This should be a Crime

[RogerDat]

Long ago I worked in retail sales. One can take advantage of a customers lack of knowledge or ask them a whole bunch of questions in order to apply your own experience to figuring out what they really need.

I sometimes annoyed my boss who was all sell, sell, sell. Once I spent "too much time" asking the customer who was not camping experienced about intended uses for a bunch of different camping equipment. Boss came over and told me I should go "do stock" customer asked could I help him with his purchases since we didn't have carts. He then bought pretty much a complete camping set up from tent, sleeping gear, kitchen, rain fly, some hiking items. Seems he had just sold his business and wanted to go see the country. This was the early 80's and as I recall his bill was around $1,600 he really did need some help to carry it.

I offered one more bit of advice. Go do some short camping trips in the back yard or a couple of the local campgrounds for overnight or weekend to get a feel for the equipment.

Ironically my career as a computer programmer often involves the same sort of asking a bunch of questions to figure out what the client really needs for their use cases.

Having paid the "fools tax" more than once when doing stuff I was a fool to attempt with such little knowledge I'm glad the penalty for learning is only time and a sometimes a bit of money. If they gave out concurrent sentences for it I would have to live to an old testament biblical age to serve out the sentence for my criminally stupid endeavors just before age 30. The post 30 ones would require reincarnation.

Good on the OP for helping them find a mentor who can really help them so they can begin to enjoy the trip. Sales person that sent them out the door without a clue best hope Karma is a myth.

[ZachO]

Hopefully there are some enterprising (and honest, well meaning) people taking advantage of the current trend and offering an “RV university” of sorts. I know it probably happens unofficially at rallies all the time, but it seems like a business opportunity. Some of these people have a lot of money they seem eager to part with, and could sure use the help learning about their RV. The right person could even develop relationships with RV dealers.

[Fred762]

WE camped near Knoxville a week or so ago..ran by a couple of local RV dealers on the west side, on our way to visit friends..I was surprised to see their inventory so low..about 75% of the Class A and Cs were just gone. awa the large trailers. I could hardly believe it..til we got to the campground and saw a couple of newbies trying to back uuuge new 5-ers into campsites. OMG.. Then we saw a couple more on the road on our way home..guys hauling trailers as "big as my house", seemingly at about 70-75 MPH..good grief! NO WD hitches or sway controllers..nothing.

[Judi in NC]

Eeek. That is a frightening thing thinking of that person on the road. When I picked up my Scamp, they wanted to give me towing tips. I re-assured them that I'd pulled enough hay wagons and horse trailers to be comfortable with it. At least they care enough to ask and were willing to help!

[computerspook]

[QUOTE=jgilliam1955;787777
Mike had never owned an RV before and did not know how to make reservations and did not even have a vehicle to drive around town with. He is on his way to Yellowstone. He thinks he will find a place to stay. He does not know how to hook up his water or his black tank hose. Mike was pouring a jar of piss in the sewer. Because he does not know how to empty his tanks.
[/QUOTE]

Now they did not show him. Did they offer? I have been in some jobs where people needed training on what we sold. And we offered and encouraged people to get trained. When I got my trailer they suggested that I get free training from them and I said yes. Several places I know of that sell RVs actually had a a several pads with hook ups and they will even suggest that newbees actually camp for a night on their pad and get help in doing so. But when I was in the area selling stuff that needed training none of it legally required training. So if we sold something and the person said no we still sold it.

So I wonder if the guy was offered training and said no?

[Dale Thompson]

Just for the record, there are a lot of us old people who have a world of driving experience in all kinds of vehicles. At 74 years old I have owned pickup trucks, vans, sports cars, SUVs and RVs. To be sure, a large Class A has a huge learning curve and the Newmar Diesel Pushers are extremely complex. Anyone who buys any RV should spend what ever time it takes to read everything they can find about their new RV. I have owned three. My first was a Scamp 13. Over almost 30 years, and four different tow vehicles we traveled all over this country and enjoyed every trip. After retirement and spending a winter in the Scamp, we decided to get something bigger. A 23 ft. Class C worked fine for almost full time. As we spent more time on the road each year, we decided to move to a Class A diesel. We found a Newmar that was just perfect for our needs and it is for sure a challenge to learn everything about all of the systems. I am glad that I had over 35 years of RVing behind me before taking on a big rig, but it is really not any more difficult to drive than the trailer combination or a smaller motor home. I totally agree that anyone buying any RV needs to have a really good introduction to their new vehicle. I don’t think that just because someone is older, people should question our ability to handle these huge machines. Many of us are great drivers with over a million miles of experience under our belts. Stay safe out there.

[TexasRose]

My husband and I started researching travel trailers about 9 months ago. Well, I’m the researcher and he does the heavy lifting. This was obviously pre-Covid.
This is our first ever RV of any kind. We went to Rice in early March, just before the lockdown, to check out the Casita. (We live about 2.5 hours from the factory). We loved everything about the advantages of fiberglass trailers and the Casita hit our financial sweet spot.
I spent hours learning about dry weight, tongue weight, and how to be confident your TV could really handle the rig. We bought a Nissan Frontier with the larger engine, the 15” wheels and a tow package.
I bought the guide by Eileen somebody and read it front to back. Added the stabilizer bar to our Casita order. Bought the Rhino black tank hoses, water pressure regulator, electric surge protector, and upgraded the size of our fresh water tank. I had no idea that owning, operating, and caring for an RV could be so complex. After reading about care and maintaining the DC battery, I upgraded to the AMG.
Read about moisture problems and bought a small dehumidifier (we live in a humid area). I made sure to purchase adequate insurance (that also required lots of thought). Then there’s care of the gelcoat, all the crazy stuff about maintaining the correct air pressure in your tires and not burning up the bearings.
On July 10th I had major back surgery. On July 28th my husband drove to Rice to pick up our brand new 17’ Casita Freedom. Because of Covid, they couldn’t do the thorough orientation. But I had prepared a check list for my husband and We FaceTimed during the hookup. He left the factory and Victor called me to say my husband had left all the keys in the door! I was able to reach him and he pulled over to retrieve them. Fortunately, that was the only problem.
I’m still unable to travel because of my surgery, but we have planned two short weekend trips to prepare for our first big adventure: a week at Big Bend National Park over thanksgiving.
Currently, we are plugged into shore power here at home (I had a dedicated 30 Amp circuit installed). I plan to get two additional jacks professionally installed so we can keep her a little bit up off the ground.
The only issue I see so far is the condensation from the Dometic AC runs down the side of the gelcoat and drips. I’m pretty sure I can find a solution for that, but it bothers me.
It bothers me because I now appreciate all of those, “Top Ten Stupid Things We Did Owning Our First RV” Utube videos.
I can’t drive yet, but I’m taking some cones to the High School parking lot before I go anywhere else.
Hope to see you soon and safely,
Texas Rose

[TexasRose]

Zach-I think that’s a great idea. It would definitely give me more confidence as an apologetic newbie!

[computerspook]

Originally Posted by Dale Thompson

I don’t think that just because someone is older, people should question our ability to handle these huge machines. Many of us are great drivers with over a million miles of experience under our belts. Stay safe out there.

Actually I question a lot of people on that regardles of age. Some of us older people have had a chance to get some experience. But I have seen a lot of people of all ages who think that "driving is driving". Now I started out driving simis as a farm boy before I was allowed to drive a car legally. So I have some experience. But I sure have seen a lot of people who can't do it and find this out on their first trip. They have air plane simulators maybe they need RV simulators.

Certainly there are many other functions of an RV which are things people may not even know exists until they have one. So I really do see some lessons to be needed. Roots RV was great at that. even better at "Hey I have this problem, how can I handle it? I also have found that the KOAs seem to be happy to provide some instruction. I mention from time to time that the Dayton one is run by a guy who love the job and loves the "yes I can help" part of the job.

[tractors1]

Maybe there's a programmer out there who could develop an RV Simulator app or program! Lots of Flight Simulator programs online - seems like it could be a good seller for PCs. Especially if they added crash sounds for when you run over a fuel pump.............

[slowpat]

Originally Posted by computerspook

Actually I question a lot of people on that regardles of age. Some of us older people have had a chance to get some experience. But I have seen a lot of people of all ages who think that "driving is driving". Now I started out driving simis as a farm boy before I was allowed to drive a car legally. So I have some experience. But I sure have seen a lot of people who can't do it and find this out on their first trip. They have air plane simulators maybe they need RV simulators.

Former farm kid here. I was amazed the first time I backed up a travel trailer. It behaved so much better than the farm trailers which I pulled behind an old tractor. Plus, there were brakes that worked on the pickup. The tractors and farm trucks either had brakes that were so bad you never wanted to be on a hill, or no brakes at all. On one ancient flatbed, I had to know when to shut the engine off so it would lurch and stop at the right place at the haystack.

After quite a long time--a few decades, I bought a teardrop trailer. I was very nervous because I had to pull it through Portland, OR right away. There was no time to practice. All went well and I made it home just fine.

[Denise T]

Last year, with many misgivings, I went from my vintage Trillium to a 20’ stickey... with 3 dogs I need more floor space. I still miss the simplicity of my Trillium, but I did receive a FIVE HOUR orientation to my new trailer and hitch system when I picked it up. It took a few trips to feel comfortable ... but currently writing this from our campsite in Dawson City, Yukon, about 4,000 km so far on this trip 😁 Really helps to work with a reputable and experienced dealer.