Disappointment/Embarrasment with Excel Dealer

[didymop]

Okay folks, bear with me. I just need to vent about a situation that has happened with an Excel dealer which caused quite a bit of embarrasment and disappointment. Humor me, okay?

In July 2012, hubby and I drove to the Excel dealership in Casper, WY from Keystone SD (over 200 miles one way) to have a look at the 2011 Excel Limited 36CFE that once belonged to President Bryan. We were really excited because we would be upgrading from our 2005 Excel Limited 36RDO and for $89K it was a great price with all kinds of bells and whistles (of course...it was for Bryan, LOL). Well, you only have one opportunity to make a good first impression, and let me tell you, we were not impressed with what we saw when we walked in the door. There were several (minor) things that should have already been repaired before anyone was shown the rig: the carpet was not worn, it was filthy and had bad stains throughout; one globe in the fixture over the dining room table was hanging by wires because it was missing a nut; there were several lights burned out; there was a missing screw on the plastic cord-holder on the bedroom door to hold down the shade so it didn't flop and could be raised and lowered; there was a 1" size worn white spot on the brown bathroom door frame; and there was a a missing piece of sewer hose between the hard plastic/PVC piece and the Pivot-ease on the outside.

When we pointed out these items to the salesperson, his comment was that they were were aware of them but they were swamped and just didn't have the time to take care of these things...but to rest assured that they would be fixed if we bought it. I mentioned that if this were a brick and mortar haus for sell, all of these things should have/would have been repaired (along with a few other things such as outside rust and a hole in the generator box) before the haus would have been listed for sale. We've sold 3 homes ourselves in the past 20 years and doing the repairs was one of the first rules of preparing a haus for sale; it's just common sense and what you have to do to be competitive. But...for several reasons we did not buy the 5th (much to my husbands dismay in some respect), however, we left the dealership thinking they were okay folks and we'd do business with them in the future if/when we get our next Excel. In fact, I've even posted on another thread that I wished someone would please buy this 5th so hubby would get off my back about the great deal.

Fast forward to this week. My husband's cousin (who I've never met and he hasn't seen in over 30 years) and her hubby happened to be RVing in South Dakota in their 2011 34' Excel Winslow. When they heard we were in Keystone they came to visit us and of course the talk leaned towards our great homes on wheels and other Excel products. We didn't hesitate to tell him about and show him many photos of the Excel we had seen at the dealership in Casper, Wyoming, and the fact that it not only was a Limited vs their Winslow and had so many options, it had also been reduced from $89K to $69K since we looked at it. They were really psyched about it from our discussion and decided they just had to see it. So instead of showing them the awesome sights in these beautiful Black Hills (you know, Mt Rushmore, etc.), they wanted to make the trip to Casper to see it and probably make a deal. We called the dealership to let them know we were coming so they'd have the 5th open. During the long drive, we all discussed the items that we'd seen that needed repairing and some other issues they may want to address with the salesperson, but we said we felt pretty confident that certainly those things had been fixed since they were relatively small things and they probably wouldn't want to keep showing it with these obvious problems.

Well, we were wrong. These 'easy to and should have been fixed already' items were just as they were in July and of course, didn't make a good impression on our cousins and rather embarrased and disappointed us. STRIKE ONE. But they thought they'd go ahead and discuss the purchase of the 5th, the necessary repairs, and the value of their trade-in. When they asked the rep. about the repairs and why they hadn't been done since July, they again explained that they were swamped and besides, they wanted the new owner to have a say in the repairs. WHAT? Well, that was STRIKE TWO. But they would be glad to do these and any other repairs, but they would come as a charge to them as the purchaser. STRIKE THREE. But wait, there's STRIKE FOUR. When discussing the price, they were told that instead of $69K as advertised, they would be starting from the older price of $89K because they had a trade-in. WHAT? Nothing in the advertisement mentions a variable price; and is that legal?

So do I have to say that they didn't buy the 5th and we all left the dealership very disappointed with their shenanigans and their poor representation of Excel RVs? We were also feeling pretty bad that they spent over $100 in gas/diesel to go through this encounter.

What do I expect to happen from my writings? I certainly hope that Bryan reads this and will give some consideration about discussing this with the dealership. It concerns the four of us that if they have no pride or time in servicing a pre-owned Excel RV for sale, just how are they when it comes to prepping a new Excel for someone who uses them to take ownership of one ordered through Smith Center (which is about 20 a month I understand). If they're too swamped to spend maybe 1-2 hours to make the repairs I noted and hire someone to clean those filthy carpets, how responsive will they be when it comes to servicing one of our Excel's otherwise. Needless to say, we won't be using this dealership when we get our new Excel in the future.

Thanks for letting me vent....it's just that things like this are important to me/us and their so-so attitude simply bothers me. But Life is Good. Live well, laugh often, love much, enjoy life. B

[vsheetz]

A dealer to avoid. Unfortunatly there are too many like them. I prefer to buy from a private seller.

[Jeff426]

I am not an Excel owner but I do own another 5th wheel from an equally reputable manufacturer! I have actually put Excel on our very short list as rigs we would upgrade to. The manufacturer should have some sway as far as the way the dealerships represent there new and used products. All I can say, is that you are right and there isn't one amongst us that wouldn't feel the same way! I think for us, my number 1 choice will still be Nuwa and I won't be dealing with the outfit in Casper!

[TXiceman]

Dealers vary greatly and you found one near the bottom. If I were a manufacturer and had a dealer signed up as a representative, I would have a minimum list expectations they would have to maintain in order to represent the company.

Hope you have better luck in the future.

ken

[336muffin]

I'm sorry for your experiences and loss of money but who is president Bryan? The dealer is in trouble it sounds like.

[TEAMTJ]

Originally Posted by 336muffin

I'm sorry for your experiences and loss of money but who is president Bryan? The dealer is in trouble it sounds like.

Bryan is the President of Peterson Industries, who makes Excel. While PI may or may not be able to do anything about the situation, I'm glad the OP posted their experience to not only bring attention to consumers, but to PI, who will no doubt take note.

It amazes me in this age of social media how businesses think that sub-par customer service won't adversely affect their business.

Shortly after purchasing my new Excel a few months ago, I briefly looked at this dealer in WY to possibly do some warranty work while on my road trip. After reading some reviews online I was not impressed and decided to bypass them.

[RickO]

What a sad story.

Hopefully word will get back to the chief to let him know how the branding he's worked so hard to protect is being squandered at that location.

Rick

[drfife]

Sorry to hear about your bad Excel dealer experience.

We just bought our 2013 Excel Winslow 34IKE from Excel's newest dealership, Bennett's RV in Granbury, Texas. We had a great experience with them. I'm confident they will make a great Excel dealership.

Bennett's RV has been in business for 40 years. I bought a trailer from them in 2001 and they treated me well that time too.

Ask for Gary, tell him Russell sent you.

[goldwing02up]

I have been a lurker on this forum since we bought our 2007 Excel Limited a year ago and find the information here invaluable. Unfortunately this is the post that prompted me to register.
I am sorry your experience wasn't the best ; your post is very well written and perhaps better served stuffed in an envelope and sent to PI then posted on a public message board. I'm just say'n ....

[chief02]

Is this dealer an accual Excel dealer? or did they aquire this Excel as a trade-in of something else. The story about this rig belonging to Bryan sounds questionable. I doubt Bryan would let a rig out of his hands in that condition. It must have past through another owner or two before ending up in Casper.

[didymop]

The 5th was in fact made for Bryan and there was one owner after him (a large company CEO) who had it briefly before he had an Excel made for him. We spoke personally to Bryan about the 5th because we had questions about the condition of the full body paint on this, a 2011 unit, as it was chipping badly in places. Seems as if this was PIs 1st (and only) attempt at full body paint in house, from this experience they decided to send units out for painting.

When we 1st called in July about seeing the 5th, one if the first things they told us about it was that it had belonged to Bryan. They went on to tell about the 2d owner too, but Bryan had it longer. So wouldn't you think they'd particularly want it to look good to represent him and Excel? Or to look good just to sell, period. I guess they want to keep it in their inventory for a long time and that's exactly what I told them.

This dealership is in fact an Excel dealer and did not just inherit the rig. As I mentioned, we understand they prep and deliver many Excels each month and that concerns me for the owners now considering their 'swamped' attitude.

Thanks for the info about the new dealership in Granbury, TX. That is one of my fav towns in Texas. Maybe we'll stop by on our way to Mission TX for this winter.

And the suggestion about mailing this to PI is well received; I might just have to do that if I don't notice that Bryan has read this post at some time. It may be an email to him....we'll see. So Bryan, when you read this, feel free to say a few words about the situation.

In any case, I hope word will get back to this dealership and they will see the error of their ways and make some attitude adjustments.

[Endeavor2BnC]

Originally Posted by didymop

The 5th was in fact made for Bryan and there was one owner after him (a large company CEO) who had it briefly before he had an Excel made for him. We spoke personally to Bryan about the 5th because we had questions about the condition of the full body paint on this, a 2011 unit, as it was chipping badly in places. Seems as if this was PIs 1st (and only) attempt at full body paint in house, from this experience they decided to send units out for painting.

When we 1st called in July about seeing the 5th, one if the first things they told us about it was that it had belonged to Bryan. They went on to tell about the 2d owner too, but Bryan had it longer. So wouldn't you think they'd particularly want it to look good to represent him and Excel? Or to look good just to sell, period. I guess they want to keep it in their inventory for a long time and that's exactly what I told them.

This dealership is in fact an Excel dealer and did not just inherit the rig. As I mentioned, we understand they prep and deliver many Excels each month and that concerns me for the owners now considering their 'swamped' attitude.

Thanks for the info about the new dealership in Granbury, TX. That is one of my fav towns in Texas. Maybe we'll stop by on our way to Mission TX for this winter.

And the suggestion about mailing this to PI is well received; I might just have to do that if I don't notice that Bryan has read this post at some time. It may be an email to him....we'll see. So Bryan, when you read this, feel free to say a few words about the situation.

In any case, I hope word will get back to this dealership and they will see the error of their ways and make some attitude adjustments.

After reading through this again, I thought I'd add my impression. I've never been to the dealer but have spoken to someone who has and their experience was good. I would not hesitate to use them, if I needed repairs when I was in the area.

As for the condition of "Bryan's" rig, I feel that he was not the last owner and the condition belongs to the "CEO". If that's how this person took care of his rig, what's the condition of his company?

As for prepping the rig prior to a sale, is the rig on consignment or is it part of the dealer's floor plan? This can determine when repairs are done?

Lots of questions for sure. The dealer can be "swamped" with new orders and in today's economy he has to choose priorities. Not an easy decision sometimes.

[ExcelRVGuy]

I'm sorry for this encounter and am addressing these issues with the dealership. (in private).

Bryan Tillett
President,
Peterson Industries, Inc.

[didymop]

Danke Bryan. Appreciate you.