Venting about an unhappy experience

[AshnJim]

Excuse our venting, but ....

There are only a couple of Forest River dealers in town, and finding the Rockwood we want is nigh unto impossible unless we travel farther afield. But a lot just a few miles away had a couple of Flagstaffs with Murphy beds, so even though we want a Rockwood (and the Flags weren't even the sister model), we went over to check out the Murphy bed.

In particular - and I explained this on the phone when I spoke with the salesman before we went there - we wanted to see if ~I~ could put the bed up and down. But when he showed us, he wouldn't let me do it at all. "Let your husband do it," he said, more than once. I reiterated that ~I~ need to be able to do it, but he still stood in my way and wanted Jim to do it.

I mentioned, just as friendly chat, that I've been on these forums and learned a lot, and he said, "Oh, that's too bad. Most of them don't know what they're talking about." Turns out he thought I meant the official Forest River forum, and not this one, but we were not impressed that he didn't know these forums exist.

We've been to this dealer once before, and when they never got back to us, not even a follow-up call, about the Rockwood we wanted then (and currently have), we gave up and bought it elsewhere. Alas, that dealer, though wonderful, now only sells Jayco - and when we mentioned where we'd gotten our PUP, he bad-mouthed them!

This was this dealer's second chance, and he blew it. We don't really like going to Phoenix (120 miles), or maybe Albuquerque or farther, but there is no way we'll buy from this guy after the way he treated us today. Le sigh.

[Ford Idaho]

It is sad that FR the manufacture does not have more pull with the people who sell their units.

I dislike poor service so I would be more than willing to make an overnight trip if needed to buy what I want or find a good dealer who will order and service what I want.

Poor service providers should be run out of town due to a lack of customers.

[geotex1]

Ash,

Sorry for your experience! Seems so many dealers have lost their way when it comes to quality customer service!

I don't know if the data point helps you at all, my wife at 5'-6" and 115# soaking wet with bad shoulders from playing tennis back in high school and college was able to set up and stow the Murphy Bed on the 2304s models we looked at without difficulty. It was actually harder for her to work the pesky jack-knife sofa!

Best of luck to you, and it's a shame since the Flagstaff Shamrock is the sister line of the Rockwood Roo. Exact same build, come off the line one after another, and only difference is the interior fabrics.

[mark0224]

Another one of those I just want a buck people, having a good reputation should come first in business. If you have a good reputation, in business, the money will come to you.

[AshnJim]

Thanks, y'all.

[X96mnn]

Look in the bright side, you learned what they treat you like when you are trying to give you money, imagine how they would be if you have a problem.

Lot of salesmen have no clue what they are talking about, do not want an informed customer coming in and calling them on knowledge they gained from a forum.

[Evereddie]

Originally Posted by AshnJim

......Turns out he thought I meant the official Forest River forum, and not this one, but we were not impressed that he didn't know these forums exist.

I didn't think there was another Forest River forum. This one is not run or operated by Forest River but the closest thing to official. ???

[youroo]

Originally Posted by Evereddie

I didn't think there was another Forest River forum. This one is not run or operated by Forest River but the closest thing to official. ???

My thought as well! Youroo!!

[AshnJim]

I think he thought I meant the FROG site, where there isn't really a forum, but there are FAQs and such - and he probably meant to say that the people who post there don't know what they're talking about. Nice to diss the folks whose products you sell, eh?

The more we think about that experience, the more we think he is ~inexperienced~ with the Murphy bed models. We didn't see, but ~felt~ a huge gouge at the side of one - which would explain why he didn't want to us to put it up and down but once. We kinda doubt it came from the factory that way.

It would still behoove him to know there's an owner's group that's not affiliated - and when we told him, he pretty much ignored the info. If he'd said, "Oh, I didn't know that - what's the website?" or something, we'd have a higher opinion of him.

[Kaadk]

Sorry to hear about your experience. We've got a dealer (jayco) literally around the corner from our house who's like that. Hence why we went with the other RV dealer who's halfway across the county and now have a FR.

That dealer I know is at least aware of the existence of these forums, even if they aren't active in them. But they are pretty good about informing their customers about FROG. And it was through the FAQs on the FROG website that I found these forums. Heck, for the first few months or so I thought these were the official forums of FROG and were run by Frog Bob because of the way I found them.

I've since learned the difference but hey, either way these are some great people on here!




Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums

[BamaBob]

Ash,


Really sorry to hear about your experience


Ford,


I agree! I WISH that the RV industry could become dealer regulated like the auto industry. Who knows, maybe in a few years...


Back to you Ash...


You may want to take a look at a couple of the national sellers RV Nation and RV Wholesalers have a pretty good rep and may well save you more than the cost of fuel to pick up your unit!


I know RV Nation gave us an amazing quote of a fully decked out Cedar Creek (have yet to have the time to go to a local dealer and see what their offer will be...more later )

[Cowracer]

I had a rather insulting episode with my local dealer (the only Rockwood dealer in STL) back when I bought it. It culminated with us walking out on the negotiations. It was either that or slap the dog crap outta the smarmy salesman

Quite some times later (months) we got a postcard from that salesman. One of those "We are here to serve you" sales pitches. I sent him back a picture of my truck with my nice new ROO hitched to the back of it with a note saying "I'm good".

I would do the same when you buy one.

Tim

[MountainTrippers]

We bought a 2014 Solera in NC because the local FR dealer, McGeorge RV in Richmond, Va. did not carry them. When it came time for some warranty work they Refused because we did not buy it from them. I just do not understand the logic. Forrest River factory reps are great, just wish They could filter that down to their local reps.

[Mr. Dan]

Originally Posted by X96mnn

Look in the bright side, you learned what they treat you like when you are trying to give you money, imagine how they would be if you have a problem.

Lot of salesmen have no clue what they are talking about, do not want an informed customer coming in and calling them on knowledge they gained from a forum.

I agree with X96mnn. You actually gained something positive from your negative experience.

Once I told a kid truck salesman he was going to get his dealership sued (slight exaggeration) because he was telling me a short/short Chevy truck would tow 10K lbs. - because the print on the receiver said the receiver would handle that much. Maybe I gave him a little education.

[martinto]

Coming from automotive, motorcycle and industrial truck Mfg'ing...most of those companies have significantly improved relationships with dealers and customers...not all are where they need to be, but much better. Putting more emphasis on quality and dealer accountability.

The RV industry and dealers have a ways to go, on all fronts. We the customer need to keep driving home our expectations. Sales in RV's continue to grow and with the baby boomers getting into it in force...hopefully those expectations and the dollars that come with it will push the quality and dealer responsibility to higher levels.

[Stormrider151]

Last weekend we went to a dealership which is probably the largest chain in the country and was met after some time by the rudest person I think I have ever met. We walked out and went across the highway and had a completely different experience. The difference in the two was the first was a chain and the second was a single family owned dealership. Lesson learned. Stay away from the chains. The chains are over priced and hard to deal with while the smaller dealerships really want to sell you a camper. I have bought 3 campers from a smaller dealership and always got a fair deal. They sold out to a chain and have lost my business.

[gthomp10]

As I get older, I get even more cranky. I say, if someone is being stupid or rude and obnoxious then they need to know about it. Therefore, I have NO problem telling them what kind of an ass they are being. Done it many times and I'm sure there will be many more. If I am not being treated well I make sure they know exactly how I feel about it and tell them to run along and fetch their manager because I'd like to talk to him about how I'm being treated.

[woozy]

Originally Posted by Ford Idaho

It is sad that FR the manufacture does not have more pull with the people who sell their units.

This is true, but I've also found it to be true that the people who sell the units have very little pull with FR.

[vinmaker]

This is all just a sign of the times. Very sad.

[Goukcats]

Last yr we were looking for a new Columbus & looked at dealers from Fla to southern Ind. We met a few nice salesmen but soon discovered that 99.9% did not know about, or did not follow any RV forums or RV FB groups. This meant we were much more knowledgeable about the RVs than were the salesman. This fact was very disappointing but it sure made it easy to distinguish between the truth, BS & outright lies.