In response to the most recent post about the tiedowns,we had tie downs on a previous camper so we are not unfamiliar with them and we had 3 camper repair companies including a representative from Host tell us it was not the tiedowns. It is simply a poorly constructed camper.It is interesting however that the post with the foul language was posted 1 day after Host signed for a registered letter sent from us refusing to cower to their threats of a lawsuit if the website was not removed. It is also interesting that at least some of them have been traced back to the Bend Oregon area which coincidently is Host headquaters.

Here are the two written letters we got from the repair shops. We first took it to the Host dealer where we bought it and the salesman that was there told us he felt it was a structural problem that Host should cover. He told us he was going to pass his findings on and give us a written statement. He was still employed by Host so I can understand why he didn't give us a written letter. We had fast gun tie downs put on from the beginning which I don't believe CAN be tied down too tight.

NEW ENGLAND R.V. COLLISION CENTER
21 TERMINAL PLACE
BROCKTON, MA 02301
(508) 580-8343
Fax (508) 580-8344

To Whom It May Concern:
One of our customers has recently brought in his Host pick-up camper. Upon inspection of the camper, there are no visible signs of collision in any way. The camper shows no sign of impact from the pick-up bed from bouncing or any signs of the spring loaded tie-downs being fastened too tightly.
When we opened up the body of the camper, we found a crack in the aluminum framing causing the camper to sag. Where the aluminum frame is cracked there are no vertical supports in that area. The broken frame is pulling down the supports of the slide room and cracking the sidewalls.
Our opinion is that there should not only be an increased amount of vertical supports but also a stronger frame to carry the weight of the camper itself.
We are writing to you to give you our professional feedback from the field.
Thank you for taking the time to listen and good luck with your future endeavors.
New England R.V. Collision Center

My goal is to inform those of the camping world who might be considering buying a HOST camper that they may be as dissapointed as I was shortly after buying one. And now, instead of Host paying for their poorly built (and quite expensive) camper I am so unfortunate to own, they have threatened me with a lawsuit. Maybe they should just fix my camper.

The tiedowns were not too tight. I have that in writing from two of the places we took it to. The third place would not give us anything in writing as the technician still worked for Host. I think you would have to use an elephant to get them tight enough to do the damage we are seeing.
We checked into taking it to Oregon. It is not cost effective. They are only offering to "give us a break on the cost" and who knows what that means. Even if the camper could make the trip on our truck it would be a couple weeks of lost wages plus the cost of the trip. Considering the price of gas it would be very costly. We asked how Host gets the campers out here and they ship them at a cost. I can't remember what they told us for a price but I think it was $3,000 or $4,000 per unit. We would have to have it shipped two ways. Again, not cost effective. Maybe they should only sell Campers in Oregon if that is the only place they can fix them.

Here are a couple more complaints I ran across on the internet of HOST problems. These are found in some RV forums.

http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/19168933/page/1.cfm

More Host Cracks

HOST Campers SUCK .com

THANKS TO HOST, I AM NO LOGER A HAPPY CAMPER!!

If you buy a HOST camper you may end up with this

Before you buy a Host camper you should know that they don't stand behind their product! We are the owners of a $40,000 camper that is falling apart at the seams.

PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING A HOST CAMPER!

We purchased a 2005 Host Truck Camper and after one short season (May to Sept. in NH) in 2006 started having problems with it. We went to Host thinking they would assume responsibility for the problem that to us was clearly theirs. After many phone calls and e-mails all we got from them was a "you're out of warranty". They did offer to give us a break on the cost of the parts if we brought the camper to OREGON! We took the camper to three (3) different repair places and they all agreed that the camper was structurally weak and poorly engineered and the repairs were going to be between $7,000-$10,000. Each and everytime we put the camper on the truck and hauled it to one of the repair shops for evaluation the damage got worse. The pictures don't show the problems with the slide outs (the slide outs won't come out without causing more damage) but they do show some of the other problems. I don't think any one should pay $40,000 for a camper and expect to get only a few short months before it can not be used. It is now a very expensive lawn ornament that we are still making payments on. I am trying to prevent anyone else from going through the same financial and emotional frustration.

The following picture will show how the slide outs have sagged. Please note the decals and how they no longer line up. The slide outs sagging have caused strain on the bottom of the camper and in fact have caused the frame to crack.


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We are hoping to warn other people about our problems so that they do not purchase a camper that is so BADLY engineered that it is unsafe and not road worthy.