Our Grand Design 378-MBS disappeared!!!

gregghake

New Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2022
Messages
7
Hi all,

A cautionary tale...

We purchased a 2022 378-MBS from General RV in Draper, Utah on October 23rd of this year and hired Brookwide, Inc. to transport it from the dealer's lot to Juneau, Alaska. Brookwide moved a car of ours from Georgia to Alaska two weeks prior, so we were happy with their service and ready to receive the new (to us) fifth wheel.

Brookwide assigned a carrier, Buttar Transport, Inc., and they assigned a driver to pick it up on November 4th. A driver arrived, but with an incompatible hitch. They quickly dispatched another driver, who then disappeared - with our RV! - as soon as he left the lot. According to Buttar's insurance company, they have had some kind of issue with drivers and identity theft. At any rate, our rig has been missing for five weeks now, and our hope of ever receiving it is sadly fading.

Our insurance company, Progressive, has been helpful and they helped us file a claim with the carrier's insurance. The Draper, UT police department initially listed it on the NCIC (stolen vehicle) database in early November, but then removed it saying it was a civil matter and not in their jurisdiction. I contacted Draper PD again today and the Detective Sergeant is unwilling to resist it or open a stolen vehicle case. I wish they would help, because at this point nobody is out there looking for it.

I also filed a complaint with the FMCSA and reported it with the FTC, but I haven't heard back from either. Progressive and General RV of Draper have been very helpful throughout the process and I would highly recommend both if you need insurance or an RV dealer.

If we did this again we would put some kind of GPS tracker on the RV if we didn't move it ourselves. We had to hire someone this time for timing reasons. Does anyone know if Grand Design keep a list of stolen VINs?

Any other advice, tips, suggestions, are welcome!
 

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Sorry to hear about your loss. GPS tags would have been a good investment, not much use when the horse is already out of the barn. The police response sure is disappointing. Has the transport company asked the police to treat this as a theft?
 
I would get in touch with State police . They possibly have a stolen vehicle task force. our state police does.
 
What an unfortunate event! I'm sorry to hear of your troubles. Personally, I don't think I would want it back. The vast majority of the time criminals are not sophisticated. It's unlikely they will somehow get a title for it and sell it to a valid buyer on the open market. Much more likely it's in the possession of the low-life that took it or his like minded friends. It's probably their drug party house.
 
You could contact the local FBI office too. Likely has gone across state lines so is a federal offense.
 
If you have the VIN, I would also report it to Grand Design and provide them with details of the transport company. Given how many trailers they deliver to dealers, I'm sure they would be interested to know and have a number of transporters on their roster. But if the transport company is having an identity theft problem with their drivers, that is probably something the feds would want to know as @Captcolour suggested.
 
What a mess this is. Draper PD (or any PD) can't put the trailer into the system without a stolen report. Has Buttar actually done that, and if not why. You contracted with Brookside, not Buttar, or its driver, and it is their responsibility to get the trailer, or pay you off. Doesn't matter that they sub-contracted to Buttar, you contracted with them.

I would contact the insurance company Brookside has and ask some pointed questions. I would at contact the state board of insurance of the state they are located in, and file a complaint, that may get more action then anything else. Last is unfortunately, if no one is doing "anything", it is time to find a good lawyer.

You kinda have a trickle down thing, Brookside is responsible due to you contracting with them, not Buttar. Brookside needs to go after Buttar, and Buttar after the driver.

State police generally will not do anymore than what the local will do at this point, unless the trailer is in the system as being stolen. As frustrating as that is, without that report, there is no legal way to say it is stolen, or in some kind of civil dispute, and police have very little to no powers in civil matters without court orders.
 
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This might get even more complicated since a quick search of Buttar seems to show they are a Canadian firm out of Brampton. Perhaps one of the reasons for the company not filing in the US? DOT info on the company below:
Interestingly, there is also a Buttar Transport out of Carteret, NJ with different DOT numbers.
and yet another out of Manteca, CA
and Greenwood, IN
All very strange to have the same name and different DOT numbers with another in TX. Who know how many.
 
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i use a company called "GEOTAB.com" to track my trailer in real time. And i have set up a geo fence for the area i store my trailer in . once it moves a 1,000 feet away i get a warning e-mail (or text) on my phone and i can begin tracking in real time.

it also has stuff that plugs directly in to a car's service port for tracking the car.

i say this for all who are listening to this story.

and BTW: my camper is a solitude 378mbs also

so sorry for your loss
 

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You should not have to go through all this. Your insurance company should have paid you the full value within a week. Your next call should be to the insurance commissioner in your state
 
I would get in touch with State police . They possibly have a stolen vehicle task force. our state police does.
I agree with Pooh Bear, as a retired state trooper from another state it's not unusual for podunk PD to want to push it off as a civil matter and it is, monetarily, but it's still a stolen vehicle and should be entered into the system. Call or go see the office of your State Patrol and don't take no for an answer.
 
I agree with Pooh Bear, as a retired state trooper from another state it's not unusual for podunk PD to want to push it off as a civil matter and it is, monetarily, but it's still a stolen vehicle and should be entered into the system. Call or go see the office of your State Patrol and don't take no for an answer.
Agreed. Retired LEO here too. There are no conditions, with the facts as described, that this would be a civil matter. This should be presumed to be a theft (Grand Theft in the two states I worked in) and investigated as such. Smaller agencies are often so concerned with clearing Part 1 offenses that they are rejecting or reclassifying reports as something else so their stats look better than they actually are.

@gregghake I think your plan to report it to the State Police is the best tack to take at this point if you are concerned with criminal prosecution. If this is, in fact, a theft this is the work of a ring, not an individual; monetizing a stolen 5th wheel is no small feat. The State would likely have more insight into this as it will almost necessarily have to be part of a multijurisdictional scheme. The SP have task forces set up to investigate these matters.

Without having this in the NCIC it is much easier to resell it, which may have already happened. Believe it or not, many states just require attestations for the paperwork to go through.
 

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