Giant Recreation World in Florida

[scarecrow56]

So just an update to my previous posts. We decided to buy a 2015 Apex 269RBSS from them. My decision to buy there was simple, they had what I wanted, not because I was in love with the place. The experience was less than stellar to say the least. As it was a used trailer they didn't seem to be to enthusiastic and especially since we bought in Winter Garden and our sales woman was in Palm Bay so they had to split the sale. Lemme just say that I pretty much got from them what I expected which was nothing. No follow up after the sale. A lousy walk through in the rain. Replaced a $50 faulty light with a $10 cheap junk. Lies and deceit, fortunately I was seeing right thru it. Thank God I brought the hitch from my old rig because they made a big deal during the sale about the Blue Ox hitch that went with the rig but wouldn't help me to hook it up. I was told by the salesman that I would have to pay the service department to help me with it. This is the day I bought it and in the rain! They loaded the fresh water tank with water and didn't tell me so I dragged an extra 400 lbs about 80 miles for no good reason. Prior to buying this one we had looked at several others and almost bought a brand new Catalina until on closer inspection we discovered that it had a leak in the slideout and was full of carpenter ants! At least 4-500 that I saw and probably 10 times that in the walls. We backed out of that deal but that didn't stop the saleswoman from trying to get me to buy it a few weeks later saying that the problems had all been fixed. Really? So you took the whole rig apart and changed all the ant eaten wood? Bottom line is, buyer beware. In my opinion after looking at probably 20 different dealerships Ive come to the conclusion that they're all liars and thieves. The best advice as I can give is this. Find what you want to buy, get the best deal that you can, do as thorough inspection as you can and then be prepared to be on your own after the sale. They really want nothing to do with you after they get your money. One other thing, Their VIP camping club membership isn't all that great either. We went on 2 trips The first one wasn't too bad but the second one was more like warehousing than camping. We paid $150 for 2 nights in the middle of Kissimmee. It was a dirt lot with about 15-20 feet on either side between us and the guy next to us. So small I couldn't leave the truck hooked up if I wanted to because it was almost across the street when the camper was parked. Like I said buy here if they have what you want but don't expect anything after the sale. My Humble Opinion (MHO)

[Xflyhighx]

I didn’t mention, I fell for the protection on the full body paint. I watched it being spayed from a Preasure washer. I got nailed for 1200.00 for 3 gallons gallons of water. Talk about honest dealers. I wish a class action lawsuit against Giant world for fraudulent practices. After I saw this. I asked for my money back. Big Joe, head of the service department said it was applied. Talk about lies. I often wonder if he pulls these lies out of his golf bag along side of his desk.

[RetiredRealtorR]

scarecrow56 wrote:
Flyhigh sorry to hear this. My experiance was similar altho I didnt spend anywhere near what you did. I did deal with a saleswoman at Palm Bay and then a salesman at Winter Garden. Both places I wasnt allowed to negotiate with the rooster (the money man). He sat in a smoke glass booth at Palm Bay and a seperate office in WG. I called him the banker from "Deal No Deal". I was told many things in the course of a year of dealing with them that turned out to be not true. I was told what a great deal it was to get Kevlar protection on my tires which basically cost more than a new set of tires. Paint protection. All their warranty stuff would have been like pulling hens teeth to get done. I will concede one thing. Some folks have said that they're not all thieves and liars. I will admit that maybe a small percentage of dealers may be honest, maybe 5%. However, from my own experience talking and dealing with at least 20 I didn't find a single one. What they do should be criminal. When you spend thousands of dollars there should be stricter guidelines in place for the RV industry and sever penalties for those that violate them.

Isn't Kevlar what they make bulletproof vests out of? If they wanted to put that on my tires, especially at a cost greater than another complete set of tires, THEN is when I would have walked away!!!

[scarecrow56]

Flyhigh sorry to hear this. My experiance was similar altho I didnt spend anywhere near what you did. I did deal with a saleswoman at Palm Bay and then a salesman at Winter Garden. Both places I wasnt allowed to negotiate with the rooster (the money man). He sat in a smoke glass booth at Palm Bay and a seperate office in WG. I called him the banker from "Deal No Deal". I was told many things in the course of a year of dealing with them that turned out to be not true. I was told what a great deal it was to get Kevlar protection on my tires which basically cost more than a new set of tires. Paint protection. All their warranty stuff would have been like pulling hens teeth to get done. I will concede one thing. Some folks have said that they're not all thieves and liars. I will admit that maybe a small percentage of dealers may be honest, maybe 5%. However, from my own experience talking and dealing with at least 20 I didn't find a single one. What they do should be criminal. When you spend thousands of dollars there should be stricter guidelines in place for the RV industry and sever penalties for those that violate them.

[Xflyhighx]

Well I don’t have enough time to tell you all the nbad Giant Rec World is. First the good,
1)the coach looked great when we arrived. Full body paint was a real plus.
2) All the extras that we ordered totaled more than 20,000.00 was installed.
3) I did not deal with a salesman, I delt with the GM of the Palm Bay Store. Everything that him and I discussed was complete. Know this is where the real lies start.....
The bad
1 after we agreed on the everything, it was turned over to the head of service. His name is big Joe.
When we arrived to do a walk thru is where it went down hill at a real fast pace. This is the best, let’s get the walk thru done, my men have work to do. Really this was starting to annoy me but I kept smiling and Joe kept lying.
Everything that was dealer installed had major issue.
1) generator was installed with 4-40lb propane bottles in the same compartment as the pumps and converter next to the generator . A time bomb waiting to blow. This is a direct no no gas code. There word to me is take it and will see what can be done. Just another lie and I should have known better..
2) left it at the dealer with 8 pages of issues wrong. 3 months.Mostly what they installed in house.
3 I’m not going to continue because I get very upset.
I made the stupid mistake of signing the papers and paying cash. Don’t tell me I told you so.
The best part of this story is a met a saint in Topeka, Indiana who’s Name is Orvin from Armish Family Rv
He straightened out the whole Coach and a real bad story turned out to a great ending with my Cedar Creek Champagne. If anyone doubts this experience, go buy one and let me know how it felt.
Do your self a huge favor an stay away. If anyone wants to ask questions over there, tell them that Howard Solomon did not send you.
Stay safe and happy travels.

[LadyRVer]

NOT all RV dealers are thieves and liars. I purchased a unit from Robbins in Ormond Beach, FL and that had to be the best buying experience ever. Also had a very good experience out in Bend, OR (trading while on a cross country trip and back.)

[kellem]

I think you did good,actually.

And I wholeheartedly agree that RV salesman want your money and goodbye.

I've owned 4 new trailers and knew exactly what I wanted and honestly didn't want anything to do with them after sale.

It's about money period. Duh

[Camper8251]

I agree, bought a new TT for 30K last year. While the sale went fine and I have had no real major problems. I would have thought maybe a follow up phone call or something would have been received...But nope..... Maybe just not realistic expectations.

[Walaby]

Sorry about the dealer experience, but congrats on your new purchase.

Hope you get to use it soon!

Mike

[scarecrow56]

Thanks A1A and Walaby. Apparently idc1 has a crystal ball that gives him clarvoyance into a great many things except why someone would buy a used trailer from a dealership. Hmmm, interesting. My post was about Giant Recreation World here in Florida and the not so great way they treated me but apparently that wasnt what he saw. Anyway, I paid 15k for a trailer that was in excellent condition, (looked like new) and was listed everywhere else for 20-22K. Plus I didnt have all the cash to buy outright so we financed some. Thats why, so you can know now. And, like they said I could give a rats patootie what he made on it. I was happy with the deal and I had looked at probably 100 campers over the course of a year.

[thomasmnile]

No, they're not all liars and thieves. Bought a Jayco WhiteHawk from Orlando RV back in 2012 at a "show" they staged at Daytona Speedway. The purchase took place there, the delivery and closing at their Orlando store. On pickup day, the trailer was fully set up, connected to utilities water in the tank, water heater was operating. A delivery tech, not our salesman spent 4 1/2 hours with us as we checked/inspected/operated everything.Couple of items addressed before we left. They had also installed the Fantastic vent fan and Maxxair cover we requested at time of purchase.

When the walk through was complete, they moved the trailer and our truck to a level concrete pad and installed the Reese Straight Line hitch we bought from them. We went to the business office to sign away, when finished, our new trailer was hitched up and ready to go. Sorry your experience wasn't good, but don't paint all dealers with the same brush.

[Walaby]

A1ARealtorRick wrote:
The profit margin made by the dealer should be of no concern to the purchaser.

Absolutely correct. I am all for people making the maximum amount of profit they can. If the purchaser is happy and paid what they paid, then it was the right price.

Much smaller scale, I bet a lot of people don't realize the markup on their Iphone is over 1100%. Nor do they care (obviously).

Mike

[RetiredRealtorR]

jdc1 wrote:
God forbid they put water in the tank for you to use to test the system. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would buy a used trailer from a dealer? The mark-up has to be 25-50%.

Nobody can even begin to guess what a "markup" should be on a used RV. It all depends on what the dealer paid for it, either at auction or as a trade-in. If the dealer bought it 'right', his markup should be larger. By the same token, if he paid too much for it, his markup will be much less. All that really matters is what the ultimate purchaser pays for it. The profit margin made by the dealer should be of no concern to the purchaser.

[gbopp]

Check the small print in your contract. They probably charged you extra to fill the tank with special RV Water. 🙂

[jdc1]

God forbid they put water in the tank for you to use to test the system. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why anyone would buy a used trailer from a dealer? The mark-up has to be 25-50%.