Scamp Factory Tour

[Egg Shopper]

Terry, I doubt they will notice and didn't see any computers on desks in the sales shack unless the owner periodically follows forums on hos computer. When I initially walked into the sales shack it just reeked of cigarette smoke and someone put it out when I walked in(That's illegal in MN). The office was messy and about the only things missing in this picture or impression was a hound dog sitting in the corner, coke bottles on the desks and having their feet up on the desks. lol

I appreciate the earlier replies about being in your Scamps and comfortable down to 0 degrees. That helps in knowing it's workable but he volunteered the claim I'd be nice and warm at -30 degrees. There are days and sometimes weeks in January and February here in South Dakota where it stays at around -30 degrees and it's a big difference from 0 degrees. The only thing I asked about was heater noise not performance and that was when I was cut off and he later threw out the -30 degrees claim which would be like me just throwing out a claim if I were selling cars that this new Chevy Silverado would get 35 miles per gallon to make a sale when the educated customer expected to get around 20 mpg and it's EPA rated for 23mpg.

It was not a good experience but unfortunately there does not seem to be any urgency to improve with their sales process since it looks as though I'm not the only one who has had a similar experience besides others trying to call or e-mail them and not get a response for parts.

[Ken C]

Escape makes changes every year, but last I looked, the front window and two side windows on the 17 are not thermal if you order the thermal window package. Something about the size of those three, their manuf. does not offer those in that size. Just passing along that small tid-bit if interested. Cheers

Edit, as Jim mentioned different from year to year, but just passing it along so you can ask Escape what is available today if that was important to you.

[honda03842]

Lynn,

I have been to the factory as well and would agree with some of your comments.

My suggestion is that you drop the president of Scamp a note with a link to this thread. It's hard to believe he understands the image some members of his company are creating.

At least it would provide the opportunity for him to improve the situation.

Sorry that after your long drive that you had a bad experience.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by Ken C

Escape makes changes every year, but last I looked, the front window and two side windows on the 17 are not thermal if you order the thermal window package. Something about the size of those three, their manuf. does not offer those in that size. Just passing along that small tid-bit if interested. Cheers

Ken, I believe what it is, is the front window is not dual glazed. The reason is that the manufacturer of it does not offer this option, but the rock guard on it seals quite nicely. I got one of the last dual glazed front windows in '09, which is nice, but my rock guard is not integral and is more of just a cover.

[Vtec]

I read with great interest some of the posts on this thread and would like to make a few comments without pointing fingers at anyone.

Regarding the Suburban furnace that Scamp uses vs Atwood. I needed to install a furnace and while investigating what Scamp uses also read the thread somewhere that Suburban furnaces were noisy. I had already installed and owned at least 2 previous campers with Atwood furnaces and I liked them very much. After researching I ended up purchasing a Suburban directly from Scamp.

As to noise, to my ears there is literally NO difference! Furnaces make some noise, expect that. But somebody made a blanket statement on the web somewhere and by god, it's now true? I owned both brands, installed both, and in comparison, they are about the same and do a great job in my opinion. The only differences I found was the Suburban was $100-300 less in price, and the Atwood drew maybe 1 less amp of electricity while running.

So one person on web likes to sleep with absolute silence, or with a furnace that is 50 or more feet away from the bed at home. Sorry, but in a Scamp you will have furnace noise and you will be close to it. Get used to it or don't turn it on. I personally think that they are rather quiet for what they have to do. Years ago furnaces were a lot quieter because they didn't have direct vented exhaust fans. But then again, lots more people died from carbon monoxide poisoning. So given that choice, I would choose life and a little noise.

I also take issue with what some have said about Scamp's customer service. Again, blanket statements over one bad experience. The comment about not responding to e-mails. I get maybe 15-30 frivolous e-mails a day. Could you imagine how many someone at Scamp has to wade through?! And how many of us have people who e-mail them a gazillion times over one little thing? You want an answer? Call them. I had absolutely no problem getting someone at Scamp, except when I called at lunch time and was told to call back a little later. My wife went directly to Scamp and purchased parts. Again a very positive experience.

It's good to research on the web but beware the overtly picky people who are out to slam a business or product over the smallest things that upset them. And also consider the source. Want to see some really bad advice? Go to Tirerack.com for example and check out the reviews on certain tires. Comments on tires with less than 50 miles of actual driving making statements one way or the other, good and bad. Wildly fluctuating opinions that make it impossible to believe any of it.

[Egg Shopper]

Norm, I may contact the owner of Scamp just as a heads up. That way the balls in his court if it is a concern for him or however he wishes to deal with it.

Vtec, You bring up some good points if someone has a motive and was out to slam a particular business or the validity of reviews. If you look back at various threads about Scamp customer service it looks like to me that those concerns that upset customers were fairly reasonable. They made numerous attempts to contact them via e-mail which has been demonstrated at least in this forum not to be Scamps strength in communication. Phone calls were highly recommended and some customers still had issues evidently regarding contacting their parts department or having their calls returned. I'm not saying all but there did seem to be an issue.

Regarding my own experience I have always contacted their sales department and talked to the same person by phone. I never used e-mail but when I called it seemed like the information I was getting was different each time basically telling me what I'd like to hear and he would mention availability of items not listed on their brochure or website and others mentioned that specifically also on this forum. I'd always come away from the phone call with more questions as to what was really available and wondered if I needed to provide a secret code or handshake to get the accurate information besides him always trying to get a deposit.

Whether by phone or driving to Backous in person I felt I made every attempt to work with Scamp except going over the head of the salesperson and asking for the owner but I just didn't feel comfortable since the owner is ultimately responsible for the culture and their conduct. I like Scamp trailers for various reasons and I've lived in Minnesota for 15 years so it's like a 2nd home for me but it was just a bad experience and the thing not to do in sales. I'm a fairly reasonable and patient person that has a great deal of experience in sales and there are a couple of basic things that could have been done.

#1 Know your product which includes it's strengths and weaknesses including the competition.

#2 Take the time to listen to your customer to find out how they will use this RV and what their concerns are. Don't interrupt and cut them off! lol

#3 Be honest, sympathetic, sincere and explain what is realistic, options and what they can expect down the road so the customer is prepared such as wear and tear items due to the unique design of the product.

There is an old saying in the car business with someone coming in looking for something in a used car that the odds were infinitesimal in finding what they wanted by referring them to the fantasy car factory. Your not helping the customer by saying you'll keep an eye out for it. Council them by being honest about what the odds are so they can move on to other options. Otherwise that customer is out there looking for something that doesn't exist.

I never questioned the performance of the heater. It was just the noise issue for some who posted. Some folks could sleep with a freight train going by and others can't. If they only offer one heater and are unable to substitute just let me know. I can decide in the end if it's really an issue for me and if it is I can figure that into the costs for modifications vs purchasing another brand if that's the route I'd like to go.

Door seals Again just be honest and let me know if the seals need to be replaced after a certain amount of time rather than a blanket response with dismissal and lets get back to the office.

Rivets, axle, window options whatever. The main reason I went there was to get accurate info besides seeing Scamps for the 1st time but instead I got a bunch of baloney and pressured to put $500 down and do paperwork 5 times all within 45 minutes. I barely got the factory tour and and didn't see the new cabinet shop expansion since he was in such a hurry to get me back to the sales shack. lol

Sorry to beat this thread to death! Like I said I'll contact the owner on Monday and just leave it for him to do whatever.

[Bob Miller]

Just A Question:
Does anyone have an accurate number on how many units Scamp sells each year???

[David B.]

Dave, we are on our 2nd old Scamp 13', and both had developed very noisy furnaces over time. New ones are probably just as quiet as their competition, but the design leads to the metal parts rubbing, causing squealing noises while running. The thread explaining how to quiet the furnace shows the problem areas in detail. Now one of these days I'll have to take it out and do the repairs in order to be able to use it. I have always called the part department and have gotten great results with no problems.
Dave & Paula

[Vtec]

When my wife was given tour at Scamp they stated an average of 2 completed campers per day. Not sure how accurate that is and I would take that as work days. So I would figure 2 per day X's 5 days per week, and say X's 50 weeks per year. About 500 Scamps per year in 3 various sizes.

Again, these are very unofficial estimates and I probably screwed up the simple math this morning, and consider the source, just what my wife remembered from her tour.

[Vtec]

Originally Posted by David B.

Dave, we are on our 2nd old Scamp 13', and both had developed very noisy furnaces over time. New ones are probably just as quiet as their competition, but the design leads to the metal parts rubbing, causing squealing noises while running. The thread explaining how to quiet the furnace shows the problem areas in detail. Now one of these days I'll have to take it out and do the repairs in order to be able to use it. I have always called the part department and have gotten great results with no problems.
Dave & Paula

Yes Dave, I would expect it to get noisier over time, I know the older I get the more noisy I have become too, lol. But I would think the Atwood models may do same as well but maybe not. Studying both designs I would say they are both very good furnaces, horse a piece.

[Courtland PieperCo]

We have a 13 foot Scamp . The grill behind the refig. lets cold air in to the camper. Also the frig turns to a freezer when below 20. All so water lines are in the open space by the refig. vent. Water in the bath area freeze in cold weather. We use the camper year round and yes it gets cold on the floor and the windows ice up. We heat with a 1500w heater and can keep it 60 in side. We only camp with 120v elect. koa or parks with elect. hook up. You can find some year round parks up North but few. As for the rivets we have not had a problem with them . Yes the caps last about two years. If you change the caps when they start to crack they will be okay.

[cpaharley2008]

Hi Corky,
Those storms miss you guys last night, I was thinking of you. My new trailer will be here in about 2 weeks.

[steve dunham]

I too was having difficulties dealing with Jim at Scamp . I E- Mailed both Kent Eveland and his son and described the problems I was encountering dealing with Jim . The E-Mails were a TOTAL waste of my time . I never received a reply so I called Scamp and got nowhere again. Others may have had a good experience with Scamp but I did not