Hi Folks,
I have been having problems with BB since I purchaced it last september and I have to ask the members if they have the same.
I have a 40' bus conversion and the remote reciever will not work at my dash area in my coach. Brake Buddy has sent me a replacement reciever with no prevail. The tech Frank, I spoke with today told me that the problem lies with all the mirror's in my coach. I told him that if I hold the reciever out the drivers window, it still will Not work. If I walk up the the toad, it works just fine. The tech then told me that in cases like this, they would refund the purchace price. He then offered me an upgrade to the Vantge select for an additional $400. I then asked him if that will solve my problem? He said he diddn't know! I then said to him, Why would I do that? And proceeded to tell him that I would take option #1, a refund! He now explains that that would have to be approved by management. I said OK, go ahead!
He comes back and now changes his tune and tells me that BB will Not refund my money at all. And gives the reason that I have owned it over 30 days....
Question, Am I the only guy having this problem?
Is this company just going to write me off?
What should I do?
Thanks for your help
Nick-
Nick,
The problem must be in the towed unit. See if they will take the whole thing back for 'repair' replacement. Wireless is nice if it works but!
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120
Nick,
Was this brake buddy bought from the manufacturer or from Camping World?? If from Camping World we can all ban together on this one and put pressure as I know all us busnuts buy from them and can quickly discontinue doing so, but if you bought directly from the manufacturer then they are just bastards!!
What ever help you need and we can muster let us know. Flooding them with emails from just about all of us busnuts wanting to have these units can also make them step back for a few hundred dollars of bad publicity and wonder if screwing you is worth it. Just name it, and if you choose the flooded emails from us all "count me in". Be sure to send us the address and name of Representative, (Not the word I mean either) to write directly to.
This BS is just that. "Either their product is good or it isn't". No matter if it was over the lousy 30 day warranty. Big Deal on that too. My undershorts from walmart have a longer warranty than that.
Good Luck Nick and let keep us updated. I just hate this crap and today I am in the mood!!
Gary
Dad's remote doesn't work either. His is a blue ox.
The emergency pin got pulled out & it applied the brakes. This went unnoticed as it happened as we were turning up hill from a stop. What happened is that the brake pads wore off & then the caliper piston pushed thru the backing plate & into the rotor. We were lucky as there was no fire. But, the heat melted the seals & even the brake line! It generally made a mess of things. We had to replace the bearings, axle seals, rotors, & calipers.
Oh, his toad has alum wheels & the lug nuts were LOOSE after this incident! (Yes, we used a torque wrench to put 'em on & rechecked them several times.)
So, to summarize, Make darn sure you KNOW when the toad brakes are applied! Ignorance isn't always bliss. . . . :o
Quote from: kyle4501 on March 26, 2008, 09:16:41 AM
So, to summarize, Make darn sure you KNOW when the toad brakes are applied! Ignorance isn't always bliss. . . . :o
I believe Jim Shephard has a photo on his website www.rvsafetysystems.com of a toad fire resulting from a brake fire caused by a faulty toad brake. We added a flashing red LED in the dash directly in front of the driver that flashes anytime the toad brake is activated (brake application or breakaway activation). This is wired, not wireless. Jack
Quote from: Jerry Liebler on March 26, 2008, 08:33:25 AM
Nick,
The problem must be in the towed unit. See if they will take the whole thing back for 'repair' replacement. Wireless is nice if it works but!
Regards
Jerry 4107 1120
Hi Jerry and guy's,
The remote and the brake unit work fine as I walk outside close to the toad, it just won't operate at the drivers area.
A Rv.net friend also has the same problem with his 38 ft. MH. So, I just think that this unit will not transmit as far as the claim.
I really wish they would tell the truth so guy's like me don't waste money...
Nick-
Nick,
I was going to write to Brake Buddy, attach this web discussion, and ask, "Is this true? Do you really sell and advertise a product that does not perform reliably, AND, not refund a buyers money."
I EXPECT companies to satisfy their customers.
Are you comfortable with me writing to Brake Buddy?
Ed Roelle
ED,
If Nick gives you the OK on this please put my name on it also,
Gary Lee LaBombard
Do this only if Nick feels comfortable about it. if he does maybe more of us can add our names and addresses if you want. Our address can be emailed to you instead of posting them on the boar.
Thanks,
Gary
NICK - tell them your going to drive up and down the street in front of their house with your defective BB! We'll then see how they feel about having their family at risk?
Nick, when I was at Quartzsite in Jan the guy selling those was dodging all question and there were some very angry people.Buy you a M & G system and forget about BB when and if you ever get your money back.These type deals suck for the price you pay for that unit
Hi Guy's,
I don't like slamming any company but, I tried every way I think I could have to handle this matter in a professional manner.
I even told "Frank" at Brake Buddy that I would bring this up on a discussion board to see if I was alone or not and he didn't
seem to care one bit. This unit, when I purchased it, was advertised as proportional but it also was not. Now there is no trace
of my model on their site anymore. They now have it listed as the "New" Brake Buddy Vantage Select. The select has an entirely
different remote and like i said above, he couldn't guaranty that it would work. Hummmm!
Guy's, you can do as you like for me but, Can I thank You in advance?.. Hay, a thousand dollars is not pocket change....
Nick-
Ole Frank has never seen these guys in action I bet.A friend of mine owns PPL RV in Houston I sent a email to him telling about you and BB hope it helps he does not like outfits like that
Ha Ha`Ha, thats funny luvrbus...
Does anybody have or know of this system. A friend at RV.net told me about this and i have been reading up on it but, there
is not alot of tech. info on the install.. SMI Air Force One. about the same money as BB
http://www.smibrake.com/Items.aspx
Nick-
Hey Nick
I tried a BB about 3-4 years ago when it first came out and had the 30 day trial period. I had a 38 foot MH and like you, mine wouldn't let me know when the brakes were applied. I used it on one trip of 2500 miles. When I got home, I called the sales rep, I had to ship it back at my expense but they did refund my purchase price.
I think the best in this situation is the email to customer service for the company. Can you get that email addy and share with the board? Also, FMCA has a section in their magazine where RV owners write in about problems with products and the companies who manufacture them. When the company names are mentioned in the magazine, the company perks right up and takes notice. If you are a FMCA member, you could try that.
I am willing like many others to help you get your cash back. Good Luck!
Rob
91 LeMirage XL
Missouri
Hi Rob,
Glad to hear from you again!
the contact page has no e-mail addresses but I have the Phone#'s
www.brakebuddy.com
(phone) 1-800-470-2287
(fax) 1-800-444-6779
Nick-
Nick
There is a contact place on the web site you posted. I sent them a e-mail. I hope they respond favorable to your problem. I have taken them off my list of toad brake suppliers.
Craig Craddock
Nick, i agree with Rob. Since you are an FMCA member contact the magazine and have them go to bat for you.
Ed you can forget about help from FMCA I know too many people that have tried to get help from FMCA on the K & N air cleaners purchased from their vendors and it's been going on for years with no results and every rally you go to they are still selling the piece of junk there
I have this same topic going at RV.net and there is almost as many people with problems as there are posts..
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21186694/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
A big Thank You to my friends/members here for looking out for my intrests..
Nick-
I sent Nick a personal message that I sent BB a burning email. Don't know if it will do any good or not, but you never know. If they get enough negative feedback they just might bend over.
Companies that sell stuff that doesn't work need to be black-balled.
Paul
Paul,
Can you post the actual email address you sent your message to at BB for us all to contact the same connection. I believed from the start that in numbers such as what we have we can and will make changes in situations such as this. $1000 is not drop in the bucket and to be fleeced by a company as this should be exposed!
Perhaps we can have an area such as this for products that are mis-represented as Buddy Brake has obviously been doing. We don't have to take this stuff, lets try to keep everyone informed of these kind of bums and prevent anyone else from falling into their enticing false advertisements for their overpriced products. Lets take care of Nick first and get his money back. Thanks everyone also for sending in any and all objections and concerns to Brake Buddy as we are now doing. Remember, one day you may need help also for something similar like this and just remember, we are all here as a family. Don't SCREW with our family!!!.
Nick, I need the name of the state you actually live in to refer to in my email also. NJ or DEL.??
I will look forward to that email address Paul, thanks again.
Gary
Nick,
Good Sam magazine also has a department where dissatisfied customers can write.
Also, if you paid by credit card, you may be able to document that the product does not work as advertised and ask for a refund from the credit card company.
Unfortunately, although I belong and support FMCA, I find they are too political and do not want to disagree with suppliers/advertisers. FMCA is fighting to stop their membership loss. Here is one example as to why.
Ed Roelle
Flint, MI
Thanks Ed, Paul, Craig, and Gary..
I will give BB a chance to respond and take it from there.
Nick-
Ok Folks,
After you read this reply you will understand why I resorted to our fourm to ask of our members help with this problem.
Brake Buddy responded to Ed Rolle's e-mail and I will post it next but, first I need to tell you how this company works.
When I contacted them the other day, Frank couldn't find any information on me at all, even at the end of our phone call.
Now all of the sudden, he know exactly who I am in his responce. Now, I have in my hand a reciept dated Sept 23 2007 as my purchace
date and recieved a replacement remote from BB on October 19th 2007. and had only 1 trip towing the toad since then to do any testing.
Here is their reply, "and I can't figure out why they resorted to twisting the truth??" Maybe it makes them look Good??
I would first like to thank you to bringing this site to our attention. Ed, we do stand behind our products as well if not better than ever before. Nick, is not telling the entire story either. We have offered to bring Nick's unit in here under the warranty and go through it with a thorough inspection and make sure that it is up to our company's standards! Nick has refused to do this. Nick has also had that unit for about a year and we have replaced the alert for him as well shortly after he originally got the BrakeBuddy and then waited several months before he got back with us to let us know he was still having problems. We cannot refund his money because it is past the company policy of the 30 day money back guarantee. He also wants to get a free upgrade to the Vantage Select which we cannot do. We have tried to help Nick with this situation since he first called us, and will honor the warranty that comes with the BrakeBuddy, as we do with every customer out there that is intrusting their safety with the BrakeBuddy product. Thank you for your concern and I hope this helps to clarify things for you.
>>> "brakebuddy.com" 03/27/08 11:49 AM >>>
Feedback
Date: 03/27/2008
Subject: Brake Buddy Vantage
Name: Ed Roelle
Email address:
Ed, I almost left your telephone # on the post
Nick-
Ok,
I am usually real good dealing with people/customers/problems etc.. This guy was like a puppet being controlled by someone behind him
because he changed his story two times on me while on the phone. Anybody that knows me knows I'm the last person that ever would be cheap!
This reply sounds like a cookie cutter story that they tell about all their complaints. Funny, he didn't mention the Mirror"s he gave me as his answer as to
my trouble with signals??
Oh well, I must move on and throw this unit in the dumpster. I'm sure I will be less aggravated with another company.
Nick-
Nick,
Thank you for posting this whole thread. After reading about your story you can be sure I will not be giving BB any of my money.
I hope somehow the company comes to it senses and realizes how stupid they are to not provide a reasonable solution to the issue of the remote system not working at the lengths of our vehicles. This bulletin board may not be the hotest RV site on the net, but as a group we are some of the most safety conscious. BB is really throwing out future sales by treating such a respected member of our community the way they are.
Please let us know how your next selection works out.
-Brian
Thanks Brian, and a big Thank You to Ed Roelle for pioneering the contact to BB.
The bottom line is that there are may others in my same position on the RV.net site
http://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/21186694/srt/pa/pging/1/page/1.cfm
Maybe someone over there will start a suite that I will join on with them.
Wish I had the time but, I have a busisness to run and my busisness revolves on keeping customers satisfied.
Man, If I were to sell a Walk-in freezer to a customer that wouldn't freeze their product, I would be sued in a heartbeat!
Nick-
US DOT will have alot to say about this deal. Someone tip them off and these guys will be in jail.
Is there a problem with the warranty I have this unit and they have always given me great service when I bought mine is was with the understanding if I did not like it they would refund my 1089.00. The unit has a 3 year warranty at least mine does and I don't think any company will refund your money after you had it for 5 months they have no idea how much you used it but good luck anyway
Nick,
Doesn't the remote just tell you when the brakes are applied? Why couldn't you mount the remote at the back of the buss and hardwire a lite to the dash. At least you could use it.
Richard
Hi makemineatwostroke,
I would agree with you better if I had contacted them after the 30 days. But, I first contacted them with the problem well within
the 30 days. As you can read in my post above.
They then sent me a solution that they claimed was the problem. Unfortuneatly, It's not always easy to take long trips to test
the device in the winter time around here. Besides, I was under the impresson that the problem was resolved. On the phone tuesday.
they did offer to test the unit at the factory but, Frank allready made up his mind that wouldn't resolve my problem. He was confident that
all the mirror's in my coach was preventing the remote from working. So, why would I choose to send the unit back. I allready know that the
remote works close to the unit, it just doesn't work at my drivers area. Too far? At that point, Frank is the one that brought up, "in theese cases,
we would refund your purchace price" When I made the phone call tuesday, I was expecting them to send me another remote...
Nick-
Quote from: rdbishop on March 27, 2008, 08:18:09 PM
Nick,
Doesn't the remote just tell you when the brakes are applied? Why couldn't you mount the remote at the back of the buss and hardwire a lite to the dash. At least you could use it.
Richard
Richard,
Great idea and I can do things like that. but, I have spent over a thousand dollars so I wouldn't have to rig things...
Thats my point. Besides the remote allows you to adjust the brakeing power too. I's suppose to anyway.
Nick-
Nick, I would call them and have a prepaid shipping label sent and return the unit to them there maybe something wrong.I know people that have the unit on 45 ft S&S and don't have any problem.I am sure your state has a lemon law for items over a certain price so if you don't get any satisfaction after repairs look at that option but they have always been help to me so I can not say anything bad about the service I hope you get it worked out good luck
Update,
My wife called and said that Frank Rodriguiez from Brake Buddy called the house.
The message was for me to send them my unit back to them and if they are not able to resolve
the problem, they will refund my money. He also stated they will cover shipping too.
I will do that and give them another chance!
I called the extention he left my wife and had to leave him a message. I need to know where he wants me to ship it.
So I'm waiting for a return call from Frank.
Nick-
Nick, glad your getting it worked out and thanks for the update and now just maybe the 4 guys that sent me the nasty emails will have a better outlook on the problem.
Makemineatwos,
I am not one of the guys that may have sent you a nasty email and wouldn't have. You were only trying to tell of good service you received. I went off half cocked too but didn't write you. When one of us has a problem like this and at the cost of what it was I sort of reach out and get pissed all over again too as I have been taken over the coals a lot of time out of my own ignorance. I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer but man I hate to have to always be on guard when dealing with people, selling or buying. I am not a good salesman either, if I was I wouldn't of given more of my Cd's away than I certainly sold on my conversion.
I am glad that other considerations will now be considered to help get this situation cleared up for Nick and I believe the pressure that was exerted by some of us may have helped, at least I hope so.
There was no need for this to have happened if this unit could not have been tested more than once and then it failed. But rules are rules of the manufacturer and I will not bad mouth these guys anymore if they do as they say they will for Nick. But, I would recommend anyone wanting a unit like this to not consider the darn ole wireless unit if this has happened to many others as reported on RV.net. It's your choice. Heck, I hate looking at wires too but some technology can be aggravating especially when it is really expensive and such a short time for testing is expected to satisfy the buyer and seller.
I do not always like the end results published in the Motor Coach Magazine in the section that has for complaints and the magazine tries to get it resolved. Many times the wording of the eloquent responses is nearly the same thing as sticking up their middle finger to the the person making the complaint. I get really annoyed with manufacturers that just will not make an effort to go the extra mile at times if their product is as good as they try to say or dictate that it is.
A resolution to satisfy a customer would always be my first choice if after I received my merchandise back for inspection / repairs or replacement and could see that this merchandise was not ABUSED. That I can agree with but I know Knick pretty well and know this was not anything he did that caused the BB failure, at least I am putting my respect and support for him as I truly believe this to be true.
I know, I am rambling on again, Well Nick, let us know how this turns out. We hope we did not cause you any embarrassment by some of our actions but if it made these guys look differently at this particular situation then so be it, especially if you get your bb repaired, fixed or replaced.
Now that the nice weather is here or nearly you will have time to check it out. There is going to be a few rallies coming up real soon, two in NC, one in SC too. Don't forget to let us know how everything turns out.
Take care.
Gary
Hi makemineatwostroke,
I'm very sorry if you recieved some flack from members.
At the same time, I'm very flattered that theese guy's are looking out for me... The one time I had to call upon my fellow members and friends
they were instantly Shinning Stars on my behalf. I only came to you guys because I struck out handeling it myself and that don't happen often!
It sure feels good to have such careing folks go to bat for you! I hope I have only expressed integrity in my postings and offerings of help to others
that instilled your trust in me.
Again, A Big Thank You to all that helped!
Nick-
UPDATE..
A week ago wednesday, I recieved my BB unit back from Brake Buddy. When I opened the box I thought they were playing a joke on me.
My BB unit was in 3 pieces... Yes Broken! A repair order inside the box was hand writen and said that they repaired the actuator arm on the unit?? ???
The actuator arm was not broken when I sent it back to them.
Anyway, I called the company and asked if this was a joke. They assured me that it was NOT! I then took pictures of the broken housing and e-mailed them to
the company. Later that day, I recieved a phone call asking me to return the unit again but, this time they stated that they will refund my money.
I recieved comfirmation from UPS that they recieved it back on tuesday of this past week and I am awaiting my refund.
After compairing all the other units on the market this week, I have decided to purchace the SMI Stay in Play unit that is perminatly mounted in the toad.
It has am actuator arm that you mount on the brake arm up under the dash and a controler unit that mounts in the engine compartment which generates
vacuum to the booster unit. The system is fully proportionate and needs two signals to activate. Brake light from the bus and deceleration. The unit also has a
brake away switch.
http://www.smibrake.com/Items.aspx
Installation Instructions
http://by133w.bay133.mail.live.com/mail/ReadMessageLight.aspx?Action=ScanAttachment&AllowUnsafeContentOverride=False&AttachmentIndex=0&AttachmentDepth=0&FolderID=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000001&InboxSortAscending=False&InboxSortBy=Date&IsMessageSafe=True&MessageCodePage=20127&ReadMessageId=48c4a260-3d7b-4408-ab82-70ebe8deb2ff&n=1420141113
Thank You to everybody that helped us out with Brake Buddy!
Nick-
Here is general info on the stay in play units
Vacuum
SMI™ utilizes the towed vehicle's own vacuum assist power brakes in applying the towed vehicle's brakes. DUO utilizes a self-contained electric vacuum pump while Air Force One incorporates a patented vacuum generator to energize the power booster. All the other systems that do not use the power brakes must literally stop with brute force. It simply is not necessary with the SMI™ product line.
Smaller is Better
SMI's exclusive patent pending brake actuator is the smallest in the industry. Smaller is better. The actuator is mounted completely out of site and never needs maintenance. By attaching directly to the firewall there is no possibility of the cable getting caught in a pulley and the floor mat. Because SMI systems are semipermanent, they require no set up for towing.
Activation Signals
No other system available today utilizes two separate signals to activate the towed vehicle brakes. All others are either surge, brake lights, or inertia-only activation signals. The SMI™ DUO combines both the coach brakes and inertia. This provides an unmatched ability to eliminate unwanted and unnecessary activation. "Two signal" activation avoids the need for delay (terrain sensing technology or surge suppressers) found with inertia-only systems. With the SMI™ DUO, you must have sufficient inertia (controlled by you) AND the brakes of the coach applied. Once met, with NO DELAY, the towed vehicle brakes are gently and progressively activated.
G-Force Control
Is more sophistication better? We think not. Since 1996 SMI™ has set the pace for G-Force Control with simple and reliable electronics. More sophistication is not necessary with properly designed systems for each application. In addition, the more sophisticated a product is, the more likely it is that a failure will occur. SMI™ products are simply the most reliable easiest to install and use products available.
Proportionate And Progressive
Stay-IN-Play DUO is a progressive system that automatically applies the correct brake effort. You set the sensitivity once and DUO does the rest. The harder you are stopping the harder the towed vehicle brakes, automatically. Because DUO utilizes the power brakes, a proportionate balance between the coach and the car is built into the DUO. There is no need for a complicated control, just turn it on...and tow.
Air Force One is a 100% true proportionate brake system. AFO is activated from the same air used to apply the coach brakes. This is the only way to get true proportionate braking. All others are progressive. In addition, AFO energizes the towed vehicles power brake system automatically creating the ability to provide a proportionate balance of brake effort between the coach and the towed vehicle. If the car needs to brake 10% of the load, it does. If the car needs to brake 25% it does. Best of all, you do not have to think about it.
Coach Notification
Many of the systems on the market today will notify you at the driver's seat that something happened in the car. Very few, however, get this notification signal directly from the position of the brake pedal on the towed vehicle. SMI™ notifies you when the brake pedal of the car is depressed from the car's factory brake light switch. By using this signal, you know that the towed vehicle brakes are depressed. No other signal is as reliable and solid.
Owner Installation
Many of our customers have helped in developing our simple, step by step process for installing either product. Installation times vary depending on the model you select. The SMI™ product line does not require any permanent modifications to your towed vehicle and no holes are necessary in the floor of your car, as is necessary with many of the competing products. Remember, pedal pressure is only about 10-15 pounds, so wear and tear on your car is eliminated. Competing products can damage the fabric and leather due to the excessive force required to stop a vehicle without power brakes.
Complete Units
Each SMI™ product is shipped complete incuding the breakaway system and coach notification of the brakes in the towed vehicle. There are never any extras to buy, it's all included.
Tow Ready
Your SMI is always ready when you are. No set up and no take down. Simple technology and ease of use combine to give you years of trouble free traveling
Nick,
Glad to hear you finally got this resolved. The SMI Air Force One unit sounds similar to our M&G. Jack