In May 2014 I purchased a new Thor ACE 30.1 from RV Solutions in San Diego. Had a solar system installed. When I went to pick it up, the couch was plugged in, which I thought odd because of the solar system. When I brought the RV home, it was unplugged and within 30 minutes the batteries were dead. I live about 150 miles from the dealer so I took the batteries to a local battery shop and found both were dead with dry cells in each battery. I replaced the batteries. The dealer passed the buck and said it was the manufacturer problem. I contacted Thor who refused to help me and said it was a dealer problem. The dealer took several weeks of stalling before telling me they would not replace the batteries.If your looking to purchase a Thor product, beware, they won't take the time of day to help you. Extremely poor customer service. If your in San Diego, don't buy from RV Solutions. They don't care about customer loyalty. In fact I am convinced they knew the batteries were dead when they sold the couch because they had to have it plugged in so I could drive it off.

..Based on some of the horror stories I've been reading on here recently related to some Thor products, you should count yourself very, very lucky if the only issue you have is a dead coach battery.

I struggle to understand how a dealer draining your batteries is Thor's problem. The dealer is responsible, not Thor. Batteries are not warranty items. This also really has nothing to do with the model of your coach. This is all dealer. Not Thor, not the Ace. These misleading post headers just add drama.

lillitaly wrote:In May 2014 I purchased a new Thor ACE 30.1 from RV Solutions in San Diego. Had a solar system installed. When I went to pick it up, the couch was plugged in, which I thought odd because of the solar system. When I brought the RV home, it was unplugged and within 30 minutes the batteries were dead. I live about 150 miles from the dealer so I took the batteries to a local battery shop and found both were dead with dry cells in each battery. I replaced the batteries. The dealer passed the buck and said it was the manufacturer problem. I contacted Thor who refused to help me and said it was a dealer problem. The dealer took several weeks of dicking around before telling me they would not replace the batteries.If your looking to purchase a Thor product, beware, they won't take the time of day to help you. Extremely poor customer service. If your in San Diego, don't buy from RV Solutions. They don't care about customer loyalty. In fact I am convinced they knew the batteries were dead when they sold the couch because they had to have it plugged in so I could drive it off.that's hard to believe that one buys a brand new MH and the batterys are bone dry and neither the builder or the dealer would not simply replace the batterys? Is there a story to this story or is it really as bad as it sounds?

Need some clarification here. Were the house batteries dead or the chassis batteries. If the vehicle started, then the chassis batteries weren't dead. If the house batteries died, then I would suspect the dealer NOT Thor. The solar control panel that regulates the charge to the batteries is likely defective or installed incorrectly and continued to charge even after fully charging your batteries. This likely cooked the cells dry and ruined the batteries. If this is what happened, this is not Thor's problem, they didn't install the solar system, your dealer did and likely didn't know what he was doing.

If the batteries were defective then it's the battery manufacturer that should take care of you. It's like that with most of the systems on board.OTOH, a good dealer would have taken care of the problem and would have been the go-between.

Unhappy with Thor ACE 30.1 & RV Solutions | Good Sam Community

Gau_8
Explorer
Jun 12, 2014
pmccue wrote:
Hi,
We just bought 2014 ACE 29.2 last Friday (6-6-14). I didn't realize the house battery was bad until yesterday. I took the battery into Giant RV in Murrieta, where I bought it. The sales department gave me an nice Interstate battery to replace the cheap Harris battery that came installed with the motor home. This was really nice of them because from what these forums are saying, Thor might not even reimburse them for the cheap original battery, let alone the nice Interstate Battery.
Now that I installed the battery it does nothing. The Chassis battery is now powering the generator but no power to anything else. No blown fuses or tripped breakers at least in the box under the queen bed. there might be a tripped breaker somewhere that I don't know about. I hope. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,

You need to start your own thread.
Effy
Explorer II
Jun 12, 2014
pmccue wrote:
Hi,
We just bought 2014 ACE 29.2 last Friday (6-6-14). I didn't realize the house battery was bad until yesterday. I took the battery into Giant RV in Murrieta, where I bought it. The sales department gave me an nice Interstate battery to replace the cheap Harris battery that came installed with the motor home. This was really nice of them because from what these forums are saying, Thor might not even reimburse them for the cheap original battery, let alone the nice Interstate Battery.
Now that I installed the battery it does nothing. The Chassis battery is now powering the generator but no power to anything else. No blown fuses or tripped breakers at least in the box under the queen bed. there might be a tripped breaker somewhere that I don't know about. I hope. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,

The chassis battery does not control the gen. Your house batteries do. Do you have interior lights or water pump? If so your house batteries are fine. Is your disconnect switch off? Dealers always turn them off.
pmccue
Explorer
Jun 12, 2014
Hi,
We just bought 2014 ACE 29.2 last Friday (6-6-14). I didn't realize the house battery was bad until yesterday. I took the battery into Giant RV in Murrieta, where I bought it. The sales department gave me an nice Interstate battery to replace the cheap Harris battery that came installed with the motor home. This was really nice of them because from what these forums are saying, Thor might not even reimburse them for the cheap original battery, let alone the nice Interstate Battery.
Now that I installed the battery it does nothing. The Chassis battery is now powering the generator but no power to anything else. No blown fuses or tripped breakers at least in the box under the queen bed. there might be a tripped breaker somewhere that I don't know about. I hope. Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks,
Kaz
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
lillitaly wrote:
Ok it is Tuesday, Sherly Sylvia from Thor called me this morning and wanted to know about the battery problem. She was extremely helpful and told me they would cover the cost of the batteries. She did say that the dealer is supposed to maintain the batteries, which in this case they clearly did not. Sherly even went so far as to contact the local dealer where it is being serviced to have the roof inspected for leaks. Although my first contact with Thor wasn't what I expected, the follow-up by them was awesome and I am happy. Still think RV Solutions should have dealt with this problem.

John Cardillo

Glad to hear that. I'm not sure what motivates some of the gripes above because I've found Thor's customer service to be some of the best I've ever encountered. I was about to suggest that you call your concierge (Thor appoints one for each unit) and ask for help. Sounds like the issue got to the concierge on its own.

Good luck and enjoy your ACE. We've had ours for a couple years and it's great.

Skip
Daveinet
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
stugpanzer wrote:
Don't be fooled! The manufacturers monitor these and other forums. their actions of assisting will go much further than if they didn't!
I don't know how hard I would be on them, otherwise the next time they won't be so nice. We want to reward them for following through, so we encourage them to do it again when new problems occur. Sure it may have taken some arm twisting, but if you want behavioral change, then one needs to encourage the change when it happens. So I say Thank you Thor for stepping up. Its good to hear even for those of us armchair readers who may never be in position to purchase a Thor product. We all want the industry to do well, and live happily together.
stugpanzer
Explorer
Jun 11, 2014
Don't be fooled! The manufacturers monitor these and other forums. their actions of assisting will go much further than if they didn't!
Gjac
Explorer III
Jun 11, 2014
Gjac wrote:
chuckftboy wrote:
Thor should have authorized the battery replacement and then worked it out with the dealer. A couple of batteries wouldn't cost them very much and the OP shouldn't have had to spend his money to fix the problem. The bad will they create by refusing warranty far out weighs the price of 2 batteries.
This is the best answer yet regardless of legal responsibility. Thor should have step up to the plate and called the dealer to replace the customers batteries, and worked out the details later. Isn't that what Bob Tiffin would do? If they won't take care of a $100 battery what else won't they take care of when the customer has a bigger problem?
I am glad Thor decided to do the right thing for you.
smacdiesel
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
Good for Thor! I for one think this company has been getting picked on a little too much.
Effy
Explorer II
Jun 10, 2014
Thanks for the follow up. My experience with Thor has always been positive and as you found out, it wasn't Thor's issue, but authorized it anyway.
lillitaly
Explorer
Jun 10, 2014
Ok it is Tuesday, Sherly Sylvia from Thor called me this morning and wanted to know about the battery problem. She was extremely helpful and told me they would cover the cost of the batteries. She did say that the dealer is supposed to maintain the batteries, which in this case they clearly did not. Sherly even went so far as to contact the local dealer where it is being serviced to have the roof inspected for leaks. Although my first contact with Thor wasn't what I expected, the follow-up by them was awesome and I am happy. Still think RV Solutions should have dealt with this problem.

John Cardillo