Maintenance & Restoration

Rvicsvol · 07-27-2011, 10:29 AM

Found this interesting article regarding the ParkLiner trademark. Out of business?

www.trademarkia.com/park-liner-77739000.html

cpaharley2008 · 07-27-2011, 11:01 AM

Yes, looks like Parkliner never launched, too bad

Mike Magee · 07-27-2011, 02:05 PM

Or maybe they just haven't filed the proper papers in time to keep the trademark from going into abandoned status? But we haven't heard much lately from those folks anyhow, so maybe they decided the market wouldn't support two new mfrs.

Roger C H · 07-27-2011, 04:28 PM

The website is still up:

ParkLiner Fiberglass Ultralight Travel Trailers -

(of course, so is the Burro!)

Tim Wood · 07-27-2011, 04:33 PM

That's too bad, I did try and call them twice, nobody was there. I left a message but got no call back, so I was suspect to them having problems.

Mike Magee · 07-27-2011, 08:46 PM

I would hate to spend a pile of money on molds, then only make a couple of prototypes. Yeow.

ParkLinerMike · 07-29-2011, 08:17 AM

Sorry for the confusion. We've had some issues with the trademark registration which should be taken care of soon.

Our manufacturing process is almost out of its initial phase and we're doing fine. Manufacturing design and scaling takes a bit of time and care, and we want to get things right. So Chandler is hard at work ironing out those details - we had some manufacturing logistics to deal with. Things like how to manage stock, where to locate inventory in our facility, etc.

Our sales and promotion is in "turtle mode" while we are ironing out these details, but I hope to have some much promised additional photos up on our facebook page hopefully by the end of next week.

We also want to pull up some first hand camping experiences too from our first customers!

Thanks for your support and encouragement and continued interest.

Mike

cpaharley2008 · 07-29-2011, 08:20 AM

The plot thickens, so Parkliner is still ticking,,,,

Rvicsvol · 07-29-2011, 08:24 AM

Hey. So glad you're still around. From what I've seen you still have a nice looking unit. Looking forward to hearing more from you. What I would suggest however is that you be more responsive to phone and e-mail inquiries. Failure to respond can leave a person wondering and then when you run across the piece of news I posted earlier it kind of seems reality.

Thanks for the reply and the good news.

Ray N · 07-29-2011, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikljones

What I would suggest however is that you be more responsive to phone and e-mail inquiries. Failure to respond can leave a person wondering and then when you run across the piece of news I posted earlier it kind of seems reality.
Thanks for the reply and the good news.

I absolutely agree. The good telephone responses from Jim Palmer at EggCamper is what sealed the deal to buy one of his campers for us. After talking to him on the phone we got the feeling that he was an upright person who we would like to do business with, (which he was and continues to be).

Ken C · 07-29-2011, 11:22 AM

Thanks for taking the time to register here Mike. Lots of folks here said no one answers your phone number or email. Any idea how folks can go about contacting parkliner? Thanks.

Francesca Knowles · 07-29-2011, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ParkLinerMike

We're still in business yes
Mike

Hooray!
I think...
I was about to inquire as to the possible purchase of the prototype if you weren't "using" it...

That trailer is sweet.

And the tone of your website is certainly refreshing. http://www.parkliner.com/
No vague claims about "small car towability"- you just come right out and tell us it needs a midsize or bigger.
I like that kind of honesty.

And everything that's generally considered an essential is included in the basic price!

I think one of your best design choices in that area is the windows that are vented for use in the rain.
It seems like everybody buying a trailer with sliders these days has to buy "Maxxair" window vents to solve that problem.
Here's hoping that other manufacturers will follow your lead in that and other areas!

Best of luck to you

Francesca

P.S.

I read somewhere that you're putting a rainguard over the front door- you might change the picture at your site to show that. I've seen some concerns expressed at other sites about possible leakage there.

F.

Ken C · 08-13-2011, 03:15 PM

Their facebook now says they are still working out the production. Glad to see they are still trucking along.

cpaharley2008 · 08-13-2011, 03:58 PM

There has been no updated photos since day one, just promises. Today the Facebook said they completed 3 units? Yet we have not seen one completed unit, just a prototype. Poor management IMHO.

Ken C · 08-13-2011, 04:04 PM

If it's a one man operation like Tom and trillium was in the past, I can understand the slow pace myself. I will be interesting to follow the progress like how small escape started out to be.

Rvicsvol · 08-13-2011, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cpaharley2008

There has been no updated photos since day one, just promises. Today the Facebook said they completed 3 units? Yet we have not seen one completed unit, just a prototype. Poor management IMHO.

Or they're just wanting to get it right before they go into production. My feeling is they're small, maybe 1-2 person operation. Said they were ready to start ramping up a bit. I guess we'll see. Promised more pictures again.

Maybe by the time I return from my mission trip next year they'll be in full production.

ParkLinerMike · 08-14-2011, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikljones

Maybe by the time I return from my mission trip next year they'll be in full production.

Hahaha! I hope so too!

ParkLiner right now is a 2 and a fraction person operation. We have an amazing fiberglass tech and construction guru, and Chandler's really skilled at design and putting things together.

I am helping him as much as I can with the marketing end of things, doing the web work, and helping to keep an eye on facebook and search engine stuff, but I am not on the payroll. My pay is banked in the future: My own ParkLiner! Someday - when I have something I can pull it with, one of them is marked for me. (I'm not too keen on trying to pull it with my Civic, though I wonder once the aluminum chassis model comes around if it would be doable.)

Starting a new business is always a tricky thing, but I am really excited about Chandler's work, and.... as soon as he gets them to me I will have them to you.

I'm curious to know what people think of the website style. I wanted to go for "fun" all around. My daughter drew the animated hover-over icons and I have a few more of those to put up when there's more content and pictures to put around them. I have a laundry list of additional pages and features to implement to give people a better tour of the camper itself, but I hope that the "fun" style of the site is a bit refreshing.

Thank you for following our budding homegrown business! Campers make for a wonderful, supportive community, and I appreciate your keeping up with us very much.

We are now to early stage production, able to make 3 a month or so with our now streamlined manufacturing floor. When orders come in, we should be able to ramp that up rapidly to meet demand by hiring some additional help. I imagine that our current floor can manage perhaps up to 10 a month or so, at which time we'll have to look for a bigger space.

Chandler likes being in downtown Gibsonville. It's a small North Carolina town. It has a very "small southern town" feel. The manufacturing warehouse is not at all far from his house!

If I spot any other questions, I'll do my best to answer them as best as I am able.

- Mike

Ken C · 08-14-2011, 12:18 PM

The most popular question here seems to be, as reported from our users here, why nobody answers the parkliner phone number or email? Thanks.

ParkLinerMike · 08-14-2011, 12:28 PM

The honest answer to this question, which is an answer that I don't like, is that Chandler was the only one to take the calls, and he was swamped with production. I've talked with Chandler about this issue, and the importance of returning people's calls. I think part of it is that he didn't want to attempt to sell another trailer until he had these issues ironed out. But that was not properly communicated on the website.

While he's really great at building things and designing things, and he's really nice in person and very honest and straightforward, he's not the best salesman. So we really do need to get someone in there that reflects his values (not "used-car" LOL) and that can be more responsive to our prospective customers.

That's the honest answer - and we'll see if we can get that turned around ASAP now that the manufacturing issues are resolved.