Hershey show: Who purchased a GD at the show last year?

[orbsah]

One more question. . . . I may have heard wrong last year, but I vaguely recall the dealer mentioning there was a bunch of units at an off-site lot not far from the show where one could pick up a rig at the show and take it home that weekend. Does that sound familiar to anyone or did I mis-understand?

[MtnGuy]

One more question. . . . I may have heard wrong last year, but I vaguely recall the dealer mentioning there was a bunch of units at an off-site lot not far from the show where one could pick up a rig at the show and take it home that weekend. Does that sound familiar to anyone or did I mis-understand?

Not likely, but maybe huntr70 can chime in if I am wrong. It would be hard to stock that many units, and also transport that many units. Any unit bought would need to be cleaned and prepped. It is not typically go to the show and drive back home the same day with a trailer.

Some motor home dealers will keep extra units outside of the gate so that someone can try it out. I did that at 1 show.

[huntr70]

One more question. . . . I may have heard wrong last year, but I vaguely recall the dealer mentioning there was a bunch of units at an off-site lot not far from the show where one could pick up a rig at the show and take it home that weekend. Does that sound familiar to anyone or did I mis-understand?

Yeah, so that is part of the issue I had last year.

The story-

Grand Design decided we were not large enough to take care of their business at Hershey after 5 years of doing it.

A large chain dealer came into the area (most of their stores are in NY), and they carry GD at one of their other stores.

GD gave the Show to them.

What they did was stage some models at the dealers lot that is about 5 miles from the show, and drove people from the show to that lot to see the models that didn't fit in the Show.

The biggest issue I had was that the dealer is not an authorized GD dealer in PA, and technically can not sell or delivery GD products from that store.

GD doesn't care, as they are selling units, no matter who the dealer is. Issue I have, is that the local dealers do not get any of the overflow from the Show. Previous years, if the models didn't make the Show, you went to the local dealer to see them. Now, they are "skimming" from the Show and staging all the overflow on a dealer lot that is not an authorized dealer.

Do they deliver from that dealer after the Show? Not sure, but if they would get caught doing it, there is a $1000 per unit fine in PA for franchising laws.

[MDMEBM]

Very interesting. I know the dealer you are speaking of. We purchased our GD at the show last year and picked it up from the dealer you are referring to on our way from New York to the Carolinas. Guess that makes me an unknowing participant to this activity. That is unless things have changed.

[drauco]

We went to the show last year and were very disappointed with the dealer that was there. They did not get back to us with pricing. I had to call again, and when someone finally got me a price, they jacked it up from the show price so they could show me a higher trade in value. If you want a real deal from a real dealership in that area, call Frank Bailor at Stoltzfus RV in West Chester, Pa. Cell: 302-218-3821

[FordmanNJ]

Yeah, so that is part of the issue I had last year.

The story-

Grand Design decided we were not large enough to take care of their business at Hershey after 5 years of doing it.

A large chain dealer came into the area (most of their stores are in NY), and they carry GD at one of their other stores.

GD gave the Show to them.

What they did was stage some models at the dealers lot that is about 5 miles from the show, and drove people from the show to that lot to see the models that didn't fit in the Show.

The biggest issue I had was that the dealer is not an authorized GD dealer in PA, and technically can not sell or delivery GD products from that store.

GD doesn't care, as they are selling units, no matter who the dealer is. Issue I have, is that the local dealers do not get any of the overflow from the Show. Previous years, if the models didn't make the Show, you went to the local dealer to see them. Now, they are "skimming" from the Show and staging all the overflow on a dealer lot that is not an authorized dealer.

Do they deliver from that dealer after the Show? Not sure, but if they would get caught doing it, there is a $1000 per unit fine in PA for franchising laws.

Steve, thank you for the back story. Definitely a bean counter was involved somewhere in that decision. It is understandable why you would have reservations on why that dealer was allowed to demo the GD at the event. It's on a couple of levels and unfortunately I have seen this play out in other industries myself.

My first exposure with the Grand Design's brand name was though Ford Truck Enthusiasts. Several owners have them and spoke highly of the units. My wife and I briefly saw GD RVs at the Hershey show a few of years ago. We thought they were nice rigs. When we were getting more serious about looking at trailers last year, my wife and I were planning on hitting up the Hershey show as it was part of our long term look at things. What allowed us to make a decision was really the owner experience. I spoke with other GD owners at the local campground. I introduced myself and my reasoning for the questions. Each owner was friendly. They gave positives and negatives to their unit. I also asked who they purchased from and how was their experience. These simple talking points help our decision making. I think the only neutral or even what might be considered a negative point about the dealership was a service issue on one of the rigs. The owner was an early purchaser of a Reflection 5er. He said the dealer was not completely up to speed with the product. However overall the sales experience and ownership experience has quelled the service experience. Even that owner had no problem recommending the dealership. I also knew others who purchased non GD RV products and they had the same positive experience. When it came time to pull the trigger, these face to face, forum threads on experiences and on line searches made it easier to make a purchasing decision. As for our purchasing experience, I found it to be positive overall. I have no problem recommending the dealer when a dealer recommend post on Facebook or here comes up.

[huntr70]

We went to the show last year and were very disappointed with the dealer that was there. They did not get back to us with pricing. I had to call again, and when someone finally got me a price, they jacked it up from the show price so they could show me a higher trade in value. If you want a real deal from a real dealership in that area, call Frank Bailor at Stoltzfus RV in West Chester, Pa. Cell: 302-218-3821

Yep, I know Frank for years, great guy.

Funny you mention Stoltzfus...our current Sales Manager came from there, and we have 2 of their prior sales people.

[jrlinden]

That would have been us in 2016.

GD pulled the plug on us last year even though we are the local dealer to Hershey.

Said they "outgrew" us, even though we built them up at the Show for the previous 5 years.

I see you are quoting 2016...are you not a Grand Design Dealer any longer? I passed your place and thought I saw a bunch of GD's in your lot.

[FordmanNJ]

I see you are quoting 2016...are you not a Grand Design Dealer any longer? I passed your place and thought I saw a bunch of GD's in your lot.

Schaeffer's RV is still a GD dealer. Unfortunately they do not present Grand Design products at the Hershey show anymore due to what appears to be a corporate decision from the manufacturer. What Huntr70 is saying they will still be at the show but at other manufacturers showing other products. The last time I passed there, they had plenty of GD RVs on the lot as well as other makes.

[Milo1906]

There’s an RV Show at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium MD, 9/12-9/15. Are any of the PA RV dealers going to have Grand Design units there?