JW
Jamie Willis-Rose
Jan 26, 2026
I bought a Colmen 17R last week from Camping World in Benton, AR. It is my first camper, so bear that in mind when you read this. TLDR: Wonderful sales service from JD Duke - 5 stars for him - but post-sales have had some issues that I'll detail below, hence the 4 stars...
If you're buying, consider these lessons learned. If you're Camping World, consider this constructive criticism.
1) They offered delivery, which I needed because it's my first camper. Unfortunately the heated hose they sold me wasn't long enough. The delivery guy left without offering any resolution/help. I was forced to drive to North Little Rock because the Benton location didn't have the longer hose in stock. Kudos, BTW, to the NLR Camping World for their assistance.
2) My hot water doesn't work. It (appeared) to work during the walk through, but honestly the walk through was a blur of information, so maybe it didn't. Either way, I don't have hot water. The current theory (after 30 minutes on the line with the service team) is that the cold weather may have frozen one of the lines into the tankless water heater. Hopefully nothing bursts (knock on wood) and I can retry when we have a thaw in a few days.
3) I have horrible Wi-Fi reception in the camper. I may not have made it clear to JD that I needed Wi-Fi, so that's on me. I called the tech support for Good Sam (the company behind Camping World - I think) and got a very knowledgeable guy who told me I basically need to get my camper serviced and have a Wi-Fi extender installed. For a lot of reasons I won't go into, that will be very difficult, so please talk to your sales rep BEFORE you take delivery and be clear on what levels of connectivity you need/expect. I will also note that the service guy from Camping World told me that my Winegard antenna had Wi-Fi built in (it does not) and that I should be able to use it to boost my signal (I could not). There's a LOT of products out there for RV + Internet, so I suggest doing some research BEFORE you make your purchase.
4) Propane is hard to come by in emergency weather conditions, especially tanks, so I strongly suggest buying two tanks. I only got one. Luckily my parents had a spare in their garage, but if not for that, I'd have run out of propane before the roads were safe to drive.
5) Lastly, despite what JD said when I asked him if the camper was insulated, it really is VERY cold in here. Granted, it's one of the worst cold spells ever in Arkansas, not exactly fair, but would not call this particular model a "four seasons" model. The heater works (knock on wood), but it can only do so much.
6) Lastly, the thing that gives me the most pause and wondering if this was just a plain bad idea: water/sewage disposal. I don't have access to proper sewage disposal lines, so they sold me an external drainage tank, but I feel like that just kicks the can down the road so to speak...
If I could wave a magic wand and undo this purchase or If I could do all over again, I would probably not buy a camper for my particular situation.
I hope your experience is better!