The Letter

This letter was sent to Fleetwood, Coleman and copied to Hilltop Sales. Let me reiterate here that I believe Hilltop to be a reputable company. Our experience with them has been enjoyable.
As of May 29 we have heard nothing back from Fleetwood or Coleman.
I'll try and get pictures of the mold growth from this latest leak posted.

May 12, 2008

Fleetwood Folding Trailer Group
PO Box 111
Somerset, PA 15501

The Coleman Company, Inc.
3600 North Hydraulic
Wichita, KS 67219

To Whom It May Concern:

Re: Persistent Roof Problems on Pop-Up Tent Trailer

In March 2003, we purchased a new “Mesa” Coleman pop-up tent trailer from Hilltop Trailer Sales in Minneapolis, Minnesota, model #3751, serial #39612. Enclosed is a copy of the Coleman Certificate of Quality for Fleetwood Folding Trailers that was provided to us upon purchase. Unfortunately, the quality that was promised to us was not delivered.

Specifically, we have suffered roof damage consistently since we purchased the trailer. The roof has continuously leaked despite replacement and repair. Hilltop replaced the roof for us once and repaired the roof an additional time. Both times, Hilltop cleaned the canvas (and maybe even replaced it) and replaced the curtains as a result of the roof leaks causing mold and water stains. At this time, mold is again growing in the roof and on the curtains which, as I’m sure you’re aware, can lead to serious health issues. We are unable to allow certain friends and family members with allergies into our trailer now due to concerns they may become ill from the mold. At this time, we’ve had three different instances of the roof leaking, causing damage and requiring repair or replacement and continued inconvenience to us.

In addition to the roof leaking, Hilltop has had to replace a panel on the door that broke, and Hilltop also had to repair the water pump to quiet it down.

For each of these instances, we were inconvenienced by having to drive our trailer over an hour round trip to Hilltop for the repairs. We were unable to use our trailer during those periods, one of which ended up being several months long while Hilltop waited for a new roof to be manufactured for replacement.

At this point, we are sick and tired of the inconveniences and repairs that we’ve been forced to endure. We believe we’ve been more than patient in trying to work through the issues for five years already, but our patience has now run out. WE WANT A NEW REPLACEMENT TRAILER WITH, AT A MINIMUM, ALL THE SAME AMENITIES AS OUR CURRENT TRAILER. The Coleman name was a decisive factor in our choosing this trailer five years ago, and we are extremely disappointed in the quality of the product for which we paid over $9,000. Our family has been camping for

Fleetwood Folding Trailer Group
The Coleman Company, Inc.
May 12, 2008
Page Two



25 years, and we have many friends that also camp. Be assured we plan to tell everyone we know and meet of our poor experience with this trailer.

If we do not receive immediate action on getting a replacement trailer, we plan to contact the Minnesota Attorney General’s office to advise them of this poor product and business practice. We’ve researched the Minnesota lemon law and feel we may be protected under that, as well. We do not want to take any legal action at this point; however, we are prepared to do so in order to be able to continue enjoying camping in the future.

Be aware that we have also registered the domain name of http://colemanfleetwoodrvdebacle.blogspot.com/ and will be posting your response to this matter for public viewing. A Google search for Coleman, Fleetwood or RV will result in potential buyers seeing this site, which will not be good for business. We trust you will take the necessary action to ensure this doesn’t have to go that far.

We want to point out that Hilltop has been extremely helpful throughout the years in servicing our trailer to try to address our concerns. We have no complaints against Hilltop. Unfortunately, they can only work with the product they’re given, and since the roof has been consistently sub-standard, they haven’t been able to address the underlying problem.

You can reach us at any of the contacts below. It would sure be nice if we could resolve this before our first camping trip of the summer in June. We eagerly await your response. Thank you.

Sincerely,




cc: Hilltop Trailer Sales
7810 University Avenue NE
Minneapolis, MN 55432

The Start Of The Debacle

This blog is a diary of the problems we've had and will have trying to resolve the issues of our Coleman camper that was manufactured by Fleetwood. Fleetwood makes most of the RVs in this country but I believe Coleman got away from them because of quality control issues.
More to follow