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Showing content with the highest reputation on 10/19/2017 in all areas

  1. I called Ritchie Carroll a couple of months ago to schedule service for my Oliver Elite II. I made the appointment for 1 p.m. on Tuesday, October 17. When I arrived, I sat down with Richie and reviewed the work order that he had prepared based on a couple of telephone conversations and a few email exchanges. Oliver is using a new system to create and update work orders. I was able to view the work order on Richie's monitor and approved what he had prepared. Service included installing a composting toilet, installing the new bike rack (mount only--I plan to rig it with Thule components that will work with my fat tire bike), a new cable for the basement door, repair the chain to cap connection on the fresh water inlet, fixing a leak in the hot water heater at the anode, installation of the water accumulator, the fresh water tank fix to allow it to be filled completely, and installation of the new window blind clips (they now use 6 clips per blind). The work was completed by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The work was done professionally and the camper was thoroughly cleaned inside after they completed the work. While in Hohenwald, I spent quite a bit of time at the sales office. Highlights included meeting and talking to both new Oliver owners picking up and owners in town for service. It's so nice to actually meet and get to know people you've communicated with on the forum. Oliver owners are the best. I also can report that Anita and Heather are as sweet and welcoming as they have been since I met them. Anita even brought food to the office and offered lunch to all of the office employees and the customers who were there for service and pickup. The food was delicious! I met and spend quite a bit of time talking to Brent Robinson, the new Business Development Director and Kelly Robinson, the new Sales Manager. They have significant experience in the industry and I believe they were great hires by the Oliver family. Brent gave me a factory tour yesterday. I toured the factory in October 2015 when I ordered my Elite II, but I learned much more during the tour Brent gave. He has dug deep into the manufacturing process and shared so much knowledge. For any current owner or prospective purchaser who wants to know more about how these campers are built and why they cost as much as they do, a tour led by Brent is a must. These campers are built on a philosophy that is the opposite of what drives most of the rest of the industry. Decisions are made on what components/processes will create the best, long-lasting product, not on what will be the least expensive. Kudos to Oliver for being committed to building by far the highest quality camper in the U.S. As most of the forum members know, Oliver has grown substantially in terms of the number of campers sold. They are having growing pains, but my two days at the office and plant convinced me that they are working very hard to ramp up and to provide the same high-quality sales and service that marks the quality of their product. I don't think the people at Oliver would argue that they are there yet, but rather than making excuses, the comments I heard from employees focused on their high goals and efforts to reach them. For those of you who have asked for a higher degree of customization as your Oliver is being built, it's clear that Oliver is moving away from offering the degree of customization that characterized their approach in the early days. They've made the most popular options standard equipment and avoid customization to keep the campers moving down the line more efficiently. I think the result will be an increase in the already high build quality and an ability to deliver more campers to more customers on a timely basis. So, my service visit was positive, productive and very educational. It reinforced my opinion that purchasing my Oliver was a great decision!
    11 points
  2. The truck pulled Goldilocks really well and we had no problems going up over the different summits. It's a completely different feel from the Mercedes but you get what you pay for either way. There's really no comparing the 2 vehicles because they are so different, ie- diesel vs gas, Mercedes vs Chevy, car vs truck, but I was able to fit everything into the truck except my bucket of tools. Most of them I don't need everyday and this is a quick trip being that we will be back home next week, so I left them home for the first time to get the feel of all of the extra room that I filled up with the extra chairs and things for this Rally at Lake Casitas, CA. Anyway, so far so good and I love our new truck and have already been out 4wheelin in it and this is the real reason that we switched over to it. The Mercedes comes with an off-road package but it still doesn't have the clearance compared to the truck or the off-road capability. I've had to turn around a number of times in the Mercedes just because I wasn't willing to scrape the bottom over some of the boulder strewn trails that we travel, but that just comes right back to the car vs truck. The truck is more versatile when it comes to extreme off-road, it has the clearance that we need and it is going to take the place of our old 2005 Hummer as well, I hope... As far as towing goes, it's a good TV with all of the right controls built in and everything works fine. I did have to use my brakes more going downhill in the truck compared to the diesel Mercedes, but I knew that I was giving up that capability, going in :) We were out of communication for a day and now, we are at the Lake Casitas Rally, set up and ready for it to begin today. We like coming in the day before and taking our time getting set up. And today Spike and his wife stopped in, in their Legacy Elite II to say high and we will be getting together this week and talking a lot more as they get settled in for their reunion here in the same town :) Good Times Ahead Reed
    2 points
  3. I’m back in the fold. Sold hull#23 and bought hull#80. Now I’m busy trying to figure out the WiFi Ranger and other cool stuff on the new trailer.
    2 points
  4. The Clam is nice, there's one set up here at the Rally and it is probably the best unit out there, but it does come at a higher price. I have a couple different Coleman's and I will be putting up the screen room this afternoon and I will take a picture then. If you want it for the dogs, can they be trusted to not break out the doors thru the zippers? If so, then you may want to go with a Coleman instant tent because it has a floor. Depending on our situation, I usually take the one with the floor. It has screen all the way around and a screen roof but it can still be closed up and used as a tent to keep the rain out when needed.
    1 point
  5. I got it at a brick and mortar store I went to inquiring about making a custom mattress for the trailer. She showed me the option of latex topper and I jumped all over it without even being able to lie on it at the store.....(personal feelings for avoiding off gassing materials around me as much as possible). So my receipt says - Malouf, Isolus 2" Latex Topper King. When I pulled it out of the box I was convinced it would be terrible - it seemed so soft and squishy. But I tossed it on - lied down on it - and fell in love. :-)
    1 point
  6. When I go through them on Amazon, I found you have to go by the specified shipping weight. The real ones have a density of 5 lbs/ sqft most of the imposters are 2-3 and are super soft spongy. Would you be able to post a link to the latex one you ended up with?
    1 point
  7. I ended up with a king size latex topper. Love it! I was suspicious because the memory foam toppers are just way too soft for me (at least the Costco one was). Turns out the latex topper is really great. Very comfortable - feels just like I'm on a "real" mattress.... And it's easy to flip aside to get to access compartments..... - And I don't have to find somewhere to store all the cushions (which I would have had to toss if I'd gone with a custom mattress, because I don't HAVE any storage!) Expensive but worth it. Carole
    1 point
  8. Solution awesomeness!!! Ryan is an expert with this product and is a pro at remotely helping with very detailed step by step instructions. So anyone looking for help along these lines...... First try disconnecting and reconnecting the phone cord in the IPN Pro Remote. If this does not solve the problem....... Then - go to you 2512 Blue Sky control under your seat storage. Remove front panel. Disconnect and reconnect the Positive Battery Output Wire (Red wire and one closest to empty screw). *This was my magic point.* Solar panel charge lights came back on and number indicators available on IPN Pro Remote. Hope this helps someone in the future. Thanks for everybodys' input!!! Happy girl, Carole
    1 point
  9. Well we are at Oliver picking up our new baby and I promised to post some pictures of the new bike rack design. It looks great snd very sturdy but we havent gotten to test it yet. There is some problem with the satellite and they have been working on it since noon Thursday. Oliver put us up inna hotel last night. I hope we get to stay in our camper tonight. Glad we booked extra day at Fall Hallow.
    1 point
  10. I have used a front receiver by Drawtite. A Swagman rack works perfectly. I had to use an extension bar and anti rattle device but was happy with the setup. I have changed tow vehicles and will add the same setup to my Ram. I heard a story of an Oliver owner whose GPS took him down a narrow road into a dead end. He was able to unhitch the trailer, turn the truck around, and using his front receiver push the Ollie back to a place wide enough to turn around. So Many uses for a front receiver.
    1 point
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