I'm really taken back that the CEO of such a large company has to step up to the plate to take care of, really for the most part, simple fixes in his organization. I worked for the same company for 38 years and it had more local operations than Camping World. If a problem every got to the seriousness to where the CEO had to get involved, you can bet that the location manager would be collecting unemployment.
As I see it, the hiring process for Camping World needs to be restructured and local management should be better trained to insure that they take care of the problems way before it festers to the point that the CEO has to step up to the plate and fix it. Whats going to happen if the CEO goes on a two week vacation?
On the flip, thank goodness that the CEO is doing what he sees as the only way to achieve harmony in his various locations. My suggestion? CEO gets real close to the management of the In-n-Out Burger operations...see how really great customer service and employee training works for them.
hershey - albuquerque, nm Someday Finally Got Here
My wife does all the driving - I just get to hold the steering wheel.
Superman was an illegal alien.
Expedition - Suzuki Grand Viagra
This past friday we visited our 1st CW in person. We stopped at the Strafford, MO store on the way to Branson. Wanted to see what they were all about. We are 95% sure of the next make and model of 5th wheel in our near future. I told DW it couldn't hurt to do a look at a couple other brands at CW just in case we had missed one in our research. We went into the store first for a look at what was available. We spent about 20 minutes wandering the aisles. Saw several employees yet only one said hi and no one asked if we needed help with anything. That stood out to me as odd since there were only four couples including us and at least 6 employees. None of the employees were wearing shop uniforms so they were in sales of some sort. Next we wandered over to the new 5th wheels. All were locked so looking would have required a salesperson with keys. The 3 RV dealers we used previously usually left units open for browsing. I get the need for keeping them locked but I expected a salesperson would swoop down on us once it was clear we were going into the sales lot. I did not go in to inquire about looking since we were only lukewarm in interest. I just was stunned that no one even approached as we walked back to our vehicle. That was the 1st time I have ever spent over 20 minutes at a sales establishment and Hi was the only word exchanged.
Guess that might explain a few things I have read previously.
Greg
You cannot stop growing old but you don't have to grow up.
Chef/Pilot
DW/Navigator
2 Sons, 1 DIL, 1DIL planned, 1 Grandson, 1 Granddaughter.
2012 F350 XLT 6.7 Powerstroke 4X4 SWD Crewcab.
2012 Wildcat 313RE-OK
past-MIdirector wrote: MichDoc may we invite you to come to the Grill-fest at the Belleville, MI store May 18-19 next month.
Though I am not a Good Sam's member at this time... I need to be on the west side of the state through Friday Morning that weekend, And in Livonia on the 20th SO I should hit Belleville long about the 19th.
Perhaps we can say HI to each other.. I do plan on a Camping world stop, even if I'm short on funds when I get there.
By the way.. I have had issues with that camping world (They owe me an oil change,,, I told them Full Synthetic, they put in Dino, and I'm less than satisfied with the inverter install they did (I fixed that, they did not re-balance the 50 amp properly no biggie.
But that said... NO complaints that are worth getting all hot and lathered about.
Also.. The Belleville store is one place that has the information to fix a Dometic by LG microwave so the turntable turns... (I gave it to 'em) That statement is *NOT* a complaint against CW.. (it is against LG but that's another thread).
Happy camping.
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business
Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
hershey wrote: I'm really taken back that the CEO of such a large company has to step up to the plate to take care of, really for the most part, simple fixes in his organization.
He is not the only CEO to step up.. I have read several stories involving such companies as Ford and General Motors, where the customer was not all that pleased with the customer service, and wound up sending a letter to the CEO.. Let me tell you behinds were kicked and service happened.. FAST.
I myself have such a story (Different company not mentioned in this thread) only I did not go quite that high and no behinds were kicked.... But my account was (I believe) flagged "GIVE THIS GUY PRIORITY SERVICE" cause the next time I visited that dealership.. Let me tell you they snapped to.
It is not often needed to go all the way to the top to get service, however... It is often easier to find the name of the CEO than it is the national customer service person.
I've visited the Woodstock, Ga. CW location only twice. Both times I wandered the aisles for several minutes looking and never saw a single employee come out from behind their sales or service counter even with no customers for them to service. And when I paid for my purchase, it was painfully obvious that person really needed to look for other employment as the CW job was certainly above their ability.
Close camping friends of ours attempted to buy a new 5th wheel camper at the Woodstock, Ga. CW last year. When confronting CW with a lower price for the exact same identical 5'er from another dealer in Ohio, the CW salesperson said it was impossible to sell that model at the Ohio price and that if our friends bought the unit in Ohio they'd have difficulty getting it serviced in Woodstock. Well they drove to Ohio and saved the $5500 over the CW price but the Woodstock CW was right about one thing. Our friends sure have a time getting their rig in for service in Woodstock. Still though, they feel it was financially worth the trip to Ohio to buy. After personally seeing our camping friends CW buying experience, we won't buy a stick of gum from CW any longer.
We don't bother walking into a CW and haven't for quite some time. We just order online from other sources or buy from our local RV dealer.
Happy camping!!! See y'all down the road!!!
USAF RETIRED. "EITHER LEAD, FOLLOW, OR GET OUTTA THE WAY"!
PULL DOGS:
2006 GMC 3500 CC DRW D/A LBZ 4X4 SLT "THE SILVER FOX" PRIMARY
2000 DODGE 3500 QUAD CAB DRW CTD LARAMIE "THE ROAD TRAIN LOCOMOTIVE" BACK-UP
hershey wrote: I'm really taken back that the CEO of such a large company has to step up to the plate to take care of, really for the most part, simple fixes in his organization.
He is not the only CEO to step up.. I have read several stories involving such companies as Ford and General Motors, where the customer was not all that pleased with the customer service, and wound up sending a letter to the CEO.. Let me tell you behinds were kicked and service happened.. FAST.
I myself have such a story (Different company not mentioned in this thread) only I did not go quite that high and no behinds were kicked.... But my account was (I believe) flagged "GIVE THIS GUY PRIORITY SERVICE" cause the next time I visited that dealership.. Let me tell you they snapped to.
It is not often needed to go all the way to the top to get service, however... It is often easier to find the name of the CEO than it is the national customer service person.
Not saying that it doesn't happen. But really, with the regularity of Camping Worlds having to deal with such petty (for the most part, petty until it happens to you) problems? Something is really wrong. Obviously some of the CW locations have a real problem with managers. For crying out loud, has this country deteriorated to such a miserable state that qualified managers cannot be hired?
I'd bet that if the CEO goes back in history for say the last three months and makes a list of managers/locations that he has had to bail out and start making adjustments in managers, one at a time, the rest of the managers who get wind of it might just step up and start doing their jobs.
Who really expects the CEO of GE to get involved with fixing the toaster of an unhappy customer?
my more local one is stellar people doing wonderful work. never had a fault with them. the second is further away and again, it was stellar customer service. in fact bought my second TT from them
so far I only have good things to say about my CWs
it is all about the people in the store. ground level. all the policies, written rules, mission statements etc. are junk if the people are not good employees and do their jobs properly.
if the service is bad, go find another RV Store to service your needs. give your money to the store with good employees handling your problem in an acceptable manner.
I'm seeing something of a pattern here......most people have had their problems with Camping World at the store level, rather than at the corporate level. Well, let me tell you about the "last straw" that stopped me from going to CW:
I had $300.00 work done on my rig (wheel bearings, brakes, etc.) and asked that they check the air pressure in the tires as well. They wanted an ADDITIONAL $40 for that service. When I questioned the $40 charge to check my tire pressure, they basically said "that's what we charge....take it or leave it". Needless to say, I left it. However, the most surprising thing was when I complained to their corporate offices (customer service department) and they basically stated that if I didn't like what they charged, to go elsewhere. And I have ever since!
Since that day, I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars of service, accessories, and supplies that I've bought for my rig (I'm on the third one since then....none purchased from CW of course), but I can tell you that NONE of that money was spent there. A $40 "rip off" from CW has cost them thousands of dollars JUST FROM ME. I don't know how much they've lost from all the people that I've related that experience to!
I guess I am one of the ones that you are referring to… I have been accused of defending CW and GS before…
The forum
When someone comes on here and rants about a problem, I try to carefully consider their issue and based on their words and their words only try to form a opinion… usually based on what they say I may see red flags that cause me to question at least some of what they say… I do this knowing I am only hearing their story and that there may be facts missing and the issues maybe be embellished a little…
If I ask a question about what they said, I am often accused of taking sides when in fact I am trying to reconcile something the seems inconsistent in their rant…
Now…
I can choose to patronize them…
Try to understand the issue from a impartial point of view…
Or move on to the next thread…
I do no patronize,,,
there are times I move on to another thread…
but more often I would ask question and/or give opinion the I believe is warranted… I am less concerned with how it is taken…
often their follow up post or answers to questions has comments that seem more like attempts to justify rather than answer, add details that surely wouldn’t have been forgotten in the lengthy OP…
It is usually in the follow up post that credibility is established or lost…
Have I defended CW??? Yes I have, but that usually that comes after the piling on from the CW haters that offer nothing of value to the thread with their snide remarks and nothing else… there are plenty of them and if you are observant you learn in other post they make that maybe they have never even been to a CW store, or they had a single minor issue back in 1997 and they are still bellyache about it in 2012...
They actually detract not help the OP or anyone else… that is unless the OP is only seeking support and affirmation, like they sometimes are…
The reputation…
The RV industry as a whole has a bad reputation, and I agree it has been earned, but I know a awful lot of people that go to CW on a regular basis without complaint… I personally only know of one individual that got poor service and it was rectified locally to his satisfaction, but he to still acts like a women scorn when CW is mentioned…
The thing is while I recognize they have some problems I also recognize that there are many here on RV.net that use their platform to take every chance they can to condemn CW’s reputation and for some anything that has anything to do with GS… deserved or not…
That is when I may post and defend CW…
The same is true for GS ERS… you have those that will say anything to be critical of GS and to convince others that CN is better… many of them have never belonged to GS ERS to even know… since I have had both and found that to be ridiculous, I will post rebuttal… not so much to defend GS but to add legitimate balance…
So I guess my question to the op would be, since you have established and make the direct claim that CW has such a bad reputation…
How did you come up with the justification to make that claim???
How many sales do they make where the customer isn’t satisfied??? Of how many sales???
I have to assume by this thread you have some concrete information to support your claim that CW‘s reputation is generally bad…
The suggestion, that the people you are accusing of defending CW are moles…
Any accusation that I am somehow connected in any way or anything other than a satisfied customer is totally absurd…
The CEO
As far as Marcus, my opinion is he is a stand up guy and a man of his word period… I have the greatest respect for a businessman with his attributes… we sure could use a lot more like him…
I have never met him, don’t know him , or spoke to him… I have never written to him, or asked for help from him… all my knowledge of him comes from things I have read about him…
Because I have respect for him and the job he is doing and am not afraid to speak my mind in no way means that I am (in your words) or if they just enjoy bowing to, and praising people for merely doing their job
Again I have shopped CW for goods and services many times (to many times over the years) and I have never received bad service at any store I have been to or on-line… I have never been treated rudely or waited excessively at check out… I have had occasion where I had to wait for help but never because workers were just sitting around doing nothing…
All my experiences are with stand alone CW stores, not CW dealerships… I don’t like the dealerships branded as CW…
Love my mass produced, entry level, built by Lazy American Workers, Hornet
MichDoc wrote: I'm seeing something of a pattern here......most people have had their problems with Camping World at the store level, rather than at the corporate level. Well, let me tell you about the "last straw" that stopped me from going to CW:
I had $300.00 work done on my rig (wheel bearings, brakes, etc.) and asked that they check the air pressure in the tires as well. They wanted an ADDITIONAL $40 for that service. When I questioned the $40 charge to check my tire pressure, they basically said "that's what we charge....take it or leave it". Needless to say, I left it. However, the most surprising thing was when I complained to their corporate offices (customer service department) and they basically stated that if I didn't like what they charged, to go elsewhere. And I have ever since!
Since that day, I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars of service, accessories, and supplies that I've bought for my rig (I'm on the third one since then....none purchased from CW of course), but I can tell you that NONE of that money was spent there. A $40 "rip off" from CW has cost them thousands of dollars JUST FROM ME. I don't know how much they've lost from all the people that I've related that experience to!
As much as I can agree with you about the air pressure charge as being a bad policy it is not something unheard of…
Like it or not it happens in a lot of other shops to… if they pull you wheels to do the bearings and brakes and you ask to have the wheels mounted in different positions they will add a rotation charge… even though they have to R & R all the wheels anyway…
Someone in corporate made the decision to do this and they hopefully have already weighed the consequences at that time…
So in that sense it is the way it is… making exceptions for one and not doing it for all would have consequences of its own…
So am I defending CW because I say it is the policy and they shouldn’t make exceptions for you???
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