Shopping. Hate Salesmen

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tonyshell

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Sep 17, 2016
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So we go the tow vehicle part of our equation taken care of, now we are trailer shopping.  Salesmen suck.  We've been to multiple dealers explain our few must haves and within five min the saleman(or woman) is showing us the opposite of what we asked for.  For example my bride has stated she does not want the dividing wall between the front bed and the rest of the camper.  She likes it open.  The last sales gal looked at us and said" don't you want to get away from the kids?"  Um no we go camping for family time.  Then she asks what kind of camping we do, we say 90% dry camping. She asks "no electric, no generator?, what do you do?" The last straw was she kept insisting we look at 35'+ trailers, we stated several times 30' max including tongue.  It seems no one wants my money.

Okay rant over.  Anyone know of any open type floorplans with bunks for the kids?  Thus far we found a KZ connect we like (231bhs) and a Lance that was nice but spendy.  Any other suggestions?
 
Hi Tonyshell,

Sales people can be a major pain. There are a few good ones but I tihnk they are far and few between. I'd say they are probably told how to go about selling at the dealer they work for. Still, you can go to dealerships and look around, more or less helping yourselves out by looking at units. If one looks promising then get a salesmen involved. Check out the various websites and look at the models online as they show various configurations.

My wife and I looked at the Lance trailers. They ARE very nice inside and probably are at least the length you want. Plus they seem to be a light trailer. Be sure to take in consideration total cargo weight capacity you can haul when camping. Sounds like you travel light. The Lance trailers are spendy but probably would hold up in the longer run. Good luck in your hunt!!
 
Fairly light.  The lance was nice but we liked the KZ alot.  It has leaf springs to i can raise it easily and the bunks were nicer for the kids.  As with everything i want to research the heck out of it and see all the options while my bride makes snap decisions getting frustrated with me.
 
Total aggre.  Sales people suck.  Don't want to sell you what you want.  Just want to.sell you the most expensive for a bigger Commission.  I had a sells person tell me my mini van  could tow a 5000lbs trailer because it had a class 3 hitch disbight it having a max tow capacity of 3500.
 
This is why I avoid the local Camping World. You can't walk around and look. You have to be escourted. A smaller, local lot lets you walk around. Sometimes you don't know what you want until you see it.
 
I understand all the salesmen/saleswomen bashing. I hate most myself. Please understand, we are not all evil. I retired as sales director for what I consider a small company...modest annual sales in the financial world. We provided a service that was not a luxury but a needed entity for large credit unions nationally. Whenever I was tasked with breaking in a new rep my first order of business was simple. Shut up and listen!
Listen to what the needs are and offer solutions. An older wiser man than I once told me... everyone loves to buy, nobody wants to be sold. Listen to what people say and provide solution options to fit their needs and budget. I have done this for so long I truly love the unwelcome sales calls we all get almost daily. In retirement it keeps my brain sharp as I totally F with them taking up as much of their time as possible. Most are so stupid they eventually hang up.
We are not all bad. In 35 years I have never sold anything to anyone that was a bad fit. I was in a small niche industry where reputation and integrity is all you have.
Climbing off soapbox...
8)
 
Well said Alpena Jeff.  I have met the occasional salesman that was okay but in general they drive me crazy.  Engineer here, everyday i have to have to make miracles happen because of salesman promises. Have little patience for blowing smoke up my rear and not listening.
 
I get it. I really do.
Here's one for free...the next time you are at the dinner table and some jackaxx tela jerk calls try this...
Sorry, busy right now. Give me your home phone number and I'll call you back later tonight..
Click. ;D
 
Don't make me get back on that soapbox...
It is safe to say that most salespeople are out for themselves. I'm not breaking new ground here. All I am saying is educate yourself on whatever product you are buying. Walk into the showroom better educated than the sales team on whatever you are buying. That puts you in control. This is really simple folks. If you walk in stupid you will walk out stupid. You have a brain. Educate yourself on whatever you are buying and you will win. Most sales people are dumber than you. Believe it. I've lived it.
Stepping down.  As you were.  8)
 
Alpena Jeff said:
All I am saying is educate yourself on whatever product you are buying. Walk into the showroom better educated than the sales team on whatever you are buying. That puts you in control. This is really simple folks. If you walk in stupid you will walk out stupid.
Click to expand...

If ever there was a solid piece of advice for RV shopping (or any big ticket item for that matter), this would be it. The guy that sold us our Ram 2500 truck couldn't tell us much beyond what color it was and what incentives were being offered.....but I already knew the stats, capabilities, and limitations of the truck.  He was a nice guy, made a list of what I wanted, and pointed us to the right part of the lot.  Deal consummated.  Same thing with the RV....sales dude told us to help ourselves, and holler if we needed help.  No hovering, no hard sell, no wild claims.  Small, family owned dealership....but as Alpena said, we'd already done countless days worth of research. 

Alpena Jeff said:
Sorry for the hijack! Need to stay off these boards when I'm having a few.... :eek:
Click to expand...

That wasn't a hijack.  Solid info that can (and likely will) benefit others.    :)
 
We all need to remember that the job of  a salesman is to sell what the store has, not to get you what you want. The better ones know it is easier to sell something that matches your wants, but RV stores often don't attract the most professional sales types and only the largest stores give much training in either the products or sales technique.

I've known a very few pretty good sales people, capable in both customer help and making money for the store. They exist, but they are a bit thin on the ground!

The advice about educating yourself is priceless.  An RV is an expensive and complicated product, far more so than a house or a car, or even a house plus a car. You need to know a lot more than "it's pretty and the tv screen is big". Sadly, the RV industry does little to assist its buyers in learning about the product and what to expect from it.
 
My worst thing is the "you can pull anything on the lot" speech.  That one, to me anyway, is borderline criminal.  That is intentionally putting an uneducated consumer into a potentially unsafe situation to pad your wallet, instead of guiding them and giving them the info needed to make an educated, intelligent purchase.  I got seriously crosswise with a CW salesman a few years back for that comment.  He told me that my 1989 F250 could pull anything on the lot.  I called him a liar, and told him that I'd be happy to disprove him if he cared to make a wager on it.  I also told him he should be ashamed of himself for intentionally trying to put people at risk. 

He walked off.

tonyshell said:
So we go the tow vehicle part of our equation taken care of, now we are trailer shopping.  Salesmen suck.  We've been to multiple dealers explain our few must haves and within five min the saleman(or woman) is showing us the opposite of what we asked for.  For example my bride has stated she does not want the dividing wall between the front bed and the rest of the camper.  She likes it open.  The last sales gal looked at us and said" don't you want to get away from the kids?"  Um no we go camping for family time.  Then she asks what kind of camping we do, we say 90% dry camping. She asks "no electric, no generator?, what do you do?" The last straw was she kept insisting we look at 35'+ trailers, we stated several times 30' max including tongue.  It seems no one wants my money.

Okay rant over.  Anyone know of any open type floorplans with bunks for the kids?  Thus far we found a KZ connect we like (231bhs) and a Lance that was nice but spendy.  Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

You'll find what you're looking for.  The fact that you did your research and know what you want puts you miles ahead of most RV shoppers.
 
tonyshell said:
Anyone know of any open type floorplans with bunks for the kids?  <snippage>  Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...
Yes, go look at the floorplans here and see what looks good to you.
http://www.rvingplanet.com/rvs
It lets you limit the search by several factors like length and style.

I see 326 bunkhouse traveltrailer models with the length from 26 to 30 ft.

It is a great place to go se a LOT of floorplans to get an idea of what you are looking for.
 
vinceherman said:
Yes, go look at the floorplans here and see what looks good to you.
http://www.rvingplanet.com/rvs
It lets you limit the search by several factors like length and style.

I see 326 bunkhouse traveltrailer models with the length from 26 to 30 ft.

It is a great place to go se a LOT of floorplans to get an idea of what you are looking for.
Click to expand...

^^That's a great place to start!

I'll add that several manufactures have trailers in this kind of floorplan.  Jayco has at least one, so does Rockwood (well forest river probably has 30 that all pretty close with a different sticker on the outside).  Once you get a short list of models, hit rvtrader and start looking for somebody with that particular unit on the lot.
 
I'll check out the link.  The big sticking point for my wife is the wall at the foot of the bed.  She doesn't like it, preferring it to be open.  Coming from a popup this is a big issue.  The number of windows, the slide and this lack of a divider contribute to a hardside (Darkside as popup ppl call them) that she actually likes.  We considered a hybrid, but i'm tired of making bunks and climbing over each other.

Picked the new to me tow vehicle with the idea that too much truck is better than just enough.
 
I really enjoy working with a good sales pro. Those are the folks who know their product, help you figure out what you want, then work to close the sale. Sadly they are few and far between in the RV world. We have gotten to the point of,doing our own research and the completely ignoring the sales person until we are ready to write a check.
 
Welcome to the Dark side. Jayco had a few good quality models to choose from. Also don't be afraid of a used model. What you are looking for is a common size that people tend to trade up from so there shod be a good selection out there. Also Remember that many of these styles have a Murphy bed configuration ,may work well for you. Have fun and have great adventures.
 
Check out the Rockwood 2504S.  I really like the openness of this model with the Murphy bed option and it has bunks. If my family grows any larger (no plans of that happening!) that model would be on the short list.
 
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