Just Curious..!

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.