What a nightmare

After our last camping trip and having to deal with the weather, we decided that the pop up trailer was just not big enough for the 4 of us, and a real pain in the ass in the rain. We talked about the pros and cons of looking for a bigger trailer, the biggest con being that we would not get a whole lot of use out of it as we plan on going back to Nova Scotia to camp next summer. The thought of investing money in a unit that we would not get a lot of use out of didn't seem like a good idea, so honestly I dismissed it all together. Nope, not Rob. He was on Kijiji that night and found a couple really well priced campers. (He's getting better than me finding great deals online). So we decided that we would take a little road trip and go look at a few. The first one we looked at was an older pull style trailer, that honestly looked much better in pictures than in real life. It was like it was literally pulled out of 1962 and put in this man's driveway. Cosmetics aside (think lime green cupboards) the furnace hadn't been used since .. well, forever considering the amount of dirt that was in it. From there we went to look at a 5th wheel. I was not thrilled about the idea of a 5th wheel, as I really have never liked them. Plus, there would be the added cost of putting a hitch in the back of the truck. But for shits and giggles we went to see this unit. And honestly fell in love. Although it is a 1977, you would never think it by looking at it. It has everything we need (bathroom woo hoo!), working furnace and air conditioning. Yes, I know it doesn't sound like camping when you put it that way but hea, you need to be comfortable. So this guy offered us a fantastic "can't turn it down" kind of deal that included the installation of the hitch in the back of the truck, as this is what he does for a living. We brought it home and begun to make plans on taking it out. (Note to self: Next year book in January like everyone else if you want a site in a provincial park with services). One of the great things about this trailer is that there is a "loft bed" hidden over the back table, which can either be used as a bed or as cupboards (there is a false board that pulls down to make the bed). When we pulled this down, Rob noticed a water blister in the ceiling. When it cut it open to investigate we found this:

and these that were holding everything together:

To say we were upset is the understatement of the year. That black you see? Yep, you guessed it, black mold. The boys and I immediately left the trailer, and Rob put on a mask to pull the rest of it down. I emailed the man who we bought it from and that email said:

xxx, I sincerely hope I am wrong in the opinion that I have formed about you and your wife this morning. Imagine our suprise when we went out to the camper this morning to start loading up for our first camping trip to see the water bubble above the top bed. Upon further investigation of this bubble (because of course we had to look seeing as our 8 year old had picked this out as his bed) we found rotten wood, drenched insulation and mold. We also found an enormous amount of very obvious brand new screws holding all this together. The boys and I were in the camper when Rob found all this (it literally crumbled in his hands as soon as he cut the bubble) and with the mold that came out with it Rob immediately sent us out. He is still in there right now cleaning this up without a mask. Do you realize how scary this is? You KNEW that my son would be sleeping up there, at least your wife did because I TOLD her. I can't imagine as a parent selling a camper KNOWING that it has been leaking for some time, and moisture leads to mold. Had we not looked, my son would have been breathing in those fumes, as he would have been so close to the ceiling. As a parent yourself, can you see why I'm soo upset??

I honestly don't believe that you didn't know about this problem. It is obviously a "patch work" job, as the new screws give that away. The problem that I have, seeing as honestly we don't know you at all, is that you let us unknowingly buy this KNOWING WE HAD CHILDREN. We probably would have bought the trailer anyways, it is what we were looking for. Rob is a very handy guy is is more than capable of fixing this. Taking advantage of people is one thing, people do it all the time and I understand that when you buy something it's definately a "buyer beware" when you are buying a camper as old as this one. But we have kids. You KNEW we had kids, you met them. You also met my son on both occasions that would have been sleeping up there, breathing in mold fumes. That's the part I just can't get over.

At this point, it looks like we won't be able to take the camper out until all this is fixed, and since Rob works full time it won't be until the end of the summer at least. I still haven't told my kids that our summer camping trips are now cancelled, because at this point we have already sold our other camper. I really hope you understand why we are so upset right now.

Rob and Tina

To which I received this reply:

hey guys, we are in shock as-well, i never really inspected that part of the trailer, the repair was honestly not done by me or i would have tore the roof off and fixed it properly, we kept all of our food up there and cant believe we missed it, i know u must be very upset, please give us a call, i will be checking to see if we can do anything about the guy we had bought it from because he never disclosed this issue to us and it should have been, we paid more than $x.xx for the trailer, im so pissed and upset right now too, thats were the food was that we were eating and feeding our kids, phone anytime please, 123-4567, 890-1234.

I must say, I believe him. When we went to see the camper, they had just got back from vacationing in it and their stuff was still in it. Luckily, Rob is a very handy guy and at this point in time has reinforced that ceiling with all new wood and re-sealed the roof. We're still planning on going on a mini vacation this weekend. Fun times for all I tell ya.