Try this on Woodalls..
I need to apologize to Gordon White. I somehow got it in my old brain that he brought up the relationship issue. I was wrong...it was mentioned in a post and I somehow connected that to TCM. My mistake and a bad one. I mean no harm to TCM and I have no axe to grind. I posted without being sure what I was writing.
Let me see if I can cut & paste his email to me:
Brent -
Thank you for your questions. I read the RV.net thread you reference.
The companies you mention fit one of the four reasons described in FAQ #7.
It’s not just about product quality as the RV.net thread suggests. I strongly believe it's important to consider a manufacturer’s overall business practices, warranty honoring, and customer service. Keep in mind we have been to every factory, dealership, and met all the industry players multiple times over the past ten years.
Put another way, If you knew what we know, you would likely agree with our decision not to represent every manufacturer and dealership. I could give you the facts and history, but that would do terrible damage to the domestic manufacturers in question. That’s not my objective.
It’s also suggested - by the RV.net moderators no less - that our reviews lack credibility. Having read countless RV reviews from just about every professional RV magazine and website, I believe our truck camper reviews are the most comprehensive and critical RV reviews available. You certainly won’t find a RV review with the quality and quantity of photography, deep industry background, and real world consumer perspective we offer.
And yes, we are more critical in our reviews than any professional RV media source; more pros and cons, more photos showing qualities and faults, and more critical descriptions. If that’s not credibility, then what is?
For more information, here are the FAQ items related to your specific questions:
7. Why doesn’t every truck camper manufacturer, gear company, and dealership participate with Truck Camper Magazine?
There are four primary reasons why some truck camper manufacturers, gear companies, and dealerships do not participate in Truck Camper Magazine.
First, some manufacturers and dealerships choose not to promote themselves. Short of their own website, free social media, and RV show participation, you won’t see these companies promoting themselves anywhere, including Truck Camper Magazine.
Second, not every manufacturer, gear company, and dealership is interested in growth. These companies are often small operations working with very limited production and/or service capacity. Their leadership is content with the size and volume they are operating at, and have no plans for expansion.
Other companies have experienced changes in ownership or leadership, and are not currently producing and/or selling truck campers. Either way, these companies ask us not to promote their brand, products, or inventory as they couldn’t handle the added volume in customer inquiries and business we provide.
Third, if a company has a proven record of poor quality control, poor customer service, and/or poor warranty support, we will not represent them. This does not mean that all of our participating manufacturers, gear companies, and dealerships all have perfect records in these categories but, on the whole, the companies Truck Camper Magazine works with take care of their customers.
Finally, we did not start Truck Camper Magazine to work with people who openly disrespect our efforts. Truck Camper Magazine is not a public utility for the industry to use and abuse. If the leadership at a given truck camper company can’t be respectful and professional with us, we will not work with them.
8. How does Truck Camper Magazine remain objective, unbiased, and critical in its reporting and reviews?
Before launching Truck Camper Magazine in 2007, it took several months to design a business model that could potentially work for the small but vibrant truck camper industry and community.
Having published a printed music magazine for seven years prior to starting TCM, our initial preference was for print. When we field tested this idea, we quickly discovered that the truck camper industry and community was too small to support the required costs of printing and distributing a print publication.
With print off the table, our focus turned to the web. As an online-only magazine, the project would have to be free to the readers. At that time, and even now, almost all web-based media is free, and is demanded to be free by the public at large.
As a free online-only magazine, the only viable business model left was a sponsor-funded magazine. We believed then, as we do now, that being sponsor-funded does not mean sponsor-controlled. If we are truly balanced in our approach, we can be both sponsor-funded, and objective, unbiased, and critical in our reporting and reviews.
The best evidence of our journalistic integrity is our work. Specifically, our independent truck camper reviews, independent buyers guide wet weights, steadfast positions on proper truck and camper matching, truck camper safety, accurate wet weights, and proper center of gravity marks.
These repeated positions are not always popular with the truck camper industry, and even raise the occasional objection from the readership. That stated, it is the unwavering position of Truck Camper Magazine that safety must come first to ensure the short and long term health of the truck camper industry and the community it serves.
We do not pretend to be perfect in our balance towards objectivity, but we always speak with an independent voice. Most importantly, we are truck campers ourselves, and inflexibly loyal to our fellow truck camping readers.
9. Do manufacturers see their reviews in advance?
Absolutely not. Truck Camper Magazine reviews are wholly independent and posted without notice or review by the industry until after publication. However, the manufacturers are invited to submit a manufacturer’s response to be immediately published, without edit, the following publishing date.
You are welcome to share this on RV.net.
Merry Christmas Brent! Thanks again for the email.
Sincerely,
Gordon White, Publisher
Truck Camper Magazine
