The end of the boom? The beginning of sanity?

[vampress_me]

Got this in email today from CW. Can I dare hope it’s maybe a signal of a camping slowdown? I honestly had given up hope of taking the camper anywhere this summer because the places we’ve wanted to go all have full campgrounds already (I’m not used to planning in the fall of the previous year for next summer’s adventures I guess). Hubby was saying maybe keep looking for spots where we are wanting to go because he’s guessing there will be cancellations due to fuel prices and some newbie disillusionment with camping. Luckily we have our seasonal spot, but it’s still fun to pack up and go other places too.

[GHen]

I hope so, but…
I have always viewed CW as very overpriced on everything that they sell so they can offer what appears to be sale prices, which can still be over priced….

Obviously not everyone agrees with me, since they are still in business.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by GHen

I hope so, but…
I have always viewed CW as very overpriced on everything that they sell so they can offer what appears to be sale prices, which can still be over priced….

Obviously not everyone agrees with me, since they are still in business.

They aren't by a long shot. I've shopped all along the south/middle of the country and there are other places much higher. One of the biggest things about CW is that they are nationwide and anything one dealer sells to you will be honored by any CW - that's tough to match with most other dealers.

[GHen]

I’ll admit, I’ve mainly found their parts and store items high priced I have no experience with their RV pricing. I do keep a membership for their discounts at RV parks, but seldom buy anything else there.

[sourdough]

I buy OE parts from them if required, specialty items like toilets and other different things from time to time. Bought a Coleman BBQ grill (RoadTrip??) on sale cheaper than anyone else, which happens quite often if you watch the sales.

[Carrottop]

Well I am not sure about used prices but new are not dropping. We purchased our new park model in October due to our old trailer getting written off. We purchased a 2021 Keystone Residence 40FLFT new for $67,000 CAD. We take delivery in early May as they stored it for us. I spoke to the sales manager last week and he stated that the new Jacyo and Keystone Park models similar to mine in the 2022 models are starting at $92,500. That is quite the price jump.

[flybouy]

A "sale" that's advertised can vary widely. I've seen a lot of examples where a company will increase a price on an item by 30% then advertise a 20% discount "sale". Batteries and tires are always on sale, until you have a warranty claim. The warranty pro-rated price is the "non-sale price" often negating the value of the warranty claim. Simply look at the bottom line price of the "sale" and the price the competitors are asking.

As for CW I can’t speak to thier trailer sales personally. My experience buying from their website wasn't impressing for me. I am a Good Same member so I get "free" shipping I the order meets the threshold. In my experience they have been very slow in getting and order shipped out. Seems like they have improved at little but I find Amazon Prime gives me free shipping on most things and is far faster

The actual store that we used to visit in southern NJ changed a couple years ago. They used to have a clearence rack where you could find some great deals. That dissapeared. The store was reset and there were less items like LP fittings, hitch parts, etc. The store had a huge increase in pet supplies, mugs, curtians and bedspreads. The feeling I got was the store designer was a previous Target and souvenirshop designer and blended the two experiences. JMO

I do surf the CW website for off season clearence stuff. Sometimes I can find good deals there if the shipping doesn't offset the discount.As an example last November I ordered a new flag pole. The price was over $69 so free shipping and it was a 10% off the sale price which was less than I could get it anywhere else. A lot of other items I see may be a good price but not worth it if the total order doesn't qualify for free shipping. Just my experience.

[KarenK]

Bought our used Springdale from a local dealer that sold out to CW shortly after our purchase. Wasn't happy with service when I needed it. They were not even close to knowing whether the parts I ordered came in or not, where they were, etc. I had to keep calling them to get anything done. The place had a CW store in it before they bought the dealer out, the store went to through big changes afterwards, their excuse for not knowing anything about your order.

Last week was shopping for 3 new Max Air vent covers in white for this other camper. Usually etrailer is my go to, $57 a piece last week, now on sale for 47. Camping World was at $38 each for translucent white, qualified for free ship. Black/smoke were more expensive.

[sourdough]

Originally Posted by KarenK

Bought our used Springdale from a local dealer that sold out to CW shortly after our purchase. Wasn't happy with service when I needed it. They were not even close to knowing whether the parts I ordered came in or not, where they were, etc. I had to keep calling them to get anything done. The place had a CW store in it before they bought the dealer out, the store went to through big changes afterwards, their excuse for not knowing anything about your order.

Last week was shopping for 3 new Max Air vent covers in white for this other camper. Usually etrailer is my go to, $57 a piece last week, now on sale for 47. Camping World was at $38 each for translucent white, qualified for free ship. Black/smoke were more expensive.

Karen I went thru the same thing when my dealer became CW. It was a fiasco with a capital F.....and I had decided to buy a trailer! CW had no idea what the invoice/cost of the trailers were nor anything else it seemed. That disappeared with the old company. After involving the leadership of CW we got things worked out and they are great to work with today.

I thought the loss of the critical info on the trailers was strange but I've now gone through 2 company changes with my internet/phone/TV provider at home and both times they lost everything about my account including auto pay. The first time resulted in my account being disconnected which resulted in the loss of my security system and cameras. They said it was my security system company. I had a face to face with them when I got home and.....whoops, no internet. I ended up in a conference room with the CEO of the phone/internet company and his management team and got it squared away.

This time (this trip) I knew what to expect and preemptively called the CEO of the company taking over (after I learned of it) prior to transition and told him to watch over my account so something like that wouldn't happen and he said he would - he was putting a note on his computer. Last week saw an envelope from the new company in my electronic USPS preview and knew it would be a bill so I called them. Yep, I was in arrears and yep, my auto pay didn't xfer. Got it squared away and asked to speak to the CEO but he was out. Told her to give him a message from me that I had called to check on my account as I said I would and he had failed to follow up on it as he said he would and she did. That evening I got a text from him with a picture of his computer screen with a yellow sticky note on it with my details - he just apologized and said he forgot.

All that to point out that transitions and the accompanying cutovers are very difficult and lots of stuff falls through the cracks. Went through 4 of them while working and most seemed they went off without a hitch but we did have some major snafus and even the ones that seemed to go smoothly had some individuals that were affected that didn't think it was so "smooth" I'm sure. Give them some time and see if they don't improve.

[KarenK]

Originally Posted by sourdough

Karen I went thru the same thing when my dealer became CW. It was a fiasco with a capital F.....and I had decided to buy a trailer! CW had no idea what the invoice/cost of the trailers were nor anything else it seemed. That disappeared with the old company. After involving the leadership of CW we got things worked out and they are great to work with today.

I gave them more than one chance to collect and get their ducks in a row, then after repeated promises of phone calls that didn't happened, orders that weren't placed it was time to complain publically. Businesses hate bad reviews, left an honest one in several places, one site was monitored by CW. Contacted by someone from the head office, who directed the local GM and parts manager to take care of my service issues.

Notice 3 things, one being a women I get talked down to and/or ignored. Two, I own an old rig, not a new 100K+ so get treated differently.
Three, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

We have a general trailer 45 minutes away, and a friend who is a tech there. I go there for anything I can't do or he can't do at our house.

[flybouy]

Unfortunatley I think it's the new modus operandi of the "Covid-19" world. We changed health insurance providers 2 years ago. Within weeks we get a call from a "pharmany specialist" that wanted to do a "yearly review" of my medicine. I figured the purpose was to find a way for them to save money, not to "help me stay healthy" as the proclaimed.

After aboutt an hour she began questioning me why I was prescribed x or whay was the diagnoses for y. After informing her of Hippa laws I asked her exactly what her educational training was, what degrees she held, and what her experience was. I grilled her to get get her curriculum vitae. She was a pharmacy tech. I politly told her the I see a cardiologist and an endocrinologist that are both the Chief of their respective departments at a major metropolitan hospital. My pharmasisi is a doctor of pharmacology and my wife oversees my medicines as she has her masters in nursing, is a neonatal icu nurse, lactation cunsultant, and is an adjunct faculty member teaching nursing in college and that's the "short list" of her qualifications. I suggested if she choose to question my treatment plan that she do it with the providers not the end user.

Long story to get to this point but after all of this we continue to get calls saying they want to do a yearly review. Now we screen our calls but with Covid when you leave a message and are waiting for a return call it may come from anywhere because folks are working from home. It's insane, sometimes we'll get 2 calls in one day from the "pharmacy specialist". They say "you can opt out, it's not a requirenment, bla, bla, bla. When I tell them no, stop calling it's always the same response that I assume they read from their screen. "Ill put it in the computer so we stop calling". During one call the caller told me the insurance company has "several different agencies making the calls so putting a note not to call again may not get to the others."

About 3 weeks ago I'd had my fill and called the insurance company and spent about 2 hours going from supervisor to supervisor. Finally got to th Director's office and figured that was as far as I was going to reach. I explained my displeasure and of course recieved the obligatory lip service. I explained how lately the frequency has increased to where we're getting called at least twice a week. For craps sakes the "your automobile warranty is about to expire" folks don’t call me that often. I told him if he couldn't fix this that I'd have no recourse but to file harrasment charges. Haven’t had a call from them in 3 weeks so hopefully it's done. We'll see.

I apologize for the long winded response but it just seems like the "times" has given a lot of companies the excuse to reduce, or eliminate customer service and sometimes their civility. Keep tenasiously pursuing resolution and don’t accept "that's just the way things are". It takes time and effort but if folks just accept it then it will never change.

[wiredgeorge]

Originally Posted by KarenK

I gave them more than one chance to collect and get their ducks in a row, then after repeated promises of phone calls that didn't happened, orders that weren't placed it was time to complain publically. Businesses hate bad reviews, left an honest one in several places, one site was monitored by CW. Contacted by someone from the head office, who directed the local GM and parts manager to take care of my service issues.

Notice 3 things, one being a women I get talked down to and/or ignored. Two, I own an old rig, not a new 100K+ so get treated differently.
Three, squeaky wheel gets the grease.

We have a general trailer 45 minutes away, and a friend who is a tech there. I go there for anything I can't do or he can't do at our house.

Geesh! OLD? You have a modern camper and tow vehicle! I have never been in a Camping World... sounds like I really going to put a trip to one on my bucket list. I have visited an Explore USA dealership (they have an number in this area). They have no camping/RV accessories and will not work on a camper unless purchased from them. Their show room floor looks like a high end jewelry store place. Prices on their campers reflected it.