Important Update about Oliver Service

[Mike and Carol]

2 hours ago, CRM said:

They've already told me that they will be selling their E2 at the end of the warranty period if this service goes away. They've been down the dealer/service route with other trailer brands before and have no desire to do so again. I hope Oliver understands how important this is to some owners and continues to offer service at Hohenwald.

I think they are making an unfortunate decision, unless they are giving up camping/traveling all together.  My experience is that most bugs get worked out during the warranty period and shortly after.  We’ve had years of trouble free camping, just normal routine maintenance (bearings, brakes, shocks, etc).  Someone will benefit from their sale, an Oliver well broken-in and bugs worked out!  Mike

[John Dorrer]

24 minutes ago, Mike and Carol said:

I think they are making an unfortunate decision, unless they are giving up camping/traveling all together.  My experience is that most bugs get worked out during the warranty period and shortly after.  We’ve had years of trouble free camping, just normal routine maintenance (bearings, brakes, shocks, etc).  Someone will benefit from their sale, an Oliver well broken-in and bugs worked out!  Mike

I agree. Just find a mobile RV company and build a relationship with them and also with one of the new dealers. We are 6+ hours from Hohenwald and loved stopping in late February on our way to Texas. We also have a relationship with a dealer in Indianapolis that worked on our truck camper and did a Norcold warranty repair on our Oliver fridge. I have options in the works and haven't seen the sky falling yet🙃

[ADKCamper]

Quote

"And every dealer and their service manager should be at the rally."

I *LIKE* this idea 🙂 Join the Oliver community, meet folks, look at trailers, witness first-hand the depth, breadth and creativity of Oliver owners. Hand out business cards/brochures. Maybe even make a group presentation about the capabilities and culture of their own dealerships.

[CRM]

7 hours ago, Mike and Carol said:

I think they are making an unfortunate decision, unless they are giving up camping/traveling all together.  My experience is that most bugs get worked out during the warranty period and shortly after.  We’ve had years of trouble free camping, just normal routine maintenance (bearings, brakes, shocks, etc).  Someone will benefit from their sale, an Oliver well broken-in and bugs worked out!  Mike

The part that turns them off the most and that makes them want to sell is the premium they paid to buy new. A premium they were OK with knowing their LE2 could be serviced by Oliver themselves once a year and repaired there too, if needed. Like others, they were planning vacations around that service...  If service goes away at Hohenwald they feel they would have been better off buying used and saving 40-50k to put into savings for future repairs and service. At the moment they feel let down and sincerely hope Oliver decides to keep the service option open.

[Mark Patricia]

I really like my Oliver. For me an Oliver is a lot of money. I'm 3 hours from Hohenwald as we come back from Florida in February we leave the Oliver there and they service it and do anything needed. I would not have purchased a Oliver if I thought they would have not serviced it. I don't trust anyone to work on it. I'm very disappointed with the thought of Oliver not doing service work.

[Steph and Dud B]

2 hours ago, CRM said:

At the moment they feel let down and sincerely hope Oliver decides to keep the service option open.

Tell them not to sell yet. All is not lost. 

"The decision to close the service department at this time has not been received well by many Oliver owners and potential customers. Oliver leadership is listening and plans to have discussions on this topic next week. Oliver will update our owners in the coming weeks regarding any changes."

Oliver was listening.

[Half Fast Hugo]

I guess I have mixed emotions on this. I love the quality of the trailer. However, I live in Northern Minnesota and there are no dealers close to me. I bought a barely traveled 2021 LE2 last summer in Texas. I did visit the factory before making my decision on purchasing an Oliver and was going to go the new route until the one I purchased became available. Phil mentioned the biggest downside was no warranty. I have no regrets and still won't no matter what happens.

I look at it this way. Many of the systems are not proprietary to Oliver. A Truma water heater can get serviced at a Truma dealer and they'll be familiar with it. I had a mixing tank crack on my Truma water heater and a local dealer installed a new one, I would have done it myself but, the warranty through Truma didn't apply if I did not have a dealer install it ($500 labor above the water heater cost). Dealers may not understand the entire Oliver but they'll likely understand a problem I may encounter. I would also think that some dealers are familiar with servicing solar systems, inverters, and charge controllers. It seems like Oliver may be trying to get away from that kind of work and stick to Oliver specific items only, or at least until a full transition to the dealer network happens. For the benefits of all owners, I hope they decide to keep doing all service work!

With the recent discussion on springs, I will be checking mine when I get it out of storage next week and will replace them myself if necessary. I typically work on and fix most things myself as it helps me understand things not to mention the fact that I like to do that kind of stuff. Not everyone can and I understand that. Hopefully their internal discussion will bring some kind of positive compromise for all. Either way, I'm not selling mine any time soon.

Edited April 7 by Half Fast Hugo

[DandD]

Another life learning experience!  True business owners build a business to sell!  Build up EBITA, sell business 10x!  Welcome to real world.

[routlaw]

What does EBITA mean?

For over 40 years I have been a professional photographer and in that time worked for a number of companies mostly in the outdoor recreation market. In that time many of these companies have sold to other larger entities, actually everyone of them as I think about it, and not a single one of them still exist to this day except for one. Most of them did not last more than a year or two after merging with a larger corp. 

Corporate America is littered with such mergers and acquisitions too. A close friend of mine, a retired corporate attorney, worked on cases like this and told me this is how and where many companies go to die. Not predicting this about Oliver, but worth considering assuming the long range goals are to sell the company.

For me given that I live 2000 miles from Hohenwald it will have little to no effect. Apparently one of their new service centers is Bretz RV and Marine in Missoula, MT. I’ve been there on several occasions but still a 3 hour drive, yet this is the first I have heard of them as being an exceptional RV dealer and service center. Bretz comes to Bozeman periodically to do dog and pony shows with their products, but not sure I would place them in the same sector with Oliver. 

For those of you who are considering selling their Olivers on the used market my guess is your travel trailer just reduced its value overnight by at least a few grand and perhaps a lot more. Something to think about.

 

[topgun2]

41 minutes ago, routlaw said:

What does EBITA mean?

Earnings before interest, taxes, and amortization (EBITA) is a measure of company profitability used by investors. It is helpful for comparing one company to another in the same line of business.

[Jps190]

I just called the service department to inquire about having my fridge swapped out with the Isotherm.  No dice.  I was told that I would have to go through a dealer to have it done.  What a bunch of BS that is.  It seems to me that that is a pretty big job that I should have the option of having the factory do.  I hope everybody at the Rally lets Oliver know how we feel about this.

 

John

[ScubaRx]

7 minutes ago, Jps190 said:

I just called the service department to inquire about having my fridge swapped out with the Isotherm.  No dice.  I was told that I would have to go through a dealer to have it done.  What a bunch of BS that is.  It seems to me that that is a pretty big job that I should have the option of having the factory do.  I hope everybody at the Rally lets Oliver know how we feel about this.

 

John

John, apparently you’ve not been on the forum or FB in the past month or better. Oliver made the announcement about service in Hohenwald being phased out several several weeks ago. By now it’s pretty old news. Perhaps you should come to the Rally and lead the charge. 

[ScubaRx]

And BTW, There are three Oliver dealers in Georgia. All of them are closer to you than Hohenwald so you should be really happy you don’t have to make a long trip. 

[Jps190]

19 minutes ago, ScubaRx said:

John, apparently you’ve not been on the forum or FB in the past month or better. Oliver made the announcement about service in Hohenwald being phased out several several weeks ago. By now it’s pretty old news. Perhaps you should come to the Rally and lead the charge. 

I was aware of the announcement but was under the impression that they would still be available for a larger repairs/modifications.  I’ll just do it myself and save a couple grand although I would have rather had them do it to save the time. I certainly won’t be letting some dealer tear into my Oliver.  

[HDRider]

On 4/22/2024 at 4:54 PM, ScubaRx said:

Oliver made the announcement about service in Hohenwald being phased out several several weeks ago. By now it’s pretty old news.

I was under the impression adjustments were being considered by Oliver management.  Have they announced the end of service at the factory full stop?

[topgun2]

6 hours ago, HDRider said:

adjustments were being considered by Oliver management

Yes, there was word that management WAS considering "adjustments", however, I think that it would be best to assume that at least 99% of the original announcement will stand without material change.

Bill