The Oliver Forum and Oliver Travel Trailers

[dougi]

As most of you know, my wife and I have a new Oliver under construction. I decided to buy the Oliver, sight unseen, and sent them the required deposit to get our Oliver into production for delivery during the last half of September. This Forum, the people who post here who are so very satisfied with their Oliver's, and the open and unrestrained discussions that I saw on the Forum were major factors that cause me to decide on buying an Oliver, sight unseen.

 

Since that time I have had the opportunity to talk to and exchange emails with Mr. Robert Partee, who I am well pleased with. Robert has given me all the information I have asked him for, and has been, I believe, honest and forthright with me. I did receive some requested information from Robert about the estimated weight of our Oliver Elite that dissapointed me, and I told Robert so. He did not take my comments defensively or personally, and he helped me understand why he thought my trailer would weigh more than I was anticipating. I shared that weight information with the Forum members, hoping that they could be as informed as myself regarding the the likely hood that their Olivers may weigh more than they had anticipated and that the Cargo Carrying Capacity (CCC) of their trailers may be less than they anticipated.

 

Well that thread grew very large and contained a lot of good information and comments. IMO, that thread was constructive and helpful, and contained no personal attacks or disparaging remarks about Oliver Travel Trailers or any one who works for them. For reasons that I don't understand, the thread was locked long before Oliver Travel Trailers and Robert Partee had a chance to share with the Forum the results of the research into this issue in which Robert explained he was currently engaged and would have completed in a few days.

 

Why am I so concerned about this? Please allow me to explain that to the Board members. I am concerned that prospective Oliver customer who visit the Oliver Forum will see this discussion, read it, and wonder what is going on. They will wonder why the thread was locked, wondering if it had anything to to do with Oliver not wanting any information that may be perceived as negative being openly discussed on the Oliver Forum. While I have absolutely no feelings that this is what is actually taking place, it would be very easy and logical for a prospective Oliver purchaser who reads this locked thread to entertain this possibility and decide they want nothing to do with Oliver Travel Trailers. I don't want that to happen. I think the Oliver trailer has been improved by adding this additional weight and I believe that idea needs to be reinforced by posting more information in that thread from the Oliver team. I think it is harmful to Oliver Travel Trailers to leave this "weight" thread as it now stands (locked to any further posts).

 

I think that if this "weight" thread were allowed to continue uninterrupted by the Board moderators, we would see results from Robert's investigation into the issue posted in the thread, and we would likely all learn more about how this extra weight was used to improve the integrity of the Oliver construction, and perhaps learn about how the CCC is calculated and how and why the CCC may soon be increased to 5,000 pounds or so, causing the CCC concerns that have already been expressed in the "weight" thread to disappear.

 

I truly think it is a shame to stifle any further discussion of this matter on the Oliver Forum by locking that thread. I think it unnecessarily places Oliver's reputation as an open and frank company, willing do deal openly and honestly with all questions and concerns anyone may have about their trailers in some jeopardy.

 

I appeal to the moderators to allow this "weight" thread discussion to continue to it's natural conclusion, and not permanently cut it off by continuing to keep it locked.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

DougI

[SeaDawg]

Doug,

Your post is thoughtful and well written. Points well taken.

 

One of the issues at hand is "Oliver Forums". Although the forum is underwritten by Oliver Travel Trailers (they pay the bill...), this is a user forum, and the responsibility for moderating the threads is solely that of a small group of volunteer moderators, all of whom are Oliver travel trailer owners. We do not work for Oliver. Our decisions, right or wrong, and our opinions, right or wrong, are our own. Although some of the Oliver employees visit and post from time to time, no one who posts a question to the factory should anticipate a timely response here on the user forum. Questions requiring a factory response should be addressed to the factory. Looking for an owner's opinion? Post it here.

 

I do not believe the thread in question was closed for any reason other than those stated by the moderator. All of the owners who cared to contribute had already posted; Robert saw the thread and asked for some time to respond. He was not allowed that time by some posters, and the thread had already begun to disintegrate into, shall we say, less than the usual friendly and courteous exchange of ideas and opinions normally seen on our forum.

 

That said, I would also like to say that I have been in business all my life, until my retirement last year. For a number of years, I sat on the dealer council of a major international manufacturer. In all those years, I have never had a better experience as a customer than dealing with Oliver. They are unique. Totally devoted to customer satisfaction, extremely open to the needs and wants of each individual customer, and willing to customize their product to an extent unheard of in the RV world. They are adament about becoming the gold standard in their field, and adament that each customer is a happy customer. A visit to the factory reveals not only heart, and brains, but a corporate culture that would be the envy of many larger manufacturers.

 

Some of us on the moderator team are very new to our roles, and I would like to ask you to bear with us as we explore those roles, and become accustomed to our new "hats". Although I have been a frequent poster here (and on several other forums), I have never been a moderator before. (I should say, I'm a frequent poster when I have acces to a computer.... Paul and I have spent much of the last six months on the road, traveling seven or eight states, and countless weeks boondocking on our property in the mountains of North Carolina. We have loved every night, because it's a great way to travel, and our Oliver is a great product.) If you have any questions about my Oliver experience, or my actions as a moderator, you can feel free to PM me through the board. I do not feel it's a safe practice to post my personal email or phone number on a public forum.

[dougi]

Thanks for your kind response. I appreciate it very much.

 

I have enjoyed and benefitted greatly from this Oliver Forum. EVERYONE (I felt) was behaving and posting courteously. Most posters are dripping with Southern hospitality and that is good. A few are not, but I have witnessed no one insulting others on the board, or being discourteous to other posters. has been courteous, in my opinion.

 

I have been posting on internet discussion boards for over 15 years and have been a moderator on several of them. Locking thread discussions is a tool of last resort, to be used only when the thread degenerates into a series of personal attacks. I respect the role of moderator because it is a thankless and unrewarding job.

 

I have finalized my Oliver invoice and work order and will probably not have many other questions to pose to board members. However, I will continue to visit the Board and I will continue to hope that the moderators will learn to let discussions go uninterrupted unless threads become infested with personal attacks, which I have never witnessed on this board. I HAVE witnessed it many times on several other boards I post on, and I personally have locked or moved threads to stop this unsavory situation.

 

I will likely continue to want Oliver Travel Trailers to maintain their well earned reputation as a company that is ready, willing and able to deal with all questions, issues and mistakes in an open and frank manner. I know full well that locking threads and disallowing any further discussion can serve to help destroy that reputation.

 

Thanks for your time,

 

DougI