An open letter to Scott Borden, Todd McGinnis and Chad Shepard the owners of Pete's RV Center in Plainville, Mass. In January 2019, I went into Pete's RV to purchase an RV with the last money I had from leaving Co. I'm retired and would be living in the unit full-time. I bought a 2003 Starcraft Antiqua that needed a new floor. I paid $4100.00 in cash for it. It was delivered to my daughters house in Little Compton, RI and parked. With all the rain Rhode Island experienced this year, I wasn't able to get to repairing the floor. It was still raining in May, then in June, the weather started giving away to nicer days. The first non rainy day, I went in to clean the RV and discovered I knew absolutely nothing about the water, propane, electric, putting out the beds at each end, hoses, black water, gray water, sewage....nothing, nadda. What are these gages and buttons on the wall??? I hook up what where? Wasn't someone suppose to walk me through and explain the workings of what I purchased? I made a list of what had to be done and what I thought was important to know as far as repair and the workings of my new home. I joined several RV sights and found I had to define why the floor was bad and where the problem originated from before I could even attempt to fix it. So I started looking....no roof leakage, yeah, but where? Ah ha!! Ceiling fan in bathroom was broken and the cover wasn't on completely (it too was broken) so water poured in when it rained.....hence the wet, soft floor in bathroom, hall and closet area. The other place was in the front, the emergency window wouldn't close properly and when it rained it poured in-down the wall and onto the floor! Now I knew. I started checking the outside walls and wow....lots of bowing, soft spots and pulling away from the seams. I looked between the outside wall and it was rotted and full of black mold!!!! Oh boy, this is bad and so much worse than expected. I'm 67 with some health issues and after looking into the black mold issue I realized this was a very dangerous situation and a job for trained professionals. By this time I had been sleeping in one of the pop-outs and was noticing other issues arising. One of them being the drawers wouldn't open unless pried with a crowbar and then they would never shut again. After discovering the walls and mold problem I immediately called the gentleman who sold me the unit and explained the situation, nicely asking what Petes would do to rectified the big problem, the walls and black mold. Since that time I had to moved out of my 3 week stay (sleeping only) in the trailer because of pneumonia. I am aware that time has passed and I am now parked in Middletown at my daughters new house and it was always my intention to start this project sooner rather than later, however weather was not permitting. This should not be a penalty for the passing of time since I alone would be doing the work.
Granted, to many $4000.00 isn't a lot of money, but to me it literally was all I had. I thought I had purchased a decent product from a reputable dealer but now it seems I'm a senior citizen causality in a big boys game. I told the dealer that if they would fix the walls and mold or exchange my RV for something similar without black mold, that would be great and so appreciated. I did mention that I wasn't nor did I have another $4000.00 or $5000.00 dollars to purchase a replacement. Yesterday, I was notified of a smaller, newer unit that had a lot less room but was certainly a good compensation. What was the catch? $1000.00 dollars for my trade in and $4275.00 more plus tax etc. Wow, I was shocked and saddened that Pete's was another...FAMILY owned business concerned with nothing more than money and their bottom line. Hello big business goodbye doing the right thing and compassion.
Come on Pete's, step up and be the reputable, kind company I'd like to believe you are. You have family, a grandmother, would you be happy to see her in a situation like this? You're somebodies sons, I know your mothers raised you better. I'm trying to resolve this is a peaceful, kind manner, but please, don't take my wanting to resolve this in a civil manner as a weakness by someone who can't stand or speak up for herself. There's a whole lot of senior citizens, we are a large group! I really don't want to fight, but I will. I have a feeling that I'm not the only unsatisfied Pete's customer. Looking to resolve this in an amicable, consciously correct manner.
Sincerely Michelle J Maynarich read more