RV dealers make used car salesmen look good! That's my expectation after 40 years of RVing and buying various RVs over the years. And today, I can tell you that RCD North Ridgeville met every single one of those low expectations.
Not once, but THREE times.
I had previously communicated with the salesperson, Katrina, regarding a new battery for the rig I was potentially going to purchase. Here's her exact text from the Monday prior to the Saturday I went up to buy it:
> "Hello Dennis, sorry I am just getting back to you. I was away over the weekend. Congrats on your sale! Of course we will still honor a new battery. What time tomorrow works best for you? I would love to get this unit pulled up and plugged in for you."
Upon arriving, Katrina took me back to see the unit—it was in their shop. I think the first words out of her mouth were, "I just checked everything myself. The slide-out works, the jacks work."
Expectations met! ONE!
So the first thing I said was, "Can we unplug it? I want to see it work on the battery."
They unplugged the rig, and everything went dead. Sure enough, the old battery was still in it.
She went to get a jump pack, and they got the tech involved. I stepped out to have a smoke while they tried to figure out the problem. Had I walked out of there and purchased it without doing this, I'd have had all kinds of issues.
But it gets even worse.
More expectations met. TWO
After hooking up and plugging in, we did the lights check. Although the turn signals and brake lights worked, the tail lights and marker lights did not come on with the headlights. I still need to figure out this one
More expectations met. THREE
On the way home, I pulled over at the first service area on Route 80 to do a quick check. Sure enough, the awning was beginning to come out. The latches are both weak and wouldn't stay secured. I didn't bring anything to tie them up or tape them, so I ended up using two USB cables I had as ties to hold the awning in place on the drive home.
Yep. Like I said, RV dealers make used car salesmen look good.
After purchasing my fifth-wheel RV and picking it up from RCD North Ridgeville , I immediately headed to my now-sold home in Ohio to load the last of my belongings. As a full-time RVer, I then began my journey south to Florida—specifically Crestview—to establish my new mailing address through a digital mail forwarding service (myrvmail.com).
I took a leisurely route, stopping to visit relatives along the way, and arrived in Florida a few weeks later. My main goal was to switch my driver's license to Florida using this new address. However, I hit a major roadblock: to fully establish residency and register the fifth-wheel as my home in Florida, I needed the title. Unfortunately, RCD North Ridgeville still hasn't provided it.
Now I'm stuck here in Florida without a proper legal address or the ability to complete my domicile change—all because of this title delay from RCD North Ridgeville . What a complete mess!