Just Curious..!

..........

It has nothing to do about GS or CW for me. It's about the wealth of information that is available here. Plus a way to help get through the long winters. I buy from the Local CW only when I have to. There are much cheaper places to get the same things if you can wait for it. Belonged to GS, but can't stand the junk mail, so that never got renewed.

When I joined here it had nothing to do with the site ownership. Still doesn't .

down home wrote:
I prefer lures over bait.

I prefer Skepticism over Cynicism. The former is healthy the latter is corrosive.

I prefer lures over bait.

Try heading over to Motorhome Magazine's forum and I think you'll find much the same information....


I have a high disdain for CW as well, but I still shop there when I'm unable to find what I'm looking for elsewhere.
However, I'm active on this board (whatever the website source) primarily because of the post volume. I'd tried other RV related boards, and when they don't have much traffic, there's not much value.
I run a board for another hobby. We have a low volume of posts & replies, sometimes none over the course of a few days. We do lose active posters, and even passive readers due to the lack of new material. Other forms of media have largely supplanted classic boards like this one (remember BBS?) yet rv.net/forum & MotorHomeMagazine/forum continues to be a very active and engaging site.

I have no opinion about CW one way or the other.

On the other hand I've learned to despise Cabela:).

AmericalVette wrote:
As I've read through many of the posts/threads I see that many post here that have an obvious dislike for CW, Good Sam, or anything to do with it, yet they still sign on here and participate in one way or another. I am not being critical or throwing rocks, I'm just curious to know why if someone has such disdain that they would continue to log on to this website? Thanks in advance.

I think you will find that many people that post to this site are uncomfortable with criticism, disagreement and spirited discussion no matter what the topic. But a site where everyone agrees with each other is nothing more than an Echo Chamber of one's own ideas. And basically useless.

While there is a lot of good information on this site. There is at least as much if not more Misinformation, Myth and just plain unsupportable statements about any number of issues. The key is being able to tell which is which.

GSE finds real value in maintaining this site. It provides them with a cheap and easy way to resolve customer issues, it gives them insight to what their customers are thinking and at times comments here have made them re-think certain policies.

This is healthy for a company and works towards keeping them successful and ahead of the competition.

There are some excellent reasons, from a purely business standpoint, to maintain this site and GSE is smart to do it.

wa8yxm wrote:
I very strongly suspect a lot of our members do now really know who our hosts are (Affinity group, owners of CW, Good Sams, Woodalls and many campgrounds).

Thus they badmouth our hosts.. Thankfully the moderators are fairly moderate in this respoect and I have never noticed them taking action on it (But then I likely would not)

Now: I will give you my position on the above orginations:
Woodalls is a publishing house, they make printed stuff and software,, So my postion on them is that some of what they publish is very useful Very very useful,m and some is not. But than this applies to nearly all publishing houses so in this context it is basically positive since they publish things RVers need.

Camping World; Not the cheapest place to buy stuff (usually) but the best stocked RV store.. If you need it, odds of them having it are greater than any other Sticks and bricks store. However the shop often has younger technicians who may well know less than I do about the blasted RV and who often make mistakes.. My last trip to CW for service they only made 3 mistakes.

Thus I'd not necessarly trust them to fix my RV.... BUT then I do not trust ANYONE to fix the RV less I supervise.

Good Sams... They do a lot of stuff. Roadside assistance is always a mixed bad, I know of several roadside assistance comnpanies and all of them have contractors who provide the actual service.... Some are good, Some not, In many cases the Good Sam's contractor, the Coach Net ContraCTOR AND THE ______ (You fill in the blank)____ contractor are the same company and the service is the same.. Lots of folks blame Good Sam's but it's really joe's Towing that screwed up (Joe's is generic for "you name the company") have watched incompentent drivers hook up a class A and do damage (thnkfully not mine, The guys who towed mine KNEW what they were doing)

Affinity Group belongs to the Campground Owner's Assoication in many states.. They argue for laws and ordiances that prevent us from parking overnight at other than a licensed campground... Alas.. That I do not like.

But then they also run these forums.. Which I do like.

While I agree with much of what you wrote Just a slight correction ir two: Marcus Lemonis himself has stated on more than one occasion on this site that criticizing GSE is ok and to be expected. This is why an entire part of this site is dedicated to the GSE companies and subsidiaries. Mr. Lemonis has stated that no member will be excluded due to criticism of GSE (a smart position actually) and the moderators dont have anything to do with it as long as it's on topic and civil.

Companies that embrace customer critique and have an open "corporate mindset" are usually more successful than those that dont. In the corporate world you must always be ahead of the game to keep on top and keep Wall Street and your Bankers happy. One excellent way to keep on top and ahead and figure out which way the winds are blowing is to listen to your customers. It's simple good business practice.

All large companies lobby for laws that they deem in their best interests and the interests of their shareholders. Affinity Group is a Holding company with many investments. They do not manage GSE on a daily basis. that is left to the executive staff that is headed by Mr. Lemonis.

I very strongly suspect a lot of our members do now really know who our hosts are (Affinity group, owners of CW, Good Sams, Woodalls and many campgrounds).

Thus they badmouth our hosts.. Thankfully the moderators are fairly moderate in this respoect and I have never noticed them taking action on it (But then I likely would not)

Now: I will give you my position on the above orginations:
Woodalls is a publishing house, they make printed stuff and software,, So my postion on them is that some of what they publish is very useful Very very useful,m and some is not. But than this applies to nearly all publishing houses so in this context it is basically positive since they publish things RVers need.

Camping World; Not the cheapest place to buy stuff (usually) but the best stocked RV store.. If you need it, odds of them having it are greater than any other Sticks and bricks store. However the shop often has younger technicians who may well know less than I do about the blasted RV and who often make mistakes.. My last trip to CW for service they only made 3 mistakes.

Thus I'd not necessarly trust them to fix my RV.... BUT then I do not trust ANYONE to fix the RV less I supervise.

Good Sams... They do a lot of stuff. Roadside assistance is always a mixed bad, I know of several roadside assistance comnpanies and all of them have contractors who provide the actual service.... Some are good, Some not, In many cases the Good Sam's contractor, the Coach Net ContraCTOR AND THE ______ (You fill in the blank)____ contractor are the same company and the service is the same.. Lots of folks blame Good Sam's but it's really joe's Towing that screwed up (Joe's is generic for "you name the company") have watched incompentent drivers hook up a class A and do damage (thnkfully not mine, The guys who towed mine KNEW what they were doing)

Affinity Group belongs to the Campground Owner's Assoication in many states.. They argue for laws and ordiances that prevent us from parking overnight at other than a licensed campground... Alas.. That I do not like.

But then they also run these forums.. Which I do like.

We joined before it was part of the CW empire primarily because of all the good information. With CW I have had decent luck with and have found that their prices can be higher, but I have gotten good deals from them when looking on the internet. They are not always the highest as some people claim.