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11-07-2012, 09:02 PM
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#61
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Senior Member
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken C
I would test out the customer service.
Do they pick up their phone or kick you over to voice mail constantly?
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Keep in mind that a number of the current fiberglass trailer manufactures are very small companies - such as Parkliner, lil snooze and Escape so if you get voice mail it may because they out in the shop building your trailer
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11-07-2012, 09:16 PM
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#62
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Senior Member
Name: GP
Trailer: Looking
British Columbia
Posts: 163
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Yes, Parkliner and Snoozy look to be very small operations with only a few employees, Escape and Scamp are larger, but still very small compared to the big stickie manufacturers.
Calling cold you would likely get sales rather than customer service - I'm not sure that a slow sales dept. response would equate to a slow customer problem response. With these smaller companies, you can develop an actual relationship with the owners and get real personal service long after the sale. A lot of after sales issues lie with component manufacturers (furnace, refrigerator, stove, air conditioner, converter etc.) rather than the trailer manufacturer.
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11-07-2012, 09:54 PM
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#63
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Senior Member
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GPJ
Yes, Parkliner and Snoozy look to be very small operations with only a few employees, Escape and Scamp are larger, but still very small compared to the big stickie manufacturers.
Calling cold you would likely get sales rather than customer service -.
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Actually Escape is not near the size of Scamp. If you call them you will find yourself talking to the owner
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11-08-2012, 12:21 AM
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#64
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Senior Member
Name: GP
Trailer: Looking
British Columbia
Posts: 163
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Yes, I figured Scamp was quite a bit bigger than Escape, but I have never really gotten a sense of how big Scamp actually is. Anybody know how many units they produce a year?
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11-08-2012, 02:08 AM
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#65
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Senior Member
Name: Walter
Trailer: 2017 Escape 17B
SW Virginia
Posts: 2,254
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I just picked up my Parkliner yesterday, so I don't have much experience to relate. It towed very nicely on the 2½ hr trip home, just like my old Casita. At the end of the month I'm taking it on a 2k mile round trip and should have a pretty good idea after that. I can tell you it's just the owner, Chandler Palethorpe, and about 3-4 employees. Chandler answers all the telephone calls and emails, but he does get behind on them. They've just moved up to 3/month and by the end of the year will be making 4/month. He is increasing very slowly because he is intense about building a good reputation and is very careful about training new employees. He said mine is either the 16th or 17th Parkliner. By comparison, Scamp, the oldest continuous FB trailer manufacturer builds about 400/year and Casita, the biggest, about 2,000/yr. I saw a Lil Snoozy last month. Interesting, but my sense was it's not suitable for serious camping, maybe okay for weekends. Escapes and Bigfoots are wider, fancier, roomier, heavier, very nice, and much more expensive. Both are made in British Columbia, which is a disadvantage to someone on the East coast.
Walt
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11-08-2012, 02:38 PM
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#66
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Senior Member
Name: GP
Trailer: Looking
British Columbia
Posts: 163
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Thanks Walt - your description really helps my perspective. Up here in British Columbia we rarely see Casitas, so I had no idea that they built so many units.
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11-08-2012, 02:56 PM
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#67
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Senior Member
Name: Walter
Trailer: 2017 Escape 17B
SW Virginia
Posts: 2,254
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There is a fiberglass trailer in Japan that is actually a 16' SD Casita. I'm guessing the 2,000/year figure includes those, but I have no info on how many that would be.
Walt
P.S. The Japanese trailer is called the T-Globe. You can Google it.
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11-08-2012, 05:44 PM
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#68
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Member
Name: Scott
Trailer: 2012 ParkLiner
Georgia
Posts: 47
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Thanks, Walt for the figures. Based on those numbers, Casita is cranking out 8 trailers per day. That is certainly a Mich bigger operation than you will find at Chandler's place on NC.
My experience with Parkliner so far has been great. Trailer has performed well, and factory has helped me with all questions. Haven't had any service issues yet on a one month old trailer, so I cannot comment on any warranty items or repairs.
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11-08-2012, 06:27 PM
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#69
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Senior Member
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WaltP
By comparison, Scamp, the oldest continuous FB trailer manufacturer builds about 400/year and Casita, the biggest, about 2,000/yr. I saw a Lil Snoozy last month. Interesting, but my sense was it's not suitable for serious camping, maybe okay for weekends. Escapes and Bigfoots are wider, fancier, roomier, heavier, very nice, and much more expensive. Both are made in British Columbia, which is a disadvantage to someone on the East coast. Walt
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Actually the Escape & the Casita are both narrower than the Parkliner and Lil Snooze. The Escape and Casita are only 6' 8" wide, the Parkliner is 6' 10" wide & lil Snooze 7' 11" (6' 6" interior) while and Scamp is 6' 6" wide. In regards to weight the Escape 17' generally weighs in a little lighter than most of the 17' Casitas even some of their 19's come in lighter than a number of the 17' Casitas. See Real World Weights. Bigfoots on the other hand do tend to be a lot heavier and they are wider than all of them at 8'.
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11-08-2012, 06:38 PM
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#70
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Senior Member
Name: Walter
Trailer: 2017 Escape 17B
SW Virginia
Posts: 2,254
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Thanks for the update Carol. I didn't know those exact figures. I was thinking of th 19' Escape, which I'm pretty sure is wider, although again I don't know the exact width.
Walt
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11-08-2012, 06:54 PM
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#71
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Senior Member
Trailer: 92 16 ft Scamp
Posts: 11,756
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WaltP
Thanks for the update Carol. I didn't know those exact figures. I was thinking of th 19' Escape, which I'm pretty sure is wider, although again I don't know the exact width.
Walt
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Walt the 19' comes in at 7' even.
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