Is Parkliner Out of Business?

[Darral T.]

Why dont you just call him?? Click on "Show Phone #" on the ad and it will pop up.

Fiberglass RV Camper Trailer Manufacture: Business For Sale in Gibsonville, Guilford County, North Carolina, United States on BizBuySell.com

Originally Posted by frank_a

Anybody know how much Chandler is asking for the business?

Frank

[Ken C]

" The proof is that approximately 80 trailers have sold with very minimal advertising and relatively poor customer support."

Poor customer support is a positive selling point ?

[Mike Magee]

Poor customer support didn't prevent PL from being kept overly busy at building and selling PLs. Not a selling point, for sure, and eventually it should have caught up with them in the form of declining sales volume. But sometimes people want a product so badly, they'll ignore negative things like poor communication and poor CS in order to get what they want.

[frank_a]

Originally Posted by Darral T.

Why dont you just call him?? Click on "Show Phone #" on the ad and it will pop up.

Fiberglass RV Camper Trailer Manufacture: Business For Sale in Gibsonville, Guilford County, North Carolina, United States on BizBuySell.com

Primarily because I have no interest in talking to him. Our last conversation did not go real well.

Frank

[Bob Miller]

Does any one know if the production numbers he showed for Casita (1200) and Scamp (800) are accurate. Seem a bit rounded off to be much more than a WAG.

[steelypip]

Over on Casita forums the last number I ran across was 80 units/month. So about 1000/year is probably closer for Casita.

[RogerDat]

Lot of successful businesses were the results of a partnership where the sum was greater than it's parts. But that it seems to me is generally a case of hitting it off and having things click. Not hiring for the skills.

The guy that invented the intermittent wiper was hosed by the big three auto companies he tried to sell it to. He had a patent. Spent the next several years in court and lawyers took most of the settlements when he did win judgments for patent infringement.

Last I heard he was working out of his own property a garage or pole barn. It would probably not work but if he could find someone to run the business that would hire him. Might have a chance. Although if he can make a living building them himself who knows might end up with a better product by doing custom one at a time in a pole barn himself. Avoid the problems of running a big business.

Had relative that used to do remodeling that way. He would tell the customer. I'm old, sometimes I work all day, sometimes I take a nap in the afternoon that don't end until dinner time. I'll get it done and done right but it will have to be on a pace and schedule that works for me. Guy was good enough he always had a customer even though he required guest quarters or dock slip for his house boat and use of a car before he would even consider the job. Worked well into his 80's.

[BarbO]

I stopped by there last week and they are gone, I've called, left messages, sent emails and no response. I asked one of the other businesses in the same location if they knew what happened to them and they said they had pulled out of there about 4 mo ago. They stated they've tried to call him as well and he won't return their calls. The business phone still sounds like they are in business but they are not returning calls and definitely not in the locations on the website. The other business where I stopped stated that they heard that he was working with a manufacturer in Lexington, NC to sub the work out. But, like someone else said it's not a business if you can't find them or talk to them. I was really wanting to purchase one, but it's pretty scary to think about spending that much money and they are not around.

[frank_a]

They're great trailers, but Chandler has absolutely no business sense. We bought a used Parkliner, and basically after telling us they would do all this work if we brought the trailer down for a week, they did next to nothing, what they did, they did poorly, and Chandler essentially told me over the phone (he was not there when we went to get it, some kid there told us to call him and gave us his number) my concerns were not his. I was dumbfounded!

I would never deal with them again unless Chandler was out of the picture.

Frank

[Bob Miller]

Hi Barb and welcome to the group


I'd guess if you had been reading these posts before last week that it would have saved you a trip.


Too bad, it is such as good product, but as Chandler even wrote in his Business For Sale ad a few weeks back, he wasn't as good at business as he was at engineering. (See Post #81 above) Just maybe someone will buy the bones of Parkliner and resurrect what was a very good product, albeit with a new name one would think.

[Roadie1]

Well I guess I now have a classic! I'm with my family now in the North Carolina mountains enjoying a long weekend. This trailer is perfect for our needs and I've never had a negative issue with it.


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[Carol H]

Originally Posted by frank_a

They're great trailers, but Chandler has absolutely no business sense.

Having seen one of the first generation trailers at a meet a few years ago and having seen what may well have been one of the last ones produced if not the last, just last week I totally agree he did indeed have a great trailer design.

I noticed on the newer trailer that he had also done a nice job of addressed some of the finishing issues I had noticed with the earlier model. He had also nicely address the serious safety issues he had with his earlier models as well in a better fashion than some of the quick fixes he had done for some owners here - or at least by the photos posted by them it appears he had.

Bottom line from day one was although he had a good design he had no good biz sense. Making sure that he had happy customers out safely camping never seemed to be high on his priority list.

Lets hope he actually did repair/fix up all the trailers he had made that had those serious safety issues. Not every owner of his trailers belongs to this list and knowing how poorly he handled that situation its not outside the realm of possibilities there is still a trailer or two out there that has not had the corrections made to fix those issues.

Lets also hope there is no one out there who is still patiently waiting for their trailer or deposit to be returned.... again not everyone who owns or has ordered a trailer from him belongs to this list so its hard to know what if any unaddressed issues remain.

Maybe Norm will buy the biz and take the trailer to its next level. After all he has been indicating he has a desire to produce a fg trailer

[Bob Miller]

It might be a good idea right now for those present and former Parkliner Owners, that are in the know, to start a sticky thread in the chat area listing those concerns that are safety related and need attending to, for future readers to refer to.

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Carol H

Lets hope he actually did repair/fix up all the trailers he had made that had those serious safety issues. Not every owner of his trailers belongs to this list and knowing how poorly he handled that situation its not outside the realm of possibilities there is still a trailer or two out there that has not had the corrections made to fix those issues.

There is one locally under a carport and I have been trying to work up the nerve to drive over and knock on the door to chat to the owner about it. Might be the only chance I ever get to actually see one in person!

[Roger C H]

I remember the Burro website which was up for years past the time the business went toes up. Now the same thing is happening with PL:

ParkLiner Fiberglass Ultralight Travel Trailers - – Take me somewhere fun! ™

Tom Young seemed to have the same problem with Trillium.

I guess these people never joined Junior Achievement when young.

https://www.juniorachievement.org/web/ja-usa/home

I was President of the Year for 1959 in the Milwaukee chapter.

The business being listed as for sale confirms the end.


BTW what has a Newfoundland tsunami have to do with PL?

[Roadie1]

After over a half dozen camping trips all over the southeast, I'm happy to have one of the last ParkLiners made. Especially with bugs worked out! I've had no issues whatsoever


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[Carol H]

[QUOTE=Roger C H;537131


BTW what has a Newfoundland tsunami have to do with PL?[/QUOTE]

I believe it was mentioned for analogy purposes. In the case of a tsunami the quake that caused it was observed and felt well before the tsunami itself hit ... in the case of PL there were many indicators/early warning signs that there was a high potential for the company to close it doors.

[deryk]

I hope a business/customer service savvy investor snatches ParkLiner up and runs with it. I have enjoyed many trips in mine.

[Jon in AZ]

...and somebody with technical expertise. Either one without the other is headed for trouble.

I, too, hope he finds the right buyer and a great design gets a new lease on life.

[Glenn Baglo]

Originally Posted by Jon in AZ

.I, too, hope he finds the right buyer and a great design gets a new lease on life.

...and a new name and a new logo.