Shame on us. Just as we began to think we had discovered and repaired all of the problems with the Jefferson II by Champion Genesis, another one pops up. Albeit minor, it is still a problem and very annoying. While finishing the interior, we were pleasantly surprised to see what looked like a quality flourescent fixture in the laundry room. Unlike the problems associated with the lighting in the kitchen, the laundry room light seemed to work fine. That is until recently. With relatively few hours of usage, the light now flickers at a rate during the first few minutes that would cause you to leave the room or turn the light off and work in the dark. More than likely it is the ballast, since the bulbs are new. We will however, buy two new bulbs to see if that corrects the problem before replacing the ballast. What the heck, it's only more money down the Champion Genesis blackhole!
6/14/2007 11:07 AM
Connie Owens-Houston wrote:
What a total shame that you did not have a good experience with Champion Homes. I have been a Champion Retailer in Virginia for many years and have had a wonderful working relationship with the Lillington, NC plant. As with anything that is manufactured, problems do arrise. I have had issues with some of the homes that I have sold, but Champion has always been there in a timely manner to repair the problem. You are blaming the entire Champion Industry for the problems that you had. Years ago, I purchased an automobile that was a true and total lemon, but I did not feel the need to down the entire Chevrolet Industry because of my issue with Chevrolet. You are taking your personal experience and making it sound as though every home that Champion builds is of pour quality, that is not the truth. I have many very satisfied customers who would gladly purchase another Champion home. I am sorry that you had a bad experience with Champion, , but to down the whole building industry of Champion is truly stupid. Champion has built and will continue to build homes for years to come. If the Champion home was such a piece if "s*it" as you stated then boy did Country Living magazine let down the thousands of readers that suscribe to this well known publication, when they chose the Champion Genesis Home as their featured Home of the Year for 2006. I suppose all of the builders and judges were all blind and did not know anything about the quaility of construction of this home, nor did they do any research on the Champion Corporation. Not to mention the affordibility of the home. Your opinion is based on your personal experience not based on any other facts or truths. I have a feeling that no home, nor home builder would have ever met your expectations, Again I am sorry for your negative experience, but I will continue to market a product that I know first hand is way above many of the other homes available in the modular industry. Reply to this
6/16/2007 3:14 PM
Mike wrote:
I am certainly glad that you have encountered a few good products from Champion. However, we have built four homes and remodeled another three in the last few years. This was our first modular home and it was, not as I quoted, but as the Champion field repair man quoted, " a piece of sh*t." Actually, there were two Champion service techs on site and the other agreed with his partners assessment. They then informed me that the repairs were too major for them to undertake and I would have to wait for the factory to decide how to handle the problems. One does not have to look very far or hard to find a lot of dissatisfied buyers of Champion products.
It was one of several poorly constructed homes from the Champion Genesis plant in Arizona. As for fooling people, the Champion folks made the Jefferson II constructed for the NAHB show in Las Vegas look like a million dollars! Of course, all it took was twenty-thirty men working around the clock for a week so that on the surface it looked terrific and not worrying about the bones and structure. As for the facts, the photos and descriptions speak for themselves, particularly the drain leading to nowhere.(see 3/30/06 post)
I do find your last statement albeit puzzling. You seem satisfied with a product "above many of the other homes available in the modular industry." This does not sound like a ringing endorsement of Champion quality, it sounds more like the choice between the bottom tier of builders. Just because Champion builds a lot of homes, does not make them a good builder, it makes them a good marketer.
Incidentally, we are already looking at another modular manufacturer for two homes for our Sons. But rest assured, it is not Champion!
6/22/2007 9:25 AM
george mandzuik wrote:
In 2001, I purchased for my daughter a 30' by 40' Redman Manufactured Home and ordered many upgrades. it was placed on a lot in Bellingham, Wa on a foundation. The workmanship on the home was crap to use a colloquial express. Skylights leaked, gas fire place hook up was placed no where near the stove and over a foot from the wall, shingling did not extend over the ends of the roof, all the windows leaked and moulded inside during the winter season when it rained. I had to build awning that stretched the entire back and front to solve the problem. the moldings, painting and other finish work were completed so poorly i redid much of the work....and so on. Never would i purchase another Redman Home!!!! Reply to this
1/25/2008 12:32 PMSusan wrote:
I would love to sell you two homes. I sell Four Seasons, Commodore,and Dutch. I do Manufactured and Modular Homes of all sizes. Phone number 1-573-374-4041 Reply to this
7/31/2008 9:08 AM
Elaine wrote:
I'm almost ashamed to say that I'm glad to know I'm not the only person who has had major problems with a modular home. The structure, itself, is fine but a home is no better than it's foundation. Mine was installed by Jireh Construction (Tom Duby, President.) These days I don't even live in it. I'm watching this really nice house slide toward it's demise. Yeah, I should do something but all of my money has gone into acquiring this place. Duby & Stratford are aware of the situation & they won't even respond to me. At first Duby said he would "fix" it. After he saw the extent of the problems, he just disappeared. These are not mistakes. They are acts of fraud, drains that lead to nowhere, insulation that appears installed but only where it shows, open that wall & it's empty. Etc, etc. I hope we've all learned from these experiences. I hope others learn from our experiences so that they don't have the same problems. Reply to this
2/15/2008 9:34 AM
DeVaults - A Cedar Fire Rebuild? wrote:
Okay. First of all, are you kidding me about Genesis Homes being quality? We are a Cedar Fire rebuild. We too thought that because of the length of time Champion was in business, they must be a good company. We were so incredibly wrong! The wires for the house were in such an entanglement that TWO separate electricians would not touch it! There are jacks for phones and cable that have no wires for them. Pipes for water were missing from inside the walls, although the faucets and sinks were connected to the wall. Surprise!No pipes behind the drywall... The ducts for the heating have been blocked and/or are not in place. The water heater goes out as much as five times per day. Laundry has to be rewashed repeatedly as we attempt to keep the water heater going. During the Witch Fire we could not call out for help because of the phone wire fiasco. I was alone with a child, three dogs, two cats, and five horses tied to the car. Fallen trees blocked horse trailer access. We had to walk five horses, inhcluding one stallion five miles to the high school, which was empty. The whole town had been evacuated, but we had no way of knowing. The walls, windows, sills leak and/or are cracked. On top of it all, it was discoverd that our house that wsz sold to us as brand new was a demo! No only did our house nearly cause our demise during the fires, which came within five hundred feet of our house, it has robbed my child of quality of life. We are constantly waiting on contractors, as much as three days per week to this day. I've reached my limit and have reached for an attorney. They lile about being aware of a problem, usch as with the water heater. Every one of the homes built by Genesis have the same problem here. Buying a Genesis home from Chapman was by far the greatest and most costly (financhially and emotionally) mistake of my life. Call your architect, don't call Genesis!!!!!! Reply to this
What a terrible experience. You have every right to be unhappy.
I am the General Manager of Greenlawn Homes in Columbus, OH which is the oldest retailer/builder of Redman homes in the United States. We have had a POSITIVE relationship with Redman for over 60 years and currently inventory 19 of their modular constructed homes and over 30 of their HUD code manufactured homes which were produced at the Redman Homes of Indiana facility in Topeka, IN.
One thing to note about Champion Homes and its divisions is that each operate completely separately. The factory in Indiana, although owned by Champion, has NOTHING to do with the Redman facility in Pennsylvania. Thus, there are a variety of outcomes and experiences, both good and bad. So, although I can understand your frustration and irritation, it is not accurate to paint all Redman and Champion facilities with the same brush.
Greenlawn Homes is a proud supplier of Redman constructed homes and has thousands of satisfied customers. Greenlawn is in the business of creating happy customers and ultimately making money. If Redman made either of those things difficult, Greenlawn would find a new supplier.
So my, plea to you is this...work through whatever channels you need to in order to resolve your problems but please do not indicte all Redman/Genesis/Champions facilities in the process.
6/21/2007 3:03 PM
Mike wrote:
I have no doubt that Greenlawn Homes is a reputable dealer and builder. Your product line includes Genesis homes built by Redman a subsidary owned and managed by Champion Enterprises.
One of your fellow General Managers told me that the advertising on the Genesis website is controlled by corporate (Champion). When people click on the webpage and see certain claims being made about specific products used in the construction of Genesis modular homes, they have a reasonable expectation that they are being told the truth. However, in the interest of saving money, Champion has been cost cutting by outsourcing to China for plumbing fixtures and other building materials. The plants may very well operate separately, but Champion is the supplier of the materials that go into each home during the building process. No doubt, as the housing crunch deepens, Champion will continue to tighten the budget at the expense of the home buyer, in order to make the numbers look good to the stock holders.
If you take the time to click on the following link you will find some interesting comments about the lack of quality at several different Champion Redman plants:
It would appear the bar for measuring quality has been raised by the competition. As people become better informed as to what is available in the modular home market, the pressure will be on Champion to raise the quality of their product.
Thank you for your response and again I feel for you and your situation.
We have handled many manufacturers over the years including some that have been mentioned in this forum. After testing all of them, we are convinced that Redman Homes of Indiana is the absolute best.
I think after doing a bit more research, you will find that nearly all manufacturers use the same suppliers. To say that Champion uses inferior materials compared to other manufacturers is simply inaccurate. Please lookup Manufactured Housing builders in the Elkhart, IN (the manufactured housig capital of the world) phone book and see how many come up. Then look up suppliers to the same industry. There are few suppliers. Better yet, call one of the suppliers and ask them which manufacturers they supply. You will find remarkable similarities.
Again, you are in a bad situation. Your forum, however, is not completely accurate and you are actually doing injustice to potential homeowners.
6/26/2007 11:54 AM
Mike wrote:
There is no question that
Champion Redman is one of the oldest factory home builders in the
United States. However, often in business, the older companies are
saddled with old technology because management has an investment in
equipment that needs to be justified with their stockholders. Younger
companies can invest in the newest equipment and training which results
in a better product at a more reasonable cost. Some companies rely on
the quality of their product to speak for them, while others use
marketing. Some take great pride in what they build, others do not.
As
an example, Champion Genesis advertises on their website that the
Redman/Genesis plant in Chandler Arizona uses MOEN fixtures in their
homes. This statement is false and misleading. In fact they provide
fixtures made in China that are of an inferior quality to MOEN. That
is not to say that products from China are inferior. On the contrary,
manufacturers in China produce excellent quality products when the
specifications call for it. However, when the specifications call for
something less, China produces what the customer desires. In this
case, Champion desires something less than MOEN quality. On the plus
side and to their credit, Champion offers GE appliances.
Unfortunately, the plus side ends there. Make no mistake, Champion
Redman management decides which components go into their homes. The
decision is not left up to the suppliers.
This forum is more
accurate that any Champion Genesis Redman website. The intent of this
forum is to present potential buyers with information so that they may
make a more informed decision regarding the purchase of a modular
home. The more information they have, the better decision they can
make! Fooling the public and keeping them in the dark is a true
injustice. Simply relying on what the Champion dealer tells you is an
injustice. Believing what you read on the Champion website is an
injustice. Potential homebuyers can decide for themselves which
product best suits their needs. Anyone can research Champion Genesis
Redman and find out what others think about their product. Previous
comments address the Redman product specifically.
No doubt you
are sincere and believe that the Redman plant in Indiana meets your
needs. Clearly you believe that the supervision and inspection process
at the Indiana plant exceeds what one finds in the other Redman plants
across the country. Assuming, and that's a big assumption, given
Champion's history, you are correct about the Indiana plant, perhaps
Champion should use the Indiana plant as a model for the rest of the
plants and in doing so eliminate problems associated with their
manufacturing process. To do so might eliminate the problems
associated with the factory building process, but would still leave the
definition of quality materials/components unanswered.
As for
being not completely accurate, telling people that a Champion modular
home uses the same materials as a "stick built home" and it is better
because it is built in a factory out of the weather, etc, etc, is
truly an injustice to potential buyers.
As always, start at the beginning and get the whole story.
In this case, it starts with the entry 3/30/07.
Reply to this
12/24/2009 5:59 PM
carol wrote:
Thank you all for your notes and expressing all your frustrations we are about to buy property with one of these homes on it and now we will have some experts examine it before we make any offer. Reply to this
