Negative: RV Wholesalers

[NebraskaKen]

Actually, I'll begin with the good: If you reside in the state of Ohio, AND you accept their financing plan through US Bank, you can expect to have an overall neutral experience when buying your camper. You'll get a generous kick back on the financing which somewhat offsets the general lack of service from your sales representative. It's a trade off that only you can judge for yourself.

The bad is that there is a very large pre-payment penalty built in to the kick back financing credit you will receive when you close your deal. It's not very well disclosed on the front end - you will find out more on the back end of the deal. The pre-payment penalty comes from both the dealer and the bank; you'll be penalized on both sides of the transaction.

The very bad is that if you are out of state (not residing in Ohio) your title work will be sent to US Bank, electronically. From there, the title work will fall into a US Bank black hole of bureaucratic invisibility which the bank laughingly calls customer service. Just try to get your camper registered and titled in your state of residence, after the US Bank routinely puts an electronic lien on it (registered in the state of Ohio), and that is when the "fun" begins.

Your temporary paper plate, will run out LONG BEFORE the bank's bureaucracy effectively communicates with your DMV's bureaucracy. Months in our case. US BANK offers real customer service in name only. On each call you'll get a different rep, from a different state, who will pass you off to another rep, none of whom know the concept of ownership or follow up. Try to get back to the same individual who might have been helpful? Good luck. The reps don't give out their phone numbers or contact information. Their contact info is SECRET. You'll start the process over and over again.

You'll find that US BANK bank relies on your DMV to "FAX" them a request to transfer your title info to your state of residence. Most states have evolved away from FAX communication and you may as well lump FAX's in with carrier pigeon communications.

The department inside of the US BANK system, responsible for transferring their Ohio lien and your Ohio title is called "Collateral State to State Title Change." This department discloses NO address, NO phone number, NO standard forms, and NO individual names. It's a black hole which your Ohio title will fall into.

It has taken us almost three months to get this seemingly routine process on track. And we're not there yet. In the mean time we've made three payments on a camper we can't put on the road legally.

I suppose you could just go to your own bank/credit union to pay off US Bank. But if you did, you would be hit by the prepayment penalties.

It's the perfect "catch 22." Buyer beware.

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by NebraskaKen

Actually, I'll begin with the good: If you reside in the state of Ohio, AND you accept their financing plan through US Bank, you can expect to have an overall neutral experience when buying your camper. You'll get a generous kick back on the financing which somewhat offsets the general lack of service from your sales representative. It's a trade off that only you can judge for yourself.

The bad is that there is a very large pre-payment penalty built in to the kick back financing credit you will receive when you close your deal. It's not very well disclosed on the front end - you will find out more on the back end of the deal. The pre-payment penalty comes from both the dealer and the bank; you'll be penalized on both sides of the transaction.

The very bad is that if you are out of state (not residing in Ohio) your title work will be sent to US Bank, electronically. From there, the title work will fall into a US Bank black hole of bureaucratic invisibility which the bank laughingly calls customer service. Just try to get your camper registered and titled in your state of residence, after the US Bank routinely puts an electronic lien on it (registered in the state of Ohio), and that is when the "fun" begins.

Your temporary paper plate, will run out LONG BEFORE the bank's bureaucracy effectively communicates with your DMV's bureaucracy. Months in our case. US BANK offers real customer service in name only. On each call you'll get a different rep, from a different state, who will pass you off to another rep, none of whom know the concept of ownership or follow up. Try to get back to the same individual who might have been helpful? Good luck. The reps don't give out their phone numbers or contact information. Their contact info is SECRET. You'll start the process over and over again.

You'll find that US BANK bank relies on your DMV to "FAX" them a request to transfer your title info to your state of residence. Most states have evolved away from FAX communication and you may as well lump FAX's in with carrier pigeon communications.

The department inside of the US BANK system, responsible for transferring their Ohio lien and your Ohio title is called "Collateral State to State Title Change." This department discloses NO address, NO phone number, NO standard forms, and NO individual names. It's a black hole which your Ohio title will fall into.

It has taken us almost three months to get this seemingly routine process on track. And we're not there yet. In the mean time we've made three payments on a camper we can't put on the road legally.

I suppose you could just go to your own bank/credit union to pay off US Bank. But if you did, you would be hit by the prepayment penalties.

It's the perfect "catch 22." Buyer beware.

I too have an RV loan with US Bank which is pretty much the "only" financing available with Campingworld. It was pretty much required to buy our unit too.

I live in NC and bought from a Campingworld in VA because they had on their lot the unit we wanted to buy. Although Campingworld said they use a third party for out of state title transfers, I don't recall them specifying a name of who that was. I'm guessing a subsidiary of US Bank was responsible for processing that paperwork with NC DMV.

This was the second RV we bought from this dealership. First one was in 2019, which was also financed thru US Bank. But we soon found the first RV to be too small for us, plus the second one we got from them last year was not a model and floorplan they sold at that time. We too had an early loan payoff penalty for the first one we financed, but was only $300.

When we left with the RV, we too had a 30 day temporary tag that eventually expired. I simply called the dealership and told them it was about to expire and they FedEx'ed us another 30 day temporary tag. I had to call them once more when the second temp tag expired and they promptly overnighted another 30 day tag. I finally received the permanent tag from NC DMV almost three months later. But it NEVER prohibited us from using our RV. You need to get the dealership to issue you another temp tag.

[Iwritecode]

Seems like the title should say Negative: US Bank instead...

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

I too have an RV loan with US Bank which is pretty much the "only" financing available with Campingworld. It was pretty much required to buy our unit too......

Sounds like not enough research was done to know that this is not close to be the facts.
My BIL just bought a used GD from CW and another friend just bought a new giant TH from CW and both brought their own pre-qualified financing with them from their personal banks.
This whole thread (which is poorly named) reminds me that many folks don't do enough research before a purchase, don't read the fine print, and end up in a bad situation as a result.
Nobody is forced to purchase anything or sign any contract.

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

Sounds like not enough research was done to know that this is not close to be the facts.
My BIL just bought a used GD from CW and another friend just bought a new giant TH from CW and both brought their own pre-qualified financing with them from their personal banks.
This whole thread (which is poorly named) reminds me that many folks don't do enough research before a purchase, don't read the fine print, and end up in a bad situation as a result.
Nobody is forced to purchase anything or sign any contract.

Ok, perhaps I should've recalled better and phrased it better than what I did. Unfortunately, you're incorrect. I did diligent research beforehand. You CAN bring your own financing, or you could've paid in cash. Unfortunately, I wasn't sitting on that large a pile of cash to go that route.

For the second RV purchase, I wanted to use Good Sam's financing because they had the best advertised rate, at that time, than any other banks out there. Campingworld got US Bank to match the GS rate and that's where we ultimately financed.

I realize they get incentive kickbacks from US Bank to use them. If you do go there with cash, other bank or CU financing, they'll accept it, but will aggressively try to get you to finance with US Bank instead. Since they were matching the best rate and we had good previous experiences with them, I didn't care.

BETTER?

[mikeyk101]

When I bought mine through RV Wholesale, yes in order to get the discount of $3500, I had to finance through US Bank. I was also informed that if I pay off the loan in under 12 months, I would lose the $3500 discount. But if I at least made payments for 12 months, I could then pay it off and no prepayment penalty. Did I get bad information? That's what was stated in the paperwork I read and signed.

[NebraskaKen]

If you had a page for negative banks, I would have.

In the mean time, it's fair to hold a dealer responsible for selling their paper to irresponsible banks.

[NebraskaKen]

We view temporary tags as a "band aid" solution to a systemic problem. We'd much rather do business with a bank who actually cares more about customer service and less on "wealth management."

RV Wholesalers may have traded a nice kickback on their paper at the expense of their out of state customers (?) Who knows....

[mikeyk101]

Maybe they should use other banks but all the paperwork was put in front of you and signed by you. I don't think they forced you to use their financing option but there were perks in doing so. I always read through documents before agreeing to them and signing them. Is there a flat out prepayment penalty or is it like I mentioned, use their financing for 12 months and then you are free to pay it off with no penalty?

The title issue is a different story though anf I understand your frustration. But that squarely falls into the lap of US Bank. I am in the process of getting mine registered in Wisconsin and just started. I'm hoping I don't end up with the same issue you are going through but we shall see...

[NebraskaKen]

The fact is: RV Wholesalers offers a very nice financing kickback, to their customers, which they cannot get from their own bank/CU. If you used your own financing, you may have left a lot of cash on the table.

It's not unreasonable to expect a bank to handle out of state title work competently. Especially one which handles so much of RVW's paper.

[D W]

Originally Posted by NebraskaKen

The fact is: RV Wholesalers offers a very nice financing kickback, to their customers, which they cannot get from their own bank/CU. If you used your own financing, you may have left a lot of cash on the table.

It's not unreasonable to expect a bank to handle out of state title work competently. Especially one which handles so much of RVW's paper.

I'm totally confused! Your initial post contains no less than eight paragraphs describing how things went wrong, and you sum up the deal as a "catch 22". Now you say it's a great deal?

[NebraskaKen]

Originally Posted by D W

I'm totally confused! Your initial post contains no less than eight paragraphs describing how things went wrong, and you sum up the deal as a "catch 22". Now you say it's a great deal?

OK.... let me condense 8 paragraphs into one brief complaint: If you opt to have RVW finance your out of state purchase through US BANK - it's going to take about 90 days (on average) for you to get registered and plated. In the mean time, the bank will want your payments on time.

Better?

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by NebraskaKen

OK.... let me condense 8 paragraphs into one brief complaint: If you opt to have RVW finance your out of state purchase through US BANK - it's going to take about 90 days (on average) for you to get registered and plated. In the mean time, the bank will want your payments on time.



Better?

I honestly think that time frame is reasonable during the time of covid. It also may not be entirely the banks fault. It took 6 months for us to get the plate for my wife's new car bought in AZ due to the DMVs of NM and AZ not playing well together with the bank and due to covid related restrictions and closings. Several entities are involved behind the scenes.

[NMWildcat]

Originally Posted by D W

I'm totally confused! Your initial post contains no less than eight paragraphs describing how things went wrong, and you sum up the deal as a "catch 22". Now you say it's a great deal?

X2. Any financing that has a prepayment penalty or restriction of any kind is not acceptable to me, I don't care what the incentive is.
When buying anything major I get pre-qualified with my lending institution which gives me a price range that I will easily qualify for. Then I negotiate a price, then decide what financing is best. Rarely has it been what the seller is pushing.

[GPs37FLH]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

I honestly think that time frame is reasonable during the time of covid. It also may not be entirely the banks fault. It took 6 months for us to get the plate for my wife's new car bought in AZ due to the DMVs of NM and AZ not playing well together with the bank and due to covid related restrictions and closings. Several entities are involved behind the scenes.

X2....even without COVID and the current unprecedented RV demand, it took me just under 3 months to get my plates. I think if you get yours between 3 to 4 months, consider it timely. But, again, this should not prohibit you from using your RV while you wait. I had no issues with our state and temp tags, so I wouldn't think you will either.

[NebraskaKen]

Originally Posted by GPs37FLH

X2....even without COVID and the current unprecedented RV demand, it took me just under 3 months to get my plates. I think if you get yours between 3 to 4 months, consider it timely. But, again, this should not prohibit you from using your RV while you wait. I had no issues with our state and temp tags, so I wouldn't think you will either.

It's already been three months for us, since we purchased the camper. Most recently, a warm live body at US BANK has told us it will be another 6-8 weeks before they will be able to get something to our AZ motor vehicle dept.

Covid excuses are rampant and I don't accept them as gospel. The fact is that US BANK has an invisible customer service area, which does not effectively communicate with DMV bureaucracies. Period. I doubt that Covid resolution will change that.

The reality is that big banks really do not want you to tie up their customer service reps with your trivial person to person issues. They really don't want to hear from you, unless you want to convert some of your life savings to their "Wealth Management" departments.

Yes, we can get extension after extension of our paper plates, but that is not the solution I would hope for.

I'm glad for you, that your situation is finally resolved. We'll be lucky to have ours resolved within 4+ months.

All I wanted to do, is to alert out of state buyers of titling issues - prior to them purchasing from RVH.

I apologize for raising such a sticky issue and wish I had not commented in this forum.

[NebraskaKen]

Originally Posted by NMWildcat

X2. Any financing that has a prepayment penalty or restriction of any kind is not acceptable to me, I don't care what the incentive is.
When buying anything major I get pre-qualified with my lending institution which gives me a price range that I will easily qualify for. Then I negotiate a price, then decide what financing is best. Rarely has it been what the seller is pushing.

I don't think you're really grasping what this thread is all about. What the dealer is "pushing" is a very large financing kick back, which makes a camper purchase attractive in this Covid time of price gauging by many dealers.

In our case, the financing kickback was in excess of $4,000. Did you get that from your own financing source? Probably not. So this dealer is offering a very nice carrot to purchase from them.

Are there pre-payment strings attached? Yes, of course. Did we read the fine print? Yes, of course.

But no one told us it would take 3-4 months to get our camper registered and plated either.

That's all I wanted to point out.

[mikeyk101]

Just an update to what I posted earlier. I'm in same boat as I also purchased through RV Wholesale and financed through US Bank. I am registering and titling mine in WI. I purchased mine the end of last month and received an envelope from RVW earlier this month. It contained a copy of the Bill of Sale, a Memorandum Title from Ohio with official seal on it, as well as a copy of the Manufacturer Certificate of Origin. I went to the Wisconsin DMV web site and obtained their registration and title application. I filled it out and then sent the app along with the Ohio Memorandum Title and copy of the MCO in the mail to them. I am not a resident of Wisconsin but own a second house up there and will be keeping my camper there when not in use. I checked with my bank yesterday and was told the check was cashed for app fees and taxes on Apr 6th. I went to the WI DMV site and ran a VIN check and learned that the title was issued and the paper title is already on the way to US Bank because they are the lien holder. I expect I will have my plates delivered to my house up there shortly.

So it looks like this doesn't affect all out of state buyers. If you are titling and registering in Wisconsin, you should have it all done in a months time. I guess Nebraska is a bit different.

[NebraskaKen]

Originally Posted by mikeyk101

Just an update to what I posted earlier. I'm in same boat as I also purchased through RV Wholesale and financed through US Bank. I am registering and titling mine in WI. I purchased mine the end of last month and received an envelope from RVW earlier this month. It contained a copy of the Bill of Sale, a Memorandum Title from Ohio with official seal on it, as well as a copy of the Manufacturer Certificate of Origin. I went to the Wisconsin DMV and obtained their registration and title application. I filled it out and then sent the app along with the Ohio Memorandum Title and copy of the MCO in the mail to them. I am not a resident of Wisconsin but own a second house up there and will be keeping my camper there when not in use. I checked with my bank yesterday and was told the check was cashed for app fees and taxes on Apr 6th. I went to the WI DMV site and ran a VIN check and learned that the title was issued and the paper title is already on the way to US Bank because they are obviusly the lien holder. I expect I will have my plates delivered to my house up there shortly.

So it looks like this doesn't affect all out of state buyers. If you are titling and registering in Wisconsin, you should have it all done in a months time. I guess Nebraska is a bit different.

In our case, RVW sent the Ohio MCO directly to the US BANK, who transacted the title electronically and put their lien on it. Now it's a diffrent ball game to get it back to Ohio DMV and then onto our state's DMV. So, We're looking at about 5 months, start to finish, to get our registration & title.

I'm glad it worked well for you.

[mikeyk101]

Well here's the interesting part. The letter from RVW that was included with the documents stated that they sent me a copy of BOS, copy of Ohio title, and copy (not original) of MCO. They stated that original title was sent to US Bank in Ohio and that my DMV would have to fax a request to US Bank to get a copy of the original title to process my stuff. I was also told I would have to send a copy of my BOS along with rest of paperwork to my DMV. The instructions on my WI DMV app never asked for the BOS, only the purchase price had to be listed. I could have put any price down on that I wanted. But the application also said I had to mail in an original title, not a copy, to process it. Now you have me wondering if RVW did me a solid and screwed up by sending me the original Ohio title instead of the copy they were supposed to. Did yours have a raised seal stamped into it along with a red ink stamp like this?