Camping World RV Sales treatment of thier customers

[karwiz]

We attended the Orlando RV Show on, January 19,2014 (last day of the show). After walking the fair grounds we were in between two units, a Forest River Sierra and a Keystone Avalanche, both from Camping World. Since it was already 5:00pm (Closing Time), by the time they ran our credit check and we agreed on a sale price on both their units and trade in value for our unit , it started to rain and all the units were being closed. The sales person and the finance employee suggested we give a deposit and both units would go to the Camping world in Tampa and the finance department there would call us Monday or Tuesday to let us know the interest rate and monthly payments would be. We saw both the units being tagged with our last name and a "Sold" tag on them . Not a problem, we thought. We have purchased units before, we know the routine, at least at other dealerships. This is were the nightmare begins........



Monday came and went , Tuesday came and went, on Wednesday I started to call . I left several messages for John, the finance guy at the Tampa Camping World. No calls were returned. Come Friday my husband called and spoke with the manager of that store and within 15 minutes John called him back. He was quite annoyed with my husband and told him that there were other deals before ours since we were the last deal of the show. My husband said, "Look that is fine, but a call back would have been nice but, okay just please remember that there are two units that we need you to give us a break down on both." He replied, "There is only one unit in your file" , my husband said. "No, we saw the write up of everything for both units and even our deposit slip has both units on there". John responded with," I will look into it and call you back". After that phone conversation we called our sales person and she called John directly and all of a sudden John found the second unit information in our file.

At 7:00pm, John called us and only gave us the information to one of the units stating the sales person's handwriting was like chicken scratch and he could not read it . At these point my patience had run out. It had been a week , we have great credit, we already were pre approved from Bank of The West (one of the hardest banks to get an approval from) what in Gods name do we need to do to finish this deal. I mean all our other deals have taken less then a day. I called the sales person and told her that was it . I was going to Lazy Days. She pleaded with me to please have our file transfer to the Bartow store since the Avalanche was there and not at the Tampa store, that not all Camping Worlds were this incompetent. We agreed to that. Saturday morning both the sales person and my self spoke with Evan from the Bartow store and we were assured we would be taken care of and that all the same stipulation that was agreed to at the RV show would be honored. I told him " look we are not interested in the Forest River anymore due to their horrible reviews that they have, the unit we wanted was the Avalanche". "Not a problem that unit is in my lot with your name on it" , he responded ." Okay perfect", I said. I spoke with Mirabel the finance lady from Bartow , "Yes mama I am aware of your deal don't worry the unit is here with a sold tag with your name on it." ( Now remember they were tagged at the show with our name) . Though out Monday we went back and forth since all of a sudden Evan did not want to honor the stipulation . Which was the trade value, hitch included, and a fireplace. After many calls and texts back and forth with the sales person and Evan, finally we were on our way . Boy, was I wrong. I got a call from Evan on Monday again 7:00 pm ," Ma'am , your approved and all the paper work is done ( at this point I thinking no kidding Sherlock , we have great credit score and we were already approved.) But your unit was sold to someone else" . I was floored . "What do you mean my unit was sold,?" "Yes Ma'am the unit was sold ,the sale person did not tag the unit and it was sold ." I demanded he call her on the phone with me on the line. I saw her tag it , Evan and Mirabel told me it was tagged and now it was sold to someone else. "Ma'am your not understanding, there is nothing the sales person can do ." "I gave a deposit on that unit it. It seems to me that you sold the unit to someone else since our deal was not that profitable to you . Why else would you sell it?" "Well we can sell you another one." I could hear the smirk in his voice. I was floored . How dishonest, unethical , and the list goes on.



I decided to find a contact for Marcus Lemonis, the CEO of Camping World. I thought he would like to hear about the dishonest, unethical practices of his locations. I could not find his information but I did find the phone number to Randall Rahe, the SVP of Camping World. I spoke with him and explained what had been happening and how I was trying to find Mr. Lemonis's contact information. Randall assured me that he would get to the bottom of this and I had contacted the right person since even if I contacted Mr. Lemonis he would just give him the information and have him fix it. I thought to myself, finally someone that can rectify the situation. He told me he would call me back and he did . He apologized and said that they had made a mistake but that he would rectify it. Mr. Rahe told me that he would sell us a different unit or have one ordered for us and it would be sold to us at Hard Cost for the trouble we had gone through. We went back and forth for a day or two about a unit in TN that they claim was identical to the unit we were originally buying , which it wasn't, but at this point I wanted to just put this nightmare behind me and since he was going to give it to us at Hard Cost, finically it made sense. On January 30, 2014 ,I received via email the documentation with all the numbers. Once again Camping World did not honor its promises. The only thing they did was had a less expensive hitch , took out the fire place from the deal, and fixed the trade value. When I emailed Mr.Rahe, I pointed out that the sale price was not adjusted to the Hard Cost as he promised. He replied and I quote " It is a non profit deal for the store. Those are the numbers." But he was going to add a $250.00 Camping World gift card. So, at this point I have leaned that Camping World is not only dishonest, unethical, but also liars. It is very obvious to us that our original unit was indeed, sold to someone else since our deal was not profitable to them. I will send this to Mr. Lemonis but at this point, I don't expect them to do anything at this point since its been one lie after another. It is VERY CLEAR that Camping World does not care about its customers! Camping World might have treated us this way us but, I will be sharing my experience on every available RV forums so that no other family will have to go through this.

[Good_Sam_Care_T]

To All,

Thank you all for your time and comments within this post. At this time the thread will be closed. Camping World is in contact with the customer and continues to attempt to make her happy. Thank you all again.


Mark F
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
goodsamcs@goodsamfamily.com

[tnscoutr]

We all have opinions, right? Here is mine. OP claims that they would have accepted the replacement trailer if CW had honored the rv show deal. Either CW changed the deal, or did not explain well enough how they were meeting it. Either way, the end result is an upset customer who has every right to inform others on the final outcome, new member or not. Just another piece of the information puzzle for others weighing a purchase from CW.

[Rollnhome]

Mont G&J wrote:

phnguyk wrote:

Rollnhome wrote:
Looks like a deal was made and dealer mistakes happened for some reason. CW tried to make it right and tried to make good or better on their original offer; but buyer still unhappy. Mostly, I think, because they felt mistreated and disrespected. I don't think money was the final motivator. Don't think these two will ever get together.... respect is a hard hurdle. I think the term customer service should include customer respect. Luxury items are want items not need items so I think the buyer is way more emotionally involved in the purchase than the salesman that needs to sell it to feed his family.

I'm just curious at what point did CW "bend over backwards"? When they refused to honor the deal made at the show? Or when they sold the unit out from under the OP? Or when they promised a unit at cost then wouldn't? Or promised a similarly equipped unit, but it wasn't? They did offer to get a new one, but in what time frame, and with CW's track record who knows what or when the OP may have ended up with. Besides, the OP bought the unit at the show, it's black and white. The OP bent over backwards trying to give them his money. I personally would have given them a chance if I really wanted a particular unit. But to be lied to and treated as such, I would have been upset too. And dam right I would post about it.. NOT ALL OF US ARE SHEEP!

X2

I think a couple of people need to reread my post. All I said was CW made a mistake and couldn't correct it to the customers satisfaction. And that the buyer in a deal is usually more emotionally involved in the sale than the salesman. I think you're reading something in to this that wasn't said. Sheep???? How did I become a sheep????

[nohurry]

I see two mistakes made right from the beginning. First, you gave them a deposit, and then let them put your name on TWO units :h Second, CW didn't call you back right away on Monday as they promised. Sounds like it went downhill quick from there.

I'm not a defender, or detractor of CW, but I personally disagree with joining a forum just to air your grievance. CW admitted they made a mistake, I would think that could be used to your advantage given a reasonable chance.

[Dog_Folks]

winnietrey wrote:
Hey Darsben, As far as not making the customer mad. And the social media thing I agree. they used to call that the rule of 200. A unhappy customer will tell 200 people.

But I have been in business a long long time. And there are a few people. you just can not make happy no matter what you do.

From my humble point of view, to preserve your own sanity, and not become a slave to them, you just have to part ways.

I try and do it as nice as possible, I hope they do not post negative reviews.

But that is a risk I am willing to take, given the alternative.

So I do believe still, the customer is not always right. Now how you handle them is the real art form.

As to the current post, I have no idea who is right. But it does sound to me like maybe it got into a personality clash. Which is never good.

Best case senerio, is to keep it all business, and direct them to your competion, who hopefully can serve their needs, and make them happy

As a person who has owned/operated a business my entire adult life, I agree 100%. Well said.

[phnguyk]

Rollnhome wrote:

phnguyk wrote:

Rollnhome wrote:
Looks like a deal was made and dealer mistakes happened for some reason. CW tried to make it right and tried to make good or better on their original offer; but buyer still unhappy. Mostly, I think, because they felt mistreated and disrespected. I don't think money was the final motivator. Don't think these two will ever get together.... respect is a hard hurdle. I think the term customer service should include customer respect. Luxury items are want items not need items so I think the buyer is way more emotionally involved in the purchase than the salesman that needs to sell it to feed his family.

I'm just curious at what point did CW "bend over backwards"? When they refused to honor the deal made at the show? Or when they sold the unit out from under the OP? Or when they promised a unit at cost then wouldn't? Or promised a similarly equipped unit, but it wasn't? They did offer to get a new one, but in what time frame, and with CW's track record who knows what or when the OP may have ended up with. Besides, the OP bought the unit at the show, it's black and white. The OP bent over backwards trying to give them his money. I personally would have given them a chance if I really wanted a particular unit. But to be lied to and treated as such, I would have been upset too. And dam right I would post about it.. NOT ALL OF US ARE SHEEP!

???????? :? :h

???? Something is fishy here, the post I quoted at the time had the statement "CW clearly bent over backwards". I'm not sure why it's now quoting this.????

[winnietrey]

Hey Darsben, As far as not making the customer mad. And the social media thing I agree. they used to call that the rule of 200. A unhappy customer will tell 200 people.

But I have been in business a long long time. And there are a few people. you just can not make happy no matter what you do.

From my humble point of view, to preserve your own sanity, and not become a slave to them, you just have to part ways.

I try and do it as nice as possible, I hope they do not post negative reviews.

But that is a risk I am willing to take, given the alternative.

So I do believe still, the customer is not always right. Now how you handle them is the real art form.

As to the current post, I have no idea who is right. But it does sound to me like maybe it got into a personality clash. Which is never good.

Best case senerio, is to keep it all business, and direct them to your competion, who hopefully can serve their needs, and make them happy

[Mont_G_J]

phnguyk wrote:

Rollnhome wrote:
Looks like a deal was made and dealer mistakes happened for some reason. CW tried to make it right and tried to make good or better on their original offer; but buyer still unhappy. Mostly, I think, because they felt mistreated and disrespected. I don't think money was the final motivator. Don't think these two will ever get together.... respect is a hard hurdle. I think the term customer service should include customer respect. Luxury items are want items not need items so I think the buyer is way more emotionally involved in the purchase than the salesman that needs to sell it to feed his family.

I'm just curious at what point did CW "bend over backwards"? When they refused to honor the deal made at the show? Or when they sold the unit out from under the OP? Or when they promised a unit at cost then wouldn't? Or promised a similarly equipped unit, but it wasn't? They did offer to get a new one, but in what time frame, and with CW's track record who knows what or when the OP may have ended up with. Besides, the OP bought the unit at the show, it's black and white. The OP bent over backwards trying to give them his money. I personally would have given them a chance if I really wanted a particular unit. But to be lied to and treated as such, I would have been upset too. And dam right I would post about it.. NOT ALL OF US ARE SHEEP!

X2

[darsben]

RL Rahe wrote:
So darsben- I don't want to get in to he said/she said and you are entitled to yuor opinion (thats what this site allows) but you don't know the facts, the number of phone calls there were, etc. Our invoice is the cost plain and simple. Its what we own it for. Its not the car business where there is holdback. To think anything different not correct.

Nowhere do we imply the customer was wrong. Call it lip service if you like but I don't feel thats the case.

When we screw up we admit it and try to make it right. I will leave it at that.

Thanks for participating in the site and we appreciate your membership.

Do you Own THE DEALERSHIP? Unless you own the dealership just as in car land, NO ONE BUT the owner of the car dealership knows the true cost of an automobile to the dealer and no one but the owner of the RV dealership knows the true cost of a unit to an RV dealer.
So Are you the owner?
Besides hold backs you did not mention incentives, contests and/or rebates.

BY the way to those who think the customer is not always right. Today with social media no dealer can afford to P.O. a customer because bad news travel far while wide good news gets no press.
If you make one customer mad the consequences can cost you much more than one lost sale. The customer is king and always right because he cannot be replaced.

[Good_Sam_Care_T]

To All,

Thank you all for your time and post. Lets please stay on topic or this post will need to be closed.


Mark F
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
goodsamcs@goodsamfamily.com

[Rollnhome]

phnguyk wrote:

Rollnhome wrote:
Looks like a deal was made and dealer mistakes happened for some reason. CW tried to make it right and tried to make good or better on their original offer; but buyer still unhappy. Mostly, I think, because they felt mistreated and disrespected. I don't think money was the final motivator. Don't think these two will ever get together.... respect is a hard hurdle. I think the term customer service should include customer respect. Luxury items are want items not need items so I think the buyer is way more emotionally involved in the purchase than the salesman that needs to sell it to feed his family.

I'm just curious at what point did CW "bend over backwards"? When they refused to honor the deal made at the show? Or when they sold the unit out from under the OP? Or when they promised a unit at cost then wouldn't? Or promised a similarly equipped unit, but it wasn't? They did offer to get a new one, but in what time frame, and with CW's track record who knows what or when the OP may have ended up with. Besides, the OP bought the unit at the show, it's black and white. The OP bent over backwards trying to give them his money. I personally would have given them a chance if I really wanted a particular unit. But to be lied to and treated as such, I would have been upset too. And dam right I would post about it.. NOT ALL OF US ARE SHEEP!

???????? :? :h

[Gunship_Guy]

RL Rahe wrote:
Folks- this is my last comment on this. Clearly there will be no winner and if you want to dump on us then you have that right. I will sleep just fine on how my stores handled this.

wrgrs50s - people make mistakes, it was not on purpose, we felt terrible, and bent over backwards to make it good. I know you do not find every human error unexcusable.

I worked the numbers myself and consider your intelligence insulted.

I don't care who's right or who's wrong here, but that last sentence was unnecessary. The turn-off for the high road was definitely missed with that remark.

[I_am_still_wayn]

karwiz wrote:
I have the write up that was done at the RV show as well as the write up that was sent to me after all the mistakes. The price never changed.

WOW! This puts a whole perspective on the issue. IF true that you have the price in writing from the RV show and the concession price in writing from Mr. Rahle and they are the same, then I have to agree with the OP that something is fishy, Camping World offered the OP nothing, and treating customers with lies and contempt is acceptable to Camping World!

I wish there was some way to post actual images of the documents. WAIT! There is! The OP can take pictures of each and post them. Let us decide who is right!

OF COURSE, MR. RAHLE CAN DO THE SAME AND PROVE HE DID MAKE A CONCESSION! I bet that won't happen, leaving us to speculate and rightfully assume that the OP is right and Camping World is wrong.

[Dog_Folks]

wbwood wrote:
If I was the OP and this went on with me as they stated, I would of moved on. I do agree that mistakes are made. If the offer to fix the mistakes are not acceptable, then move on down the road. The OP will never be happy with whatever outcome. They will still feel sour towards CW no matter what. I say wash your hands and go elsewhere.

The best solution.