A-plus service? - Montana Owners Club

bethandkevin · 05-04-2013, 02:50 PM

We went with my brother to pick up his SOB travel trailer today. Good thing he only went to the largest family owned dealership for price. We arrived promptly at the designated time only to find his salesman had taken the day off-the same one he felt had treated him so fairly and courteously. The trailer was inside the garage, still being "prepped" for delivery. I accompanied him on the walk around and familiarization with the coach, noting some issues to be brought up later should he ask. Inside while he went through the operation with the tech, my wife and I looked over the fit and finish, which we found to be very good with only a couple minor issues. When asked about correcting these, we were informed that "it's just the way they are". On to the roof where we found so much dropped sealant and smeared adhesive from the roof membrane installation, one had to wonder if there was any underneath. The whole trailer was just as it had been received from the factory-no wash, vacuum or cleaning of any kind. I even found grease pencil marks on the outside from decal installation. While he attended to the financial side of the sale, the hitch was to be fitted to his truck. Upon completion of the hitch installation, we discovered they had installed a 1000# distributing hitch and load bars on a trailer with a tongue weight of 1100# and in the sales invoice it was stated to be a 1200#. No 1200# in stock, so he was upgraded to a 1400# set-up which did not require an additional sway bar-even though they had to drill the tongue to install an end plate for the sway bar. Two hours after we were supposed to be on our way, we actually were. Brother was happy he got a good price, I would have demanded better service and at least a clean new trailer.
While there we looked at the Alpine models, which the salesman called the Keystone "top of the line". Keystone needs to reconsider their position on that-Alpine can't hold a candle to our Montana's as far as we could see.

**DQDick** · 05-04-2013, 05:15 PM

Really sounds like a dealer to avoid.

grayghost03 · 05-04-2013, 06:01 PM

If you avoided every dealer that somebody bad mouth, you would never find a dealer. There are no perfect dealers, and no perfect customers. Although some think they are (on both sides of the fence). Find a dealer your comfortable with and do your thing. Sounds like the buyer was happy with his purchase, I wouldn't p!$$ on his parade. Let him enjoy it.

Art-n-Marge · 05-04-2013, 07:41 PM

I think it's just a matter of what they think they can get away with. The less work they have to spend on anything (including the soap and effort to wash a rig), the more money or less effort they have to spend on a purchased rig. Lots of people don't know these things even though they would not receive a new vehicle the same way.

Glad to hear you are helping your brother out. I've done the same with others as has been done for me. You can't beat experience.

RJI47 · 05-05-2013, 02:59 AM

Art is right. Dealers are dealers, and will usually only do what they need to to get the rig out the door. Then there are the exceptions that will go the extra mile to make sure everything was done right, and everyone's happy. I'm sure there are a lot of this kind of dealer also. I'm glad your brother was happy with the deal, and wish him lots of luck.

bethandkevin · 05-05-2013, 03:55 AM

Quote:If you avoided every dealer that somebody bad mouth, you would never find a dealer. There are no perfect dealers, and no perfect customers. Although some think they are (on both sides of the fence). Find a dealer your comfortable with and do your thing. Sounds like the buyer was happy with his purchase, I wouldn't p!$$ on his parade. Let him enjoy it.

My wife nor I never said a negative word to my brother or his wife. We are very happy for them. He was happy with the transaction. The point of my post was to illustrate what one dealer considered a positive delivery experience.

mail2us · 05-05-2013, 08:41 AM

It really comes down to "buyer beware" in anything we purchase. Am of the belief we all at one time or another get excited about a purchase and don't always do our due diligence on stuff we buy. Sounds like your brother is pleased and that is really what counts. You too probably learned from his experience. I believe many dealers are like your brother's dealer.

HOOK · 05-05-2013, 09:03 AM

Let me see if I have a good grasp of the dealer/customer relationship. We want the dealer to sell to us at a good price, and have the rig spotless, mechanically perfect, ready on time every time, with a pro salesman seeing to the details, a pro tech, both bringing about a perfect delivery. Does that sum it up very well? I accept that challenge!

grayghost03 · 05-05-2013, 09:12 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by BethandKevin

Quote:If you avoided every dealer that somebody bad mouth, you would never find a dealer. There are no perfect dealers, and no perfect customers. Although some think they are (on both sides of the fence). Find a dealer your comfortable with and do your thing. Sounds like the buyer was happy with his purchase, I wouldn't p!$$ on his parade. Let him enjoy it.

My wife nor I never said a negative word to my brother or his wife. We are very happy for them. He was happy with the transaction. The point of my post was to illustrate what one dealer considered a positive delivery experience.

No offense intended, I thought it was very cool and obvious that you let him enjoy their deal. Hard to do that sometimes, but it sure helps them start out on a happy note. To many people have to down play the things that bother them, when its not their deal being done. Ever noticed that no matter how good the deal, the next guy could have got it cheaper. Never fails

bethandkevin · 05-05-2013, 11:39 AM

I detect a hint of sarcasm Larry, but you're spot on. The delivery experience should leave us wanting to return to the dealer should the need arise-not repel us from them. When I repair a vehicle for someone, I want them to remember not only that I did a great job repairing it, but that they got a little more than they paid for. I've been known to wash and vacuum a vehicle upon return. I always want to leave it better than when I started on it. So far, people continue to return to me for their repairs. So it should be with service at the RV dealer or any service business. We need more Ozz's and Larry's out there!

CORattler · 05-05-2013, 02:46 PM

You are either committed to excellence or you're not. If someone out there thinks marginal/shoddy work either in sales or work performed is "just the way it is" and acceptable, they are not the kind of people I want to do business with. Mediocre is not a desirable trait in my book.
Holding your tongue during this transaction must have taken a great deal of effort. I hope your brother is happy with his purchase.

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