Won't CW honor sales prices in brochures?

[wm36]

First of all, I would like to say I am not a CW hater. I have a store a couple of miles from my house and I go there when I need supplies for my TT. Just today, I went in on my lunch hour hoping my favorite chair I have had my eye on was on their current sale, but rats it wasn't. Decided to buy it anyway, clerk couldn't find any in stock, so he gave me the display model for a nice discount. Thanks!!

However, my main reason for going in today was because, according to their Summer Fest flyer I had received in the mail, today, June 6 is "Get Prepared Day" and all surge protectors are 30% off for the day. This is perfect as I have been wanting to get one of the Progressive Industries EMS-HW30C permanent mount units for my TT. The CW store didn't carry the PI line. Checked the website, and it says catalog or online only. Fine. So I tried ordering online, the site has had the unit on about an 18% discount for quite a while ($305.99, sale $249.94, 30% off would be $214.19), and I couldn't make that change for today. So I decided to call and order by phone. I spoke to a very polite gentleman in the call center, but he could find no way to sell me this unit for 30% off. I tried to be polite with him, but realized yelling at him or whatever was not going to change what his computer would let him do, got frustrated and hung up.

So what's the deal CW? The flyer says all surge protectors are on sale. Not just in-store. Not just one particular brand. All. In bold type in the ad. Don't you stand by these ads? Should I just toss them as soon as I receive them if they don't mean anything anyway? Not a very happy customer.

[Good_Sam_Care_T]

Hello wm36,

Thank you for your update. As this issue has been resolved I am closing this thread.

Wes Robinson
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
goodsamcs@goodsamfamily.com

[wm36]

So I need to update how this was resolved. I received two emails from CW. The first was generated from my going to the CW website and sending a message to customer service. That reply basically said: that promotion said "see associate" so that means it is in-store only, and, we will honor the coupon as a one-time courtesy since I was a GS member. Well, first off, the coupon for that day had three promotions, the last of which was something about receiving a gift card if you get an insurance quote. So it is not obvious that "see associate" refers to all 3 offers or the last or ??? Secondly, I did see an associate. When I went to CW, the person there told me I had to order it on line or over the phone. I called the CW phone order desk, and was simply told "I can't give you that price". None of the associates said anything about in-store only. The tone of this email was not satisfying to me, and I was ready to take my business elsewhere.

Then I received a second email, which I believe was in response to this forum. This email apologized for the confusion, affirmed that my business was important to CW and offered me the product at the sale price. A totally different response, and one that I appreciated a lot more than the first.

The end result was that I did order the product from CW. Very happy that we have this forum to assist when things don't go right.

[Stefonius]

One thing you may not have considered - The flyer was typeset and printed by a commercial printing house, not by CW. It's entirely possible that the printer made an error when creating the flyer. I work as a typesetter for a printing company, and I can tell you that it does happen (although not to me... I'm better than that!)

[Good_Sam_Care_T]

Hello wm36,

Thank you for posting this. Allow me to apologize for the trouble this has caused you. I have passed this on to Camping World Order Management, they should be able to take care of this for you, and will be in touch with you soon.

Wes Robinson
Marcus' Rapid Response Team
goodsamcs@goodsamfamily.com

[wm36]

I did price check other vendors. The 30% off was a very attractive price. That's why I waited for today to make my purchase. Refusing to honor their advertised price clearly violates consumer protection laws, but who knows how long that fight would take. About all I can probably do is vote with my wallet. If they won't make good on their printed price I certainly won't be purchasing this from them at their current advertised price. I will take my business elsewhere.

[Weldon]

Agree with some of these statements, but I usually price check comparable vendors when I can. Today I had a very pleasant conversation with a tech at our local Camping World. I needed some advice on a project I had going and Stephen was very informative and courteous.
Appreciate that.

[ScottG]

I got sick of them never putting the prices on anything they have on sale (CW must really think we're stupid). So now I just toss them without even breaking the little seal.
Any more the only reason I'm a member is for the magazine - and that's getting pretty thin.

[Gunship_Guy]

wm36 wrote:
Should I just toss them as soon as I receive them if they don't mean anything anyway? Not a very happy customer.

That's what I do and I've never felt like I missed out on anything. I've always been able to find whatever I need available from multiple sellers. Camping World does not offer anything special.

[phnguyk]

Wait till they add in shipping! Unless you're a premium member.

[old_guy]

I learned a long long time ago, not to buy from CW. I can get stuff cheaper from my dealer where I bought my TT and he gives me a 10% discount, no freight, no club to join. these dealers want you sell you a TT, so ask for the discount, they will give it to you.