To my other forum member friends- Recently we purchased a new 13' Scamp from the factory in March, 2021. The heater and water pumper were not working properly from Day 1. Scamp was extremely unhelpful in resolving the problem- saying that we should take the issues up with the manufacturers (if you purchased a new truck from Ford with a non-working heater would you not expect Ford to tell you to take the truck into a dealer and it would be taken care of?).
Not the case with Scamp. After going to several good RV repair techs the issues were taken care of to the tune of approx. $625 out of pocket. Scamp, after prolonged dithering, recently reimbursed us but refused to pay the entire cost. They would not even consider covering any of our time or travel expenses.
Other issues with the 2021 Scamp just off of the factory floor-
1. cabinet drawer face was not properly installed- screws sticking out and face panel loose
2. floor trim came off after a few days-finish nails used just barely long enough to get through trim
3. screen door is not square so does not close properly leaving a gap
4. heater face plate fell off- screws too small
5. vinyl flooring under table/bed neither cut correctly nor attached securely- vinyl is floppy
6. large closet door does not close properly- now held closed with duct tape
7. problem with battery not charging properly
8. storage area under front seats dirty with debris
9. plastic piece securing refrigerator door broke off after a few days- door held in place with duct tape
We wrote to the CEO of Scamp suggesting to him/her that we could have been some of their best salesmen. We have been taking it on the road and people come up and talk to us all the time about the Scamp. But with the experience we have had with the staff as well as the shoddy nature of some of the construction we can't speak very positively. If only Scamp had said from the beginning take it in, get it fixed, Scamp will cover all the costs.This is a brand new trailer! Is there no quality control in place before the Scamp leaves the factory?
By the way, we have never heard back from anyone at Scamp other than our salesman who apologized and hoped the issues would be resolved.
I read your post and it immediately reminded me of our own brand-new RV nightmare. I have a 13' Scamp that I use for little business trips--well, not for the last two years but hopefully again this year! We also have a 36' Montana fifth wheel. We purchased it new two years ago, took delivery and went on a 12 day trip a few days later. We dreaded every day "what will go wrong now?". Like you, we had a very long list of shoddy workmanship but the real kicker was the $3500 refrigerator--it wouldn't seal properly. I worried about our food the whole trip. We took it back to the dealership right after the trip with a 2-page list of things to fix. Keystone and Dometic went back and forth about that refrigerator for weeks--neither wanted to pay for a replacement. I think it was dropped somewhere along the line and the doors couldn't line up. Long story short, the dealership kept after both of them, we got a new refrigerator and the dealership fixed all the other issues. This was our second Montana, our first one was perfect and we had always thought of the brand as top-of-the-line. The bad memory has mostly faded, and hopefully yours will too. RVs are built by hand, and apparently poor workmanship pops up more often than it should. Interesting to note too--you mentioned short nails. We had a great big long piece of trim fall off on the way home from the dealership (it got caught behind the slideout before we noticed it had fallen off, that was fun to retrieve!). Nails too short. I wonder if that happened to others, a supply chain issue and they substituted shorter nails to get the job done. Oh well. Hook 'er up and go RVing, you will have fun!!!!
Rhonda Riebow
All brands hold up just fine at the RV show* and maybe even on the RV lot. Take them out on the US highways that are a rolling R5 earthquake and they come apart. *although I have seen some things and asked my self why they would not fix that before the show.
I have had three brands and they have all had parts fall off, fall apart, or get damaged on the highway.
I am actually quite amazed that they hold together as well as they do. We have bounced over some pretty rough stuff at highway speed (I-75 coming up from Auburn Hills is awful) and thought for sure something would be damaged. Maybe we have been lucky. Hauling a friend's nearly-new 16' Scamp from IL on I-80 was horrible. That poor Scamp! It was a trooper, and she has logged thousands of miles on it since.
Rhonda Riebow
I am sorry that you are having problems with your new Scamp and I am especially sorry that you have had problems dealing with the factory. I think the poor craftsmanship and faulty equipment might be due to the pandemic and it might be widespread. Many companies have lost their skilled workers during the pandemic due to workers retiring, moving away, or switching to other jobs. The companies may be replacing the workers with inexperienced and less skilled craftsman. Some companies may have a backlog of orders to fill and may be rushing to fill them and compromising quality. These problems probably are occurring in many other areas such as automobiles, appliances, components for RVs, etc. We have a 2012 16-ft Deluxe Scamp. I am amazed and pleased at the quality of work in our Scamp.
I have similar thoughts to the post above. And feel for you . As our 2019 13 has been quite good. We had an item or two like a door hinge issue and they sent me the parts immediately as luckily I am very able to do it myself there are so many pieces and processes on even a tiny trailer. Becoming handy and not relying on the service community can be your friend Lots of help here from good people with info and ideas. Working on our scamp helped us be more comfortable with the systems and avoid issues. We love our scamp and it is just another piece of equipment and will forever need things addressed as they pop up. But we came from two previous Class "C" motorhomes with more complex and just more stuff to go wrong. RV's are a little like owning a boat and will have things pop up with use. Good luck into the future with your Egg!!
2019 Scamp 13 standard
Indiana is the RV capital of the United States, and generally speaking, they produce junk. If you need warranty work done while you are traveling, you need to take it back to the dealer you brought it from and hope they honor your warranty. All the good brands are being brought up by Thor, even Tiffin! I pity what will happen to those brands!!! If you want a really good quality RV, you need to find one built in Nagodoches, Texas - But you are looking at $1,247,470.00 unless you buy used!!! www.foretravel.com/model/fs450 That's their cheapest model!
2006 Scamp 19