Problems with ordering from SCAMP plus delivery issues

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Hman66

Floyd, great talking to you Saturday. You were VERY helpful! I changed my order with Allen today to the 2014, 13 foot standard with shower/commode and most every available option, minus the furnace (got the heat strip). Allen was very nice and accommodating and I got him on the first call. From what I have read on multiple sites, it is obvious Scamp needs some upgrading to accommodate the volume and customer service need(s). They have lost sales and angered many customers and potential buyers because they are behind the times in timely and effective communication and documentation of transactions. Perhaps they will see that people love their product, but it's time to review the way they are currently doing business...both from a customer service perspective as well as on their production side. Things like having a new trailer delivered to Oregon behind a TV, when they charge what they charge ($1,755 for me)...and then it being damaged by the driver who delivered it anyway vs turning around for a new one, is not right. They should come on a flat bed (as advertised) with everything in working order (minor occasional hiccups will happen, I realize this). I have had emails and PM's from new owners outlying several items that were broken or now working after delivery. More than you might think. I have lead customer service departments for several large companies and one the same size (family owned in rural PA), and each of them put customer service first. Combined with a good product, this is how one keeps their customers happy and grows their business in an effective manner. Someone mentioned 'thin' profit margins....no way! They are doing well and can afford to upgrade.

Go back and read post #46, You'll see my experience and opinion on the subject.If I were to advise them on customer service, it would be to to continue doing what they have for forty plus years and add E-Mail, twitter, facebook for those who are too timid to speak directly person to person...ONLY if they can do so without sacrificing the real and effective human contact which they now practice!

[honda03842]

They have added Facebook.

[Hman66]

Yup...had read it and am glad your experiences have gone so well, as have many others experiences I'm sure. I don't believe anybody is "too timid" Floyd but there is a trend here which many others have expressed, which were not as pleasant as yours. When you are purchasing an item worth several thousands of dollars a smart person wants to see what he is getting, specifically, in writing. In my experience, there was an inability to get this to me via fax or computer. I received it in the mail first. People's comments relative to their customer service, inability to "speak" to or receive a return 'call' from the parts dept, etc. I believe many of these posts reflect their, less than positive experiences, even with direct contact. Just like you have educated me on ordering a light on the back side of the camper, and have offered insight to others, we would not know about these things looking at their outdated literature, nor know to even ask. Like crank out windows. When you pull up the Cassita web site all options are listed with their prices. I also believe most posters love their product and are just trying to express what THEIR experiences have been in hopes that constructive criticism will reach the Evelands, in hopes that they make some modest changes in their procedures.

[Hman66]

Right Norm, but you can't communicate with them on it...I tried when I first tried to get my order down. It is just pictures of happy campers, which is great!

[floyd]

Originally Posted by RogerDat

If I had to guess I would guess that the "basic" camper models Scamp sells have much less profit than the more high end custom campers sold by Escape. Not that one is good and the other bad, just different markets at different price points. Chevy and Oldsmobile are both GM cars but the Olds has a better profit margin provided people are willing to pay for the "extra" features or options. If not they purchase a comparable more basic Chevy.

Oldsmobile is long gone!Perhaps you should have said "Cadillac"....
Your point is well made though.

[RogerDat]

I think Carol raises two good points. Industry studies show a happy customer tells three people, an unhappy one tells ten. If it's just someone spending a small amount on parts for a fixer upper or someone making a major purchase of thousands of dollars, if the experience is not satisfactory it has long term consequences for a companies reputation.

As does not solving the little problems, such as those pesky door seals. They don't have to solve it but if I dropped 16k on a camper and had to replace the door seal every season I would consider that less than ideal. If I was looking to purchase a new camper later would it matter? It might be just enough to make it so I check out some other brands, instead of heading right back to purchase an upgraded model from the same company.

Floyd addresses the other side of the issue - does the company actually care about the customers and have the ability to provide good customer service. Having dealt with companies that frankly don't care or have the knowledge to provide customer service I don't think that is an issue with Scamp. Scamp does have that good mind set of personal service but is missing what you might call consistent delivery.

Technology is not really the issue. If you have an email address for customers you need to answer the emails that come in. If customer leaves a phone message at the parts extension they should expect a call back. Not answering emails or returning phone calls is never good customer service. It should not depend on reaching the "boss" or the right person to have a good experience.

Having a good product at a good price may keep them in business for a long time but there is a risk that those missed opportunities to create customer satisfaction will create problems, and with more competition in the FGRV market than there has been in years past could hurt their long term prospects.

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by Hman66

..... I also believe most posters love their product and are just trying to express what THEIR experiences have been in hopes that constructive criticism will reach the Evelands, in hopes that they make some modest changes in their procedures.

I love my 35 year old Scamp Was thrilled that the company cared enough to still offer the "old" decals at reasonable prices so I could make mine look like new (mostly umm maybe sort of, it's a work in progress!). Or was willing to look up what size rivets fit where on my old camper. I consider these to be good customer service.

I just hope that the issues that have cropped up from time to time get addressed so the company continues to be a success. It is my reputation on the line when I make a recommendation to people looking for a camper to check out a Scamp. I want to always be comfortable with that recommendation.

I don't care about at all about twitter, and only use facebook to keep in touch with family and old friends scattered around the country.

[Darrell in Al]

Slightly off topic.
It can save you a big chunk of $ if delivered just short of Alabama. I'm Huntsville area and was going to cost about 30 percent more to cross Tn stateline for delivery not even 20 miles.. extended finsh time was what stopped me from pick at factory. I was planning the drive up. I was about 7-9 hrs away. Send me a pm I can give a pick up point in TN off of interstate 65

Darrell

[steve dunham]

Originally Posted by floyd

Go back and read post #46, You'll see my experience and opinion on the subject.If I were to advise them on customer service, it would be to to continue doing what they have for forty plus years and add E-Mail, twitter, facebook for those who are too timid to speak directly person to person...ONLY if they can do so without sacrificing the real and effective human contact which they now practice!

I use E- Mail not because of a character flaw (timid) but because I do not have the time to call , be put on hold ,leave a voice message and receive NO reply . Calling over and over and getting NO response is crazy , frustrating and a waste of my time . I do not need human interaction with the parts guy ,"I need a part" . Whether we like it or not E=mail is the norm . I too would rather talk to a live person but when the other side of the conversation refuses to talk, it is an act of futility . It is Scamps job to cater to its customers not the other way around ( At least Scamp is an Equal Opportunity Employer they ignore both E-Mails and phone calls equally )

Steve Dunham

[Dakota]

Yeah basically it should be the seller trying to work hard to make a sale as easy as possible and take care of the customer not the customer working hard to make a purchase. lol

Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to make a purchase believing you had all the options considered only to find out after the purchase and delivery other common options that were available yet were not published or mentioned by the salesperson?

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I use E- Mail not because of a character flaw (timid) but because I do not have the time to call.....
Steve Dunham

I often find the exchange of emails provides the information that makes a phone call more productive. Both parties enter the phone conversation with the information such as required model numbers or researched answers to specific questions. With the advantage of having tackled the email on ones own schedule.

Originally Posted by Dakota

Can you imagine how frustrating it would be to make a purchase believing you had all the options considered only to find out after the purchase and delivery other common options that were available yet were not published or mentioned by the salesperson?

Like it or not many people research purchases online. Most folks have a budget and probably some idea of important features they want. Not being able to find out from the web site if product is in my price range with the features I want is counter productive.

Not to mention a list of options and prices offer the potential for customer to start a conversation about what is this option and why do I want it. And we will read every single item in a list of "goodies" we might purchase.

What is this LED lighting option? What does it do? Why is it worth $290? This is a conversation sales people really like to have.

[Hman66]

That's right Dakota...I still wonder if I am missing something. If not for these forums I wouldn't have known crank out windows were an option at no cost or, I could get a light on the hook up side of the camper.

Roget Dat...well said!!

Darrell...I actually asked about delivery in Tennessee as it was a different zone. All it saved was $200 ( $1,550 vs $1,750). It wasn't worth a 5 hour drive for $200. Was there a bigger difference for you and what was your delivery cost?

[floyd]

Originally Posted by steve dunham

I use E- Mail not because of a character flaw (timid) but because I do not have the time to call , be put on hold ,leave a voice message and receive NO reply . Calling over and over and getting NO response is crazy , frustrating and a waste of my time . I do not need human interaction with the parts guy ,"I need a part" . Whether we like it or not E=mail is the norm . I too would rather talk to a live person but when the other side of the conversation refuses to talk, it is an act of futility . It is Scamps job to cater to its customers not the other way around ( At least Scamp is an Equal Opportunity Employer they ignore both E-Mails and phone calls equally )

Steve Dunham

I've have never had the problems you've had.
I have always gotten prompt responses with a phone call.
Scamp has always been competitive in price too.
My only real complaint is the high cost of shipping parts from what amounts to the middle of nowhere, no... the farside of nowhere!
I hear they have to pipe-in daylight!

[RogerDat]

Originally Posted by floyd

I've have never had the problems you've had.
I have always gotten prompt responses with a phone call.
Scamp has always been competitive in price too.
My only real complaint is the high cost of shipping parts from what amounts to the middle of nowhere, no... the farside of nowhere!
I hear they have to pipe-in daylight!

Your experience clearly shows they know how, and half of my dealings with Scamp mirror yours. Once the operator understood I had been trying for awhile to get some information I got moved to the "right" person and got good service. It's that initial frustration with getting the good service that creates problems.

On that shipping cost. It's a near monopoly by Delta airlines that makes all of MN very expensive for air shipping and air travel. They do 80% of the air traffic, anyone tries to compete Delta drops the price to a loss in order to drive the competitor back out of the market.

People used to save hundreds of dollars flying to MN. by purchasing a ticket to LA with a change over in MN. Just never boarded the outbound flight from MN to LA. Thats right a ticket all the way to LA was hundreds less than the same flight to the half way mark in MN on the same airline.

If you call scamp, and your items are small enough they may be willing to ship US postal which is much cheaper way to get a bag of rivets and some snap caps. That for sure.

[Bigeasytoo]

I bought a Casita because of the bad reports of Scamp. Casita goes out of the way with customer service. If not too late, call Casita.

[floyd]

Originally Posted by Bigeasytoo

I bought a Casita because of the bad reports of Scamp. Casita goes out of the way with customer service. If not too late, call Casita.

Seriously, I found the opposite to be true, When inquiring about a Patriot they practically argued against it. and were not forthcoming with information.
Fortunately, I found Scamp's great product and enthusiastic service.
The Deluxe Scamp is beautiful, unique, and custom built with lots of options, whereas the Patriot offered very few choices.

[Hman66]

I think Gary was discussing customer service vs features. Floyd's experiences have been outstanding, several others, not so much. Many of us more recent purchasers hopes it just improves...that's all. "Enthusiastic" would not be my experience...it's like pulling teeth to find out what is available as an option both in their brochure and in discussion over the phone. The Casita site and ease of communication with them BOTH over the phone and email is better. Scamp, better product factoring in cost...my opinion thus, my recent order. Even with delivery costs. Still in the working world with limited time off, I would rather take the week it would take me to pick up my Scamper going on vacation with it

[Carol H]

Originally Posted by floyd

I've have never had the problems you've had.
I have always gotten prompt responses with a phone call.
Scamp has always been competitive in price too.
My only real complaint is the high cost of shipping parts from what amounts to the middle of nowhere, no... the farside of nowhere!
I hear they have to pipe-in daylight!

I suspect the difference may be Floyd that they have your number show up on the display on their phone reading "Very Special Customer" when you call. As it should be

LOL dont complain about the shipping costs though!! You dont want to know what they charge to ship to Canada. Why so high is a little strange as I do order a lot of items out of the US from other companies and Scamps shipping costs are well lets just say off the map. I have taken to having them ship items to friends in the US.

Scamp has done a lot of updating to their marketing in the 6/7 years I have been dealing with them - perhaps to much as the promptness of answering calls or emails has in my experience fallen off at the same time. They now have an online parts department, email, 1-800 number and a nice new website as well as Facebook - all good stuff and nice to see them keep up with the times but if they dont have the manpower to respond/deliver then its pretty well wasted money and it will/has cost them more potential customers than I suspect they are aware of. It is a common complaint heard here over and over of late & more often than not by someone who is/was thinking about buying one of their trailers new.

Scamp makes a *great* product for its price point. I love my Scamp & I have put a lot of miles & days of use on my trailer & the fact that it has stood the test of time, speaks volumes to the quality of what Scamp is building. Scamp is also by all accounts (or at least from what I have read here) very good at fixing any issues that may come up in regards to trailers under warranty whether they do the fix themselves or send the party off to another RV shop to have it done. All good stuff but one would have to be wearing pretty dark sunglasses to not realize they are in fact losing potential new customers due to the lack of prompt communications & slowness in making changes to their product when they know their customers have had issues with some aspect of the trailer for years, all be it small items - the door gasket & the old style of fresh water filler cap that the tab breaks off on often & cant be locked are examples of that. Those two items come up time and time again here so it suggests to me that no one at Scamp monitors this board to see what issues the end user might be having with their product and fix them. Pretty sure their competition does

[Hman66]

Very well and thoughtfully said Carol. LED lights too.

[Bob Miller]

What???? Are you suggesting that they have advanced to Caller I.D. as well Hoodathunkit?????

Me thinks that as long as they are selling all they can build, that they may see little need to change their business model.

And after only 40 years in the biz I am sure that they are weighing the cost and risks of expanding to quickly.....