Texas vacation with hick-ups

[rabenfels]

Big Texan Steak Ranch, PrincessCraft, MUNDAY Ford: Seems we got the worst of it.
Our Texas vacation started out with a warning from the “locals”: Stay at the Texas State Fair but be prepared for shooting around the place at night ...
Big Texan: Incorrectly charged + $ 90.00 – waiter mumbled something like a prank was played on him? Correct receipt for + $ 60.00 was pre-approved. Credit Card statement arrives and shows + $ 90.00 plus. $30.00 difference is being disputed.
Bad luck with our truck – ended up buying a new one ($ 54,000.00 +) from MUNDAY Ford in Bastrop. No endorsement for this dealer – contact me if you like details. However, the 2014 F350 HD dually has turned out to be a great truck so far!
PrincessCraft, Round Rock, also a LANCE dealer, installed the HappiJac system which failed. Contact me if you like details - no endorsement for this company.
Failed installation damages are approx. $ 1,600.00 to camper, tie downs and we need a new HappiJac bar installed. Neither PrincessCraft (Owner “PJ” never talked to us - Brandon: “Come to TX and we’ll repair” is not realistic if one lives in CO) nor MUNDAY Ford (Chris Craig, Sales manager), who contracted the install and billed us for it, has resolved this issue or consider themselves liable / responsible.. My last two e-mails to both companies remain unanswered.
On a positive note: These are 2 wonderful campgrounds to stay at
Vineyards Campground, Grapevine (www.vineyardscampground.com) is the place to stay when in the DFW area. We enjoyed the hospitality, layout of the campground and the lake access. Much recommended.
KOA in Bastrop (http://www.bastropkoa.com/) is under new ownership: Great folks operating a clean, nice place to stay close to the Colorado River. We very much recommend this campground.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and adventurous New Year!

[rabenfels]

Hi Steve / Ranger Smith: I hope you will have a pleasant experience with these folks. I assume you are local and that will help since you can "show up" easily. I can only assume that since I am over 2,500 miles away and can't show up they think they can get away with it. With the many installs I assume they do there is always a chance that one does not go correctly. One owes up and corrects the problem. Period. Brandon tried to find an excuse by saying that the failure was due to the lowering of the camper onto the cone. Nonsense! They loaded the camper and it was never off the truck during this vacation. Especially agonizing is the fact that they insisted to install a new HappiJac system instead of using my old one (2 years old) citing liability reasons. They did, however, use my old bumpers / cones since they did not have spacers available but not give me the new items from the new kit I paid for. Where is their liability excuse now after making me pay for a new setup? It is a great blessing that nothing serious happened or their liability would certainly be tested to the fullest.

[rabenfels]

The 9 year "old" truck had only 55,500 miles on it. Diagnosed with internal engine oil cooler failure and a repair tag that could escalate into thousands once the "technicians" are in there. And being away from home does not help matters either. On vacation ones time is limited, once the truck is in the shop one is on the hook like a fish and little can be done to "flee" the scene if the vehicle is in bits and pieces.

[trail-explorer]

Solution: Torklift.

What happened to the old truck which required it get replaced mid-trip?

[Ranger_Smith]

I have a new rig on order from Princess Craft. Hope they are better than that towards me,

Steve

[exhaustipated]

I'm sorry that you had to go through this ordeal with Princess Craft RV in Round Rock, Texas. I've heard that they are supposed to be one of the finest RV dealers in Texas, but from what you went through maybe they're not. Hopefully you'll get some sort of satisfaction from them. Have you tried contacting Good Sam Club's Action Line for help with these issues? Glad that you're safe and that's the main thing.

[Victory402]

Glad you are safe, with only your wallet and ego hurt.
Can you give details on your happy jack failure?

[jmtandem]

Big Texan Steak Ranch, PrincessCraft, MUNDAY Ford: Seems we got the worst of it.
Our Texas vacation started out with a warning from the “locals”: Stay at the Texas State Fair but be prepared for shooting around the place at night ...
Big Texan: Incorrectly charged + $ 90.00 – waiter mumbled something like a prank was played on him? Correct receipt for + $ 60.00 was pre-approved. Credit Card statement arrives and shows + $ 90.00 plus. $30.00 difference is being disputed.
Bad luck with our truck – ended up buying a new one ($ 54,000.00 +) from MUNDAY Ford in Bastrop. No endorsement for this dealer – contact me if you like details. However, the 2014 F350 HD dually has turned out to be a great truck so far!
PrincessCraft, Round Rock, also a LANCE dealer, installed the HappiJac system which failed. Contact me if you like details - no endorsement for this company.
Failed installation damages are approx. $ 1,600.00 to camper, tie downs and we need a new HappiJac bar installed. Neither PrincessCraft (Owner “PJ” never talked to us - Brandon: “Come to TX and we’ll repair” is not realistic if one lives in CO) nor MUNDAY Ford (Chris Craig, Sales manager), who contracted the install and billed us for it, has resolved this issue or consider themselves liable / responsible.. My last two e-mails to both companies remain unanswered.
On a positive note: These are 2 wonderful campgrounds to stay at
Vineyards Campground, Grapevine (www.vineyardscampground.com) is the place to stay when in the DFW area. We enjoyed the hospitality, layout of the campground and the lake access. Much recommended.
KOA in Bastrop (http://www.bastropkoa.com/) is under new ownership: Great folks operating a clean, nice place to stay close to the Colorado River. We very much recommend this campground.
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy and adventurous New Year!

Some vacations are more expensive then others!!! But, at least you have a new truck coming home from vacation. That is not all bad!