First and foremost, I'd like to thank all the folks who have contributed comments on this topic.
My sole purpose in posting this experience was to help out my fellow RVer's and expose a scam that not only can be extremely costly from a dollar and cents standpoint but also with potential huge safety implications.
It appears from the responses some of you folks have been victims; some have heard about such scams but luckily have not fallen victim.
If one were to research the references I made, one will soon discover there have been numerous victims over the years to this rip-off. One of the reasons this is allowed to continue is everyone--including the Sheriff, the Mayor and a State Senator are all connected or related. Go figure! It took me weeks to really "drill down" to the real situation in Beaver UT. I'm afraid not too much will change---- at least not in the near future.
In the seventy-three page report I filed with the Utah Consumer Protection Agency, sent to the St.George/Cedar City paper, and the Utah Better Business Bureau regarding this incident, my research indicated that over the years, many people have reported these scammers to all sorts of agencies with no luck except in 2015 when the parent organization (M.A.D.D. in Beaver) was fined $10,000 for their unfair and unscrupulous business activities.
Let me address several other points made--not as a defense but only for clarification.
1) When we arrived in Beaver, there was NO cell phone connection available to us. Couldn't research a thing!
2) According to "Brian", the designation on the tire "GT 279" WAS the brand name Cooper Tire used. I was assured of this no fewer than a dozen times.
3) My wife and I have been part of the RV community for over 25 years. One of the reasons we love it so much are the people we meet at campgrounds, rallies or shows. We are Lifetime Members of Good Sam and are associated with other RV organizations.
I really don't care whether someone says "with all due respect" before, after, over or under a statement and then calls me "stupid". I can say I've run across the first disrespectful RV person in the time we have been part of the RV community.
As you can see, I just joined the Good Sam Forum ( while a member of a number of others for a long time) with the specific intent of sharing an experience I felt important to communicate while potentially saving good folks thousands of dollars and worse yet, serious injury.
