let it set for 18 hrs & no leaks, come get it." So, we put the hitch on, throw the WD bars/sway control bars in the bed & make the hour drive there. We sneak in slowly (not supposed to go past a certain point) & I back up to it. We brought our 2nd set of keys & a super high power flashlight (to look for telltale signs of leakage). So, a young kid comes running over---"Sir, sir, your not supposed to be in here with your truck", I said yeah, I know, but DON'T FUCK WITH ME KID & GO GET YOUR BOSS RIGHT NOW. He did. Boss comes over & says they are confident it is fixed right this time (4 windows & frames & 7.5 months of down time during prime camping seasons, over 2 years). I go in & look, come back out & look. It looks good & looks like it is fixed right & the way I would do it. Man, do we hope it is fixed right this time.
So, after the paperwork is all done, We look at him & in a calm voice (which is really hard for me) we say that we have been majorly inconvenienced, over 2 years, for 7.5 months of prime camping season & we feel that we should be compensated for it. He looks at us & says: I'll give you a $100 gift certificate. We started laughing hysterically. I said "follow along here please---$125 per month, for 7.5 months = around $900, give or take. He goes away. Comes back & says $400 gift card. I said NO, not a chance. So, then he asks: what would make you happy ? I said: I will show you what will make us happy, (he follows me through the store), I point to their top of the line Queen Short 9/10" thick mattress. The leak soaked our mattress 4 times, plus the $900 of payments for a product that we could not use---You are still making out. He says how do you figure? I said I will win this, hands down, in small claims court & you will end up paying more than the $900. He goes away again. Comes back with a cart & says "it's yours-are you happy now ? We said yes. We shook hands. He said if you have any more problems, please call me directly. We told him, although it took a long time, you finally fixed it (we hope) & compensated us for our inconvenience & THAT is what business is all about. We could have left mad & never came back here for anything, but I feel you did the right thing, so we will still be customers.