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Thank you for the opportunity to set the record straight regarding your editorial in the current edition of RV News titled "Just How Important are Buyer's Guide Leads?" and the mention of Western RV. In the editorial you mention the gesture that you will "...gladly print a clarification or explanation..." if the information you have collected is in any way inaccurate. Please allow me to provide an explanation as to why you did not receive any information from Western RV.

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Upon receiving a copy of your editorial, I immediately set to work to find how your contact information had been misplaced or was possibly not received. Upon contacting the Affinity Group, what I found was that we had not, in fact, received your request and contact information from them. Unfortunately, due to the reverse DNS configuration with their e-mail server, we had not received your request as it was not recognized and accepted by our e-mail server as part of our internal computer network protection. We had recently opted to receive Buyer's Guide leads from them by e-mail to streamline our internal fulfillment process, only to learn of this problem through your editorial. For that we thank you, otherwise this problem may not have been recognized so quickly.

Let me assure you that establishing and maintaining customer touch points is a priority with Western RV. Our products are positioned in the marketplace where customer interaction and the dissemination of information is critical to move our consumer to a buying decision and establishing the groundwork for a satisfying experience with their new Alpenlite or Alpine Coach recreational vehicle. Further evidence of our commitment to the market expansion program enacted by the GoRVing Coalition, is the service of Mr. Ron Doyle, President and CEO of Western RV. Mr. Doyle is a member of the GoRVing Committee on Excellence, RVIA Public Relations Committee and is a member of the RVIA Board of Directors.

Mr. Zagami, thank you for your informative and enlightening editorial. We are both in agreement that more needs to be done, both at the manufacturer and dealer level, to seize every opportunity presented to us to convince a qualified and willing buyer of the enormous benefits of the RV lifestyle.

By the way, now that we have received your contact information, please check your mailbox for the information requested regarding Alpine Coach.

Best Regards,
Western Recreational Vehicles, Inc.
Burk Morgan
Vice President, Marketing

Don,

I read your article about R-Vision and Denny Bailey and agree with you wholeheartedly. It's quite pathetic for a company like R-Vision when their dealers (specifically rvwholesalers.com) have better websites (complete with full pictures and 360 degree pan, specifications, etc) than the manufacturer does. I thought the purpose of a website was to promote your product to the masses.

I personally used the above mentioned website to custom design my Travel Trailer and then proceeded to a local dealer (with the price quote obtained online) to negotiate a price. I managed to get a price within $500 of the online price. As far as I am concerned, the RV industry should be no different than the auto industry with factory prices available and negotiation allowed with the dealer. I like to support my local dealer if possible, but if they want to charge me close to list price just for the sake of the almighty buck, then I will go where I can get a good price. If the manufacturer wants to curtail the publication of prices online, just like some Consumer Electronic companies do, then these sites will have to just change slightly by emailing the lower price to a customer vs. publishing it online. This is how the CE retailers have gotten around the relationships with the vendors.

I just wanted to give you some feedback.

Regards,
Paul

Dear Bob:

I enjoyed very much reading your recent article in RV News.

It's a sad truth at how poorly so many dealerships handle their business's - and yet are successful in spite of themselves. I have now worked for two major RV dealerships here in the Southwest. Both very successful, yet both failing to understand the "what if" aspect of the opportunities presented them. I worked in corporate training and development throughout the eighties and was fortunate to have seen major business's that did "dot all the i's and cross all the t's" (unfortunately the company I was associated with got gobbled up and I chose another industry). How do you convince an Owner or General Manager there might "be a better way" when they've been successful doing business as they (despite the missed opportunities) have. I've tried to give some educated input but it seems to fall on deaf ears, and since I'm making great money just selling, I don't pursue the issue. I personally think it's an "inbreeding" problem. By that I mean a General Manager only knows what he's learned from his boss, so forth and so on (unless they're enlightened enough to get outside training and education - which most aren't). Again, I enjoyed your article tremendously and look forward to others.

Price Shearn
Arizona

Hi Bob,

I just got my issue of RV News, and read your whole article on the new rating system of TL and Good Sam. My husband and I own a small campground in Madison, VA. It has 70 sites, and 3 cabins. We WERE a Good Sam park, but dropped out for the 2003 edition, mostly because of the Rep that comes to our park. I did as you asked in your article, I wrote to Good Sam/TL, in 2001, July 6th to be exact. It was a 5 page letter expressing our dissatisfaction with their Rep (Marketing Consultant), and with all the backup facts of what we did to get at least the same rating as the previous year. We are 2 people, who, as you stated, own, operate, manage, clean, fix, repair and are here 24/7 to serve the public. (We do have a Security Gate!) We also made note of the Rep's inconsistencies in his rating system with an example, and copy. We also explained how the Rep was very anxious to leave after filling out the ad form without taking any money. BUT I reminded him, that I get a discount if he would just wait a minute for me to write out the check. He said, OK, but it's only $100.00. Obviously that isn't much money to him, but it's a lot to us. Their ad rates are extremely high and we just couldn't continue to empty our pockets for them to prosper. One final note to them was their rating system. We had felt then and do now that they cater to the large parks who have lots of employees, and the small owner who does it all will never be able to get the same ranking. I sent the letter certified/return receipt and it was signed on July 12th. Not only did I NOT get an answer but no acknowledgement came either. Nothing! My next move was to contact the Affinity Group which responded with a name and address to write to. I did! I sent it May 13, 2002. (I) addressed some of the concerns but most importantly that we never heard from TL/Good Sam. I did get an email from Affinity that they received the letter, but they also never got a response from TL/Good Sam concerning my original letter. Why would anyone want to do business with a money hungry organization like TL/Good Sam? Someone should start a survey of dissatisfied campground owners. I think you would be amazed. Many of us in VA are no longer Good Sam Parks.

Just wanted you to know our experience. We are also doing quite well at spreading the word that there are many many good campgrounds not listed with TL/Good Sam and that they can get info.

Thank you for your time,
Sandi Aldrich
Shenandoah Hills Campground

Dear Mr. Zagami,

Right On! Your article on Good Sam - Good for Who? was 100% accurate. Thanks for speaking what many of us are thinking. We are not a G.S. Park and now I am sure will never be. I just had to zip off RV NEWS October 2003 11 this note to say keep up the good work telling it like it is.

Sincerely,
Fred Vanderwonde
Bridgeview RV Park
Breckenridge, Texas

Dear Bob:

It was a pleasure speaking to you yesterday regarding your article, Manufactured Confusion. It brought back memories from the 1960's when all the new cars were delivered to the dealers with covers, so that the public could not see them until the Announcement Day. It was not uncommon to sell over 150 new cars the first three days with people lined up to see them.

It would certainly be nice for the RV Manufacturers to get together for an "Announcement Day" in early September, after Labor Day and advertise accordingly.

This is something we continually talk about, but never pursue. I believe it would help the RV Manufacturers get more business from dealers in the late spring to early summer months, without worrying about the new models coming out the next week or month and having old product in stock.

The Great Lakes Recreational Vehicle Association (GLRVA) announced in March 2003, that starting with our January 2004 Supershow, which is held January 7-11, 2004, we will then only allow 2004 products in that show. We will continue this rule for all future shows. It is my understanding that the Tampa show has announced the same, and I am hopeful there will be many others following our lead.

I am convinced that if the Manufacturers and Dealers could work together we could make it more profitable for both, with a lot less confusion to our retail customers.

We are very proud of the fact that the Ohio RV Supershow is one of the largest retail shows in the country and we work very hard to keep its integrity. If you have any questions on my comments, or the RV Industry in general, please feel free to contact me at (216) 970- 7500.

Sincerely,
Bruce M. Wolfson
Executive Director - GLRVA

Hi Bob,

I received your current issue this morning and just finished reading it from cover to cover and enjoyed every page - except for the shipment stats on page 26.

Dave Newhouse
Editor in Chief
Pop Up Times Magazine

Bob,

Just read your write up on Media Camping Center, you did a real nice job on it. I think you really hit home on what our dealership is all about. Hadden is receiving a dozen calls a day from other RV business people telling him the article really does tell it like it is! Great job! Hadden sure is the King of Hot Dogs. He is always looking for a different way to do something.

Thanks Again,
Ted McKay, Sales Manager
Media Camping Center