Rant- RV salespersons

[keylime359]

We must have an ignore us patch on our backs. We went to the RV place to look for a 5er (DH has decided our 6 month old camper is too small- yes you all told me so but a good wife lets husband discover mistake on own- wise fortune cookie told me so) anyhoo. The first go round the guy flat out tells us "I only really deal with class A RV's" Well excuse me! I had to tell him the model number did not indicate length. :confused: Then we went to another place and found a great one but no one would talk to us. Yes, I went to the front and had a salesman paged. So we are walking aroung in the blazing sun and this sales man came up to us on his golf cart and asked if we were being helped and we said no. He said "Well. I can't realy help you I am with other people (understandable) We gave him out business card and said we are interested in... please email us or call us today with a price. Guess what no call no email. Maybe Friday I will tape dollar bills to my naked body to get someone to talk to us. (or maybe get DH to do it).
Here is the kicker, the dealer we bought out camper from knows everything- models, towing you name it. We went there 1st actually because he is so good. He is so small he can't get many lines and had 2 for us to choose from, one was to big the other didn't have a couch. Why must the little guy get the shaft while the big places have sales men not representing the lines? It is a retorical question I know the answer I'm just sayin!
So, that it my rant. Thank you for listening. When we meet you all in July we will probably be in our "cozy camper" (which I LOVE BTW) all 18 feet of it!

[disney4dan]

I'm really sorry to hear that, and am actually surprised that the economy is still so good where you live that any salesman would be too busy "or only really deal in Class A's". Up here, you'd probably be treated like royalty (without having to tape dollar bills to ...., well, I digress here)

I can relate, though. Back when we were just researching what we wanted for camping, Nancy was in need of a new vehicle and we were considering going for an SUV instead of a mini-van so we would have more options for a lite trailer or pop-up, yet still have 3 rows of seats. We drove an hour to one of the largest Dodge dealers in the central part of our state to look at the Durango's. Same deal, no one was interested in the five of us. Even went to speak to the sales mgr at one point, while we all climbed in to one of the models in the showroom to check out the comfort for a long trip. We walked out eventually and went somewhere else.

Almost as bad as making an appointment to see/try a particular model and then they don't have it in stock when you show up. In this day and age when people have the ability to do a lot of research on their own, you would think that a sales rep would know better than to try and offer an apple to a customer who is asking for an orange????

[ftwildernessguy]

I had a problem a few years ago at a larger dealership I had bought my previous camper from. It seemed like the salespeople were all car salesmen that were between jobs and were filling in by selling RV's. They knew nothing about their product. Fortunately, we have a lot of small, family owned RV dealers in the Valley who have great customer service. Last week I was buying some supplies at one and they were emphasizing TT's because of the weakened economy and poor class A sales. Keep looking and search out those family owned dealers that will service their product.

[LORNADUCK]

I wonder if you are talking about a big dealer in Tampa area. We went there 2x to buy a RV, my DH happen to know the salesman we were dealing with. He also left me in the hot parking lot and told me to look around, I already did and knew what I wanted. Also no call, we called him. We did buy both times but not from him or that dealership. When we were looking for a 3rd unit I refused to go back there. A friend of my DS works there and told us about a great salesman and he was. We did buy there then and had a great experience. He is no longer there. My DH keeps in touch with him and he has started his own company. If you would like I could try to find the info for you. If not go to RV.net and ask many people on there know great RV salesmen.

[michelle9343]

We had the same experience when we were looking for a new TT the first dealership we could not even get anyone to even show us anything. But luckily we have two RV dealerships next to each other. At the second dealership We dealt with an awsome salesmen who went above and beyond to help us find what we wanted in our price range.
You would think that in this econmy sales people would be jumping though hoops to make a happy customer.
If you wanted to travel to Occoe Fl I could give you a name of a wonderful salesmen.

[big kahuna1]

I'll sell you one. Just send a cashiers check payable to Bumbiaoo Oogasakikungpou for $26,763.59 and mail it to 200 1/2 Goombiyasama Circle Netanyubookai, Nigeria A43H77:thumbsup2

Man, you would think in this economy that the sales people would be mugging you for the business. :confused3

[des1954]

Ah.... I suspect because of where you live, you went to North Trail RV. They are a smug bunch. We went there to buy a Travel Supreme Bus back in 2002 & they wouldn't consider negotiating on the price. We found one at a little itty bitty dealer in Tampa (not Lazy Days), and got an unbelievable price. My DH called the salesman back at North Trail to see if they could come close to a price match. He laughed & told DH he was lying about the price. :scared1: We faxed him the sales slip & basically told him to stick it somewhere uncomfortable!

BTW - we have a great salesman at Lazy Days - Tampa. Just let me know if you're interested & I'll give you his name and number. You call him, tell him what you're interested in, he'll check the lot, e-mail you pictures, etc. You don't even have to drive there until he finds the unit you're interested in seeing & possibly buying.

[keylime359]

North Trail- BINGO you are correct. So rude. I am going to call Camping World today to ask about the Keystone Outback we like and I will ask for the sales manager. Hey, we gave the guy all night and nothing. If this does not work out I will go up to the places you all suggested and tell them you sent me. When I do buy something I am going to photocopy the invoice and send it it the North Trail manager. The lost out on a Class A sales with my parents for the same reason. The went to RV World in Nokomis. If I were in RV sales and I had someone tell me we bought this truck specificaly to go camping I would say hey, that is a qualified lead. Oh and by the way DH and I are both Realtors so we aren't bashing sales people per se, just this group we are dealing with.

[des1954]

They went to RV World in Nokomis.

I knew the original owner of this place when he was just a little dirt lot on US 41. Ruben Gerzeny - don't know if he still owns it. Nokomis RV World also has a place here in Lakeland. We gave them a shot on a new Winnie Adventurer once, and they would not negotiate from sticker price. Ended up back at Lazy Days. Didn't get the Adventurer, but got a sweet little Dutch Star (used) that North Trail RV had to do the warranty work on! Ha!!! I got the last laugh!!

[seven dwarfs]

We bought a class A from Lazy Days. We had a great sales person. We took over a year before we decided what we wanted to buy. Our salesman stuck with us. We have had our RV for almost 2 years and to this day, my salesman still calls and checks on us. I have recommended one customer who had the same experience with him. Another of my friends I told about this salesman and when she called Lazy Days they gave her someone different. She had an awful experience and bought somewhere else. So, I will say the sales person can make it a good or bad experience! Our first salesman at Lazy Days was awful. I knew it wouldn't work and requested someone else. Boy, I am so glad I did this. And to be honest, I was a pain. This was a lot of money for us to spend and I wanted to make sure I got what we wanted for the right price. I am surprised he stuck with us as long as he did!

Good luck to you! I would think in this economy you would see much better service!

[ntsammy5]

Man, you would think in this economy that the sales people would be mugging you for the business. :confused3

No scheiss!

[des1954]

No scheiss!


No.....Nein Scheiße!!!

[big kahuna1]

Hey, no red neck spoken here...this is an english only site!:thumbsup2

[Gatordad]

Allison, we went to Ocala for ours, the place was tradewindsrv dot com.... the guy we had Steve was excellent to deal with. why not call him, he's open on sunday, not saturday.

[Live4FW]

Allison, we went to Ocala for ours, the place was tradewindsrv dot com.... the guy we had Steve was excellent to deal with. why not call him, he's open on sunday, not saturday.

We bought our first pop-up from them back in 92-93. Easy to deal with.

[LONE-STAR]

I just wanted to say if you are looking at a 5th wheel you should look into a toy hauler. With a 5th wheel you will no longer have the bed of your truck to haul anything. Even if you don't have a golf cart now you might later. But toy haulers work great to haul everything bikes, bar-b-q-grills, all the stuff you need when you go camping. Plus its a good room for the grand parents to sleep in.

[keylime359]

Thank you all for your suggestions. I will be calling some of them for sure. Gatordad I may take a ride up there Sunday as it is close enough to drive. We are now not just looking DH has decided we are trading up. He can't fathom the idea of 12 days in 18 feet. We also found out that we will only lose around 2K from what we paid so it was a wash vs renting to see if we liked camping. The thing is our unit is a 2010 and it is not showing on the blue book for a value. I clean it twice a week so it is clean.
You guys are just so much help and I appricaite it so much.:thumbsup2

[4mickey2]

our first lance we bought not too far from home. great deal from a dealer that has sold a lot of campers to our family and friends. when we were going to upgrade they no longer carried the lance so we had to shop around. called minnesota, northern wisconsin and a dealer in tennessee. hands down tennessee gave us the best no haggle price and delivered it over the state border to save us the sales tax. it was way less money even with our drive.

the next upgrade happened while we were on vacation. we decided to call around on the jayco senecas. found a guy in ohio with a rock bottom price drove there from our vacation spot (smokies). hooked our lance up to their electric for two nights (over the holiday) and made a decission to buy one of their senecas. some dealers deserve your business and others deserve to be ranked on..
;)

[stacktester]

I just wanted to say if you are looking at a 5th wheel you should look into a toy hauler. With a 5th wheel you will no longer have the bed of your truck to haul anything. Even if you don't have a golf cart now you might later. But toy haulers work great to haul everything bikes, bar-b-q-grills, all the stuff you need when you go camping. Plus its a good room for the grand parents to sleep in.

I agree with Michael. It's nice having the garage in mine when I don't have my cart. I finally figured out I'm changing the back bumper on mine and pulling the cart on a small trailer unless Keylime wants a heck of a deal and buy's mine lol.

[ftwildernessguy]

If I had a toy hauler, I'd be using it as a garage when it was parked in the driveway. Everytime I went camping, I'd have to unload my lawnmower, garden tools, gas cans, ladders, bug sprayers, lawn chemicals..........

[DisneyBishops]

I uh forgot what i was going to type. Must be getting old. LOL

[stacktester]

Allison, my neighbor sold me my 5th wheel and he told me tonight to please give you his number. His name is Dan McDermott with Suncoast RV. The number is (904) 642-1600. He said they have some nice 5th wheels that he can offer a good price on. Never hurts to inquire what he's got.

[keylime359]

Well, thank you all for your suggestions. We bought one and they are prepping it for delivery Tuesday. We got a great deal (I think) on a 5th wheel. CW was very eager to help us after we called the sales mgr. He put us with a very knowlegable salesman. I feel comfortable with him as he steered us away from several that we liked (more money) that he said would be pushing it too far with my truck. We are only losing a little bit on our trade as it is so new.We got them to run the cable outside so we can do a TV out there and a few other things (not the electric awning I tried) I would have like to really look around more but DH just gets a bug and wants it done yesterday. I called around and not many places carried the light weight 5ers. We had the gooseneck put in my truck today- HUGE! and heavy! That will be a marriage builder to get that puppy off together. I am so sad to see my little 18 footer go but I know that this is for the best. If DH is comfy we will go camping more often. We went out tonight to get the stuff to make a home theater in there it will be sweet when we are done. I know this is all commonplace to you because of your experience but it is so new and exciting for us. We leave for vacation next week and will finish up at the Fort for the 4th. I can't wait to meet you all in person:banana:

[vick]

What did you end up getting?

[Born 2 Fish]

Good morning Vick ! :goodvibes

[vick]

Good morning Vick ! :goodvibes

Good mornin' to you Frank! :)

[keylime359]

We went to get it today and can you believe they did not prep it? We told them several (reasonable) things that needed to be done. All they did was armour all the tires and hose down the outside of the camper. I was livid.I mean grease on the carpet? Are you kidding me? I told them to give me back my title to my camper. UNBELIVEABLE! What kills me is that we called all over Florida to get the one we want and this is the only dealer that has one. Maybe we should go to Elkhart to get one. Do you think they could get it right?

[4mickey2]

you have to go where you feel is right. if it takes traveling to a place, i say go for it.

[LONE-STAR]

We saved thousands ordering ours from up north (including delivery). I have had 2 friends order from up north and my boss is ordering one right now. We all used different dealers but we all saved money. But with a trade I know it would be harder.

[momoffive]

How's the search going? Any new options pop up for you? I hope you find what you are loking for soon.
Loretta

[JCJRSmith]

No.....Nein Scheiße!!!

Based on what I remember from my high school German, it is Keine Scheiße!!!